LexFather

I promised Hennessy Lexus of Gwinnett[ a good review of the vehicle as they really looked out for me with this request. I will only answer questions about the vehicle I deem reasonable and won't argue with other commentary in hopes of keeping this thread going.

First off let me share with you how I gained a GX 460 for a few days as I think its important to share the good Lexus dealers and stories. I had family for the holidays and we were driving the GS's around since we could not fit everyone in one GS. We didn't mind and its pretty fun to us to follow one another around but we all couldn't spend time together in one vehicle. I called my salesman Frank Mullin and the service director Joe Gaunt to see if they could help me out a few days with a GX. I know most loaners are RX's but sometimes they have some cars available that most are not aware about. To make a long story short they "made it happen" and I was secured a loaded GX loaner as I took my GS in for a large service. For a decade now this team has been absolutely amazing to me, my family, friends and fellow Lexus enthusiasts through SELOC. I cannot thank them enough for all their support over the years.

This was my first time really behind the GX and it was a "Throwback" to the old Lexus era. It was nostalgic as I knew this was the "old" way Lexus did things. The way the wood was shiny, the painted plastic aluminum, the touchscreen NAV, the seats, the overall feel of the vehicle..... "back in the day".........

My expectations were to hate it. I'll be honest and say the GX has never been my favorite Lexus and I've never been attracted to it to drive let alone purchase. I needed this GX out of necessity. Well after a few days with it it completely blew me away and I now understand how they sell around 1,000 of these a month every month! It reminded me of how Lexus initially became so popular offering a super comfy and relaxing driving experience.

As mentioned it was completely loaded! The car had the rear t.vs in the headrests and this was my first experience with a heated Lexus steering wheel! Since it was cold it was a great feature and worked quickly and well. It works on the leather area, not the wood, very welcome in the cold. The GX also seemed to have well though out cupholders and USB etc ports with ample storage room. There were no LED lights inside, another reminder this is the "old" Lexus. It had Mark Levinson as well and the touchscreen NAV was updated. One feature that was also new for me was the drop down mirror where the sunglasses holder usually is. With a quick glance you can see everyone in the rear.

The gauges are traditional Lexus, easy to read and look luxurious. I never was a fan of the painted aluminum look plastic and I still am not. The wood is abundant and a very glossy sheen that I am no longer drawn to as in the past but I know it is real wood. The leather felt high quality and every door, switch, panel felt very well built and of high quality. The seats are the old Lexus way, I think the usual 12/8 way seats and they gave me fatigue on long drives. In comparison the new Lexus seats in the LS/GS are amazing. Rear seat room was good but not great. The 3rd row came in handy as we had 6 people most of the time and we had a younger sibling so he fit decently back there. When we moved the 2nd row up the 3rd row was much comfier. The cool thing about the GX is the 3rd row folds flat or becomes a seat with a press of the button in the rear and it makes life simple and easy to use.

Ahhh....the barn door....Most of the time it wasn't an issue as I usually just popped the top glass to get into the rear. However there were a couple of times in the garage it was kind of a PITA. A small cool detail is the rear window wiper is completely hidden in the rear and not exposed.

The V-8 has what 302hp and pulls fine, there was ample torque to pull us all around. It is not overpowering though as in some other SUVs around the 350-400hp range. I would welcome additional power in such a big SUV, especially with tons of passengers. Passing speed on the highway was also ample but again you kind of wished for more power. The transmission was really smooth and a big plus, you could barely feel it shift. The GX has a few 4x4 modes I didn't try, it does have a "sport" button and honestly I could barely tell the difference. With the new Lexus models with the ****, you can easily tell the difference in sport mode. Ahhhhh the old Lexus way....

Speaking of the old Lexus way....I think I felt one bump in the GX after driving it since it has a super cushy suspension and these huge fat tires. I loved it. Such a throwback to the "old way". The ride is outstanding, very balanced and again comfy and nice and relaxing instead of being high strung or harsh. A welcome change from 30 series tires constantly

MPG was a throwback to V-8 days or yore, between 17-19 MPG with a pretty full load. To be honest though it wasn't an issue since I know it has a big V-8 and its a big 5,000 lbs vehicle. I do wish the range was better, I saw around 340 miles to empty. It kind of just makes me think if a hybrid came with around 30 MPG how game changing that could be.

I never was a fan of the GX exterior and the step boards helped but this is the "old" way. The GX does not have the "Spindle" yet. I think it will be a great addition to the front end. So without being rude to my fellow Lexus owners, it just doesn't do anything for me visually but I can appreciate it looks quite tough compared to a sea of melting soap SUVs everyone seems to be selling.

My family knows it as the "Prado" where they are from so it was cool to talk about the similarities and differences. They really loved the vehicle.

