If there are enough people that complain about the bad design decisions, maybe Lexus will pay enough attention to fix them in the software (where applicable). I apologize in advance for the rant.
- The passenger seatbelt indicator - It is louder than for the driver's side. If my dog sits there, or I have my bag on it, it goes off uncontrollably and very loud. I end up buckling the seatbelt to shut it up.
Suggestion: Make it lound and obnoxious for the first 30 seconds or so, or so that you can turn it off. It's enough of a warning to make someone (or something) think twice about not wearing a seatbelt, but does not force it
- Disabling the Nav/Phone/etc controls while in motion - I support this feature for safety, but you have to be able to turn it off. I have seen ways to enable the options on a Prius, through pressing obscure combinations of buttons. However, the only way on the IS 350 I have seen involves opening the dash and clipping a wire, which will undoubtedly void the warranty. Lexus forgot one thing . . . the car can carry passengers!! The BMW iDrive is looking better every day.
Suggestion: Allow the feature to be disabled, and if necessary, couple it to the incredibly annoying passenger seat weight sensor.
- ID3/info tags for media files - The car has the capability to read ID3 tags for MP3s. Why would you want to see the file name when there is an MP3 tag? Does the track "Various Artists - Soundtrack - " strike you as being very descriptive?
Suggestion: Configuration option, choice between the ID3 or the file name. Debatable: ID3 by default.
- Auto-recirculate does not stay selected after the car turns off, other climate settings do - I do a lot of crowded, stop and go highway driving where the fumes get pretty bad. The feature is there to detect hydrocarbons and "automatically switch to recirculate", but it will never "automatically" kick in because someone has to put it to auto first. It's annoying, but I do see how it could be bad. Recirculate in cool and humid fogs up the interior easily. It's a not as bad a hazard to have a few fumes than it is to not be able to see.
Suggestion: Not software, unless the sensor is already there . . . add an interior humidity sensor to switch if it gets to foggy.
- Bad auto climate handling - At first I thought that the temperature calibration was off, but it was checked during routine maintenance. When I paid more attention, the switching between AC and non-AC is very bad. I turn on my car and the external temp is 50, then internal temp (set to auto) is usually ~74. It turns the AC on when it passes the internal setting. Cold air should not be blown unless it is much hotter in the car than it should be.
Suggestion: Wider temperature threshold when the auto climate control temp is reached. Use the setting as a "ceiling" and turn the air off. Do not blow cold air unless the car is X (5?) degrees hotter than it should be (and it's cold outside), and don't blow hot air unless the car is X degrees cooler than it should be (when it is hot outside). It doesn't sound like a good feature, but the point is you don't want cold air blowing on you if you are cold, and you don't want hot air blowing on you if you are hot.
I'm probably not thinking of everything, but I welcome anyone to post additional annoyances, or even to tell me that I am way off base and provide a reason why.
Thanks,
-b