Automobile Magazine: LS460 parking video (hint: it fails to park)

Funny Video

But I think the faliure of the Self Park feature was due to Improper use by the Occupants not System Malfunction.

Just My Opinion

I've seen few tests and it parks itselt without any problem! These guys relay knows how they should use the system? Did they read how it works? I'm not sure!

Thats crap!!!

Let me ask a question to you guys.

You've got this self-parking down pat and you press the button to park the car and as the car is backing in a little kid runs behind the car.

Does the Lexus run over the kid or not?

Yes or No!

here is your answer:
This is really cool, guys! You just drive up beside the car in front of the space you want -- hit a button, and take your hands off the wheel. You relax and watch the steering wheel spin in one direction and then stops..and slowly spins another direction and burst into higher speed spinning. Best part of the experience is actually being moved back and forth like a prince and you are sitting on a carriage with 20 people below you and moving. Then it slides right into place. There is even a little CCTV to prevent from running over a small object, also! <--TV commercial does not show this little gizmo. Simply awesome! You will love it!
CCTV dumbass.

So when the car is parking I have to watch the screen to make sure there is no object in the way?

How often per year do you think you would use self-parking?

I know for a fact, I would not want this option.

Well, too bad, it's standard. You'd have to get the LS with the standard Premium Package- you can't NOT get it, and it raises the price to $67K, more in-line with competitors.

Only if YOU fail to brake.

they don't know how to use it right.......

My response to Bell and his relentless pursuit to degrade Lexus and his audacity to find an even the smallest crack in an hours of researched article to post on autospies.

Anyhow here it goes....

I remember BMW car fans claiming that this is a truely "silly" feature and naturally all comments made were aimed at chiping away Lexus's innovation of self parking feature. (pure bullshit bias).

I mock you. Infact, I'll make fun of the BMW self park feature. Don't stop reading yet. Let me explain to you why.

BMW's self parking feature are simply to pull the car into a garage. And that was it! It only goes straight line and it stops.

*you can see the technology isn't BMw's powerhouse, although it is very respectable in many other areas i.e. taking curves while driving w/demonic speed around the corner from a stop sign to the blockbuster parking space. I well mention their hydrogen research, bluetec were showing a good prop. for a little while. However, I think their bluetec crap has fizzled out and I don't really read about them alot lately.

IMO, BMW need to continue to advertise themselves as a being performance driven car instead of "technologically" innovative cars. That my friends goes to the Japanese. Don't make faces.

My point is that if BMW start challenging - Lexus, Acura or Infiniti when it comes to advanced technology, it will lose out even further. It will surely suffer even more in reliability problems as they already are plagued with. This btw is an major embarrasment which should have been fixed 15-20 years ago. Infact in my honesty, BMW, MB and Audi should have never been labeled as a "unreliable, high priced luxury cars". But of course you sour grapes won't ever admit it.

Their plummeting low resale value supports my theory. On the other hand- Toyota/Lexus has consistantly been receiving highest resale, period. Best. Consistantly in #1 spot!

The point is more and more people are beginning to notice "The Ultimate Driving Maching" has NOT paralleled with their expectations.

Now going back to self-parking. I work in metro city area. I want a car that self parks in a parallel space. Lexus has it and by god it works great!

This is really cool, guys! You just drive up beside the car in front of the space you want -- hit a button, and take your hands off the wheel. You relax and watch the steering wheel spin in one direction and then stops..and slowly spins another direction and burst into higher speed spinning. Best part of the experience is actually being moved back and forth like a prince and you are sitting on a carriage with 20 people below you and moving. Then it slides right into place. There is even a little CCTV to prevent from running over a small object, also! <--TV commercial does not show this little gizmo. Simply awesome! You will love it!

And, Bell. I dare you to find an article about BMW's mechanical problems/reliability problems and cut and paste that crap on here

actually buddy the bmw doesnt just go straight, get your facts right.

I didn't even read what you wrote because I know you're nothing but a jealous loser with nothing important to say. Quit posting trash here and do something productive.

Oh, and it's BILL.

