Gs350 New Owner Observations

[Member123]

I have owned several Luxury Sedans and SUV’s over the past 20 years. Recently I was in the market for a new Luxury Sedan. I looked at the Acura RL for several months but could not get past the uninspired exterior styling. About 6 weeks ago I walked into a Lexus dealer for the first time and fell in love with the GS350. This is a gorgeous automobile, it was love at first sight, and I eventually made the purchase. But, the honeymoon was over in a matter of weeks. I have since learned this beautiful lady has some drawbacks that compromise her standing as a serious Luxury Sedan and direct competitor to the Acura RL (RL is a better vehicle). Here are my observations after driving the GS350 for the past several weeks. Also, note that I live in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Oregon); that means rain and less than optimal road surfaces.

Rain Sensors

The Rain Sensor subsystem is not sensitive enough to keep the windshield clear in light or misty rain, even with the sensor set to max sensitivity. This forces the driver to frequently activate the wiper blades manually. Not only is this annoying, it is absolutely unacceptable in this class of automobile. As with other manufacturers, this problem is easily resolved with a manual override to enable manual intermittent operation. Why Lexus chose to ignore this configuration option is a puzzle. Someone was not paying attention to details.

Auto Headlight Sensor

Depending on the available ambient light, the GS350 headlights will automatically switch on and off several times over short periods of time (30 seconds). This behavior is exacerbated in early morning shadowy grey light. This is annoying because it looks as if I am flashing my lights at other drivers. This problem is likely a result of a low threshold light sensor setting combined with a short sampling period. This is easily resolved with a software upgrade to fine tune this subsystem. Again, Lexus engineers are not paying attention to details.

Navigation System

I won’t go into detail here as it is well known that Lexus disables several Navigation and Telephony subsystem features while the car is moving. And forcing the driver to acknowledge the “safety” message each and every time the car is switch on is one of the most annoying features I have ever seen in an automobile. This Navigation subsystem needs some serious rework.

AWD Steering

I have driven the same roads to the office over the past 12 years. Since driving my new GS350 to the office I have notices all sorts of imperfections on those familiar roads because the GS350 just loves to follow those imperfections at lower speeds. Further, if I do not have a reasonable grip on the steering wheel while braking on an imperfect road surface, the vehicle will sometimes veer sharply, pulling the steering wheel from my grip. I have had this unique experience several times over the past few weeks. This is a very annoying and unsafe characteristic of the GS350. I have also noticed the front wheels tend to track like in a front wheel drive car, transmitting that familiar front wheel drive “tug” to the steering wheel. Again, not what I expect in a $50K AWD automobile. Something is not quite right with the steering subsystem on the AWD GS350. It just feels odd. Advice…. keep a firm grip on that beautiful slippery wood steering wheel.

Auto Mirror Tilt

The GS350 has this bizarre feature of tilting down both side rear view mirrors while in reverse. What’s more, the mirrors don’t tilt down far enough to be useful for anything (can’t see the curb). Although this can be a useful feature for the curbside mirror while backing into a parallel parking spot, it makes little or no sense for the driver side mirror. This is yet another poorly thought out feature from the folks at Lexus.

Cassette Player

Cassette tape is a dead medium. Why Lexus would elect to include a cassette player in a 2007 automobile is beyond me. It is also a waste of precious cabin space. This is yet another indicator that perhaps folks at Lexus are out of touch with their target market.

Ash Tray

The ashtray is waste of space for non smokers. Like other manufactures, Lexus should offer a storage compartment/ashtray configuration option as a standard feature. And the $300 aftermarket ashtray conversion is a bit over priced. As with the cassette player, this is yet another indicator that perhaps folks at Lexus are out of touch with their target market.

Instrument Cluster Illumination

The GS350 has several instrument cluster lighting adjustments available in the visually inaccessible drop down console. It seems to me the Manual 1 – Manual 4 options have virtually no effect on the instrument cluster variable transparency glass, nor is there a satisfactory explanation of these setting in the owners manual. Like the tilt down driver side mirror and cassette player, this seems to be yet another useless Lexus feature.

Drop Down Console

I don’t like the drop down console at all. Simply put, the steering wheel obstructs the drivers view of the switches in the drop down console. This can be a safety problem for those who attempt to locate and use these switches while driving. I have had to memorize the switch locations by feel in order to use the more popular switches. This is ridiculous in this class of luxury automobile. Again, Lexus engineers have overlooked an important detail.

Steering Wheel Switch Lighting

The control switches on the steering wheel are poorly lit and difficult to see at night. On other vehicles these switches are well lit and easy to see at night. Was this an oversight by Lexus engineers? Again, lack of attention to details.

Seat Memory

It seems normal that a driver will fine tune seat and mirror adjustments as they are driving. And it seems useful to be able to commit those setting to seat memory while driving. Unfortunately, the GS350 deactivates setting seat memory while the transmission is in Drive. Perhaps this is by design because the seat memory switches are extremely difficult to access with the door closed unless you are a contortionist. But seriously, these switches need some serious ergonomic consideration. Again, lack of attention to details.

