bareyb

Man. I was all but set to buy one of these things... In fact, my posts were some of the very first made in this forum! Then... I moved into a new house and started some remodeling. Lotsa trips to Home Depot with Sheetrock hanging out the open rear door of my RX. Can't imagine I'd be able to haul much of anything with the rear door open in the GX (which was set to be a replacement for the RX), unless of course I want to wipe out anyone in the lane next to me!

Nope, sadly, the side opening door has become a deal breaker. Any chance Lexus will will come to their senses and put a normal door on these things? Wishful thinking I suppose... But I can't believe I'm the only person who is taking a pass on these because of the side opening rear door... I just can't see me buying a truck (and yes, we do use our SUV's for hauling stuff) that can only be driven with the rear closed.

Johnny Mo

Yes they should lose it, but I spoke to the Eastern Region Rep a few weeks ago and he said it is ABSOLUTELY NOT changing. I'd expect that it won't change until Gen2 when it will become a powered rear door like the RX330. If it does I'll be cancelling my order and waitng for the '04, but I'm not holding my breath.

04rx330

I agree with bareyb. It is the main reason we choose the RX over the GX

looknow12

Perhaps if they made it a split door with a hatch or a power window it would be acceptable.

looknow12

Personally I don't like the hatch on the RX or the new 4runner, or most SUV's for that matter. Of every car I've owned, the fold down tailgate system on the older 4runner with the power window has always been my preference.

bareyb

My Sisters LX has that and it's OUTSTANDING. I'm still scratching my head over this side opening thing. It's really gotta be costing them some sales. Surely short people don't have THAT much need for it? I'd love for it to have the split door. I think that's the best solution for everyone. Including shorties...

Johnny Mo

I asked about that too, and the rep actually said that on the LX it was also a complaint, because it made it even more difficult to reach items deeper in the cargo area when the 3rd row seats are up out of the way. So as far as the GX went that was out of the question....I still don't understand the logic for the swing out, but I'm sure somebody had a reason for it...one of the designers were too short to reach the strap on a pop up door maybe?

mogulbumm

Asked the sales manager at my dealer what he thought... he has spoken to a few people at Lexus and has a feeling that the main reason for the side-opening door was to distinguish it from the RX and LX. Form, not function. Maybe if the GX was too similar to the LX they would have stepped on their own feet with LX sales.

I like the cool automatic door on the new RX, but with that stupid slant it basically kills a good portion of the rear space (my poor pooches would have to either duck or lie down all the time).

Maybe when it is time for my lease to expire they will have figured that the majority of people (at least from this poll) don't like that swing-out door.

gzorn

I actually like the swing door for a couple reasons.

- The dog hates overhanging doors, it was always a fight to get her into the Ford Explorer and she did not like the test drive in the RX330 or FX45 due to this. The salesmen thought I was crazy when I walked away from the FX45 during the dog test, she had to duck to get in the rear door.
- My garage is on the basement level and the flip up doors hit the garage door opener arm. As it is the GX470 needs to perform its rear end dropping act for the garage door to close and not hit the roof rack cross arm. I made the door very sensative to pressure so if it forgets to drop there is no damage.
- With either the swing up or sideways door the garage door needs to be opened for me to use it
- Since I have the dog things tend to get carried on the roof. With a swing up door you cannot have anything extending over the rear of the car and still get in the back
- Have not parallel parked in a couple years so which way it swings never matters to me since I am also in some kind of spot. (If I am in NYC I never park on the street anyways always in a lot or garage at our office, but rarely drive into the city)
-With the swing door I can have it opened, still stand on the rear bumper and access the roof.

The two things I would like to see added are

1) Power rear window like the 4-runner
2) Backup camera like the RX330, coming in 2004 I hear.

Note: I did not get the rear spoiler, did not think it looked good

Rx900

Swing door is not bad but when it rains, you don't have a canopy like the trunk doors of minivans. It would look cool if it was automatic like the RX330's rear door.


