1984911Tar

I am trying to get my wife to downsize from our Denali XL, it is nice to have all the room, but how often do you really use it?

Thanks

Husker4the

I did right at first, but have since found it to be the PERFECT size for me ... I am single and don't have a family, so you might want to take that into account. The only thing I have noticed is that it's sometimes a really tight fit with 4 golf bags/clubs in the way back due to the slope of the back. Overall though I love the size ... the interior is very spacious as far as seating and I don't feel bad b/c passengers are sitting in a cramped back seat ... VERY comfortable seating for a back seat to say the least. I find people WANTING to sit back there rather than up front.

lexuslover

i agree. the RX is actually very spacious. the back seat legroom is fantastic, passengers always rave about it. of course that's with the adjustable bar all the way to the back, which reduces your cargo room a bit.

of course it would be nice to have 3rd row seating every now and then, but honestly i think there would only be 3-4 x per year i need it, so the RX is just right for me.

plus, in comparison to getting the GX, which was my other alternative, fuel consumption is very good. i get 20mpg+ on average and am very happy with the size and comfort on a day to day basis.

Lil4X

I drove Suburbans for years before getting my first RX 300 in '00. I'd had a number of "commuter cars" when I was working quite a few miles across town and the company was not furnishing a car or reimbursing fuel costs. After wondering just as you are about the utility of a much smaller wagon, I realized that most of the time I was hauling only one or two hundred pounds of gear that could easily fit behind the RX's rear seat.

Braving the unknown, after two weeks of ownership, I took a 6800-mile road trip with the RX. It carried a full load of professional video gear, and provisions for three weeks, including an ice chest, a 12V cooler, plus a heavy coat and enough clothes for spring in the Colorado.& Wyoming Rockies and the Nevada desert. Everything but one leather coat, a hat. and the small ice chest fit behind the rear seat and under the curtain - with the seat slid all the way back.

I carry a large golf umbrella in the "hammock" between the curtain and the rear seat headrests, and kept my laptop on an "autodesk" secured to the floor between the front seats - to run my GPS software. (Back then there was no NAV option for the RX, so I rigged one up with the laptop and an antenna and software by DeLorme)

No, it won’t pull a trailer – at least one of any significant size – and it won’t haul 4X8 sheets of plywood. You probably wouldn’t want to ford deep streams or try to crawl over boulders with it either, considering the size of the investment at stake. But the RX has proven itself to be an exceptionally fine vehicle for my use – a truly outstanding long-distance runner, an occasional soft-roader, a nimble urban runabout, a middleweight hauler and an office with an outstanding view. I think, like most of us here, you’ll love it!

ph_RX330

i like the room-creating curves on the back of the front seats. its exterior look is misleading

Booyah

You are right there! Its very spacious on the inside. Backseat peeps have it very nice with the reclining back too

studentdoc

The backseat in the Rx330 reclines??? I never noticed that if it does. But I also have never sat in the backseat as well!

604Lexus

It can use a bigger trunk for those oversize luggage case other than that no complaints.

lexuslover

lol, you should try the backseat sometime. it's nice!

the backseat has like 3 or 4 recline positions; it doesn't go all the way back, but the furthest recline is actually very nice, i think it's further back than airplane seats, so it's much more comfortable for sleeping, etc.

jracerlmn

sometimes when my buddies go out to glamis....it doesn't cut it...makes me wish i kept my G-wagon

ph_RX330

It reclines too... i didn't notice thatt at da dealer.... thas actually really cool. 3 dayss left till it gets here...

lol gotta hire a driver

lexguynj

Do you guys realize he is stepping down from a DENALI XL? Those are huge SUVS. If he has several kids already, then Denali has been put to good use.

Although the RX330 is spacious, it's it's a huge step down in size for you from what you have now. You can compare the RX330' size to a large station wagon.

I used to have a RX330 & now have a GX470 and it doesn't feel that much more spacious, but you definitely see the difference in the trunk space which I was looking for more cargo room and the 3rd row seating.

Besides your Denali has mad power to it and you would miss that power & touque replacing it with the RX330.

nopcbs

We just down-sized from a Yukon XL to an RX330. The RX330 is obviously much small inside and I will miss the space when I need to haul large items or lots of smaller items. I sold it to a friend, though, so I can borrow it if I need to haul something big.

I do think the RX is too small in terms of cargo space. I wish it were MDX size in that respect (or the MDX were more Lexus-like in other respects).

My real disappointment was, however, that I was getting 22 mpg highway with the Yukon XL and am only beating that by ~10% with the RX330, a much lighter vehicle. Toyota put too small an engine in the RX330 and the thing has to work too hard pushing the tall RX330 through the air. This is the first vehicle I have owned that I could not beat the EPA highway estimate with and it's very disappointing. Toyota should buy small block GM V8 engines for the RX. Amazingly good power and economy for such ancient designs.

- GRL

lexguynj

I agree on the weak engine on the RX330 (although still decent), your solution for more power and better fuel economy, the RX400h (I only have heard great things about it's hybrid power!).

nopcbs

Toyota is more guilty of this than anyone else, but it mystifies me that they are bothering with these complex hybrids with expensive battery packs when you can get better results with a Diesel. Read in Top Gear that Chrysler is about to put the Merc Diesel in 300's and Magnum's sold in Great Britain. The compositer mileage estimate will be 35 mpg with performance of mid-sixes for 0-60 (based on what the E-class with same engine does). Price will be same as for V6 versions of same cars.

Who needs a hybrid with that kind of mileage and power?

As for the RX330, it just needs a bigger gas engine witness the eprformance of my old Yukon XL.