In my perpetual surfing, I see many forum keyboard-racers scoff at Japanese luxury brands. In certain quarters, those marques got something of a reputation for not being innovative. They’re often accused of merely “copying” ideas or technology from others, usually BMW or Mercedes-Benz.

Curious thing though: Toyota was innovative enough to have created some market segments from scratch. For instance, they started both the car-based luxury SUV craze with their big-selling Lexus RX, as well introducing the luxury “performance hybrid.”

Unchanged for six model years--a long time for a Japanese model--the second-generation RX has been replaced by a new 2010 RX 350. We recently bought one to test. While the all-wheel drive RX 350 starts at $39,025 with destination, our car has an eye-watering $8,300 in options. That didn’t really get us anything out of the ordinary in this class--leather, navigation, adaptive HID headlights, moon roof, and a towing package. A bunch of piddly little options--cargo mat and net, wheel locks, glass breakage sensor, and remote start--added up to nearly $1,000.

In one regard, Lexus has been late to the innovation game, but we’re not sure that was a bad thing. While BMW and Audi have had multi-directional dashboard controllers to operate various audio, climate and navigation functions for years, Lexus resisted this trend. But no more – their mouse-like controller makes its first appearance on the RX if you buy the optional navigation system.

We’re wary: the Lexus LS’s touch-screen setup is a great example of blending high content in an easy-to-use package. By contrast, systems like iDrive and MMI often increase distraction, requiring more steps to do simple functions. First comments on the RX’s controller are mixed: some on our staff say it’s the most intuitive device of its kind. Others find that damning with faint praise, likening it to being the “most delicious drain cleaner” on the market--in other words, a concept that, no matter how good it is, is flawed in the first place. One thing we all agree on, even at this early stage: a set of radio preset buttons would have been helpful.

Beyond that, our very first impression is that the RX remains a nice car, but isn’t a quantum leap from its predecessor. We’ll let you know more as the miles rack up.

--Tom Mutchler