________________________

2003 GX470
Sand Dollar Pearl
Charcoal Interior
6th in Fresno

1997 Honda Odyssey
LX, Tafetta White
Good as new with 100,000 miles

1997 Honda CR-V
Silver, EX, Kenwood Stereo

1995 Mitsubishi Strada
Blue with beige cladding
Racing steering wheel

Rx900

There are good things and bad things about losing the rear door. First the bad, For current GX470 owners, it would be bad to lose the rear swing door because everyone will now know that the GX470 you have is the bad one and older one. The good part is that maybe the door of the new GX's would be a flip up one.


______________________

2003 GX470
Sand Dollar Pearl
Charcoal Interior
6th in Fresno

1997 Honda Odyssey
LX, Tafetta White
Good as new with 100,000 miles

1997 Honda CR-V
Silver, EX, Kenwood stereo

1995 Mitsubishi Strada
Blue with beige cladding
Racing steering wheel

robinzon

For those of you who have not bothered to even look before complaining about the door...
if you look a bit more carefully there is LOCK on the door, so you CAN indeed haul stuff in the trunk with the door open as you can LATCH IT OPEN.... besides, if you bought a Lexus thinking that you will be hauling crap in the trunk I highly suggest you review your priorities... I mean yes I did have stuff in my 4runner but then again the rear window lowered so there was never a need to leave the door open while driving and no one ever said its healthy to have the door sit open like that and drive at 60+ mph.... so if you want to haul get a F350... or something .... Lexus is a fine vehicle made for driving and not neccessarily for using it as a flat bed... lets all admit to that. Yes its nice to haul the jet ski, but its a trailer not a 8 foot long plank... I mean if you are rich enough to have GX470 as your HAUL AROUND TRUCK, I would mail lexus a suggestion to make a Flatbed...

John H

The rear hatch is the only problem I have with purchasing the GX. I'm in the market for a vehicle to replace my full sized domestic truck (too big and rough) that meets the critera of:

1) Being a nice daily driver vehicle that offers good service/reliability. The GX fits this 100%

2) It has to haul inventory and fixtures between my store and wharehouse within a secured space. The GX will suffice this task with no 3rd seat and the 2nd row folded. Getting access is awkward with the rear station wagon door and backing up to the dock to load and unload is IMPOSSIBLE.

3) It has to haul my car to the racetrack. 3400# car + 2000# trailer = 5400. With the upcoming 6500# hitch this would work perfectly EXCEPT with the rear station wagon door, I can NOT haul a trailer AND access the rear compartment. The swing door will hit the crank on the trailer. The trailer stays chained to the rear for the weekend and access to the rear for the spare wheels, jack etc needs to be through the rear. A NORMAL hatch would work perfectly. Why the GX does not have a hatch or even a moveable rear glass baffles me. The 4Runner has the perfect rear. But around here Toyota service is unacceptable and for about $5k less (comparable options) it's not worth it. Regretably I might have to opt this route because of the stupid rear door.

To reply to Robizon's comments of:
"besides, if you bought a Lexus thinking that you will be hauling crap in the trunk I highly suggest you review your priorities" - that is hilarious! Towing, hauling, and offroading are the PRIME reasons one should purchase this truck.

Or better yet, "Lexus is a fine vehicle made for driving and not neccessarily for using it as a flat bed... lets all admit to that." Let's all admit that maybe you need to review your own priorities and drive a CAR, not a TRUCK. Does it haul the 5# bag of dog food for your pomeranian well? I guess it's still cool to have an SUV parked outside - a luxury one at that.

Oh wait, one more. "I mean if you are rich enough to have GX470 as your HAUL AROUND TRUCK". The GX470 costs less than my truck. Yeah, I had sticker shock on the truck too because I'm not rich.

John H

Johnny Mo

OMG ,

I didn't even think about that. Now I have to consider that if I decide to get another boat. Someone at Lexus had to have think of these things.

romy101

Sometimes I think engineers are so shortsighted. I don't have a degree but have so many better ideas than they do. For instance when you lose the door they should make a 60/40 gate that opens up/down. On the bottom piece they woule make it lockable in the down position and include hooks on it for tie down in case you are carrying a long object like a tree. This is so easy to do but what the heck is this door thing which by all accounts does not serve one good function whatsoever.