watch37

I came across this article in Forbes recently:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonfog...aissic-luxury/

Overall, the article speaks positively of the LX 570, but in the same breath, questions the necessity of this body-on-frame vehicle for casual, everyday use and wonders whether similarly designed SUVs have much a future left in light of rising gas prices and increasing popularity of cross-over based designs.

I'll admit that my wife and I don't do any off-roading. We take our LX to work, to run errands around town, and on family trips skiing. That's about the roughest terrain our LX will likely ever see.

Many reviews of the LX that I've read are quick to cirticize the vehicle as being more car than anyone will ever need, often taking a jab at owners such as myself by writing that although it's built tough enough for the Outback, most owners won't ever use it for that purpose, thus calling into question our wisdom in buying such a vehicle.

I've always questioned that logic - that you shouldn't buy something if it's more than you'll need or if you won't use it for its intended purpose. Why buy an expensive dive watch that is certified to depths of 1,000 meters if you'd be dead before getting remotely close to that level? Or buy a sports car that can go 150 mph when the speed limit is 70? I say it's because you want to own something that is capable of doing what 99% within the category cannot do. So I for one hope to see the LX stay its course...it'll make it that much more rarer in the future

VSL-F

“Better to have, and not need, than to need, and not have.”

watch37

There are some amazing videos on youtube showing what this beast is capable of when it comes to off-roading. I think there are only a very select few number of SUVs that have the same capability (Range Rover, Mercedes G class, Nissan Patrol, and....that's about it?), but none of those SUVs even come close to the reliability of the LX.

SaniDel

My wife and I owned six LX starting with an LX 450 in 1996 and would own one now if it fit in our townhouse garage! Since it won't, we are "making do" with a GX 460, but the logic is the same. As we own only one vehicle for two drivers, but can afford any vehicle ... that fits in our garage ... which should we buy?

A reliable luxury SUV is the best for our needs. Lexus makes the most reliable and probably the must luxurious SUV ... any that are more luxurious fail the reliability test. Having only one vehicle forces us to consider secondary issues such as access to service, dealership reputation, etc. and we are fortunate that an excellent Lexus dealership is less than ten miles away.

We also never go off-road, driving in rain is our idea of "roughing it" and if it snows we stay home, but one of these mid-Atlantic winters is going to wallop us again as it did in 2007 and again in 2010 with back-to-back blizzards. When the power fails and the battery-backup on our garage door opener comes through, we will appreciate all those drivetrain traction features we had hoped never to use!
Regards,

SaniDel

ggebhardt

It is all about safety. The body on frame yields a safer vehicle in a crash. With it 6000lb weight you will come out alive in a fight with another vehicle most of the time.

While I do not like high gas prices, they would never get in the way of my ownership of this $85k vehicle.

We do not "need" to eat lobster but it occasionally tastes VERY good!

SaniDel

Anyone who buys a vehicle of this caliber and price, but complains about the price of gas has their priorities wrong. The incremental cost of gas on an $85k vehicle is negligible.

A luxury SUV should be not only luxurious, but also exclusive, which equals expensive. There are few enough GX in our area that we take note whenever we spot another and spotting an LX is a rare event ... even in Greenville, Delaware, ZIP Code 19807. There are plenty of SUVs, mostly crossovers and especially RX, but an LX is few and far between, which gets attention.
Regards,

SaniDel

watch37

SaniDel,

I agree with your comments. I picked up my 2009 LX last October, which had about 39,000 miles at the time. It came down to that one or a 2010 GX 460 Premium. The prices, with the trade in of my 2010 RX 450h, came out to roughly the same (RX plus $12,000 cash for the GX, or RX plus $14,000 for the LX). Although I also admire the GX, after putting on about 7,000 miles on my LX, I can say I have no regrets at all going with the LX. At least around these parts, they are very rare to see on the streets.

SaniDel

The only thing keeping us out of an LX is the size of our garage!

