New Lexus Infotainment Debuts on the 2026 ES Sedan But You Will Need a Subscription For Some Features

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Agloe_Dreams@reddit

I don't think a lot of people realize that the difference between a three star hotel and a four star hotel is that the four star charges for the things you get for free in the 3 star.

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This is off topic but I stayed in a 2 star hotel just to see how bad it could be in albequerque new mixoco and it was a smoking room and blankets had literally dozens of cigerette holes in it. It was crazy how bad it was I actually enjoyed it for that reason.

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-GenlyAI-@reddit

I travel a lot. TBH I'm taking the 4-ish star where possible. Give me a nice Embassy suites with happy hour, great breakfast, and not smelling like weed down every hall.

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caterham09@reddit

Stayed in a 4 star hotel for work last month. Laundry service was outrageous so I decided to use the hotel washer/dryer. Each machine took one token per load and each token was $12. $24 to run a single load of laundry yourself.

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franksandbeans911@reddit

AMEN, 100% facts. My brother came to town for work training and thought he'd be slick getting an expensive 4 star.

Went over there and tried to stream something to the Google box bolted to the tv, had to be on wifi. What's the password? Paid login portal, $7 a day for a rate-limited connection.

That was a rude awakening, if he would have been at the La Quinta wifi wouldn't have been a problem.

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emp_mei_is_bae@reddit

I don’t think kia has sub features afaik so they are even worse than kia

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aldsar@reddit

My 22 sorento does have some sub features. Mainly remote start from phone that requires the app subscription.

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Larcye@reddit

My 2024 kia sportage has it on the fob. And I'll be real honest the app remote start was pretty shitty. Half the time it wouldn't even start my car.

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CharacterMedium558@reddit

That's common for basically every car brand except for Tesla, Rivian, lucid. At least Hyundai gives remotes start on most cars with keyfobs

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aldsar@reddit

I do have the key fob remote start, which is why I don't care about the app remote start.

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YODA0786@reddit

Kia makes you pay for that stuff? It’s completely free with Hyundai (at least in Canada).

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Middle_Class_Pigeon@reddit

To my knowledge, both Kia and Hyundai give a free subscription for 3 years in the US. Then you gotta pay up.

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aldsar@reddit

The free stuff does not come with full access/ features for kia as far as I know

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Middle_Class_Pigeon@reddit

Interesting. I got the full package (3 “legs” iirc) for 36 months with my Hyundai.

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aldsar@reddit

To be fair, I bought mine used so I got nothing lol

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Erigion@reddit

Kia has always been the cheaper brand between the two

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bwoah_gimmethedrink@reddit

Premium brands were always the first ones to charge people for features that were free or drastically cheaper on non-premium cars. This is just becoming noticeable since having apps and more infotainment features became a common thing.

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markyymark13@reddit

Seriously the current ES is such a nice place to be, this is just anything else now.

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Plastic_Willow734@reddit

Crazy how the minimalist+giant screen combo went from a luxury (new and uncommon) to being seen as the cheapest and tackiest thing ever (and rightfully so)

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idkbruh653@reddit

Thankfully, the crap that they want you to subscribe to doesn't seem to be worth it:

In case that wasn’t enough, subscribing to Drive Connect for a fee further enhances the overall experience through the ability to access other useful options such as real-time traffic and live agents for assistance.

Drive Connect also features a charge management system (also available in the Lexus app) for functions such as setting a charging schedule and limits, while EV Routing helps with route planning to find the best available stations.

No one needs any of this shit. We can get traffic through Google Maps or any other maps app. Live agent? Lexus describes it as a " 24-hour access to a live response center agent to help you locate a specific business, address or point of interest." This is pointless if you have AAA or a phone or hell even the car's nav system. Charge management and EV routing? No one is using that shit either and again, EV routing is can be handled by either a nav app or a charging app. These automakers need to chill with this subscription crap.