Summary

There is a common thread that runs through most of the issues cited above; lack of attention to detail. It seems that Lexus has over looked some ergonomic issues, included useless features, and put lots of energy into over engineering unnecessary safety into some of its subsystems. Unfortunately, this compromises the driving experience one would expect from this class of Luxury Automobile. Most of these problems are not difficult or expensive to resolve, and in most cases can be resolved with a simple software upgrade.

And of course, my list of concerns was cheerfully acknowledged and predictable ignored by my local dealer. Bottom line, today these flaws are annoying but tolerable. My concern is with time they will become very annoying and intolerable.

[The G Man]

Member123, I can see why your dealer ignored you, these are problems that they cannot do anything about.

Intermittent wipers can be program by the dealer to change the sensitivity adjustment to intermittent adjustment, yes, having a auto and manual would be ideal.

The auto headlight's sensitivity can be adjust by the dealer, but I dont think the time delay is adjustable. It is designed that the delay is longer enough that when you drive under a overpass, the lights wont turn on. Of course, if you stop under a overpass for 30 sec. or more, the lights should turn on.

Nav system, what year is your GS, the 2008 doesnt have that I agree button anymore. The lock out functions while driving can be hack with a aftermarket product if it bothers you that much. BTW, the voice command still works for blue tooth and Nav while in motion.

AWD Steering: The GS is 70% power to the rear wheel, so you should not get that front wheel drive feeling. You may need some new tires if they are worn. Does you GS have run flat tires. You could be also just getting use to the electrical power steering. Anyway, I use to have a Acura too, and Acura always handles better than a Lexus and they have a better nav too, but I know all of this b 4 I bought the GS.

The auto tilt mirror function can be disable if you push the middle of the left right mirror adjustment switch.

Cassette Player are very useful for people who listen to audio books on long trips like I do.

Ash tray: Since I am a non-smoker, I would rather have another storage compartment.

Instrument Cluster Illumination: Instrument Cluster is not control by the dimmer adjustment. There is a sensor underneath your 3rd brake light that control the dimming of your gauge custer.

Drop Down Console: The Drop Down Console is a neat idea. Imagine all those buttons on your dash, it will look too busy as in Acura's dash board design. I think Lexus did a good job in hiding some of those button to give the dash a nice clean look.

Steering Wheel Switch Lighting: Give it a while, you will have all switch memorized like I did.

Seat Memory: The idea here is when you are driving and hit one of those seat buttons by mistake, nothing will happen. Just adjust you seat while you drive and set it when you park.

[Member123]

Thanks for taking to time to send feedback. It is appreciated.

I was not aware that Tilt on Mirrors could be disabled. Thanks!

Can you tell me what the Manual 1- Manual 4 do to the instrument cluster lighting? I am confused about these options and the Owners Manual is no help.

My dealer (Lexus of Portland) told me that the rain sensor sensitivity cannot be adjusted. Do you have confirmation that this is a procedure that a dealer can perform? That would be good solution!

I agree all those switches in the drop down console would really clutter the instrument console. My biggest complaint is that for me the steering wheel blocks visual access to the switches no matter what. The current drop down console design the lesser of two evils.

I think the Navigation lock out bothers my wife more than me. As a passenger, she likes to play with the Nav system while we are on road trips and curses it everytime she get in the passenger seat! I know about the Hack but I am too lazy to do the work myself. I suppose one day soon there will be an fix from Lexus (that is what I read on the internet).

I noticed another problem with seat memory. My daughter used the car to drive to the store and left the seat adjusted for her 5'4" build. I attempted to recall my seat setting after I opened the door but seat memory recall requires the ignition to be on. I am 6' 1" and was unable to climb into the driver seat to activate ignition switch (press twice). I had to reach in and press the ignition switch while standing outside the car. This is not as easy as it might seem. The FOB was in the center console. Is there a way around this without using the FOB?

In spite of these shortcomings, I really do enjoy the GS350!

Thanks again for all your great feedback.

[The G Man]

I believe the manual 1 to 4 is just for all the other lighting besides the gauge cluster. The gauge cluster has its own sensor and cannot be adjusted.

The rain sensor's sensitivity cannot be adjusted, but I have read some where thats you can disable the auto rain sensor and use the sensitivity adjustment as a intermittent adjustment. When the rain sensor acts up, I usually just switch it to low to wake up the sensor and switch it back to auto. If that doesnt work, I just leave it on low.

Try the voice cammand " address " on the nav. it works really well. You can input address while you are moving.

I thought that the GS's fob can be problem to a driver's momory seat position, meaning that once you open the door with a certain fob it will go to the preset memory seat position. I would double check that function with your dealer.

[BradMacPro]

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Auto Mirror Tilt

The GS350 has this bizarre feature of tilting down both side rear view mirrors while in reverse. What’s more, the mirrors don’t tilt down far enough to be useful for anything (can’t see the curb). Although this can be a useful feature for the curbside mirror while backing into a parallel parking spot, it makes little or no sense for the driver side mirror. This is yet another poorly thought out feature from the folks at Lexus.

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The driver side mirror tilts down as well as the passenger side because there are one way streets, like in New York City, where you can park on the left curb as well as the right, so you need that mirror to pivot down to see the curb, unlike the more typical passenger side mirror for the more typical right curb parking. Whether it pivots enough to actually see the curb is another matter.