We were driving an LX when we moved into a townhouse and it was just too tight a fit. So, we traded down for the hybrid RX, which was ... interesting? Nice car, quirky behavior, but no appreciable gas savings. When the GX 460 was announced we were ready to trade up. The GX reminds us of our LX 470s ... perfected.
Regards,

SaniDel

DenverSC

Yes, my previous SUV was a Land Cruiser. Best year of the 4.7 V8, 1998, because of the suspension and differential. Off road was truly parking lots, because who wants to bang up one of these vehicles... Maybe it is foolish to own the LX570... But my other car is a 911S and I don't need that power either... Come to think of it my TV is bigger than I need too... The wine and scotch, I enjoy could be lower quality too...

DenverSC

Jiminy Cricket, this from a Forbes writer? And what's next minimum wage and smaller houses for everyone? Malcolm is rolling in his grave.

Quadro

Remember that LX is based on a Land Cruiser. This design makes sense as all the R&D for the common parts can simply be reused instead of developing an entirely new vehicle. There are tons of Land Cruisers around the world and even though few LX will go off road you know that the underpinning platform is constantly being tested in real off road conditions all around the world by the LCs and LX does not actually have to venture into the woods in order to be competent. My take is developing LX as a separate unibody vehicle will increase the price even further and what you save in fuel will be offset 10x in R&D cost you'll have to pay for when buying a vehicle considering LX is not a significant volume SKU. Bottom line I think there is little economic sense in doing this unless Land Cruiser goes unibody as well and that I just don't see happening for now.

Same goes for the GX which based on Land Cruiser Prado platform.

ERC4

[QUOTE=ggebhardt;7903130]It is all about safety. The body on frame yields a safer vehicle in a crash. With it 6000lb weight you will come out alive in a fight with another vehicle most of the time.

Exactly. That's why it's the primary vehicle for my wife and kids.

Kayo

I have owned a 2010 Lexus LX570 for a little less than a year. I can't say how much I love this thing.

It's massive, huge and omnipresent. Infinitely easy to drive around the city. Great in summers! Want to go with 7 friends somewhere? NP. Want to head to the woods and tow your boat and take the kids and kids friends NP.

Best of all, when it snows, the beast warms quickly, holds it's own and is confident. Although, I am not one of those SUV drivers that get's it going without knowing how long it takes to stop. Truth be told it just sheds snow and eats up bad weather like breakfast. My father warned me not to drive on the worst day of winter and I came and towed him out of his ditch.

However, I have scene some really older Land Cruisers around in the last two days. I want to say mid-late 90's. I admire the fact that this truck is based on that truck. Because those things are still impressive today. They are just there and look as solid as the day they were built.

Improvements I would like to see would be:
a) Fuel mileage without sacrificing hp and torque/towing.
b) Probably time to deal with the fold up seats. Even though the late 90's land cruisers config is the same as today. And only deal with it if we keep it on a truck frame. So this is on the magical end of things.
c) Stronger breaks/break option.
d) Integrated car starter in colder and hotter regions.

That's it. Some people want lane change sensors but I feel that

ggebhardt

a) Fuel mileage without sacrificing hp and torque/towing.
b) Probably time to deal with the fold up seats. Even though the late 90's land cruisers config is the same as today. And only deal with it if we keep it on a truck frame. So this is on the magical end of things.

Toyota could add a turbo to a smaller block or move to diesel but unless they reduce the 6000lb weight, the requirements for fuel will not change drastically. One of my favorite things I love about my LX is for its size and weight quite "nimble".

I have amazed some of my 4WD friends at the abilities of my LX to climb some very steep hills, using the crawl mode. They all were beating their chest when each of them had the gas floored with dirt flying to get up the dirt hill. Some did not make it. I climbed up the same hill, silently, with hardly a piece or dirt tossed! There was dead silence when I reached the top and turned the vehicle back to "walk" back down using the same crawl mode. All this with my Michelin street tires! Each time I use it, I am always impressed.

As far as the 3rd row of seats, useless to me as at the most I have one passenger in the front row. I wish the seats were removable like the 470 or they offered the vehicle sans 3rd from the factory.

03LX470

As much as I love the LX570 it is really lacking in technology/safety/assist options such as Blind Spot Assist, Lane Keep Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control with stop-and-go function, etc.....all of which have been in the Infiniti since 2011 as well as now in the new GL.

It also needs an engine upgrade for perhaps 10% more hp to keep up

The chasis is just fine and we like the LX for what it is and equally comfortable