My answer: Because technology exist and it works without electrical shortage to explode while you MDalle are in it. I'ld love to see that! Little maggot. I knew it was MB crap, so there..you happy clown?

the system cant be that bad, but im pretty sure there are idiots out there like the ones in the video who would take 30 min to park the car.

I am amazed that Automobile magazine seems to be staffed with immature high schoolers, these are the folks dishing out commentary on cars as 'experts'? Really opened my eyes. The Lexus gizmo is just that, saw it in action at "a taste of Lexus" this weekend, neat but I would never use it, too many variables will keep it from making life easy...you spend more time pushing buttons then just doing it yourself..

^Nice handle there buddy.....

luvmybmr: You are right..it doesn't just go straight as, I will now correct myself.

BMW self parking functions like this:
You park the car front of a small tight spaced area ie car garage. You step outside. The car then drives inside of the car garage space by itself. And finally it shuts off the car by itself.

VW had a workable self parking van came out back in 1997 to my knowledge also but then again so did the Honda. Honda version of self parking feature was sold on many low priced version cars as an option for Japanese working in tight spaced metropolitan area which is a very welcoming feature.

If you truely want to see something amazing is the Honda, Azmo. It walks, runs, climbs stairs and even walks backward by itself, truely magnificent machine indeed.

In conclusion, some of you VW, BMW fans are in disfavor of this technology, you just remember one thing: If you bash Lexus, you should also bash VW and BmW also.

you just repeated yourself but now you went into detail. yes it does park in a garage. but it also self parks in spaces as well.

Lexus obviously disagree with you MDalle.
I disagree with you MDalle. Many folks who are into the newest technology would disagree with you MDalle. Have you ever thought for once that perhaps in near future..10-20 years from now will be a standard option on many cars that can even drive by itself? ie Honda accord soon to be sold in England will have this feature in 08..why not apply this technology to make it even more hassle free? If you were 75 year old Mdalle, you might have different opinion. This feature is to assist humans. It is just few techno options offered outthere already in existance where in the past..few or many thought as same as you. Why do we need this? Again, I'm tellin ya..Its because if you want to survive in this survival of the fittest and cleverest will survive. Darwin would certainly agree with this. Its making stronger connection with humans and machines which is enivitable. Have you asked yourself why do anyone need a 80gig ipod? when you only listen to 100 of your favorite musics all the time? But think for a moment MDalle..People purchase 80gig ipod b/c we all want more. Perhaps you do have a valid point but you must realize we are living in an era where folks like, myself want morethan just a car with demonic cornering capability you so envy. I on the otherhand could say samething MDalle. Why? Why do I need a car that can corner so fast and well? Its same context when you think about it..when you mention everytime..why do we need a car that can parallel park for you.

Didn't I tell you this would happen. I bet the VW system on the Touran works better.

Will, my friend you are correct.


Cheers.

so the automotive press loves every technical innovation the Germans come up with, huh? Interesting, I remember iDrive and Active Steering (both BMW innovations) being pretty much universally maligned in the automotive press, no one said "give it time". Fast forward four years and iDrive is much easier to use, and Acura, Audi, Mercedes, Infinity, etc. have all implemented similar systems in their cars. Infiniti just came out with a similar system to Active Steering, too. The magazines don't just love everything German and they don't just hate everything Japanese.

I like the camera in my S6 I see the need for that. I can see a small need for the auto park in a garage "if it works" but give me the camera in my car and that is all i need. I can back into a spot in a few seconds just following the lines on the picture.

The problem the LS460 has with this is the same problem BMW has with the I-Drive. Tech is good as long as it helps but if it makes your life harder then why have it inless you are just trying to show off.

That being said I am sure you will see this in the high end of most lux cars. Bosh has been developing this for years and the LEX and BMW will be the first cars to buy it.

OMG does anyone acknoledge this is the first (or second) car to use the self parking feature this is bullshit the journalists dont even know how to use the feature P.S. ALWAYS READ THE MANUAL LOL

i will have to try this out myself before judging it.
However, as others have already stated, I find this system kind of pointless.
I think it will be nice to have though.

