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I was humored by the quality survey email. Corporate wants to know if there are quality issues with a brand new car. The dealer prep should uncover those. I think it would be more valuable to ask for opinions & suggestions. This way when they are creating the next model they already have the market research data. With that in mind, here are the items I would change or improve, and some ideas for solutions.
Throttle Response
This affects my driving experience every time I use the car. Pressing the accelerator does not result in the car immediately moving. There is a delay, rpm’s rise, then gradual acceleration, then harder acceleration. When turning left across lanes of oncoming traffic, this slow acceleration is dangerous as traffic closes in. I could, of course, press the pedal down a lot more, resulting in a "jack rabbit" start, but that does not give passengers a good experience riding with me. I want passengers to be comfortable with my driving, so I drive smoothly. Abrupt changes (accelerating or stopping) make passengers nervous. I have also had two situations where accelerating has prevented me from being involved in an accident. I was starting from a stop sign on snow and a cross traffic vehicle hit ice while stopping for a stop sign and slid into the intersection. I noticed him not slowing and accelerated. If I had stopped I would have been T-boned. By accelerating I was able to get through far enough that he could steer behind me.
The other was a deer jumping onto the road from woods on the left on a foggy night. I determined he was headed for the back door of the car (my interpretation of course), so I accelerated rather than braked, and he passed behind me. In both of these situations immediate throttle response is necessary. The cars acceleration should be directly controlled by driver input to the throttle.
Transmission
I hope this transmission and clutch is very well built. It performs a lot of gear changes. When driving on the highway or interstate with cruise control on, the transmission is changing gears quite often. This car cannot pull itself up the slightest of inclines without downshifting. It also needs to downshift to maintain speed when driving on a flat road into a wind. If the set speed of the cruise control is increased by 1 mph, the car downshifts. How can a Lexus passenger sedan need to downshift to maintain cruise speed on flat terrain, maintain speed on a windy day, or increase speed by 1 mph be approved? All the gear changing is distracting to passengers, and detracts from a luxury experience. All is quiet at 1500 rpm cruising, then the car downshifts for seemingly no reason, rpm rise to 2000, and there is exhaust noise, with a small hill it is shifting down again running at 2500 rpm with more exhaust noise. Then back down to 1500 rpm and quiet. Over and over again throughout the drive. I believe a 4 door passenger sedan should be able to hold speed while cruise control is engaged on a flat road or driving into a wind.
Another transmission experience I have noticed is that while braking on snow coming to a stop sign or stop light, when the transmission shifts into higher gears as the car slows, it will be enough additional resistance on the front tires that the tires slide on the snow. This requires the driver to use less braking so that the additional stopping power from the shifts does not cause slides. Not to important on a daily basis since stops can be gradual and long, but if a driver is braking to stop more abruptly, you do not want them to lose traction as the car is slowing or use less braking.
Lastly, if I do not come to a complete stop before accelerating again, or switch from the brake to accelerator for a roundabout, the transmission "engages" with a jerk and lunges the car forward.
Cabin noise
I think the tire selection was a poor choice. I understand it may have been made because they aid in getting good gas mileage, but they are noisy and hard. There are tires which ride smoother and quieter which I think are a much better fit for the demeanor of this car.
There is also a significant amount of wind noise from the sunroof when the shade is open. On short drives or slow drives (in the city) there is none, but at highway or interstate speed there is constant wind noise, and I end up driving with the shade closed. I would prefer to have the shade open and enjoy the sunlight but an hour or hours of wind noise in the right ear is tiring. The sunroof does not leak air at all, it is just the wind passing over the car, but older ES's with sunroofs were better than the new one.
Mark Levinson stereo
I wish the stereo stayed on after the car is turned off and a door has not been opened. It could turn off once a door is opened. Many times I will want to listen to the end of a song, a discussion, or a comedy routine when I arrive at my destination, but do not want to let the car run. I need to press start/stop to stop the car, press start to go into ACC mode and continue listening, and press start 2 more times (on & off) to turn it off before I exit the car. None would be needed if it remained on until a door opened.
This is a poor sounding system. Owners with children were not considered in the design of this stereo? I let my children connect a device to the Bluetooth, then I turn the fader to the rear so they can listen through the stereo and my wife & I can talk in the front. The sound for the rear passengers is terrible. The sound for people in the rear seats should be as good as the front. The front is not spectacular either. I think that a person who chooses a luxury brand like Lexus is probably more likely to purchase a high end home audio component than the average consumer. Many people may see the Mark Levinson name for the first time in a Lexus, or get their first experience of a Mark Levinson audio component in a Lexus. My opinion is that this system will never compel a Lexus owner to look at a Mark Levinson product for their home. I am surprised Mark Levinson would agree to sacrifice sound quality rather than place a superior system in the car for more money. Mark Levinson home is apparently more concerned with quality and customer enjoyment of the audio experience. These quotes are from their website and I believe were sacrificed in this system to meet a price point. "ensure the utmost in audio performance so you can enjoy impeccable sound" and "we stop at nothing to achieve absolute excellence." One phrase from their website is correct. "Your music. Like you've never heard before."