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Ziakel@reddit

The moment they lock out CarPlay or Android Auto, we then have a bigger problem.

Wouldn’t even put past Lexus/Toyota to even considered that. Their ecosystem, pricing, data, and control.

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Ziakel@reddit

Drive Connect for a fee further enhances the overall experience through the ability to access other useful options such as real-time traffic and live agents for assistance.

Drive Connect also features a charge management system (also available in the Lexus app) for functions such as setting a charging schedule and limits

Well. No Lexus EV for me in future. Basic features like that should be free.

Also, nice copy and paste interior. Very luxurious /s

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JuliusCeaserBoneHead@reddit

subscribing to Drive Connect for a fee further enhances the overall experience through the ability to access other useful options

Ugh so from the factory the car is bricked.

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Signal_Ball4634@reddit

The drive connect thing from Toyota/Lexus is shitty. If you don't have a subscription your start screen is just an ad saying "buy this shit".

Fortunately you can just ignore it and wait for Carplay/AA to start up, but the principle of it is ass.

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cubs223425@reddit

Called the Enhanced Lexus Interface Multimedia Experience—a real mouthful

They're naming it to align with the size of the money vacuum they're going to try to stick into buyers' wallets.

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DudebuD16@reddit

Ford looking good in that department. There's no sub for any features, especially integral ones for my Mach e like route planning and charging.

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LongjumpingLock5875@reddit

More capacitive touch buttons.

That is exactly what we wanted...

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bwoah_gimmethedrink@reddit

I loved how functional Lexus cars from ~10 years ago were. The only controversial decision back then was not having touch sensitive infotainment screen, but other than that the usability and focus on physical controls were great.

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Tchukachinchina@reddit

Yet another reason that the 2026 ES is trash. They really missed the mark with this remodel. Other than the size and maybe some driving characteristics this thing doesn’t even resemble the past generation ES cars and has pretty much zero redeeming qualities. Even /r/Lexus unanimously hates it.

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FeemBleem@reddit

The worst part is that this new interior seems like it’s going to be shared with many other models once they get a refresh or an update. Look at the interior of the new TZ, for example— it’s just like this.

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Tchukachinchina@reddit

You’re right. And it’s incredibly generic. It could be a Lexus, toyota, Kia, or anything else.

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FeemBleem@reddit

It’s amazing how fast the soul of the luxury car industry is dying these days. Are they even worth it anymore?

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SecretPantyWorshiper@reddit

BMW is killing it

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AWF_Noone@reddit

I’d rather be in a Genesis than an BMW.

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PhillyLee3434@reddit

Everyone is broke and the economy is ass, any time sub fee’s are in play it’s an instant no go for me.

Greed gets them all in the end.

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Same_Lack_1775@reddit

Not Lexus

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RandomCheeseCake@reddit

This thing is going to flop so hard in the Europe

£60K for the specs is laughable , subscription features for fucking route planning. The ES already sold poorly and this new gen will drive Lexus sedans into the grave here

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-ZeroF56@reddit

Route planning and scheduled charging under a subscription. That’ll fly well.

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w0nderbrad@reddit

I don't know what "also available in the Lexus App" means. Like... is it free if you use the app?

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czarfalcon@reddit

I’ve never owned an EV so I can’t say, but those sound like pretty bog-standard features, no? Are there any other brands that gatekeep those kind of features behind a subscription?

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guy_incognito784@reddit

Yeah in both the myBMW app and the app with my home charger I can schedule times for free.

As for finding the best route for charging, BMW does that currently for free but if they didn’t, the ABRP app does it just fine.

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-ZeroF56@reddit

Agreed that ABRP does it well, I preferred using it over the route planning in my old Tesla, generally speaking.

That said, the market demographic for the Lexus I’d think is different than the techy Tesla types. - My dad had thought about an EV, but he won’t buy a Tesla, and would go to Lexus before. God help him though saying he’d need a random app to plan his trips instead of the car doing it unless you pay for it to.

