StarbuckGX

I ABSOLUTELY agree!! It is hilarious to watch others try to figure out the door!

Personally, I don't mind the door at all and have had no problems with the door. Originally, I was concerned about the door. One dislike, things can get a bit wet when it is raining but it is no big deal. It is nice to be able to step up on the tailgate and access the roof.

ADVocate

The Door, the door, ...omg, the door.

I for one really dislike the side opening door. I did not care for it when I bought the truck, and I have never fully accepted it. It is just something to deal with on the truck. The RR's I have owned in the past, have split tail gate. The glass goes up, and the solid panel folds down. I really really miss having a tail gate in that fashion. The door on the GX swings easily enough ( the weight of it reminding me that it is a piece of plastic and glass, not metal). If you wonder why most people think of it negatively, just think of how many other vehicles have that feature. There are some, and they are almost all "inexpensive" station wagon type entries. The Land Rover Discovery has a similar door, and it too was unpopular with most people. Can you say "Cheezy". As "un"insightful as this facet in the design is, it is not enough to walk away from the other benefits of this truck. It is too bad, that the rear door did not have an option of one or the other. To me, this is another example on this truck, on how market research failed them. When I bought the truck, the salesman even commented on how many people disliked the door, but bought it anyway. Hmmm .. what does that tell you.

Gromulus

The side opening (and on the wrong side at that!) is a Japanese design element. One thing I have learned wotrking for antdwith tme is that they are somehat stubborn and resistant to change. Since the 4Runner was always an American market driven model, they had the conventional door (except for earlier generations which had tailgates).

Since the GX/Prado body style is more universal, they were resistant to change. Same goes for the Honda CRV. You can always hope that the next generation may move away from this design.

super_cjc

Land Rover Discovery and LR3 also have side opening doors and open from the left side as the GX dose.
I think it’s the height of GX and LR3 makes the side opening door more practical than a lifting door.

db6

I don't have to worry about hitting my head on it. The sharp corners of the lift up doors on an
S-10 and an Explorer left dents in my head. Hurt like heck.

The downside is the window not opening. Makes the truck a little less practical for those Home Depot runs.

SacKen

I wasn't too keen on the door when I was looking to buy, either. After a couple months I started to like it. After 2-years, I still like it. From what I have read over the past couple years, it seems like where you live has a lot to do with your door perception.

For those that are researching the GX and would like to hear some positives, below is my point of view. I'm not saying the other views are invalid, just that there are some people that don't have so many problems with the door.

- As mentioned... it is nice not hitting my head or having to hunch over like I do with the 4Runner.

- Rain coverage? Come on... how long does it take for you to load groceries in the rain? And how often does it rain where you are at? I stand there with the door open for a much shorter time than I spend walking from the store to my truck. Now, if I lived in Seattle, maybe rain coverage would be a bigger deal to me.

- My door can usually hold itself half way open. There is a spot where it holds without the need to open all the way and use the metal lock thingy. Granted, I am almost always on somewhat level ground. There are occasions where it does close itself and bump into me, though.

- Inability to control the cart and open the door at the same time? I don't see how lifting a door up and having to pull it down makes this any easier. I guess I still just can't visualize what the problem is here and how the door style makes the difference.

- In CA, the stores tend to have parking lots and we usually don't need to park on the street. Not once in 2-years have I not been able to get in the back because of someone behind me. I seem to hear that complaint more from the NY/NJ crowd. I could see how that would be a problem. The fact that it opens on the left instead of curb-side is another one that is linked to the same situation.

- Most long things I put up on the roof rack. I have had a couple things hanging out the side window before, like a tree I bought. It would be nice to have a back window that rolls down, but the times are rare where it would really matter. But I don't see where rolling down the window to throw a couple bags in the back is so much less effort than just opening the door. The door opens with pretty minimal effort. Much less effort than a lift-type door.

- I tow my boat and the backup camera does all that I need for backing down ramps and hooking up my trailer. Between that and the mirrors and windows, I've never really had a time where I wished I could open the back door to get the job done. I also have no problem opening the door all the way open with the trailer hooked up. I would guess that it would depend on your type/size of trailer, though

- The way my garage is, I would have problems opening a lift-up door due to overhead clearance. This door gives me no problems.

