aztr0

Hi all,

I've been an RX330 AWD owner for a couple years now and recently got married. My wife and I are looking into the NX200t AWD. I like the F-Sport and she is siding with the Base look more. It took some convincing, but she is finally willing to give in. I've read around the forums and the information has been helpful. There are a few questions I have that I hope you NX owners can help me with.

1) How does the F-Sport perform in the snow? I live in NYC and the RX has had no issues with snow. I assume, I won't be able to jam into snow filled parking spots anymore as the front lip is low. The base model has an advantage here I guess.

2) Rear power liftgate. I have it in the RX, but I watched a review by savagegeese on Youtube and the dude dogged on the speed of the gate and actually urged people to not get it if they have a choice. Is it that bad?

3) How hard is it to clean the F-Sport grill? I just went on a roadtrip recently and the bumper was like a crime scene splattered with bug guts. Would cleaning it be a pain in the rear?

I'll be doing a test drive on a certified F-Sport this Saturday, any tips or things I should look out for from your personal experience with the vehicle, that hasn't been pointed out in the FAQ? Thanks in advance.

d8168055

I can comment on a few points, since we don't have snow in SoCal:

2) Fairly slow on power mode, but not so bad not to get it. Turning off the power and opting for manual lift is near impossible, though the liftgate is not heavy itself, it feels like the gears for the mechanism has a lot of resistance.

3) Yes, hard to clean, especially when you have bugs caught in side. You probably need a toothbrush to clean them out. Also, if you have hard water, its very easy to have spots trapped in the mesh, use an air hose to blow it dry.

ramyta

I live in NY and had no issues with snow last winter. It did very well. I don't have the power lift gate. It was not my choice but the car did not come with one. No issues here with cleaning the grill. no too much bugs on Long Island where I live.

kent2174

Be sure wife and you aren't too big for the narrower but nicer seats in fsport.
I timed our rx 350 tailgate and it matches rx. Use it all the time and never thought it was slow.
I've had no issue with bugs yet on grill. But using air blower designed for motorcycle drying is a lifesaver and dries up quickly with no watermarks.

computerwi

1) The F-Sport does not differ in anyway mechanically from the non-F-Sport model. In Canada, at least we get adaptive variable suspension (AVS). AVS, among other features, is not available on US models... for now. Snow performance is very good with a solid set of winter tires. The all season Michelin MXM4 tires are mediocre but passable. I see you live in New York, so I'm not sure if your F-Sport will come with different tires than in Canada, but I would recommend winter tires either way.

2) The power liftgate is on the slow side, but Toyota generally errs on the side of caution. I used to have a Venza with a power lifegate and it operated at pretty much the same slow speed. The liftgate on the NX seems to have the power mechanism built into the struts instead of a secondary arm. This makes the gate nearly impossible to close manually. It feels as if you are extending against the pressure of the struts so it's very heavy.

3) The similarly designed mesh designed F-Sport grille on my IS isn't a problem to clean. I find most bugs fly "through" it. A microfibre wash mitt will help a lot if you are detail oriented.