The wifey is planning on getting a new Suv sometimes this year. She has been looking around the past month She has fell in love with the GX even though The RX is smaller the 350 is fast for an Suv. I like the RX 350 but in Charlotte everybody and their mama has one. So is the GX truck like are drive as smooth as any other Suv its size?

 

The RX is based on the Highlander which is based on a slightly lengthened Camry platform. It rides, understandably, much like a car. It handles similarly to what you might expect a Camry or ES350 to handle like, too, if you raised their center of gravity. Driving the RX and driving the ES I can feel a LOT of similarities.

The GX drives MUCH more like a pickup truck. There's absolutely no denying that it's a true truck body on frame design.

Me, personally - I'd pick the GX. I like the interior much better. I like knowing that I could actually tow a decent sized load with it, offroad with it, etc... do manly things.

For my wife, I'd pick the RX - better performance, smoother ride, somewhat better fuel economy, and lower price.

The GX rides on the 4runner platform and shares the large majority of its mechanical and electrical design with the 4runner, though very little if any of the body and interior components are shared - they're made side by side in the same production facility in Japan.

My wife drives a 4runner now... but she got that before we got married, so while I had some input, I didn't have enough to steer her toward a highlander or RX instead of the 4runner. I think now she wishes she'd gotten an RX or an MDX.

 

She'll never tow or go off roading. The reason she likes the GX better is because that many people don't have them around here plus it has more room i think.

 

I thought the GX was on the Sequoia platform?? Or is that also on the 4runner platform?

 

Bigger hovercraft and smaller hovercraft are the only differences imo. Have you checked out the Audi & BMW offerings?

 

"Bigger" is a relative term here. Have her check out both vehicles with her usual complement of people on board. Four people from average to large size fill the GX about as well as the RX. The GX appears to be larger - it is a bit taller and more upright, while the RX has a bit less ground clearance, but easier entry and exit for vertically challenged people.

The AWD RX is a decent "soft-roader", but not yet ready for the Rubicon Trail. It can easily get you where you have no business being in a luxo-SUV. More important, it can get you back. The GX is a far better choice for real brush bashing. A Jeep Wrangler is better yet.

On the road, the RX is a far superior long-distance runner thanks to it's automotive DNA. There is a rather spectacular difference in real-world highway mileage that might give you pause. The GX is a truck - a fine truck to be sure, but still a 4-Runner with leather and wood trim - with all of the ride, handling, and performance you would expect of a V8 truck-based SUV.

I've driven an RX for just over seven years now, and I have a number of friends that have opted for the GX. I really like both, but having spent 20+ years in a series of truck-based SUV's, given the choice of a fully loaded RX or a stripped GX at about the same price point, my vote would still be for the RX.

Just my 2¢ . . .

 

No. Lexus does not have an SUV based solely on the Sequoia platform.

The 4Runner and GX are from the same 4-Runner/truck-based platform and have similiar-shaped bodies, but the GX is notably plusher inside...perhaps one of the reasons why Shawnmack's wife likes it.

A word of caution, though, with the GX. It is tall, like other Lexus SUV's, but is distinctly narrower. This, of course, raises the effective center of gravity, and makes the GX tippier in cornering and more prone to rollovers than either the RX or LX, despite standard traction and stability controls.

I assume, Shawnmack, that your wife is not an aggressive driver, and will not deliberately try to drive a GX like a low-slung sports car, but sometimes one has to make aggressive manuvers to avoid things like deer, children, other vehicles, etc..... that's why Consumer Reports usually tests this type of vehicle with canoe-type outriggers attached.....they catch the vehicle if it leans over too much and prevent it from tipping over.

 

Nah it goes (for SUVs)


RAV4 -> Nothing (though with Acura having the RDX, and the Highlander/RX probably increasing in size with their upcoming redesign, this could change)
Highlander -> RX
4Runner -> GX
Sequoia -> Nothing (though the Seq is based on the Tundra and rumor has it when the new redesigned Seq comes out on the new Tundra platform, it may very well have a Lexus counterpart this time around)
LC -> LX

 

Try some offerings from BMW and Audi. Or get a sports wagon. If she's never really going to go offroad, there's little point to an SUV when a sports wagon has cargo capacity as well, and drives far better.

 

The GX is just ugly IMO. I would rather have a RX anyday. I am also the type that is into SAVs as opposed to SUVs. I'd rather have my "SUV" drive like a car rather than like a truck. I would think most wives would prefer this as well (I know my fiance would).

Acura RDX, MDX
BMW X3, X5
Audi QX7
Lexus RX

 

I think the RX would be better fit for her. I guess when she test drove the GX According to her It felt more roomier and she felt higher up for some reason. We haven't check on the Audi but we have had several X5's from my Job I love the way they drive but she hates the Int. and the way it drives.

 

 

oops. Q7. :P

 

Of those 2 and for your wife, I'd pick the RX.

We've owned a GX for 3 years now and although it is a great truck, if I had the choice of what to buy when we got it, it wouldn't have been the GX. I would have rather picked up an LX or an X5.

Like mmarshall said, the GX is a tall truck, but when you drive it I personally feel it isn't very stable vs. the LX and other bigger SUVs but that might just be my personal perception. I cannot drive this SUV quickly even when I want to just because of that. I have never been as scared in a vehicle as I was going 95 in my GX. Not to mention the GX isn't the must handsome thing on 4 wheels (well, neither is the RX IMO), and if you won't do any off roading with it (I never have either ) then maybe get something car based.

Trust me. Get the RX or check out some other brands too.

 

I will comment that I feel the GX is a better made vehicle, though.

The interior IMO uses nicer materials and better assembly... it generally develops far less rattles in the GX than it does in the RX, and that's even considering that the GX rides rougher over bumps since it's truck-based, which means interior quality being equal, it would be more prone to rattles. In my experience, though, it's not.

Also... I hate the transmission on the RX. Just doesn't feel crisp at all. Mayo for transmission fluid, anyone? Feels just like the RX trans (probably because they're the same). The GX's trans feels fine. Much like the V8 Lexus cars I've driven.

I also feel that the iforce V8 has a very well proven reputation for reliability. Not so much for the V6. It may end up being a great motor, but its pretty much only a few short years old - unproven.

Overall I think I'd buy the GX for long term solidity and durability. But that's just my personal observations.