mkimball

Are the 2010 seats a lot more comfortable than the 2009? I have the 2009 (still new with only 4000 miles on it) and are finding the seats uncomfortable. Am thinking of trading my 2009, but want to be sure about the seats as I know it will be costly to trade. Thank you.

tonyhui

Just pickup my RX450h yesterday after driving the 400h for three years. I would say the 2010 front seat is a little bit more comfortable but definitely not enough to trade in your old car for it. The main difference is the front seat cushion is 3/4 inch longer in 2010. I also found the new leather to be a little softer then my old car.

tazdevl

Luxury Package will give you seat bottom extension if that's a consideration.

DNC

Lexus makes their seats too small, especially the bottom cushion. I find the bottom seat cushion wide enough, but not long enough, which really hurts my legs. I am hopeful this cushion extension will help.

tonyhui

Even without the Luxury Package cushion extension the new regular seat cushion is longer and more comfortable.

DNC

Tonyhui, I think you are correct. At least that is the way it felt to me. We still ordered the extension.

tonyhui

I would have like to order the seat extension too but up here in Canada it is only available in the Ultra Premium Package which cost $10,000 more than my Touring Package.

DNC

Crazy! The cushion extension would seem to be the perfect candidate for a standalone option just as is the premium stereo.

rcf8000

At first I thought that the seats in my '010 were less comfortable than my '07. But now I think they are about the same. They are definitely not MORE comfortable. (I don't have the Luxury package but I do have the heated and cooled seats.)

klegrow

The big difference is the ventilated seats (at least for me). My wife has a 2008 RX 350 without them and I find I am always sticking to the seats.

DigMyM35x

I agree 100% about the seats in the previous gen RX's being too short (front to back). One of the reasons we aren't buying my wife's 07 RX off lease (great buyout price) is because I can't get comfortable driving it due to the seats.

I test drove the 2010 this week and drove it for about 45 min on back roads and highway and found the seats much more comfortable. Sad to say, however, that I still notice some discomfort due to the short seats . It is much better on the 2010 but I really would have liked the seat extenders as a standalone option as someone mentioned above.

If you can, before making the decision to trade and spend all of that money (since you will undoubtedly lose a bunch on a one year vehicle trade) I would see if you can get a 2010 for an overnight drive and make sure to drive it. Highway and traffic roads.

I find it much more comfortable but still not great. The seats are more like 'sedan' seats in the 2010 and I felt the previous gen's were a bit more like 'minivan' captain's chairs when comparing. I never really thought about it that way until I saw the 2010 seats and then did a quick visual compare.

Hope that helps- feel your pain about the seats on the previous gen!

Jay

klegrow

A 45 minute test drive???? Christ, I was luck they had A car to test drive! Three dealerships and only one had a car for demos.

DigMyM35x

Yup. This will be my 2nd Lexus from this dealership but most will allow an overnight test drive if you ask nicely and are a serious buyer. Out of courtesy, I wouldn't ask for an overnight tester from a dealership unless I had already worked out an acceptable deal. I want to be fair and not put miles on their cars if I'm not buying from them.

A long time ago we did an overnight test of a demo and ended up having to take an emergency trip of almost 400 round trip miles. It was great to have the car to test that long but the sales person at the dealership ended up being a bit of a jerk so we didn't buy there. I felt pretty bad about that (I didn't lose any sleep though ).

I needed to get the Truffle Mica in front of my wife so she could see the color and test drive the car and we're about 45 mins away from the dealership so that was about the best we could do. They were more than willing since we had pretty much inked the deal pending my wife's approval. As an aside, she can't stand test driving a car with the sales person present. The selling, questions, etc. are offputting to her (and probably most people) so that is one of the stipulations if we are buying a car.

I haven't had an issue with it yet. I've done this with Infiniti's and Lexus' since we've been buying them.

So we took the car home overnight and got to make sure it fit in the garage (another reason for a longer or overnight testdrive - our old garage was a lot smaller) and that my wife was ok with the color. Incidentally - we both loved it!

In terms of the seat comfort - my leg would get 'achy' from driving her car (07 RX). Both around town and on the highway. Around town specifically because of the stop and go pressing of the pedals with the weird angle due to the seats. Hard to explain but if you've felt it you know what I mean.

The 2010 is much better. I still got that achy feeling but I found some good adjustments to the seats to pretty much alleviate it. Tough thing in the beginning because I keep changing the seat settings to see what works best before setting them in memory and I'm sure I found a few settings that were pretty good but then I moved the seat and lost em.

If you can do the overnight test (or a long test drive) then do it. Only you can decide on the comfort.

Jay

mkimball

Jay, thank you so much for this info...I know exactly what you mean about that achy feeling and weird angle due to the seas. I have tried using a chair pad pillow and that has not helped...it actually makes it worse. Your experience and opinion about the 2010 is very helpful to me to make a decision. It's good to know that the 2010 is much better. My husband and I are going to try to do a long test drive this weekend. Hopefully we will be able to determine the comfort level from that.

klegrow

MKimball....I noticed you are in Massachusetts from you profile. I would strongly suggest going to Herb Chambers in Sharon, MA for your car. After dealing with Watertown and Ira in Danvers, I was almost ready to give up on the Lexus. Their attitude and service were aweful. However, Herb Chambers was very pleasant, gave me a great deal on both the trade-in and the Lexus, and really took the time to explain everything. Cliff (the salesperson) and his manager Charles were awesome!