I don't see this as bashing lexus, (God forbid you have an opinion about Lexus, man people are touchy) yes it is 'technology' and very advanced, but its not on a level of ABS, ESP, Brake Assist, Air Bags, BlueTec, etc, things that matter...again a gizmo, whether its on a BMW or VW. Hey, I hate IDrive..too

Not disputing with ya, Marksuck but, I've noticed you have blatenly left out hybrid engine, already in production and being sold in state side with an Honda logo which runs on hydrogen power, you've left out Infiniti's lane departure warning systems etc..

You stated that you don't like IDrive. Here is my opinion. Idrive is great. I think it simplifies many crap on the dashboard cluttering ie Saab, Cadillacs, Buicks, Fords and others. Have you ever even tried idrive? If so for how long? Well? Most ppl who complains about idrive are those that doesn't own a BMW. How difficult is it to memorize turning a damn dial and clicking it? I think its brilliant.

If you ask me, this video looks a little too done up. It seems to me that they were doing this on purpose to make Lexus look phony. For all we know, they could have stopped the car themselves when they said it wasn't working. Something doesn't seem right on this.

Pretty much the same idea that corrupted 60 Minutes back in the late '80s, when people were reporting Audi 5000 models, then a revolutionary styling-leader (it formed the basis for all of today's sedan designs), going forward when they hit the brake, which was false. The pedals were merely too close together. But, 60 Minutes purposely made it so the car went forward when they "hit the brake", giving Audi a bad name. If it weren't for that video, Audi would still be a huge seller in America and there wouldn't be nearly as many people bashing it.

I kind of agree with that, that this was staged. I don't see this as a particularly useful feature (I'm sure it's quicker to park it yourself), but it's nice to know it's there.

Oh, and I would not call these Automobile magazine guys driving this car "journalists", obviously they didnt do their research, just jumped in and started pressing buttons. But it also showed how unnecessary this 'technology' is...

I don't like this video, because simply I don't like the people in the car. They look and act like idiots.

Nicehomer, exactly, just because I don't like idrive doesnt mean i don't like BMWs, its just not an option I like, not yet anyway and that should be ok. No bad feelings towards BMW.
Again, just because in my list of technology I leave off things I don't know about that happen to be Japanese, there seems some implied criticism...that in some way Lexus, Honda or Infinity are being put down...I also left off DSC and Quattro...I think those of you who like the Japanese brands just get too easily offended when people have opinions that are not 100% pro Japanese and the boards become too much of a us vs. them and go way off topic fighting over who's has the bigger...

hmmm, perhaps yer right. You have to admit though, shit flies both directions. Japanese car fans commentary is always flowned upon which pisses me off. Every single commentary or article on the Lexus was immediately shut down like a clay pigeons. Therefore, We must respond to you. We shit on German cars also but reality is this. If you truely believe German cars are so damn good with driving dynamic and history crap then not a single of you German car fans should even be bothered in which case this it not true. It does bother yall. You guys give away too much weakness by acting as All german cars are perfect and absolutely untouchable by trying so hard to bash Lexus, Acura and Infiniti..I'm sorry to yall, but you got anther thing comin..and I will bombard your cars as long as you bombard our cars and that is the way it is going to be. Its not Black or white. The dispute will continue forever. Just accept it and move on..and if you can't hang..don't read it and rather skip it to all your glorious fantasies..skip the reality of it all. btw, Lexus is just a Toyota commentary by some of you clowns are so immature and stupid..it makes me vomit.

Why don't we all admit that we like every brand here?

Most of us dislike other cars out of envy.

I admit to liking Acura, Audi, BMW, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz models.

I guess I don't understand this us vs. them when it comes to cars. These are things we buy, drive, sell, and do it again. Its not a personal attack! Sure, you can have preferences, but the extreme emotion involved ("and I will bombard your cars as long as you bombard our cars and that is the way it is going to be") Yikes! Yeah, I like Mercedes but I just went to a Lexus event and had a great time and liked what I saw..still not for me as Lexus is just a Toyata at the end of the day with no soul or history...OK I'm kidding! Just having a little fun..a car, 4 wheels, paint, and gets me from a to b...

Exactly!

No, nicehomer, it's the complete opposite. He's VERY mature. He has an independent POV on this website- he knows that every car deserves a chance if you're an enthusiast.

