Ok, let me give my short list and see if anyone is feeling the same:
1. Mark Levinson is no longer impressive. All the sound now comes from the dash. The sub is all the way in the back, isn't easy to control, and is mismatched to the sound stage. Midrange is too prominent. Quality is a step backward. Total disappointment.
2. The speaker phone is back to using one little tweeter in the corner of the dash and sounds so shrill that it physically hurts my ears. It is completely unusable. This is unacceptable in a car of this price range.
3. Automated trunk latch was removed and replaced with a handle (you know... like on a 1993 Toyota Corolla). It was nice and, once again, now stepped back. This was an important convenience that I used all the time. I used to press the button and then grab items quickly--letting the trunk close while I walked away--saving me time. Now, I have to grab things, take them out, set them down, and then close the trunk myself. Then gather up things again (sometimes many bags), and *then* walk away. Not the end of the world, but way worse than it was. Why. Go. Backward?!
4. The attempt to "Recaro" the seats is a fail. I have a 35in waist and am average build. However, the narrow seat rails at the base make it so that I am literally sitting on the edges of the seat, and the seat ridges are pressing into my legs and behind. Not comfortable. Not acceptable. A totally puzzling design choice. Another step backward.
5. I have the F Sport and it performs worse than any Lexus I've owned. The gas pedal is essentially like a controller on a game console: You press the pedal, the computer sees what you did and then tells the engine what to do. This process is taking so ridiculously long that, even in FSport mode, if I stamp on the gas pedal, I am waiting literally for more than one second (!) for the car to react at all--then it juts like a roller coaster. Even though the RPM gauge flies up, the car is just sitting there. I often find myself tentatively pressing the gas pedal, then waiting, then pressing it some more. But then the car catches up and over reacts. Then I have to ease off. Etc. It's like trying to drive a car with ropes tied to the steering wheel. Really bad. Totally sucks. By the way, performance, primarily, is meant to give you the means to avoid emergency situations. Frankly, this hesitation in the engine is dangerous. (And I don't buy that this is because of the initial learning mode of the engine).
6. The gearing for gears 1 and 2 (and reverse) are clunky and jolting. Just not smooth. When stopping and shifting into reverse, you can feel the gears clanking like a tractor. This is an embarrassment for the flagship performance model!
7. You now have to go about 5 clicks into the incredibly annoying interface to switch the AC back out of Dual Mode after a passenger adjusts the temperature independently. Really?
These items are such shortfalls, given the expectations and price of this car, I find that I am just frustrated whenever I drive. These are such important, core features that it's a showstopper. All you do in a car is sit in it, listen to the stereo, and use the performance of the car to drive it. If all of these suck, what are you left with?
This car does have some really cool features and positive aspects... but I'm so annoyed with this, I don't even care.
I think this is it for me...
1. Mark Levinson is no longer impressive. All the sound now comes from the dash. The sub is all the way in the back, isn't easy to control, and is mismatched to the sound stage. Midrange is too prominent. Quality is a step backward. Total disappointment.
2. The speaker phone is back to using one little tweeter in the corner of the dash and sounds so shrill that it physically hurts my ears. It is completely unusable. This is unacceptable in a car of this price range.
3. Automated trunk latch was removed and replaced with a handle (you know... like on a 1993 Toyota Corolla). It was nice and, once again, now stepped back. This was an important convenience that I used all the time. I used to press the button and then grab items quickly--letting the trunk close while I walked away--saving me time. Now, I have to grab things, take them out, set them down, and then close the trunk myself. Then gather up things again (sometimes many bags), and *then* walk away. Not the end of the world, but way worse than it was. Why. Go. Backward?!
4. The attempt to "Recaro" the seats is a fail. I have a 35in waist and am average build. However, the narrow seat rails at the base make it so that I am literally sitting on the edges of the seat, and the seat ridges are pressing into my legs and behind. Not comfortable. Not acceptable. A totally puzzling design choice. Another step backward.
5. I have the F Sport and it performs worse than any Lexus I've owned. The gas pedal is essentially like a controller on a game console: You press the pedal, the computer sees what you did and then tells the engine what to do. This process is taking so ridiculously long that, even in FSport mode, if I stamp on the gas pedal, I am waiting literally for more than one second (!) for the car to react at all--then it juts like a roller coaster. Even though the RPM gauge flies up, the car is just sitting there. I often find myself tentatively pressing the gas pedal, then waiting, then pressing it some more. But then the car catches up and over reacts. Then I have to ease off. Etc. It's like trying to drive a car with ropes tied to the steering wheel. Really bad. Totally sucks. By the way, performance, primarily, is meant to give you the means to avoid emergency situations. Frankly, this hesitation in the engine is dangerous. (And I don't buy that this is because of the initial learning mode of the engine).
6. The gearing for gears 1 and 2 (and reverse) are clunky and jolting. Just not smooth. When stopping and shifting into reverse, you can feel the gears clanking like a tractor. This is an embarrassment for the flagship performance model!
7. You now have to go about 5 clicks into the incredibly annoying interface to switch the AC back out of Dual Mode after a passenger adjusts the temperature independently. Really?
These items are such shortfalls, given the expectations and price of this car, I find that I am just frustrated whenever I drive. These are such important, core features that it's a showstopper. All you do in a car is sit in it, listen to the stereo, and use the performance of the car to drive it. If all of these suck, what are you left with?
This car does have some really cool features and positive aspects... but I'm so annoyed with this, I don't even care.
I think this is it for me...