It was fun to drive it as I knew this is the last of maybe the "old guard". Like many here I've been with Lexus for over a decade and experienced the changes like you all. We love our new GS F-sport but I also drove the GX and enjoyed the old Lexus way. Maybe to couple the nostalgia is knowing my visits to Hennessy Lexus of Gwinnett will soon come to and end as my wife and I move to the next chapter of our lives. The GX proved to me it was a very good Lexus and I'm sure it will continue to live a long life. However even as it moves on, I know that this classic Lexus will be the "end of an era" when it is completely redesigned and all Lexus models will be of the new way of thinking.

Thanks for reading

Mike

Again thanks to Hennessy Lexus of Gwinnett for the GX loaner!

Not my pics, I had crappy cell phone pics

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

great review. best part of the GX is the wonderful smooth and comfortable ride and drivetrain. it's also a very capable off-road vehicle.

i saw a brand new LX570 on the road recently, and thought it looked GREAT - better than i recall seeing in pics. would love to own one of those!

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

The GX is nice, but very quirky in some usability like the barn door. I'd prefer to see a traditional rear hatch on a 7-passenger unibody chassis. Something to complement the RX. You don't have to sacrifice off road ability just because a 4x4 is not BOF. The Range Rover and Grand Cherokee are prime examples. The controls are logical and easy to use, but the material quality definetly went down. Granted I like the design more on this 2nd gen over the first, but like the 06 ES over the 07 ES, good materials are becoming harder to find. Perhaps the most ludicrous thing I find with the GX is the 13 model does NOT have the newest generation of navigation, BSM or any of those goodies. Lexus stated that all 13 models would have the new navi, but the GX does not. We were dinged very badly in a survey because the customer thought he had the Enform App Suite. He did not :/. Had this car been out in 2008 it would have been very advanced for it's class. As it stands, the GX is pretty long in the tooth even being 3 years old. I fear they will neglect it even longer

Oh and the 303hp and 329lbft from the 4.6L..... you have a perfectly good 4.6L putting out 367/380/386hp and 360lbft....

Blackraven

This vehicle is so goddam ugly

Fizzboy7

Always like the GX and LX, but they get little fanfare. As Lexus spreads the obnoxious gape grille across the brand's line, I'm appreciating the "old school" Lexus look and era more and more.

Trexus

Thanks for the review Mike. Definitely looking at an SUV in the distant future. Hopefully with the spindle grill treatment the GX will fit in with the current Lexus design philosophy.

pbm317

While that's true, the tuning and torque curves etc for a heavy SUV that may need to tow are very different from the needs of a sedan.

And on the barn door comments, if you couldn't open the barn door in the closed garage, you likely could swing open a traditional liftgate either. They both need quite a bit of space to open. I find it really only become a hassle in parallel parking situations.

mmarshall

Thanks, Mike...nice write-up. A number of your conclusions were pretty similiar to what I came to in my last full-length GX review, though I felt that, for typical on-pavement driving where one did not need an off-road-sourced platform like the GX's, the RX350 was more refined and had a lower noise-level, especially in the drivetrain. The GX has definite advantages, however, for towing and off-road use.

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

As a former GX470 owner, I had high hopes for that 2nd gen.
It wasn't the ext. design or that barn door where everybody hates.

I was totally upset when lexus screwed up the storage area when the 3rd seats were down
You can barely fit a pizza box in there.

Sorry to be downer.........hope lexus fixes this

mmarshall

Perhaps a stereotype on my part, but I doubt that the average pizza-shop would pick a premium off-road SUV like this to deliver your pepperoni-special.

CDNROCKIES

Nice review Mike.

Great to hear that you have such a good relationship with your local dealership and they are willing to go above and beyond for a loyal customer.

In light of your request, I will only say that there are multiple reasons why the sales of luxury SUV's looks like this:

X5-44,445
ML-38,101
GX/LX-16,044
Cayenne-15,545

mmarshall

Cadillac's SUV sales generally look pretty good, too, though the big Escalade is admittedly in a larger size-class than the ones you listed here.

grabber2

Don't the X5 & ML complete with the RX?? Both X5 & ML were not off-road friendly

LexFather

lol...I'll email you

FYI GX sales goal is I think 14-16k a year. Not a big volume car like the RX.

Trexus

It's an accomplishment in itself for Lexus to be compared to BMW, Mercedes and Porsche. As it should be since Lexus is tier one luxury with the likes of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche.

As for Lexus with a three SUV lineup (RX, GX and LX) combined sold 111,425 units for 2012. For 2013-2014 we will get the NX (based on the Toyota RAV4).

Tier two luxury SUV's:

As for Cadillac which is tier two luxury with the likes of Acura, Infiniti and Lincoln does well with two SUV's (SRX and Escalade) combined sold 80,117 units for 2012.

As for Acura with a three SUV lineup (ZDX, MDX and RDX) combined sold 81,149 units for 2012.

As for Infiniti with a four SUV lineup (EX, FX, JX and QX) combined sold 50,903 units for 2012.

As for Lincoln with a three SUV lineup (MKX, MKT and Navigator) combined sold 40,572 units for 2012. For 2013-2014 we will get the MKC (based on the Ford Escape).