drich2905

Ok, guys, I am going to ask a question to a group of Lexus owners but would appreciate your advice without Lexus glasses on.

I am a long time Lexus owner with past vehicles of 3 LS, 1 SC, 3 RXs, 1 LX so I know the value and quality of the vehicle. Here is my dilemma:

I am driving a 2003 LX with 180,000 miles(bought it used in 2004), love the vehicle and it is in great condition. My son, who has our only grandchildren needs a larger vehicle and I had promised to give him the LX when I move on to something else. I am retired now, don't go off road but need some hauling space taking stuff back and forth to our lake house which is 3 hours away. I can do that now since the 3rd row seats on the my LX can be removed. I hear the 570 seats cannot be removed. I am also not too thrilled with getting things out of the back end of the vehicle with the clam shell tail gate design.

I have not driven the 570 and plan to, but have considered getting a new Chevy truck next year but the one time a chose something other than a Lexus (Armada) I was back into a Lexus within 5 months as I could not tolerate the squeaks, plastic, etc.

Being retired I am more concerned about gas mileage as well. Not sure why Lexus can't do something about that as the 570 seems about the same as my 12 year old 470.

So, for you guys that carry 'stuff' in your 570, do the fold up seats make a big difference in the storage capacity?

At this point I cannot find enough info on future changes for the 570 to make me jump at one now and even if I did it would be a 1-2 year old used vehicle.

Sorry for the rambling but just was hoping for some wisdom from this group. If I haven't explained myself well enough please shoot out some questions.

thanks

streborc

I've had my 2013 LX for about a year now, and am pleased with it in every way -- a real pleasure to drive everywhere. I use Mobile1 0W-20 in it, and attribute the 21+ MPG highway mileage I get to it. The 3rd row seats when stowed are not too bothersome for normal cargo. Elsewhere on this forum, a member describes how to remove the 3rd row seats. Not a task you want to perform monthly, but if you want them removed for the long term, not too difficult to do. I also have a GX, which I enjoy almost as much, but the LX is the truck to drive on long road trips.

jrmckinley

I just bought a CPO 2010 LX570 and have had it for about 3 months. I'm a long time Toyota/Lexus fan and this is by far the best ride I've ever encountered. We just took ours on a 1,600 mile (roundtrip) vacation and averaged 18.4 mpg which was about 2 mpg better than I could ever get in our 2004 GX. I'm going to have to try the Mobil 10W-20 to see if I can get around 20mpg. It is absolutely silent and perfectly stable on the highway. I was a bit worried about the jump seats causing us to lose some width for bringing all of our stuff on a long road trip (compared to the GX where we easily removed the 3rd row) but it wasn't an issue and we had a ton of stuff. I don't haul things around but can't imagine it would be a problem with the 2nd row folded down. Not sure what you're looking at from Chevy, but it will probably have pretty similar storage capacity but can't touch the everyday luxury of the LX. I looked at the 2015 Tahoe before buying the 2010 LX and for me it was an easy decision even with the fear of losing some width in the LX due to the jump seats. The LX is just a nicer, more comfortable ride and feels substantially more luxurious in my opinion. My final thought is this- all newer cars are going to ride really nice right now (because they're new). What I love about Lexus is they ride nice 10+ years after you bought them, and I don't know any other brand that you can say that about. I had a 96 LS 400 that rode perfectly when I sold it in 2008 and bought a 2004 LS 430 which still rides perfectly today with approximately 200k on it. No squeaks, rattles, etc. So I buy Lexus knowing that I'm going to hold onto it forever and want it to ride nice in the future.
I think once you drive it you'll be hooked.

drich2905

Thanks for the responses. Any other comments?

MjThind

Well... I mean once you go LX you cant go back. Certainly was the way for parents, my mom and dad have had 3 LX's, all bought new BTW, we had a '96 LX450 went strong for 349,000 and was still going strong when we sold it in '03 for '04 LX470 and we had that till '09 for 250,000 and traded in for a '10 LX570 and my dad sold that one with 70,000 about a year and half ago when he went to India for an extended stay, now that he is back they bought a '14 LX. I mean MPG is better than the 470 not much but an improvement and if you plan buying new MPG will improve greatly after 4000-5000 miles. Its great solidly built, I have put about 20,000 miles on mine bought it 11 months ago brand new. Still bullet proof. But let me cut to the chase you buy the LX because you like it, it's not economical, it a gas guzzler, it's pricey(even when used), the 3rd row isn't very practical, and many others things can be listed. But many other vehicles in this class have the same problems, you get the point. And for the stuff they arent much of a hindrance but if you find them to be see you can simply put them in the down position and just dont pull on the back rests. If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

mikeivan

To answer your question, not much difference in storage capacity. I have owned both the 470 and the 570, storage is slightly smaller than the 470. The fold down seats come in handy, rarely when the grand daughters visit. 570 quality and power is far superior to 470. Gas mileage about the same. I await the 670 with great anticipation .

drich2905

thanks to everyone who took time to answer my query.

Any other comments would be welcome

MjThind

So what did you decide?

Randy B

I ended up buying the 2014 GX460. 15/20 advertised MPGs vs. 12/17. Not significant. I know, yet it is better. Second, the third row seats fold flat, and you don't have a split tail gate. You still have all the driving capabilities on and off road, towing power galore, and if you need more space to haul stuff, you can fold the second row flat to the rear cargo space.

Being retired, I imagine you really don't use any of the rear seats too often. That would make the GX at least a contender to look at and drive before purchasing another LX.

Randy B

drich2905

Thanks everyone. The closest Lexus dealer is 2 hrs away so it will be a while before I do anything. I'm not ready to commit until next year as my 2003 lx470 is still serving me well.