Anything that’s this price point should have basic expectations as a no cost option.

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4N8NDW@reddit

I drive a ten year old Prius PHEV and that comes standard with scheduled charging. You’re telling me I need a subscription for that????

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ellsego@reddit

That does not look like a luxury car interior… and my humble opinion, any car calling itself luxury can’t have paywall features.. (I know most do but that’s some bullshit and not “luxury”)

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DEUCE_SLUICE@reddit

Looks eerily like the new CX5.

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Working_Elephant5344@reddit

That’s a compliment for the CX-5, but bad for the ES. For a new Lexus, I was expecting the interior to look nicer than one from a mainstream Mazda.

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TheRealAbiril@reddit

What's even funnier is that Mazda publicly owns that they cost cut the shit out of the new CX-5

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Santa_Hates_You@reddit

Down to the brand name on the steering wheel rather than a logo.

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coconutpete52@reddit

Aaaaaand reason # 121 why I get depressed every time I start car shopping and just hop back in to my 11 year old Minivan and realize how much I love the simplicity of it.

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Loltoor@reddit

I refuse to pay a subscription

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darkknight302@reddit

Charging for route planning and charging? Are they that daft? Tesla does that for free.

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TheCudder@reddit

Lexus UI just debuted like 4 or 5 years ago. Is that platform just going to be forgotten about?

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Throwaway_4_u_know_y@reddit

I hate the way cars are going nowadays

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mgobla@reddit

Sad to see how they ruined Lexus... Horrible, clueless management.

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Diogenes256@reddit

Fuck. There goes my next Audi replacement idea.

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VariationAgreeable29@reddit

Honda now makes you pay to use the garage door opener

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ExtruDR@reddit

This is the first decent-looking dash I've seen in a Lexus in a LONG time.

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Ill_Eye6918@reddit

Really? This looks bad in my opinion… zero attempt at design language. Lexus interiors were outdated but this is a lazy attempt and minimalism isn’t the way to go

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ExtruDR@reddit

I think that it is restrained and tasteful. It is also pretty conservative. They kept an "instrument cluster" when it is clear that you don't really need one any more (as Toyota and BMW are doing by putting info in a bar under the windscreen and by using HUD). I am OK with this, since I like the idea of an instrument "binnacle" even if I hardly ever look at mine.

Same for the center console and dash. No getting away from the stupid stuck-on screen, but at last there are controls under it. The console is clean and contiguous. I see a gear "knob," which is fine as well.

Again, I fail to see what's offensive.

A handful of years ago I test drove a bunch of luxury sedans (lightly used) and pretty much matched off an ES against a BMW 540i in the end. I was a BMW driver going in, so the fix was in beforehand, but I really didn't like the "weirdness" of the (2020-ish-era) ES dash and controls. Kind of oversized, weirdly located and trying too hard. Also the driving dynamics were a little to wafty for me. The BMW had the ergonomics down.

I can't say that I would make the same choice with the current round of offerings... I mean, the weird trapezoidal screens and the four-spoke BMW wheels that I have been seeing are real deal-breakers for me, but this somewhat "calm" update really appeals.

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OllieFromCairo@reddit

Seriously. It's AWFUL. I particularly hate the "We put a computer monitor on the dash" look. If you're going to give me a huge fucking touchscreen, at least integrate it into the design so it looks like it belongs there. This looks like it's the cheapest aftermarket add-on availalble from JDMuscle.

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Conspicuous_Ruse@reddit

Bah.

At least it's just gimmicky stuff for now, but I'm sure they'll add more useful features to that list.

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5GCovidInjection@reddit

Anyway, I can only (barely) afford used cars, so this doesn’t affect me right now.

But what’s it gonna be like years from now when these cars are the bulk of the used car supply?

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gur1ass@reddit

jfc hiding ‚functions such as setting a charging schedule and limits, while EV Routing helps with route planning to find the best available stations’ is a bold strategy cotton