bamalam

I bought my RX350 on 4/30/2020, and thought it might be helpful to those considering the RX now to do a one year review.

Executive Summary (the tl;dr antidote for the youngsters)
I like it - a lot. Since there were a couple of initial concerns, I might like it more now than right after the purchase. The intent was to buy a vehicle to keep for many years and many miles. One year in, that is still the plan.

My RX350 AWD has the Premium package, Navigation, BLIS with Panoramic Monitor, 20” wheels (Bridgestone Ecopia tires), Moonroof, heated wood/leather steering wheel, heated/ventilated front seats, cold weather package, OEM floor/cargo mats. I tinted the front windows to 35% VLT and added OEM illuminated door sills. I’m going to replace the brake and accelerator pedals with the OEM F Sport versions and add a dash cam.

Background
I lurked a lot on the forum for three years before purchasing, anticipating the end of a company car plan or retirement. Given all that time lurking, I was familiar with the well-known 4th gen issues, like drone and vibration. I’m the type to do a ton of research before making a big purchase, so my expectations of what the RX was - and was not - were grounded in reality. It seems like many of the dissatisfaction posts on this forum are really a mismatch of expectation and fact. I was generally confident that the early issues were likely gone for the 2020 model. Since I used a bid process to buy the vehicle and with the winning dealer 150 miles away, the RX was purchased sight unseen. Based on my research, the gamble was reasonable.

Alternatives considered
I drove a Tesla Model 3, and looked hard at the Volvo XC60 and Acura RDX, plus a glance at the Audi Q5. The Tesla was the most intriguing and the preferred Model Y had just begun shipping. Living in the WV hills and with frequent trips to the mountains, though, range anxiety ended my dalliance with Tesla. I liked the idea of the supercharged, turbocharged XC60 T6, but not the thought of owning one for 6-10 years. Besides, I’d wanted a Lexus since an older colleague bought an early LS sedan many years ago. A Japanese luxury car – what a concept!

I did not consider the RX450h. The F Sport was attractive, but I could not tolerate the heavy seat bolstering, even with my skinny frame. Others like it, but it was not for me. The base RX also appealed to my native frugality, as they were much more plentiful than F Sports and 450s in those early pandemic days.

RX positives
The RX350 is a very comfortable, quiet, practical vehicle. It is luxurious, but not opulent. Highlights:

• The seats are excellent.
  Having had leather seats in other vehicles, I prefer the Lexus NuLuxe over leather. They still look new, even in the Birch (very light gray), and seem to have less issue with jean dye transfer than leather. Adjustability is very good. I do a frequent 3 hour drive and enjoy the last part of it as much as the first. If I could change them at all, I’d add a little bolstering, but nothing F Sport-ish.
  
• The naturally-aspired V6 is a pleasure to drive.
  The RX is no race car, but it has sufficient power through the full rev range. When pushed hard it has that pleasing sound that no turbocharged 4-banger can duplicate. The absence of an annoying start/stop system is reason for joy.
  
• The 8-speed transmission is very, very smooth.
  I see posts about hesitation and hard shifts, but have experienced neither. I was driving in the mountains this week and had to do a fast, uphill pass. Throttle response was immediate and the transmission downshifted flawlessly. I usually forget to put the RX in Sport mode, and don’t really notice much difference when it is enabled. The paddle shifters are handy when engine braking on long, steep descents.
  
• Good fit and finish, and lots of soft materials.
  I’ve had some issues with rattles (more on that later), but overall I really like the level of luxury. There are certainly more sumptuous vehicles, but the RX luxury level matches my desire well.
  
• Infotainment.
  The Lexus infotainment system gets a bad rap. Perhaps my demands are low, but I find it perfectly functional. Even though the 2020 has a touchscreen, I generally use the trackpad for quick interactions. The screen is too high and too far away to be touching all the time. The 12-speaker ‘premium audio’ system that comes with the nav package sounds plenty good enough to me. I haven’t found a way to use Android Auto and listen to USB-based music at the same time, which is annoying, but that might be a wired AA thing.
  
• Handsfree phone calls actually work.
  I’ve had several vehicles with Bluetooth phone integration, and they were all terrible for whomever was on the other end of the call. The RX implementation is really good; not one complaint from anyone about background noise or voice clipping.
  
• Look.
  Purely subjective, of course, but I like the lines much more than the typical crossover egg. The RX in Atomic Silver is pulse-quickening.

RX issues

Fortunately I have not had major issues. The few things that were seriously annoying were resolved. Here are the things that I recall over the last year.

• Loud windshield wipers.
  I drove the 150 miles home in the rain after buying the vehicle thinking the driver-side windshield wiper was loose and banging against the windshield trim. It turns out the RX is just sensitive to a dirty windshield. Periodic thorough cleaning and polishing of the glass makes the wipers nearly silent. Invisible Glass, isopropyl alcohol and a ceramic spray work wonders.
  
• Substantial vibration at highway speed.
  I noticed this soon after buying the vehicle. It felt like a tire balance problem, and I considered having them road-force balanced. The odd part, though, was that it was much worse in the first few minutes or so of highway driving. The dealer, of course, couldn’t duplicate it. It gradually went away, and hasn’t been an issue for several thousand miles. My thought is that it was either a slightly out of round tire or a stiff sidewall that softened over time. When the Ecopias wear out I’ll likely replace them with Michelin Primacy Tour A/S.
  
• Speedometer registers 2 mph fast.
  This is enough that my OCD kicks in. The dealer said it was within spec. I like to drive at 73-74 on the highway, so will set the cruise to 75-76.
  
