Lexus:Inspired - 2010 RX350 Event
 

Just came back from the Lexus:Inspired event at Mahwah, NJ and I must say, i was quite surprised by the 2010 RX350. This is one of those few cases where the vehicle actually looks better in person. Honestly, the way the RX350 is in pictures does not do it justice. Most of the pictures released thus far make the RX look very bottom heavy and almost bloated, but in person it's very "evolutionary" and looks like a bigger, more rounded, 2nd gen RX.

The event was very nice too. Not overly crowded and overall people were cordial and let people sit and try the vehicles. They had two RX350 and one RX450H.

I must say, the interior does look bigger, but looking at the rear, it will NOT hold a 3rd row even if there were a mid-cycle addition. Just not enough room and the rear gate slopes and angles too much.

Interior fit-n-finish and quality of material is typical Lexus. Very tight and nice materials. No cheapie hard plastics that the current RX has in some areas. What I did see was some "uncovered" door panel areas where you can see too much "metal" and boxey zones. Can't really describe, but when you see, you'll know what I'm talking about along the door, inside panels.

Read somewhere that this will be $1800 over current RX350 MSRP. From what I saw... it's "fair" for the increase in size and goodies. Oh yeah, tried the center console mouse control for the Nav.... not too bad, but would still prefer the touchscreen. Since they moved the Nav. screen so much forward, not an option to have touch screen.

Thanks for sharing your impressions! Looking forward to trying the interior of the RX for myself. Yeah, we have some sources on here stating that the price increase is in the neighborhood you quoted...considering it's a new gen with all-new features, etc. it's to be expected--actually the increase could've been much more. One thing I read is that Active Headrests (safety feature) are now standard, which is a good thing. :)

Actually I think Lexus should have made the price increase smaller in this bad economy and slowly increase the price afterward.

Economy dictator
 

Hey, the economy and how it goes, will affect the true cost anyway. $1800+ is only on MSRP and if the vehicle sale bombs in the first few months, the actual out-the-door price will fall, so it's only a "measurement" of price, nothing more.

Is $1800 more than the outgoing generation a big bump? Percentage wise (about 2% ???) no, but in this economy, it might be just the straw that breaks the camel's back. Who knows... time will tell.

For me, it'a a moot point as I couldn't afford it new anyway, so I'd probably end up getting it CPO in another two or three years. :)

$1800 is actually a 4 to 5 % increase, but like you said, the true cost is hidden. The 09 have been selling at below invoice and had a special APR promotion. If you factor in the below invoice discount on the 09 and the low APR, the 2010 increase could be as much as $10,000 in some cases.

Lexus RX 350's price: $37,625

Kathy Jackson
Automotive News
February 6, 2009 - 3:26 pm ET

LOS ANGELES -- Lexus has priced the redesigned RX 350 crossover at $37,625 for the front-wheel-drive model and $39,025 for the all-wheel-drive version. Prices include $825 for shipping. The RX 350 goes on sale this month.

Horsepower on the 3.5-liter V-6 is up to 275, compared with 270 on the 2009 model. Torque is at 257 pounds-feet compared with 251 on the 2009 model, and highway mileage on the fwd model is up 2 mpg to 25. City mileage is the same at 18.

The hybrid version of the RX 350 goes on sale this summer.

This is $900 less than the 2009

Nothing is official, until it's official and Toyota gives their press release. Hey, want a cheap new RX350 right now, buy 2009. :)

It's official, the press release is up:

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/l...spx?ncid=12040