I am in need of a new daily driver for me and my wife and our 2 dogs, potentially kids in the not too distant future and our 2 nieces and nephew (on occasion).

Purchased a 2023 GX 460 earlier this year for our dedicated family trip car (love it!) but will need to replace our daily driver for something that is more safe than our current DD. Love the GX so much that I'm considering purchasing another GX 460 but also looking into other models like the RX 350 for around town in the suburbs. I tend to buy cars and hold onto them for years well past the 200K mi mark so I was hoping to have something reliable, easy to work on as I do all maintenance myself, not as much tech (hard to find nowadays, especially in the RX). Leaning towards purchasing another GX because the car is bulletproof, reliable, hardly any tech (love the simplicity) but around town the mpg is terrible. I don't mind the terrible MPG as our family trip car since we take it to the mountains/snow/terrain but not as justifiable for around town.

Test drove the RX350, RX350h and RX500h. Was unimpressed with the 350 and 350h as they seemed a bit underpowered for the car but did enjoy the 500h. From the forums, it seems the 500h has transmission problems and may have been purchased back by Lexus by the lemon law.

I will purchase new as I've been burned by used cars in the past so I don't want to consider purchasing used or CPO.

Any RX owners can share their experience? Any problems? Things I should consider for my needs?

 

The 350 seems small for what you list above. I would look at something like a Tahoe/Yukon.

 

Sounds to me like the upcoming TC is a good choice. In the meantime I would look at an Infiniti QX60 or Acura MDX

 

What is your current DD? From your post, it seems unclear....but I assume it is not the 2023 GX.

 

I can't see having two of the same cars in one house. That is like a missed opportunity to enjoy a little variety. The RX is one of the most reliable, top-rated easy-going family SUV's. You cannot go wrong. As far as speed, they are not made to drag race. Enjoy some easy fuel economy and take advantage of what most other RX owners take advantage of.

 

This X2, Tahoe.....I'd pass on a QX60........We bought a new Tahoe ltz for our daughter & husband back in '15 which has 80k now w/no issues.......

 

Have you driven the new QX60? Its seriously impressive.

 

current DD is a ford escape which is fine as far as space for just me and my wife + 2 dogs, but was wanting to get something larger for when we have a child and for something that can hold adults in backseat comfortably. We already have 210k+ mi on the escape as I maintain all of our cars and drive them to the ground. I love the GX so much that I'm tempted to buy another, but the gas mpg in city driving is terrible. I have not driven the other competitor cars mentioned, but I want something that is reliable and decent gas mpg.

 

My daughter recently bought a new RAV4 hybrid and loves it. Lots of power and great mileage. She sold her Edge after ten years and wanted something similar.

 

I 2nd this. Filled up today, DTE shows 533 miles not including the 2.x gallons reserve.

 

https://www.motortrend.com/features/best-family-suvs/

 

Would you consider a Tesla Model Y? You can pick them up lightly used at VERY attractive prices right now, or you could buy one new and potentially qualify for the $7,500 credit (depends on income level). Size seems to fit what you're looking for and it's one of the safest vehicles ever made.

I bought a Model Y in December as my daily driver after owning various Lexus LS sedans for the prior 14 years. I absolutely love the Y. There's nothing to worry about with reliability because there is no maintenance - even brakes last around 100k miles because you never use them (single pedal driving).

If you've never driven one, highly recommend you give it a shot. I think it checks all of your boxes.

 

how are the the batteries well past 200k miles? That was one of the boxes on his list.

 

Y Long Range is 330 miles, so even if battery degraded 40% you'd still be around 200 miles of range. The average person will put about 12k miles/year on a daily driver - which would be about 40-50 miles/day. So in the average person's daily commute and/or driving around town, you'd never even care about the degraded range. If you never used the EV for road trips (using his GX instead), I'd say the average person really drives about 8-10k miles per year.

My Y is the Performance and rated to 300 miles but I keep it charged to only 72% (210 miles). It's rare for me to use more than about 35% of that in a day - and I drive slightly more than average (have put 10k miles on the Tesla in 8 1/2 months)