Anyone who hates on a car, merely because it has a certain badge, isn't an enthusiast.

^ Sounds familiar to me......

markusck, how old are you? You sound very immature with just kidding comment which you have typed in the blotter with "Lexus is just a Toyota" comment. Make up your mind. Because, I really don't give a damn. I understand German cars breaks down worsethan American cars on the average but unlike you, I won't back track it. I also disagree with you about just point a to b comment. Its a to b with safety, performance, dependability, comfort, luxury, the connection you have with your car, stereor and list goes on and on and therefore its not always point a to b for some like myself.

He was being sarcastic about the Toyota/Lexus comment.

The German cars that I've owned have never broken down. In fact, they've been almost trouble free.

It depends more on how you treat your cars than the brand's reputation.

my family has never not had a german car, and the only one that was wrong was a 1988 735. beserk electrics. the following 10+ german cars never had any major problems.

The people in this video made me think of turning a bunch of chimpanzes loose inside of a car that is way ahead of their knowlege extent. Just the fact that they couldn't figure out how to set up the parking guidence shows that they didn't know what they were doing.

true but remember most customers will find this hard to use. The typical Lex customer is the oldest "import brand" customer. Can you see the 70 year old grandma using this ? The people that can't park are probably the same people that can't figure out tech. (not ripping on Lex so relax)

^^ thats what ive been trying to say!

nicehomer,

Do everyone a favour and go away.

No one wants to listen to your immature, drug-fueled ramblings.

We have our official Lexus crusader, and it is Will. At least he speaks properly and is over the age of 7.

I'm planned to stay as a permanent memeber, Matthew faggot..just for you.

I'm planned to stay as a permanent member, Matthew faggot..just for you.

I'm planned to stay as a permanent member, Matthew faggot..just for you.

jesus christ

GROW UP YOU PLANK

i bet i'm at least 10 years younger than you but i'm a heck of a lot more mature.
and matthew is right, we already have one lexus crusader, and he is at least polite.

(yay we <3 will)

The one thing Lexus has recently done is gotten over their inferiority complex and have started to act like they belong in the big boy club. Now what they need to work on is their fanbase and get them to believe it too. Only when that happens will discussions like these begin to move into real debates and the emotional cries will cease. The one thing it does for me is create a negative image of the Lexus brand...

They have a bigger fanbase than Mercedes, or BMW, or Audi. They don't sell purley on price, there are things that are more desireable about them.

Marksuck, Now what they need to work on is their fanbase and get them to believe it too.<--huh what a crock of bull! Lexus has gigantic and truely loyal fanbase around the world. Wake up and smell the coffee junior and do some research before you go on rambling and making crap up to make you look smarter.
My advise is to you is you should stop smoking hippie lettuce immediately.

"They have a bigger fanbase than Mercedes, or BMW, or Audi. They don't sell purley on price, there are things that are more desireable about them."

The only thing I can think of here is reliability. The luxury card isn't much of a player here, because these are all luxury brands, and the average consumer probably wouldn't notice that a BMW has a cheaper interior than an Audi or Lexus.

They are not all luxury brands. Mercedes, BMW, and Audi all focus on performance. They give their cars that only grandpas would drive (S-Class, 7-Series, A8), huge engines with more horsepower an old person could handle. They are more performance cars in my opinion.

Automobile Magazine must have the worlds dumbest Journalist its obvious in the video they don't know what they're doing. The self parking feature is only for parrallel parking.

No, it is for both (supposedly) But really fails.

It can back into a space vertically too.

LOL, the three journalist are really stupid. I wonder were they pick up these three clown from. That the first time i seen someone beside lexus doing a 90 degree. If they are trying to do a parallel park won't that be too small to fit the LS in parallel. That y you dont try to find High School Students.

LOL, the three journalist are really stupid. I wonder were they pick up these three clown from. That the first time i seen someone beside lexus doing a 90 degree. If they are trying to do a parallel park won't that be too small to fit the LS in parallel. That y you dont try to find High School Students.

