Owner Experience Thread - Miscellaneous (5 Viewers)

[tacoshawn]

The sound system is mass produced in a mass produced vehicle just like 99% of all vehicles sold. When your brand is ‘experience amazing’ and a paid-for option is dud compared the baseline (like the 10 speaker ‘premium sound’ in our RX) then Lexus dropped the ball. It’s not miss placed expectations. It should be better, in some fashion. If it is not pull it from the option sheet or improve it and adjust (increase) the price accordingly for the improved value.

I’m simply sharing for others waiting for their GX. I’m keeping my GX it is a great vehicle and I’m glad I bought it. The roof rack and the ML sound are not amazing and are not worthy of additional expense in my opinion.

Nothing wrong with being disappointed in some aspects of my mass produced vehicle.

 

[Oakleyguy]

The sound system is mass produced in a mass produced vehicle just like 99% of all vehicles sold. When your brand is ‘experience amazing’ and a paid-for option is dud compared the baseline (like the 10 speaker ‘premium sound’ in our RX) then Lexus dropped the ball. It’s not miss placed expectations. It should be better, in some fashion. If it is not pull it from the option sheet or improve it and adjust (increase) the price accordingly for the improved value.

I’m simply sharing for others waiting for their GX. I’m keeping my GX it is a great vehicle and I’m glad I bought it. The roof rack and the ML sound are not amazing and are not worthy of additional expense in my opinion.

Nothing wrong with being disappointed in some aspects of my mass produced vehicle.

I agree with the lack of bass with the ML stereo. I usually leave my EQ settings flat in my vehicles, but I've had to basically max out the bass.

I greatly prefer the JBL system in my '14 200.

 

[Sentinel]

Any thoughts on installing a drawer system or sleeping platform over the battery in the cargo area. How often do you need access to the battery?

I'm in the process of building drawers / sleeping platform. The frame will be held in with two screws used for the existing tie downs. Not sure two will be enough, but that's where I'm starting. I've used 4 tie downs on GX's and Broncos and never had any issues. If I need to remove it for battery access, remove the drawers and two screws, NBD.

 

[Dixon Santana]

What's the latest on this ?

Replaced the plug and gasket myself. It’s a serviceable part. Didn’t want to deal with the warranty process. Knowing how that works, it would have ended up with Mr.T wanting to replace the cylinder head. Good to go. Zero issues aside from that to report.

 

[NY2LA]

I agree with the lack of bass with the ML stereo. I usually leave my EQ settings flat in my vehicles, but I've had to basically max out the bass.

I greatly prefer the JBL system in my '14 200.

I wonder if the active noise cancellation in the GX (not sure if they have that in the LC) is interacting unfavorably with the either of the stereo systems. And not only do we have noise cancellation, we have piped in engine sounds.

 

[ryanjl]

and what's your point?

I'm essentially backing up what you said. Should be obvious.

These are big, boutique brands in the home audio world lending their name and probably not much else to the car audio world.

 

[tacoshawn]

Information on noise measurements and comparison between the GX and our 5th Gen RX. I ran back-to-back comparisons on 50 mph surface street and 70 mph divided highway with the RX/GX using my noise meter. Yes, I have a real SPL meter from the days of having to manually level-match surround systems.

My brain thought the noise levels were very similar and that the GX was actually a little bit quieter.

My meter affirmed the noise levels are in fact very similar. However, the GX was typically 2-3 dB louder than the RX (slow meter response, C-Weighted frequency curve). For those familiar with audio 3dB is an effective the lower limit of normal peoples ability to differentiate sound levels. Personally, I have hearing loss so I’m going to believe my sound meter and attribute my perception to the difference in the frequency of the noise passing into the cabin on the respective vehicles.

Both are very quiet and a vast improvement over my historic vehicle mix with the exception of my Jaguar. The Jag was wonderfully quiet and, I believe, even a little quieter than either the RX or GX. I sold it in 2021 so cannot make direct comparisons.

 

[Fort9378]

I agree with the lack of bass with the ML stereo. I usually leave my EQ settings flat in my vehicles, but I've had to basically max out the bass.

I greatly prefer the JBL system in my '14 200.

I have pretty low standards but coming from a 20 Taco I am very impressed with the JBL system in my 250.

 

[ryanjl]

While the stereo in my 1958 isn't necessarily terrible, the low quality has worn on me. When I first bought it I played my audiophile test tracks and they sounded okay, but anything not well produced or significantly more complex just turns to mush. Upgrades were always on the agenda.

