ES3504C

Dropped off my 2019 ES 350 ultra luxury to the Lexus dealer Friday for an inspection, given a 2024 RX 350 F Sport handling, ultra white/rioja red interior as a loaner for 4 days, Let me start by saying I'm not an SUV fan, the sport seats were incredibly comfortable, loved some of the tech, did not like the whiney 4 cylinder, did not smooth out until 35-40 MPH, the shifter seems unnecessarily complicated, probably fine once you adjust to it, the ML sound system did not sound as good as the one in my 2019 maybe because of the larger space or I did not adjust any of the settings, it constantly beeped at me "Driver inattention detected, cross traffic alerts front & rear" and on & on. The doors are hard to close and unlock, they do make a wonderful vault like sound when they close. Loved the 360 camera when car appears invisible (you only see an outline of a transparent car), the folding mirrors, the rear hatch makes a satisfying sound and closes much faster than my trunk. Overall a great vehicle, this confirms I'm not an SUV person (loaners: NX 350 for 3 days, RX 350 for 4 days and a MB GLB 250 for 3 days). Most people love SUV's, anyone else have a similar experience? Long live the sedans and coupes!!!

Urlik

The ML only has 2 woofers way up front for that huge space which makes it sound horrible. Most of us turn off the driver attention monitor BS. The doors take almost no time to get used to. I think the turbo 4 sounds fine and the off the line torque is great (to be fair my personal cars have been turbo 4s for 25 years). If you’re not in a hurry, you don’t even hear the 4 cylinder engine sound.

Measured

iTrader: (1)

The shifter is a over and down or over and up... Push to park. Not really a challenge, but it is different. It's basically the Prius shifter. Those "beeps" also turn off, but I actually appreciated them oddly enough

I recently put my GS back on the road with the warmer temps and found it funny I had a hard time getting it into gear having gotten used to a simpler shifter

Glad you enjoyed your experience overall.

ColoradoDavid

Interesting feedback. We found ourselves always renting an SUV when we travel, so decided to get the RX350. 100% love everything about it so far. Considered and drove a BMW X5, which was nice enough but the 2024 did not meet my criteria for being a government Top Safety Pick. Interesting how our shopping criteria changes. Also own a sedan that I love. Pretty unique, Ford Fusion with twin turbo 6 that puts out 325HP with a lot of torque. A sleeper, quiet, rides great, and fast as a bat out of h**l. I enjoy driving that too, and kind of think manufacturers discontinuation of a lot of sedans models may not be wise.

ColoradoDavid

Good observations @Urlik . The ML sound system is pretty decent to my ear. It came delivered with Surround Sound turned on. Did an A-B on surround vs stereo and like the stereo setting better. It's probably among the better sound in a vehicle I have experienced, but not the best.

Imolared

I wasn't impressed with the ML sound system with the surround mode on, sounds like there's a plastic bag in front of the speakers, it wasn't until I turned off the surround sound setting and played my favorite songs (FLAC) via USB stick is when I noticed that it's pretty good.

Derek305T

So you were given a free loaner of a type of car you don’t like, found more things you don't like, and decided to come and tell people who have one all the things you don’t like about their car?

Urlik

Not the takeaway I had from reading his opinion.

mikemu30

Agree - he's not an SUV fan and prefers sedans. I do as well but also love the ride of our RX350h.

E46CT

"Government tests" are OK. They're fairly basic, low speed. They stress restraint systems more. Their crash regimen isn't too valuable though as they send the car into a flat wall which isn't realistic. Sure more stars are better. but meh..

The real tests are the insurance institute and euroncap. What are your thoughts IIHS for the RX? Only pulled an 18.5 centerline w/ marginal pelvis on side impact 2.0, got significant downgrade to poor for updated moderate overlap, and downgraded head/neck and lower leg for passenger small overlap. thoughts? safety is key for me too.

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle...t-updated-test

Urlik

The IIHS will constantly change their tests to stay relevant. The manufacturers will build to the tests the put into place. Since it takes 4-5 years to put a new model out, it can take a while to meet new tests.

E46CT

The tests the new RX went through had been in place for a while well before the new RX was out. The industry gets advance notice of said tests too. Additionally, RX's competitors (won't name names, you can see for yourself) do better.

For 2023, cars should have long been able to score better on these tests.

Problem is TNGA. It needs significant development to pass the new tests. But Lexus likes to reuse. See Lexus TX/Grand Highlander for example, or just about any new TNGA product. There's cars of *prior generations* with much stronger/beefier side structures. In fact I believe Lexus's own older prior gen RX posts stronger #s for its side structure on a more lenient test. Prior gen RX also did superior in the same small overlap too.

i'm extremely familiar with all the programmes of all the companies, etc.

i love this topic it's fun, i've memorised most body region force readings for most cars, body intrusion, and other stuff too not known to the general public. iihs, all the ncaps, etc. i love it. let me know if any questions.

E46CT

the bad ones do. the good ones exceed. the greatest far exceed.

then there's edge-testing which the best of the best of the best do.

only a small handful of companies perform edge testing. and no edge doesn't refer to striking a car's edge etc lol.

Urlik

Nah, IIHS released the new moderate overlap criteria just 11 months ago. https://www.iihs.org/media/df1fdcc9-...2023_FINAL.pdf

E46CT

yep that's one of many. what's your point? did every car receive a poor? did any receive a good?

for the cars that received a poor.. why?

did any older cars (older than the RX) receive a good in that test?