LOL, the three journalist are really stupid. I wonder were they pick up these three clown from. That the first time i seen someone beside lexus doing a 90 degree. If they are trying to do a parallel park won't that be too small to fit the LS in parallel. That y you dont try to find High School Students.

LOL, the three journalist are really stupid. I wonder were they pick up these three clown from. That the first time i seen someone beside lexus doing a 90 degree. If they are trying to do a parallel park won't that be too small to fit the LS in parallel. That y you dont try to find High School Students.

sorry for the 4 post

its like the I-Drive from BMW, when people say its sucks, But in the real world it dosen't suck. LS self parking did not fail.

i thought BMW was the first for self parking as we all saw before on the 3-seriouse video!! Fingers crossed

excuse me?

wha?

Pardon me?

I don't know if it was the car or the guys but it was funny as hell/
T

Haha, its gonna be funny when the VW touran will park by itself and this thing wasnt able to.

But i think its a man made mistake, like when they tested the S-class radar and it hit the car.

But I also think the thing is a POS, because everyone will steal ur parking place while u try to show it where to park, and i believe that people who cant park by themselves should not be allowed on the road...using a manual of course

It also shows how stupid the program is. Perhaps not the technology but the program itself which mobilizez the engineering. Or both the program/engineering is rubbish. It clearly shows that a decent skilled driver can park the car in a fraction of the time of the 'self-park' system. Not only that it moves like a turtle ( not that parking should be fast but look at that speed ). From this video it doesn't look too good. So you Lexus fans quit backing up something that is not user-friendly. You think a middle aged man wants to spend that much time to learn to friggin 'park?' or go back to the dealership complaining about the system not being able to work.

"I can only imagine how "flawless" this system will be in a future S-Class or 7-Series. You think following a voice guide with arrows on a touchscreen is difficult, just wait until you have to operate the system with iDrive! ;)"

=======================================================

as far as i can remember Will, the bmw requires 0 driver input. you step out of the car press the button and move on with life. and yes the system newly introduced and i know there will be kinks that need to be worked out. bravo for lexus to implement this technology first, but they should have mastered it before they put it in a production vehicle. something that bmw and mercedes will do.

whats the matter will , cat got your toungue. i didnt expect you to have a response to that. but it would have been better if you said nothing at all, instead of "lol".

and far as my comment goes about mastering something, there hasnt been many times where something is implemented and the next generation of that item gets worse.

and as far as I-Drive is concerned, i can say the same thing about the new lexus parking guidance system, that its not user friendly.

but i guess you want everything as easy as 1..2..3..
well i cant help but feel sorry for you and the rest of the people who wont bother opening the instruction manual.

For what it's worth, over the weekend we had a firestorm of buying frenzy for the LS460. We sold to the walls, and sold out of most of our incoming units. People were taking anything they could get their hands on, and paying sticker. When the S class came our at the MBZ dealer across the street, they had (and still have) rows of available cars to take home. They are giving deep discounts to help sell them. We are in the 2nd most affluent county in the United States.

seems to parallel the article about 1st month's sales in japan being 9x initial projections.

and that of MBs piling up in storage lots when the LS400 first came out.

The S-Class is the best-selling luxury sedan in the world.

I don't know how it's true, but it is.

It was in a press release.

And I can't imagine why someone would buy an LS over an S, unless they couldn't afford it. They're pretty much equal, but the S has more than just a small edge styling-wise. The LS looks like every other big Lexus that's ever been on the market. They need to get their asses out of 1989.

i would say just park the car by yourself, and save yourself 3 grand, and countless times of hearing "guidance system cancelled"

many people buy more than they REALLY need. i'm not a high income person, but even I do that!

why?

sometimes, to grab a "good buy" if not an outright bargain. sometimes, just to GET THE BEST.

all the arguments about how useless this feature is, is of little to NO relevance.

as mitchoflexusmarin said, people are just snatching up ANY ls460 they can get their hands on. (smart marketing of lexus/distributors to load up initial shipments with many options. but ALL mfgrs do this.)

"(wow, I feel like a German car fan writing this one.)"

