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November 26, 2005
New Car
If you are a regular reader of my irregular postings, you know that back in July I had to turn in my BMW since my lease was up. I loved that car. Having no car, I was in a bit of a pickle, but my brother-in-law Tony came through and let me drive his car for a few months until I found something. So for 5 months I had the opportunity to drive this.
It is a 1999 Corvette. Starting at the age of 14 I worked after school for 2 years in an illegal Volkswagen repair shop. It was illegal, because it was run out of a neighbors 3 car garage in the back of his house in our neighborhood. I started by sweeping the floors, and by the time I left, I was pretty good at doing body work, painting, and rebuilding engines. The owner of the shop owned a white Corvette and I loved that car. I knew back then, that at some point in my life I would own one. So, when the opportunity came to drive Tony's for a few months I jumped at the chance. Overall, the experience was a bit of a disappointment. It was a classic case of the hype not meeting the expectations. The car was very fast, but the ride, handling, and fit and finish of the interior was not at all what I expected. It is probably not fair to compare a 1999 Corvette to a 2002 BMW, but the BMW has set the benchmark, and unfortunately for all other cars that mark is pretty high.
So, I needed to obtain a new car. I had gone to the New York Auto show last year with my friend Brian and during that show fell in love with the Lexus IS350 prototype they had on display. I began following the car on Lexus' web site, and in the magazines. In September, Debbie and I went to a Lexus event at Belmont raceway, and we got to test drive one of the only six IS350's in the country. They had a metallic red one there, and everyone, including me, was blown away by the car. We ordered one that day, and 3 weeks ago we took delivery.
I won't bore you with the details about the car. If you care you can go the Lexus web site. I have had the car 3 weeks today, and have formed some opinions. First, I love the looks. The car is beautiful inside and out. The materials inside are first rate. The seats are very comfortable. The ride is very smooth, but not artificial. You have a nice sense of the road, but the suspension does a good job of masking every little bump. I am sure purists would not like this, but I have no issues. The car has a ton of power, but I find that the transmission is sometimes making strange gear choices. Since no manual was available, I had no choice but to take the 6 speed automatic. For some reason the transmission takes forever to go from 5th to 6th. Not that 5th is winding out. It is like the car has settled into cruise, and then after a few minutes realizes there is one more gear, and then shifts to 6th. I find it annoying.
However the transmission is the least annoying. The navigation/handsfree/audio/climate control system has the absolute worst user interface that I have ever experienced in my life. Wanna use the navigation system, good luck. It takes me at least 3 tries before I enter the correct sequence of buttons. Lets assume you get it going, and then you want to cancel the navigation. Logic would dictate that you would press the large OFF button at the bottom of the screen, right? Wrong. You have to press the menu button, and then “cancel navigation”. I have that part figured out, if only I could figure out an easy way to start the guidance.
How about the telephone. I paired the phone with the car, but God help me if I can figure out how to make a phone call using the handsfree system. it has actually become a running joke between me and Deb. On top of that, unless you are paying careful attention when you start the car, you have no way to know the phone is connected. When the car first starts the screen flashes that the bluetooth connection was successful. If you are not paying attention, to bad. Debbie has an Acura TL, with no navigation, but it does have handsfree. I figured it out in 5 minutes, and the best part is the telephone icon on the radio when you have a successful bluetooth connection. The buttons and commands are all logically laid out, and I never make a mistake using it.
Climate control. Well, the AC light is always on. You set the system to AUTO, and then set the temp. Fairly straight forward. But why is the AC light always on? It just does not make sense.
Audio system. Well no satellite radio, and I am hating that, but it does have a line in jack buried in the arm rest, so I can plug in my ipod, but can't control it. The stereo sounds fine, and it is pretty straight forward, No surprises.
So overall, how do I feel. Well, in a word disappointed. I honestly feel that I could not recommend the car. Instead of leasing, we decided to buy this car, so I am not locked in. If I am still having issues in the spring, I might take the loss and trade the car in...for a BMW.
Posted by pmadsen at November 26, 2005 09:41 PM
