SaniDel

I agree completely with your assessment and your conclusion, including your specifics. I too am over 6' tall with overly long arms so I can readily reach in through the window opening and pick items off the cargo floor. If they have slid forward to the back of the second row seats ... we keep the third row stowed ... there would be a problem, but we solve that by using a cargo net to keep everything close to the rear door.

You and I and similar "weird people" ... tall with long arms ... have it easy, but for most people, my wife included, the glass hatch is of no use and the side-swing door is not usable in a typical garage unless the vehicle is parked nose first and the garage door is left open. As we prefer to back in, the side-swing door is never usable.

A split lift and drop gate would be reason enough for us to trade.
Regards,

SaniDel

LongBall

Yup. Plus you're asking to tear your rotator cuff by extend your arm and grasping even a lightweight item to pick up.

SaniDel

Yikes! I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm tempted to pull a case of wine through the rear window ... thanks.
Regards,

SaniDel

mookiestar

If there's anyone out there with any influence with Toyota/Lexus...please get word to appropriate division level management that the side-swinging door has got to go. It's a damn shame that a FINE vehicle has to be tainted by this, in my case, deal breaker feature. If it weren't for this, I'd have been driving a new GX 3 years ago and getting a new one later this fall. I can only hope the next major redesign includes changing to lift-gate. Until then....no Lexus for me.

BradTank

I agree it's a dumb feature. It also can't be that expensive to change for Lexus.

Supposedly the Lexus dealer I was talking to says its a huge complaint and they have tried for a while to get Lexus to swap over to the LX style that swings upward, but they won't do it.

What I hate is I have to basically open my garage in order to get something out of the cargo area because it needs the clearance.

bd5400

Lexus will never change the GX's door unless Toyota changes it on the Prado as well. Such a redesign would cut into the profit margins for the vehicle.

I personally like the swing door because it allows me to access the rear of my car even though I have to back into my parking space. There isn't enough clearance behind my car for a lift gate to go up but I only need a little room to open the door partially, reach in, and grab whatever I need. Plus, I'm taller than most rear lift gates anyway so I like not having to duck under something when accessing the rear.

NewB2Lexus

I love the GX's door. I don't have to watch the top when unloading in a garage. Priceless!

Oldmanb777

So far, we have not found it to be an issue. the issue has been the gap between the capt chairs, and the non-flat floor with the seats folded down. Anyone have a vendor for something that goes between the capt seats ?

JT4

Same here, almost 3 years ago we would have purchased a GX had it not been for cargo door. The GX would be my wife's vehicle so we test drove it and she liked it alot, but then when she realized how the cargo door opened it was the deal breaker for her. So we bought an RX F Sport.

Since I know she likes the GX, for the past 2 -1/2 years I have been trying to convince her that she will get used to the door.. About six months ago while at the dealer for service we looked at, and drove the GX again and she said that her next Lexus would be the GX, and that she would be able to live with the rear door

Sometime in the next 4 months we will be returning the RX, and just last week while in a parking space a woman was loading her GX and my wife said to me " I still have my doubts about that door, I think I will get tired of it fast".

Her thinking is that since we live in the NYC / LI area, on numerous occasions we have to parallel park which is going to create problems with having enough clearance to open the rear door enough to put packages in and out.

So now this may create another issue for me because if we don't get a GX we may be moving away from Lexus for her next vehicle. The new RX while very nice inside and more refined than the 3RX, me and my wife really don't like the front of it. We could probably live with it, but I know she really doesn't like it..

BradTank

But I would wager most garages don't have the clearance to be able to open the GX door in the garage with it shut and be able to unload it either. The only time I've seen the lift hatch have issues is if it's a short garage door opening and you try to open it inside the frame. If you're inside the garage itself, it's usually not an issue.

The GX door though seems to always want to hit something like a shopping cart or luggage if you're loading up something.








I don't like the barn door, and it's clear the overwhelming majority of GX owners hate it as well (at least according to the poll here and what the dealer was telling me) but it's definitely not a deal breaker for me and I can live with it.

NewB2Lexus

If the GX rear door lifted upwards I would not be able to park in a garage and open it without it hitting the open garage door or the ceiling. That is true for most homes and garages I have ever seen. I would need to park outside, unload then get the truck into the garage. Might not be ideal if raining...

I am planning to keep the GX until it falls apart so I'm not on the market for a new car, it really does not matter for me anymore. Just wanted to express that I like the way it is.

SC300Es

Same reason for us too. She doesn't like that door.

Ed

GX4602011

Toyota did take away the rear swinging door for the US market, It's called the 4Runner. A Limited with all the trimmings is in the mid/upper $40Ks, save 10K over the GX and get the 4Runner instead.

Keep in mind that the GX460 is merely a rebadged Toyota Prado 150 (with a Predator face). The Prado needs a swinging door to place the spare tire on since they have a second fuel tank. In Japan and Australia (where the Prado is very popular), South Africa etc all drive on the left. Having a swinging rear door that opens to the curb side is desired and may even be required by law (Japan) for safety reasons. Japanese people are small, so a hatch is not practical, In Australia the spare tire is attached to the door, so needs to swing. The Lexus takes what's there (Prado) off the shelf and adds some fancy pantz gizmos and a V8.

The swinging rear door is a feature that reminds owners that this vehicle is intended for international use and we should feel lucky that we in the US can get a Prado body at all. It would be nice to get the door mounted spare, dual fuel tanks and 3.0L 4cyl TDI though.

vlad_a

The answer to this oversight can be found in Wikipedia:
Yes, the GX inherits a barn door in the back because Landcruiser Prado mounts a spare on it in some countries.
Personally, I think the GX lost a big customer base by not using a split tailgate like its bigger brother, the LX.

That's what deters me from buying one - we would have to keep the garage open in order to get items from the boot.
And the door also opens the wrong way for my garage layout - we would have to walk around it, if it was left open while unloading.
Our RX has a perfectly-fine power liftgate that can be operated with the garage closed.

I've been going back and forth, whether to get a 4Runner Limited or the GX460 as the next vehicle on the rear door factor alone.
4Runner does not have self-leveling HIDs/LEDs, which are a must-have for me. I don't want to deal with a retro kit.
Never mind the lack of a V8 in the 4Runner.

I'm really hoping the barn door goes in the upcoming facelift for the GX so I can finally buy one without reservations.

BradTank

Somehow 99% of SUVs, wagons and hatchbacks do it this way and most people prefer it. They also have ones that you can have stop before reaching full height if you have an unusual height requirement.

This wouldn't have a problem in my garage. Mercedes can do it, why can't Lexus?