=======================================================

and its a good feeling

isnt it? :)

it's ALWAYS a good feeling to get a good buy.

difference is lexus and toyota buyers always know they GET THE ABSOLUTE BEST for their money. with what at least meets, if not exceeds their needs.

german buyers get what they PERCEIVE to be best. (and may actually be, for the "magic feel.") and THEIR needs do NOT include total reliability. so they too, get their needs met.

My cars have had total reliability, and the S4 in particular was $2.5K less than a comparable M3 in a much better color. In fact, one of my business partners ordered a loaded '07 S4 sedan in Sprint Blue (my color) because he loved it so much. BTW, the '07 is still the current model. It's coming in December.

I'd call that value.

(I hate being so late to these threads, but here's my 2 cents)
First, read a freakin owners manual when you need to learn how to use a car's features. These idiots probably need an owner's manual to use the push button start. This was clearly a set-up.

Second, anyone read the attached Automobile Mag article? The opening paragraph.... "Until now, there have been only three big dogs in the practical, daily driver, luxury four-door world: the V-8 versions of the BMW 7-series, the Mercedes-Benz S-class, and the Audi A8." This is b.s. When the LS400 debutes, BMW's flagship was a 6 cylinder 735, and Audi had just come out with a small V8. It would be a couple years before the 7 series had a V12, and a few more years before V8s became standard. It wasn't until the mid 90's when the Audi A8 became truly worldclass. Only MBZ had a worthy flagship at that time, the old SELs (now S Class).

My point is, when you start an article with these lies and half-truths, you do so to warp the reader into your point of view before any real analysis or empirical data is presented. Lexus has had a worldclass flsgship in its LS since 1989. It was at the top (with MBZ) then and remains at the top (with MBZ, BMW, Audi, Jag, Maserasti) now.

They're talking about prestige. Not many people knew about the LS when it came out- the same fate happened to the A8. In fact, when the LS400 came out in 1989, there was no Audi A8. It was simply called the V8 sedan.

Until now, the LS hasn't been a huge player in the ultra-luxury segment. It has sold well, mostly out of value, but it's lacked cachet, style and the ever-so-important performance. I still don't think it's all that good-looking.

Best comment here! So true.

S4, that's pure opinion about Lexus, and you know it. It doesnt negate my point at all. When the LS came out, there was next to nothing of note in that class of cars, save the SEL and the Jag V12. The LS forced the hand of the other luxury makes, who responded after the LS came out. To now say that they are only just becoming a player is a falsehood.

3 complete idiots been put in a box of technology, so go figuer how would they understand what parallel parking is. What a bunch of fools.

The lexus IS250 is breaking sales records in South Africa and some say Lexus wont sell outside the US. The Germans used to their monopoly on the luxury segmemt are having sleepless nights!

this is just anti-lexus propaganda made to start wars. I find the video hilarious because:

1) I'm not a big lexus fan
2) I think this feature is cool, but completely useless
3) Those 3 guys have to be the biggest idiots I have ever seen!

if you want to follow it up go to www.motoring.co.za and click on the Lexus LS46O article.

haha, funny video!

PEOPLE...

I have seen the LS doing self-parking with my own eyes.

And it performs well without any problem. FORGET THIS VIDEO!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!! (This video is a true example of what happens WHEN YOU DON'T READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE USING SOMETHING!!!!)

IF YOU WANT TO SEE A PROPER VIDEO OF THIS ABILITY IN ACTION, GO TO Youtube.com or Googlevideo.com and make a search about Lexus parking assist.

Then, you will see that if many people have had used it without problems, and SO CAN YOU!

P.S. WHERE IS JUGNU!!!!!

JUGNU POST SOMETHING HERE MAN!!!!


-Peace for you "CAR-WARRIORS."

I tend to agree. How many people who can afford a LExus LS460 would actually park in a mall parking lot much less parallel park on a busy NY street?

It does not do AutoSpies any good to post an article like this. It degrades the trust of the sight. I know, I know you have to do all your own research and make up your own mind but when it is something so obviously biased with many errors why even bother posting it? AutoSpies needs to yank this post!

Did the freaking idiots even read the directions first? I have a 460. You have to put it in the correct spot to the nav screen first. Then lightly keep your foot on the break while it parks!