Roady vrs Lexus?

Ok I admit it's a stupid comparison, but I thought you guys might get a kick out of this.

So my Uncle is fairly well off. He has a newer Denali XL and my Aunt drives a new Lexus LS460, the "big"Lexus. Anyway my Uncle invited my Dad to go to Arkansas with him (they're both from there) and because the Denali gets about 14mpg my Uncle left the Denali with my Aunt and they took the Lexus sedan.

So Dad calls me and says that was the most uncomfortable road trip he's taken in ages. What? I don't get it....I know their big Lexus is a top line model, with heated and cooled seats, awesome stereo, 10,000 toys and every bell and whistle Toyota can dream up (it has a vibrating rear seat with a fold-down cooler in the arm rest...no joke..). I've ridden in it, and it's nearly silent running and cost more than my first house.. What was wrong?? It sure "looked" like a nice road trip car to me....

Dad says it does ride silently and yes the stereo sounds great. Also Lloyd drove 80-85 most of the trip and the car is so smooth it felt like they were going about 50mph. BUT he said the car was flat not comfortable. Dad's a big buy...not as big as me, but a big guy. He said no matter what he did with the lumbar support and seat adjustments, that the seat was hard as a church pew and killed his back. He also said the center console is huge and gets wider as it curves into the dashboard, so he could not spread out his legs to stretch and after a few hours began to feel clostrophobic. Ha!

He actually said he was more comfortable when we drove my regular-cab 93 S-10 from Jersey to Texas years back. Not a good add for Lexus, ha! Dad's borrowed my Roady twice to drive to Arkansas, and we just did the same trip two weeks ago in our Suburban. He said he would have given anything to have gone in one of those vehicles.

He told me if he gets another offer to ride to Arkansas with my Uncle he'll offer to pitch in gas money so they can take the Denali.

God Bless America!

-Mike

The big Letter "L" in the grill matches the the Big "L" on the owner's forehead!

I agree with the seats being uncomfortable. A friend of mine has a 2011 IS250 and I just flat out hate the seats in that car. I prefer the road sofa kind of seats. The seats being heated and cooled is pretty cool but still doesn't make up for it.
I find what they call bass on the radio in that thing to be more annoying than anything. I still don't get the whole old clock that looks like it was plucked out of a VCR on the dash in a car like that. Seems a bit odd to me.

I believe it Mike. And it's not anything specific with the Lexus either, just seems to be newer sportier cars in general have less comfortable seats. The Audi my step-Dad owned was the same way. The seats looked nice but after about an hour they felt hard and uncomfortable. Now you could put that Audi into some scary turns and your butt wouldnt move out of the seat, but for most of the time it just sucked to sit in them. A friend had a Passatt that was the same, but the worst seat I ever sat in was in a Daewoo Leganza. I swear it was a leatherette covered fiberglass stadium seat! I've also rode in some newer non-sporty cars like my Mom's Forester, and some Civics. While it's no road sofa, you are at least not in pain. Also, I sat in the new Malibu and the size of the center console and way it got wider towards the dash gave absolutely no room for my right knee (driver) to rest naturally. It was always being pushed on by the dash. The more I see of newer cars, the less I want one... Long live the road sofas!

+1 on the "road sofas"!
Jim

I am not to up on the newer sporty cars, but I know when I went to the Front Royal wagonfest a couple weeks ago, I drove to my niece's house in West Virginia. I was literally on the road setting in my car from 5am until 2am the next morning. I swear to you I never got tired. I have bonnies in my RMW and they are unbelievably comfortable on a long road trip. Every time I have taken that car on a trip I have never been uncomfortable in any way. I wish it got better mileage on the road but I still love it.

I love my Roady, but the most comfortable road trip car I've used is the big brown '79 Electra Limited. The seats are flat wonderful. Have driven it from LA through Vegas then past the Grand Canyon to Texas, then later to New Jersey, and a few years later back to Texas.

On the last trip I drove it from Bernardsville New Jersey to Round Rock Texas in 2006, drove it non-stop (well, stopped for gas every 350 miles). Wanted to see if I could make it in one shot with no motel stops....furthest I've ever driven without a break.

Left at 11:30am Tuesday morning and got to Round Rock (Austin) at 5pm Wednesday afternoon. Car still has the factory cassette deck so I brought my old cassette case from high school and sang along to Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Creedence, Bob Seger, Supertramp and more all across the country. Big 403 cares nothing about hills. Set the cruise control, pop in a cassette and just float down the highway!

Long live Road Sofas +2!

I use to get all the popular car mags that test all the new cars.A lot of the writers have the same problem with Lexus sesats.Maybe it has to do with our butts and the way we sit!
Yea Right
Jim

I have a natural aversion to anything Toyota or Lexus, but about two months ago a funeral director friend got a 2009 LS460L (long wheelbase) for his business, I got to drive it about 180 miles from Boston and back and I gotta agree on the lumbar thing, but I could tolerate it only because everything about that car was just awesome. That said, would not replace the time I got to drive that Audi A8L with the W12 motor. THAT was pure heaven.

i dont know,
my step mother had a Lexus GS300 and that car was tits!
i found the car to be heaven on wheels and i always wanted a Lexus LS. its probably the most american of the japanese cars. another bit of awesomeness is the Infiniti M45 and Q45

that said i would gladly own any of the above....as long as i could keep my Roady.

I drove a lot of (European) cars but nothing matches the comfort of a front bench. Even the old '64 Chrysler New Yorker we own has a front bench and still is very comfortable. I even drove the BMW 750 IL, with an awesome V-12 engine (Germany is just around the corner) the new VW Jetta, Golf and Passat and just as you guys said, after one or two hours you have to get out for 10 mins. Ok, the Golf diesel did 62mpg at 85mph but i wouldn't change it for my wagon, not in a 100 years.
Pete

Way to go Pete,keep that big old wagon and ride PROUD!
Jim