Seat
I have a 33in waist and am 6'1, 155 Lbs. The point is, I am slim, and I do not fit between the bolsters on the bottom seat cushion. Airplanes have about a 16" seat width and people complain about airplane seating consistently. The bottom seat cushion between the bolsters in this car is 12" Who fits in that? I get aches and am sore on each side of my hip after an hour.
Headrests
The headrest is sloped into the head to much. I sit straight enough that it tips my head down, and results in a sore neck. I have remedied this by removing the headrest and installing it backwards. This gives no whiplash protection though. Solution - It would be better to have an adjustable headrest for your customers so that they are protected from whiplash and can rest their head comfortably while driving if desired.
Cruise control
I would prefer if setting adaptive cruise or conventional cruise as the default were a customizable feature. When the steering wheel button for cruise is pushed, holding for 3 seconds to get to conventional is not a major issue, but the ability to have it come on with the quick push would be nice.
Turning circle seems large. In a parking lot driving down my side of the isle, if I turn the wheel to the right to pull into a parking spot, I cannot make it into the lines. I need to swerve left into the oncoming side of the isle, then can turn into a stall.
Design Flaws
On the passenger side the dash is level with the top of the door panel. On the driver side it is not.
On the passenger side the top speaker trim flows into the top vent trim. On the driver door it does not.
There is a different kind of rubber and shape of rubber door seal about a few inches from the top when front doors open. This looks like a “fix” or afterthought.
Versions of the ES
I have an opinion on version differentiation. I think the ES should be a comfortable, quiet, smooth, and easy to drive experience. The F sport could be for people who would like a car with "sportier" features. How I would create that difference is:
The ES would have light steering all the time. Remove the paddle shifters and remove the drive modes. Have a softer suspension, quiet tires, and have as quiet an exhaust as possible.
The F sport would have tight steering with a lots of "feel," paddle shifters, drive modes, tighter tuned suspension, performance tires, and a louder exhaust. These changes make the two cars very distinct.
All this being said, I would buy the ES again. Fist and foremost I look at cars which I believe will have long term reliability. I do not want to have car problems during my working years. Other criteria are a $50,000 4 door sedan, smooth ride, quiet ride, a naturally aspirated V6, and quality of components. Lexus has a reputation for quality & longevity, and I hope this car continues that.
Throttle Response
This affects my driving experience every time I use the car. Pressing the accelerator does not result in the car immediately moving. There is a delay, rpm’s rise, then gradual acceleration, then harder acceleration. When turning left across lanes of oncoming traffic, this slow acceleration is dangerous as traffic closes in. I could, of course, press the pedal down a lot more, resulting in a "jack rabbit" start, but that does not give passengers a good experience riding with me. I want passengers to be comfortable with my driving, so I drive smoothly. Abrupt changes (accelerating or stopping) make passengers nervous. I have also had two situations where accelerating has prevented me from being involved in an accident. I was starting from a stop sign on snow and a cross traffic vehicle hit ice while stopping for a stop sign and slid into the intersection. I noticed him not slowing and accelerated. If I had stopped I would have been T-boned. By accelerating I was able to get through far enough that he could steer behind me.
The other was a deer jumping onto the road from woods on the left on a foggy night. I determined he was headed for the back door of the car (my interpretation of course), so I accelerated rather than braked, and he passed behind me. In both of these situations immediate throttle response is necessary. The cars acceleration should be directly controlled by driver input to the throttle.
Transmission
I hope this transmission and clutch is very well built. It performs a lot of gear changes. When driving on the highway or interstate with cruise control on, the transmission is changing gears quite often. This car cannot pull itself up the slightest of inclines without downshifting. It also needs to downshift to maintain speed when driving on a flat road into a wind. If the set speed of the cruise control is increased by 1 mph, the car downshifts. How can a Lexus passenger sedan need to downshift to maintain cruise speed on flat terrain, maintain speed on a windy day, or increase speed by 1 mph be approved? All the gear changing is distracting to passengers, and detracts from a luxury experience. All is quiet at 1500 rpm cruising, then the car downshifts for seemingly no reason, rpm rise to 2000, and there is exhaust noise, with a small hill it is shifting down again running at 2500 rpm with more exhaust noise. Then back down to 1500 rpm and quiet. Over and over again throughout the drive. I believe a 4 door passenger sedan should be able to hold speed while cruise control is engaged on a flat road or driving into a wind.