• B-pillar rattle (so I thought).
  The RX developed a very annoying low-speed rattle that seemed to be in the driver-side B-pillar. The local dealer replaced the seat belt tensioner cover, and I tore apart the B-pillar three times doing sound deadening. No change. Thinking it was actually in the door and not the pillar, I took the inner cover off and did a lot of sound deadening to the door. No help at all. I finally figured out that it was the weatherstripping seals rubbing. Spending 5 minutes putting dry silicone on the rubber weatherstripping completely resolved the problem. A facepalm moment, for sure.
  
• “Tinny” door close sound.
  The driver door would sometimes have a cheap, tinny sound when closing. It didn’t sound luxurious, and something a Benz driver would make fun of. The sound deadening effort, mentioned previously, helped a lot. I might do the same thing to the passenger door. If I do I’ll document the steps and post to the forum.
  
• Fuel mileage isn’t great.
  I get about 22 mpg with mixed driving, and a little better on the highway. It matches my expectation, though.
  
• A few things I’d add or change, none of which are a big deal:
  • Digital speedometer
  • Cruise control on the steering wheel, not a stalk
  • Hard AC On/Off button
  • Fuel warning light at 50 miles, not 20

Final thoughts

The RX was a good buy for me, and I’d do it again. I still read and watch a lot of videos about the RX and other vehicles; it’s become a small hobby. I don’t see any that I’d rather own.

websurfer

Thanks for the excellent writeup.

I agree with the RX positives when I test drove both the F sport and non-F Sport 2021 models. For the F Sport, the slide and seat boosters felt over done IMO.

I'm lurking in the RX forum just like you did to research also

mikemu30

That temporary vibration could merely be flat spots on the tires that correct themselves after a few miles of driving - pretty common. I agree with you the Nuluxe is a fine alternative to genuine leather. We have that in the ES and the real stuff in the RX. The Nuluxe holds up better.

Badhobz

This is well written and speaks for a lot of us here.
I think the biggest problem is our expectations vs reality. Especially owners of previous generation RX's or older Lexus(s) in general have a very high expectations of what this 4th gen RX should be. I know i fall into that category for sure.
I criticize lexus for their fit and finish on this 4th gen RX because i have numerous examples of their past products to compare it against. It might fall short of my expectations but im pretty certain that
1) it'll still be reliable and ill still have it 10+ years from now, just like all my other Lexus(s)
2) it'll keep my family safe
3) it'll hold its value better than the competition

At the end of the day, i still wouldnt buy any other SUV/Crossover. Its a toyota product or a bicycle for me. I just had too many bad experiences owning european brands.

artem123

Well said and I can truly concur with positives and absolutely every negative statement.

dibl

Nice writeup -- thanks. I'll quibble with your low fuel warning, however -- assuming you have the same gas tank capacity as my 2018, and the low level alarm is set the same, you actually have something like 85 miles of warning. Check the tank capacity in your manual, then see how much fuel you can add right after the light comes on.

TechNut

I agree with most of your observations. Great write up!

I have the same issue with the F Sport seats and was similarly surprised by the loud wipers. Thanks for the tip on that. As for the speedo observation, this is typical of Toyota/Lexus speedometers. I agree it is frustrating. The other typical Toyota/Lexus thing that you did NOT mention is the headlight aim, which is typically a bit low. I haven’t driven mine enough at night to have an opinion yet, but they are notoriously low. Oddly, the aim was fine on my 2019 ES though so maybe they finally recognized this issue...

websurfer

Couldn't the headlight aim be adjusted?

TechNut

Of course. But why should that always be required of new vehicles from the same manufacturer. I think it likely suggests they are just overly conservative with their typical aiming process.

Quantum501

Nice write up....thanks.

Pretty much spot on with my experiences on the positive side. So far nothing for me on the negative.

danais7

Thanks for your write up. My 2018 450HL checks all the boxes for me.

lesz

I'm not so sure about that.

The self-leveling Bi-LED headlights on my 2017 ES project their beam to a noticeably shorter distance than did the HID headlights on the 2013 ES that I previously owned. I've asked the service advisors at multiple Lexus and Toyota dealers about adjusting the beam to a higher level. All of them have given me the same answer, and that answer is that, with the Lexus/Toyota self-leveling headlight systems, there is no adjustment available. I've also looked carefully at the backs of the headhights on that 2017 ES, and, if there are any adjustment screws on them, I can't find them.

dibl

They're lying. There is an adjustment available, and you can do it yourself. You need to buy a phillips head screwdriver that is long -- like 16". Do it in your driveway in the dark with the car aimed at the garage door, or in the garage with the car aimed at a wall or the garage door. Use the provided adjustment as shown in the photos on this thread (disregard the "triple LED" title -- that is irrelevant):

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...djustment.html

websurfer

It's on the 2021 RX Owner's manual page 382-383 on adjustment

bamalam

Ha! Yeah, I know. I've run the thing down until it says its within 5 miles of empty, and have never put more than 15.2 gallons in it.
I get the nanny role Lexus tries to play with fudging the gauges. Still, though, if I was a pilot I'd want to know I was at 1,000ft if the altimeter said 1,000 feet, and at 120 knots if that's what the airspeed indicator said. On the plus side, it keeps my brain sharp constantly doing the math to apply a correction factor.

I haven't really noticed the headlights being aimed too low. The auto high-beam is a little on the aggressive side, though. I get flashed occasionally by oncoming drivers because they think I flashed them.