My Experience With The 2013 Es350 As A Loaner Vehicle

[cduluk]

Hi all:

Yesterday i left my Rx400h at the dealer to have the recall completed, and they gave me a 2013 ES350 as a loaner. I wanted to share my thoughts.

The 2013 ES350 they gave me is very well equipped for a loaner, complete with NAV and HIDs. However, i noticed that the headlights do not have AFS nor active adapting auto-leveling! Why would Lexus eliminate this feature? Usually you'd see the headlights turn left and right around corners and up/down when speeding up and slowing down quickly--but nothing on the 2013. Very strange...

I'm also not a fan of the joystick controls for the navigation. It's very difficult--at least for a beginner--to use while driving. I'm partial to the touch-screen.

Onto the things i like... The heated steering wheel! Getting into the car on this 45 degree (winter) Rhode Island morning was brutal, but i must say the steering wheel--at least the 3 and 9 o'clock leather sections, heated up within minutes! Very pleasant.

I also like the quiet cabin and available power when in "sport" mode. The "blind spot" lights on the side mirrors are also helpful, however i fear that drivers will trust them too much!

For the most part, i am really enjoying this 2013 ES350 and i'll be sad to drop it off later tonight.

Any thoughts/responses?

[lenore]

New stuf always has new features, by the way did you get a recall notice, or did you just schedule and appointment for the check...?????

[cduluk]

New stuf always has new features, by the way did you get a recall notice, or did you just schedule and appointment for the check...?????

I actually brought my 400h to the dealer late last week to get the newest nav update (v13.1, released Oct 10, 2013) and my service manager told me the recall needed to be done. I never got any letter or anything, which i guess is normal since i bought it used.

[lenore]

Thanks for feed back....I would assume (yea I know bad thinking) that even us second owners would be notified since I am registered on my Lexus site.

[pj8708]

Thanks David for taking the time to give us the feedback on the 2013 ES350.

You hit upon the one feature that I think has been a step back in user ease and performance. That is the "Joy Stick" or "Mouse" on the center console. While it makes it possible to access a plethera of information, by having to use the joy stick, you spend an unsafe amount of time looking back and forth from the joy sticks sreen cursor position, to the road and traffic, plus your side mirrors.

The former "Touch Screen" was much easier and was more logical to program.

Having said all that, if the Joy stick operated nav owner, can spend a day going over the mannual again and again, in some situations, then that owner will find the system pretty cool.

Your observation about the missing "self leveling head lights" didn't ring the right bell. All my previous Lexi had the self leveling feature and I was sure my 2013 ES350 did. Just to make sure I knew I was on the right path and not just having a little blank out from the little green pills they give us here at the home.9 The little green ones make everybody happy!! (kind of like Woodstock all over again!!)

Any how, I called Lexus Costumer Service and they said yes, the 2013 ES350 does have what the now call "Intelligent High Beam". The feature is standard with all ES350's.

Paul

[cduluk]

Thanks David for taking the time to give us the feedback on the 2013 ES350.

You hit upon the one feature that I think has been a step back in user ease and performance. That is the "Joy Stick" or "Mouse" on the center console. While it makes it possible to access a plethera of information, by having to use the joy stick, you spend an unsafe amount of time looking back and forth from the joy sticks sreen cursor position, to the road and traffic, plus your side mirrors.

The former "Touch Screen" was much easier and was more logical to program.

Having said all that, if the Joy stick operated nav owner, can spend a day going over the mannual again and again, in some situations, then that owner will find the system pretty cool.

Your observation about the missing "self leveling head lights" didn't ring the right bell. All my previous Lexi had the self leveling feature and I was sure my 2013 ES350 did. Just to make sure I knew I was on the right path and not just having a little blank out from the little green pills they give us here at the home.9 The little green ones make everybody happy!! (kind of like Woodstock all over again!!)

Any how, I called Lexus Costumer Service and they said yes, the 2013 ES350 does have what the now call "Intelligent High Beam". The feature is standard with all ES350's.

Paul

Who's David? It's a nice name, but i'm stuck with Chris.

I agree, the "mouse" feature for the nav is really irritating. Lexus called this afternoon letting me know the part for the recall is on back order and that i "have to" keep the loaner another day. :whistles: I'll take it! But it's still not enough time to learn how to navigate through the nav menus.

The new ES350 has an "option" for that "intelligent high beam" feature you mentioned, but that's simply a feature that turns the "high beams" ON or OFF if an oncoming car is approaching (as to not blind them). The low beams however do not have AFS (left or right) nor adaptive active auto-leveling (up and down) like the 07-12 ES did. With the previous gen, if you hit the throttle hard--effectively raising the nose--you'd see the low beam "lower" so the beam doesn't shoot in the air. Likewise, if you slammed on the brakes--effectively lowering the nose-- you'd see the low beam "raise" so you could still see in front of you. I did the test with this 2013 ES, and it doesn't do that. It's very strange in my opinion that Lexus would remove such a nice feature. It must be some cost savings thing?

[pj8708]

Sorry Chris.......Your two avatars look quite alike and I guess I was in to big of a hurry. Please accept my apology!!!!

Paul

[LEXIRX330]

Yea CD I also dislike the mouse joystick control. Big step back IMHO. I have had several loaners and I for one am not a fan. I also love the self leveling lights and AFS I have it on my GX, and range rover and I love it going around turns and hills and dips especially on back roads.