Hi Kedge and all,
Hope this helps ...
I got a Lexus RX330 Luxury in Australia in late 2004 after many years of BMW5 and BMW3. So far it has worked for us, especially in the passenger row where there is more space than in a BMW5, especially if using child seats. The finishing is very good. The rear camera is very good. The ride is comfortable. As an alternative I looked at Toyota Kluger (7 seats), BMW X5 (loads more money), Mercedes ML (truck like), Volvo XC90 (very nice, until I got told about b*&^% Volvo driver jokes, pricier), and dreamed about driving a car the size of a Toyota Landcruiser (not).
The pre-sales and post-sales support by the dealer has been excellent, and definitely not as snobby as BMW's. (I was only driving a 5 not a 7 series after all.)
I think the Lexus needs a few improvements though.
For example the light sensor on the mirrors is not that sensitive and consequently the lights come on a bit too late.
The automatic seat and mirror adjustment to preset positions ignores the rear view mirror (why?).
Furthermore the automatic blindness prevention is too dark (when compared to BMW5's mirror).
It would be great to have some basic data displayed on the wind screen using a head up display.
I miss some of the noise insulation (like double glazing also on the side) from the BMW5.
The use of the climate controls (some buttons, some on screen) is a little confusing at first.
Adaptive cruise control would be nice, provided it does not depend on MS Windows.
Compared to Europe, Australia has poor infrastructure for enhanced radio services such as the Radio Data System (RDS, which gives station information and a bit more), and for navigation updates over the air (TMC, traffic message channel) for traffic jams and road works are not provided so the Lexus cannot pick them up, and navigate around them. Hardly Lexus' fault.
I found the DVD navigation disk the biggest issue (Telstra/ Sensis supplied who apparently also supply Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar), and not up to scratch. Some newier areas near Castle Hill near Sydney, that are in the 2004 UBD paper directory, do not show up on the disk. And I am not talking rural Australia, but suburban Sydney ...
It is fine within the Sydney area, but eg towns near Bowral (no more than 100kms away) are hardly on the disk, including apparently some highway exits. Somehow
If the disc were better, I would have nothing to gripe about though in terms of the navigation.
The one thing that is still puzzling me is how to get a Bluetooth phone to work with the handsfree. A lot of the information on Bluetooth profiles can be confusing, as this standard seems to be in development still.
Has anyone got a GSM Palm Treo 650 to work with the Lexus RX330 2004 with more than receiving/ dialing calls?
I do hope Lexus will also come out with a little runabout like a Smart or Mini though.
mail @ jnobel . net
+1 (702) 9249495
