Mass surveillance is here
You see this black line above the steering wheel on this Lexus? It might not look like much but that’s the new Diver Monitor System
If you set your camera to the right frame rate, you can actually see the 2 red dots used to monitor and track your eyes
These invisible red dots are always watching you
This is the start of a mass surveillance state that can control your driving
The Lexus Driver Monitor System uses a small infrared camera and sensor
It detects drowsiness, distraction, or sudden medical issues. If you don’t respond to warnings, it can issue escalating alerts, slow the vehicle, or bring it to a stop
Now imagine if the government got a back door into these systems
Think about it this way too, this data could be shared with law enforcement or the government against your will
These systems should not be allowed on vehicles. We’ve lived fine without them for decades
ALWAYS avoid Toyota and Lexus V6s. Fours and eights are great. Sixes are poison.
My mom's got a 2019 RX350, and at under 70K easy miles, it got hit by the shockingly common Toyota V6 timing cover leak. (Check Google/YouTube.) Leak is an understatement, it drenches the whole engine bay in oil, in this case, bad enough to destroy the alternator and brake booster, too.
The fix is an engine-out service. Total bill: nearly $10K, and over 3 MONTHS in the shop at Lexus of Austin, who also managed to do $4600 worth of body damage to it that they so far are refusing to cover. (Still haggling with them, just had to start over with a new service manager, whose going in position is that they might split it, at best. Not OK.)
Since the repairs took so long, their system has conveniently "automatically" deleted the photos that would prove it was undamaged when we brought it in there (though we have 3 people there at the time saying it wasn't damaged and the dealer's own intake form does not note any damage.) I thought Lexus was a safe choice, but this entire experience has been terrible, other than that they did at least provide a loaner for the whole 3 months. But they've also lied to me and blown me off repeatedly throughout the process, and given me a huge runaround and lies about the damage and the photos. No one at the dealer cares.
Fortunately, Mom bought the extended warranty against my advice, which covered everything, eventually - though endless hours on hold were required to get through to schedule inspector visits.
My conclusion: ALL new cars, including "luxury brands" are absolute garbage that the mfr and dealer WILL refuse to stand behind whenever something expensive goes wrong. (Yes, I include Tesla in that - I've seen truly dreadful build quality on friends' Teslas - and they seem to have super fragile suspensions and thermal systems from hell.) My newest car is my wife's, a 2012, and when we decide to replace it, we'll probably dial the year backwards.
I NEVER again want another new car or "dealership/manufacturer experience" - I've had ONE good one, out of the dozens of new and used cars we've owned that involved dealer "service".
Life is just too short for new car and dealer bullshit.
"Forgotten Sleeper: The 400 HP Lexus Coupe No One Bought"
https://t.co/oToPvKb2UZ via @HotcarsOfficial
["400 HP"?!? Fact check. Erroneous title, but a brilliant beautiful vehicle!]