Has anyone done anything to theirs yet? Dropped by a local high-end car audio place and the dude proposed dropping in some basic Focals (components in the front doors and dash, coaxials in the second row doors) and a JL Audio sub box. He claimed that alone would blow away the Toyota JBL system in the higher optioned models. That would be step 1. Step 2 would be to eliminate everything from the head unit on and throw a bunch of amps and signal processors at it, but he thinks I'd be happy with step 1. Step 2 would be around $2500 more.

I'm a home audio guy, and not much of a car audio guy, but the irony being I do most of my music listening in my car anymore.

I'm a little concerned about wiring up the subwoofer to the battery given the weird system Toyota is using on these.

Any thoughts?

 

[tacoshawn]

We are ~1,300 miles into our road trip up the west coast. A couple of items to share as we put miles on the GX.

Sport S/+ has engine sound augmentation. If you are accelerating hard and switch to Sport S or S+ halfway down the on ramp the engine sound is immediately louder.

The speedometer is spot on (consistently within 1mph) to my stand alone GPS. Kinda blurry image below.

Range is consistently ~300 miles before the low fuel kicks warning kicks on. It continues to track distance to empty and when you hit the distance to empty it indicates refuel now. I’ve done that twice (intentionally) and it took ~17.5 gallons each time. I’m getting around 17.5 miles per gallon. The GX trip computer and my hand calculations for fuel economy consistently match on each tank within ~.2 mpg, usually within 0.1mpg. So, my math says there is another 50-ish miles of comfortable range left for a total of 350 miles of range @ freeway speeds.

I have also been watching the boost gauge and the turbos kick in smoothly and build boost quickly. Climbing passes and holding 75MPH resulted in 8-12 PSI of boost. Merging or passing brought 15 or so pounds of boost. When pushed really hard I’ve seen 20 PSI a couple of times.

The adaptive speed control is fantastic. It handles the following distances well and stops smoothly when needed. Traffic Jam assist works really well too and I love hands-free in stop-and-go traffic. I wish traffic jam assist operated up to 40mph versus cutting out at 25 mph. Lane centering works great on the freeway and moderate curves. It doesn’t keep up in curvier sections. Interestingly, the land centering on our RX (which is the same TSS 3.0+) works a little better at staying in the center of the lane. Regardless, a nice reduction in driver fatigue, particularly on the super slab.

 

[NY2LA]

We are ~1,300 miles into our road trip up the west coast. A couple of items to share as we put miles on the GX.

Sport + has engine sound augmentation. If you are accelerating hard and switch to Sport + halfway down the on ramp the engine sound is immediately louder.

The speedometer is spot on (consistently within 1mph) to my stand alone GPS. Kinda blurry image below.

Range is consistently ~300 miles before the low fuel kicks warning kicks on. It continues to track distance to empty and when you hit the distance to empty it indicates refuel now. I’ve done that twice (intentionally) and it took ~17.5 gallons each time. I’m getting around 17.5 miles per gallon. So, my math says there is another 50-ish miles of comfortable range left for a total of 350 miles of range @ freeway speeds.

The adaptive speed control is fantastic. It handles the following distances well and stops smoothly when needed. Traffic Jam assist works really well too and I love hands-free in stop-and-go traffic. I wish traffic jam assist operated up to 40mph versus cutting out at 25 mph. Lane centering works great on the freeway and moderate curves. It doesn’t keep up in curvier sections. Interestingly, the land centering on our RX (which is the same TSS 3.0+) works a little better at staying in the center of the lane. Regardless nice reduction in driver fatigue, particularly on the super slab.

View attachment 3689504

Same feelings here. I love the semi-automated features. I also love how the lane centering still works as a background "rescue kick-in" when you are have the adaptive cruise control off but the steering wheel icon turn on.

Unless you are offroading 90% of the time, which few of us are, this stuff is really nice to have.

 

[Oakleyguy]

We are ~1,300 miles into our road trip up the west coast. A couple of items to share as we put miles on the GX.

Sport + has engine sound augmentation. If you are accelerating hard and switch to Sport + halfway down the on ramp the engine sound is immediately louder.

The speedometer is spot on (consistently within 1mph) to my stand alone GPS. Kinda blurry image below.

Range is consistently ~300 miles before the low fuel kicks warning kicks on. It continues to track distance to empty and when you hit the distance to empty it indicates refuel now. I’ve done that twice (intentionally) and it took ~17.5 gallons each time. I’m getting around 17.5 miles per gallon. So, my math says there is another 50-ish miles of comfortable range left for a total of 350 miles of range @ freeway speeds.

I have also been watching the boost gauge and the turbos kick in smoothly and build boost quickly. Climbing passes and holding 75MPH resulted in 8-12 PSI of boost. Merging or passing brought 15 or so pounds of boost. When pushed really hard I’ve seen 20 PSI a couple of tunes.