Another transmission experience I have noticed is that while braking on snow coming to a stop sign or stop light, when the transmission shifts into higher gears as the car slows, it will be enough additional resistance on the front tires that the tires slide on the snow. This requires the driver to use less braking so that the additional stopping power from the shifts does not cause slides. Not to important on a daily basis since stops can be gradual and long, but if a driver is braking to stop more abruptly, you do not want them to lose traction as the car is slowing or use less braking.
Lastly, if I do not come to a complete stop before accelerating again, or switch from the brake to accelerator for a roundabout, the transmission "engages" with a jerk and lunges the car forward.
Cabin noise
I think the tire selection was a poor choice. I understand it may have been made because they aid in getting good gas mileage, but they are noisy and hard. There are tires which ride smoother and quieter which I think are a much better fit for the demeanor of this car.
There is also a significant amount of wind noise from the sunroof when the shade is open. On short drives or slow drives (in the city) there is none, but at highway or interstate speed there is constant wind noise, and I end up driving with the shade closed. I would prefer to have the shade open and enjoy the sunlight but an hour or hours of wind noise in the right ear is tiring. The sunroof does not leak air at all, it is just the wind passing over the car, but older ES's with sunroofs were better than the new one.
Mark Levinson stereo
I wish the stereo stayed on after the car is turned off and a door has not been opened. It could turn off once a door is opened. Many times I will want to listen to the end of a song, a discussion, or a comedy routine when I arrive at my destination, but do not want to let the car run. I need to press start/stop to stop the car, press start to go into ACC mode and continue listening, and press start 2 more times (on & off) to turn it off before I exit the car. None would be needed if it remained on until a door opened.
This is a poor sounding system. Owners with children were not considered in the design of this stereo? I let my children connect a device to the Bluetooth, then I turn the fader to the rear so they can listen through the stereo and my wife & I can talk in the front. The sound for the rear passengers is terrible. The sound for people in the rear seats should be as good as the front. The front is not spectacular either. I think that a person who chooses a luxury brand like Lexus is probably more likely to purchase a high end home audio component than the average consumer. Many people may see the Mark Levinson name for the first time in a Lexus, or get their first experience of a Mark Levinson audio component in a Lexus. My opinion is that this system will never compel a Lexus owner to look at a Mark Levinson product for their home. I am surprised Mark Levinson would agree to sacrifice sound quality rather than place a superior system in the car for more money. Mark Levinson home is apparently more concerned with quality and customer enjoyment of the audio experience. These quotes are from their website and I believe were sacrificed in this system to meet a price point. "ensure the utmost in audio performance so you can enjoy impeccable sound" and "we stop at nothing to achieve absolute excellence." One phrase from their website is correct. "Your music. Like you've never heard before."
Seat
I have a 33in waist and am 6'1, 155 Lbs. The point is, I am slim, and I do not fit between the bolsters on the bottom seat cushion. Airplanes have about a 16" seat width and people complain about airplane seating consistently. The bottom seat cushion between the bolsters in this car is 12" Who fits in that? I get aches and am sore on each side of my hip after an hour.
Headrests
The headrest is sloped into the head to much. I sit straight enough that it tips my head down, and results in a sore neck. I have remedied this by removing the headrest and installing it backwards. This gives no whiplash protection though. Solution - It would be better to have an adjustable headrest for your customers so that they are protected from whiplash and can rest their head comfortably while driving if desired.
Cruise control
I would prefer if setting adaptive cruise or conventional cruise as the default were a customizable feature. When the steering wheel button for cruise is pushed, holding for 3 seconds to get to conventional is not a major issue, but the ability to have it come on with the quick push would be nice.
Turning circle seems large. In a parking lot driving down my side of the isle, if I turn the wheel to the right to pull into a parking spot, I cannot make it into the lines. I need to swerve left into the oncoming side of the isle, then can turn into a stall.
Design Flaws
On the passenger side the dash is level with the top of the door panel. On the driver side it is not.
On the passenger side the top speaker trim flows into the top vent trim. On the driver door it does not.
There is a different kind of rubber and shape of rubber door seal about a few inches from the top when front doors open. This looks like a “fix” or afterthought.
Versions of the ES
I have an opinion on version differentiation. I think the ES should be a comfortable, quiet, smooth, and easy to drive experience. The F sport could be for people who would like a car with "sportier" features. How I would create that difference is:
The ES would have light steering all the time. Remove the paddle shifters and remove the drive modes. Have a softer suspension, quiet tires, and have as quiet an exhaust as possible.
The F sport would have tight steering with a lots of "feel," paddle shifters, drive modes, tighter tuned suspension, performance tires, and a louder exhaust. These changes make the two cars very distinct.
All this being said, I would buy the ES again. Fist and foremost I look at cars which I believe will have long term reliability. I do not want to have car problems during my working years. Other criteria are a $50,000 4 door sedan, smooth ride, quiet ride, a naturally aspirated V6, and quality of components. Lexus has a reputation for quality & longevity, and I hope this car continues that.