- When I had an injury that would have made pulling down a lift-up style gate impossible, the GX was my friend!

gs400jon

The fact that the rear door doesn't open on the curb side is sort of a double whammy. If the door opened on the curb side where it would be more convenient for loading while parallel parked, due to the normal crown on streets, the door would almost always have to be in the locked open position. I complained and complained about the door at the dealership, right up to the time I wrote them a check for my truck. Not a peep out of me since.

1Percenter

After reading a dealer-only comparison booklet, Lexus considers the rear swing-out door an advantage. I, myself, coming from a Land Rover Discovery, appreciate the rear swing-out door. It's one of the reasons I chose to go with a GX. Both the liftgate and swing-out have their ups and downs. You can't please everybody..To each, his own..I'm sure you've all heard it before. No matter how perfect a vehicle may seem in the beginning, you're bound to find a faux pas or two sooner or later..similar to relationships, pet peeves will no doubt come up, it's how you deal with it.
In case you haven't noticed, all 3 Lexus LUVs' rear cargo doors open differently. You get something different with each Lex. You'll see something you won't on another model. That's what's supposed to make them individually unique.

loflin

Yes, in-visioning with text is not easy. Let me try and respond.

Oh by the way, on the "door hold", I didn't comment (others did) you don't need to use it on level ground or if the car is on a slant up or slant higher on the left side (I guess obviously!). Also, for "engaging" the "door hold" it's easiest to use your foot (unless wearing heels, I guess), to click it into place. On releasing it, yes that can be a pain, if you can use two hands, push the door slightly more open, while pulling back on the lip of the "door hold".

Now, trying to paint a visual picture...

I approach the car from the left rear side. I usually point the basket in, and then hold the front of the basket with my left hand (unless I'm positive it's not going to roll away due to slanted ground or wind). So I'm standing in front of the left taillight, the basket is behind me at a "45 degree" angle, I'm holding the front of the basket with my left hand, with my right hand I open the door and swing it open. Then latch the door if necessary (with my foot!). Still holding the basket with my left hand. Pull the basket up closer and start unloading. When finished, I push the basket backwards with the left hand and close the door with my right.

Sounds like brain surgery, would be much easier with a video!

The G Man

The same guy who design the arm rest on the GX probably design the barn door lol. I must admit, I hated it at first but have learn to work around it, my wive and my 10 year old loves it. There is always going to be complains about rear hatch design. There are complains about the tail gate design on the RR and the XC90, they tend to rattle over time and they are complicated to operate. People complain about the rear flip up or power windoe because the rear wiper does not work as well, especially in the snow. People complain about the lift gate design because they are heavy and hard for a short person to operate. My sister in law actual got hit by her lift gate on a highlander while she was closing it, it left a nice bruise on her forehead. The barn door on the GX are great unless you do alot of curb side loading which I almost never do.

bgsntth

My God, this is actually a balanced discussion...

One more advantage. You can open the rear door with stuff on the roof rack (e.g., surfboard, skis, containers etc.).

I think the rear-door now qualifies as an endearing trait that gives the truck distinctive character.

GXPrado

The swing door is a trait carried over from the Prado.
The Prado has a spare tire mounted on the door, as does the Rav4. This necessitates a swing door. The spare mounting hardware also makes a power rr window not possible.
The reason it opens to the curb is also a carryover from europe (where the Prado body was designed) where they drive on the opposite side of the road.

glassmanj

to give a counter view, i love the rear door as my garage is only 7' high and my wife's rx has to be parked outside whenever we put something in the trunk because the door hits the ceiling but i can pull my gx right in open the back door. when it's raining or snowing my wife gets jammed having to park outside just to open the rear upward opening door.

in terms of which side the hinges are on, it's made to open that way because streets are naturally angled towards the curbs in the majority of countries in the world, except british affiliated countries, so rain water flows in the sewers. due to that slope when you park the passenger side of the car sits lower than the driver side and thus when you open the back door from the drivers side the door swings to the curb and the natural angle of the road holds the door open.

if it was hinged the other way you would try to open the door but it's weight along with the angle of the road with cause ti to slam closed on you constantly. they would have to add a gear system or hydraulic to slow the gate down. too much engineering involved. plus when you drive it's a lot easier to put stuff in from your side than having to walk around to load from the passenger side. \

so to summarize, the side opening door allows you to park in normal garages before they started building taller ones in the 90's, but basically the majority of most garages in the world have 7' high doors. i cannot even drive a pickup truck into my garage, nor at the last two houses i've lived in and i can only think of one friend whose house i could. the door is hinged that way because of safety and convenience. hope that helps anyone