The adaptive speed control is fantastic. It handles the following distances well and stops smoothly when needed. Traffic Jam assist works really well too and I love hands-free in stop-and-go traffic. I wish traffic jam assist operated up to 40mph versus cutting out at 25 mph. Lane centering works great on the freeway and moderate curves. It doesn’t keep up in curvier sections. Interestingly, the land centering on our RX (which is the same TSS 3.0+) works a little better at staying in the center of the lane. Regardless nice reduction in driver fatigue, particularly on the super slab.

View attachment 3689504

As a data point, if your lane centering/driver assist stops working accurately on a road trip you may have too much bug splatter on the camera.

 

[M4A3E8]

Ok, nitpicking time. I listen to a lot of Japanese City Pop. I haven't listen to American music in about 3 years. I find it kind of hilarious that the J250, built in Japan, can't read JP.

That's the software's fault, not the vehicle itself. Just to be explicitly clear.

But one thing that stood out to me is the incorrect display of music being played. At the time, the song playing is 2時までのシンデレラ (Cinderella Until 2 O'clock) by Nakahara Meiko from her Friday Magic album. But the info-tainment system is displaying Anri, another JCP singer, and her album, Timely!!!

I don't know if this happens with American music but this particular issue is happening on my J250. I'm not overtly dissatisfied, as I'm suppose to keep my eyes on the road and I'm not too bothered by it, but it's something I've noticed every once and a while.

 

[Sfef84]

Re sound system: I have the LC LC with Premium package (JBL) and the doors rattle like crazy from what minimal bass the component speakers make even at low volume. The interior drive noise is otherwise quiet with zero rattles when driving. I'm no audiophile but the Harmon Kardon system in my 2017 BMW 440i hits hard as hell and is crystal clear at any audio level.

 

[Patassa]

While the stereo in my 1958 isn't necessarily terrible, the low quality has worn on me. When I first bought it I played my audiophile test tracks and they sounded okay, but anything not well produced or significantly more complex just turns to mush. Upgrades were always on the agenda.

Has anyone done anything to theirs yet? Dropped by a local high-end car audio place and the dude proposed dropping in some basic Focals (components in the front doors and dash, coaxials in the second row doors) and a JL Audio sub box. He claimed that alone would blow away the Toyota JBL system in the higher optioned models. That would be step 1. Step 2 would be to eliminate everything from the head unit on and throw a bunch of amps and signal processors at it, but he thinks I'd be happy with step 1. Step 2 would be around $2500 more.

I'm a home audio guy, and not much of a car audio guy, but the irony being I do most of my music listening in my car anymore.

I'm a little concerned about wiring up the subwoofer to the battery given the weird system Toyota is using on these.

Any thoughts?

Biggest bang for the buck in car audio, imo, is treating and sealing the door panels. Doing new drivers without that would be marginal at best, imo.

Next dramatic leap forward, he's right, would be a DSP.

 

[ryanjl]

Definitely planned on having some dynamat or similar put in the doors when things are taken apart for the speakers.

But I really think the drivers in the 1958 are fairly bottom rung. I haven't cracked anything apart yet, but my hunch is the stock speakers are very similar (if not the same) as the ones in the 300 in this video:

 

[turbo8]

This was kind of weird. When parking on a steep slope and taking your seatbelt off, you can't put it back on unless you turn the car off or get back to more level ground. Guage said this was around 30 degrees.

 

[jayp2]

Had a friend wave off the purchase list the other day after driving one

His complaint was blind spot related and he said it felt nearly as bad as an FJ Cruiser

Any of you new owners have any feedback on how visibility to the right rear is?

I know these vehicles have detectors for vehicles on sides and the lexus even has cameras but......

 

[cruisergreen]

Random questions for 250 owners. I considered a new thread, but I think this stuff fits here ok.

• When using Apple Car Play (or AA), do the camera views (MTM, etc.) still pop up on the display?
• If the rear glass is open, will it let you open the rear hatch? Specifically thinking of the power rear gate. (not responsible for damage if someone tries this and it goes bad )
• Does the 250 have an aluminum hood? There was info a while ago that said the GX had an aluminum hood, but I forgot to check the 250 when looking in person.

 

[wngrog]

Had a friend wave off the purchase list the other day after driving one

His complaint was blind spot related and he said it felt nearly as bad as an FJ Cruiser

Any of you new owners have any feedback on how visibility to the right rear is?

I know these vehicles have detectors for vehicles on sides and the lexus even has cameras but......

Man that’s the best thing to me is the visibility. Absolutely nothing at all like an FJCruiser