link13

Good point and I enjoy CarPlay. I have a coworker who joined after being at Honda and obviously he knows my Civic Sport Touring has factory nav. He told me to ditch it and use CarPlay. I am grateful because I use google maps which are also never out of date whereas the onboard Garmin nav needs to be updated and you have to pay for that. The only thing with CarPlay is you just need to pick a map application that works for you. I had two bad experiences with Waze where it rerouted me back to my original route, cost me 40 minutes, and then could not find the location I was going to anyway. Google Maps got me there from the point Waze dropped the ball.

JDR76

I really don't love CarPlay, but it's definitely one of the better solutions out there. My favorite parts of it are that it's easy to control music on Pandora, I generally like Google Maps, and when I have a rental car, I can use it and it's just the same as what I'm used to.

AJT123

That is nice that you never have to fool with the infotainment with Carplay, I didn't think of that.

SW17LS

When people compare infotainment systems my response is “I just use CarPlay”

Vladi

Problem with OEM infotainment is very simple to solve but they don't have the right people on it. Lexus did introduce the new thing and while it's better than the last thing it's still convoluted, it impacts cabin aesthetics big time and it's still behind modern touchscreen solutions. But it's an easy fix. Touchpad was also an easy fix but they never implemented it.

Anyway, current and upcoming new car model market is completely uninspiring. There are hundreds of debuts left and right especially Chinese models but there is zero excitement. Volvo is bringing in more models then ever and I couldn't care less. Jaguar is dead. Infiniti is dead. Acura is bringing in cars it should have brought in a decade ago. Toyota is slapping Lexus badge, Lexus grill and Lexus wheels on every Toyota model they introduce without even bothering to change the paint job. BMW went all Chinese and got lost completely. Mercedes is hanging around. Audi is getting lost too by introducing similar models with similar names. It's a mess of a market right now.

SW17LS

OEMs are just never going to design great GUIs, best to leave that to companies like Apple and Google who do that well.

Toys4RJill

This has always been the case.
I have Apple Car Play. I rarely if ever use it. I like the Toyota navigation the best, only issue is quick entry of the address.

One thing I don’t like about Apple Car Play is that the phone doesn’t know how to turn off the alarm clock when it is connected to the vehicle.

SW17LS

Thats totally different. That SC was designed to be a Lexus SC and simply sold in Japan as a Toyota Soarer because Lexus didn't exist it Japan. It was a premium platform RWD vehicle with proper double wishbone/multilink suspension. What we have no are Toyota derived economy platforms that are made into a little bit nicer Lexus...

Why would it? People set alarms they want to go off when they are driving too. Easily fixed anyways with an automation, just set it to deactivate alarms when CarPlay is started

Toys4RJill

The second generation Soarer 1985 also had rwd and “proper” double wishbone/mutli link suspension.

SW17LS

Yeah it did, and thats what was co developed for the next generation to become the SC, but its still entirely different. That vehicle was not a downmarket vehicle gussied up to be a Lexus, Toyota sold proper premium/luxury cars in Japan as Toyotas because Lexus did not exist.

What I take issue with is that basically all of their vehicles now are Toyotas that were gussied up to move upmarket and be sold as Lexuses. What I want are real premium models that were designed from the ground up to be a Lexus.

Toys4RJill

The 1990s soarer was also sold as a downmarket version as well. Cloth seats. Toyota also sold the Soarer outside of Japan

IS, LS, LC, GX and LX are not economy Toyotas

SW17LS

Cloth seats are not downmarket in Japan. They are preferred to leather by many. The Century has cloth seats.

They also make up very little of Lexus’ sales, and most of them are on their way out (LS, LC probably the IS, and it dates back to 2013). The GX and LX are absolutely rebadged Toyota models, it just happens that they are quality models to begin with.

I want to see new proper enthusiast oriented vehicles from Lexus. Vehicles designed to be a Lexus from the onset.

FrankReynoldsCPA

Unfortunately my car is only compatible with Apple Carplay and not Android Auto, so I just use the factory navigation. It works fine, but it does lack the regular updates that Google Maps has.

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Toys4RJill

There is no difference between the 1993 Soarer/SC and a 2022 Land Cruiser 300/LX600.. all just a platform with various trims.. lower end options to higher end trims

What would be a better alternative?

SW17LS

I don’t disagree, but again that’s one low volume model. The bulk of everything is economy Toyotas.

What I want is a vehicle form Lexus that competes with German crossovers and sedans, we need some proper premium crossovers on the GA-L platform as an example.