IanG

If this were a safety issue there would have been a recall on GX's sold with the factory hitch. The company would not leave itself in a legal position if there was a known safety concern.

rdfish1

good point. That’s true

jlficken

That's exactly what I've always thought.

TheWeberC

I DM'd Lexus on Twitter to check in & voice my annoyance. This was their response.

"We still do not have an ETA as to when the tow hitch will be available. Please know that we appreciate your patience."

jlficken

I ran out of "patience" a few months ago. 7+ months without a hitch being available from Lexus is ridiculous

LastV8

Picked up my 2022 this past weekend, no tow hitch either. Called the parts department, they said no eta. Asked me salesman, he will get back to me, maybe in a few years LOL

nuclearn8

Anything that’s welded (by a human) is ridiculously delayed because of the pandemic. We waited 14 months for a metal king canopy bed frame from a. Major manufacturer because it was hand welded by someone in Southeast Asia. I have no idea if the oem hitch is hand welded but it would explain at least part of the delay. The only other contributing factor would be the raw stew material to form the pieces which are welded together. If that comes from ukraine it’s gonna be a while…. However last I remember reading Toyota vertically integrated it’s stew supply chain after Fukushima so that shouldn’t be an issue either. Agree the delay is weird/odd.

GX4602011

There were several in dealers stock back during the 'stop-sale', then they had to send them back, so probably not a production side supply issue. Being US/NorthAmerican market hitches (different in other market, EU ect.), I suspect these are made in the US as they are installed in the US.

The positives on using the Curt is that it weighs less than the Lexus/Toyota one, less expensive and easier to install. With that I still want the Lexus/Toyota one and will buy one when it becomes available (unless it's $650+ from the parts department, then I may stick with the Curt I already have installed).

NiteDipper

My GX came with the hitch. To be sure it is not a safety issue I'm going to contact Lexus and ask two questions "Is safe to use?", "Will using it damage the vehicle?". I'm not worried just curious. I got under the truck to inspect the hitch and can't see anything amiss. I only tow a waverunner and use an older tow vehicle instead just to keep the GX away from the salt water.

FastTurtle

I did my due diligence reading through this thread. Curt it is for me. Not planning on towing anything besides bike rack for a road bike 😆

jlficken

I called Lexus again today and after the person tried to get away with the "talk to your dealer" line she wanted to know my info, took my story, and then just hung up on me

I'm sure I won't ever hear back from them and the dealerships I called today had no new info.

They're going to be announcing a new MY GX while the hitch has barely even been available for the current MY pretty soon as my '22 was built in August of 2021 and no tow hitch for me.

ETA: I'm very disappointed in Lexus and have yet to experience the stellar reputation they're supposedly known for at any point in my entire GX shopping, purchase, and after purchase support experience. The plans we had of buying an NX for my wife at some point have all but been discarded.

SEELEXUS

The whole stop production, withdraw all “in stock” product and provide no info doesn’t make for good customer relations.

It could be an internal mix up and confusion on Toyota’s part or they simply could be tapped out as a Corporation trying to deal with both covid logistic and supply impacts coupled with a high resource drain associated sustaining the current product line(s) and changing over to electric vehicles.

One might surmise that, due to covid impacts and supplier shortages, Toyota is using a slightly inferior supplier or supplied component(s) to meet GX production goals which limits the real towing capacity of the later production 2022 GXs. They do de-content as they see fit (e.g., passenger side non-dimming side mirror). If even just on the margin of lowering the full towing capacity, Toyota may simply have limited their potential liability - by not offering the Class IV hitch any longer.

Seems all we can do is buy the Curt hitch and/or wait for the Lexus Class IV hitch to be offered again.

I do wish Toyota was more forthcoming about what is really going on. I think their silence is perplexing, sows doubt and discord.

ballistice

How about fabricating or have a a class IV hitch fabricated? Pretty darn simple. You could even modify a 4Runner hitch to fit with a little modification. For myself, the main purpose of a class IV would be to use in recovery. A lightweight internal bumper mounted class III is not going to hold up to the forces being it only has one mounting point vs the three mounting point requirement of a class IV and above.

TheWeberC

Here's the latest word from Lexus... Take it with a grain of salt.

Thank you for reaching out. We have confirmed the GX tow hitch accessory availability date ETA is mid to late August. Please be advised this is subject to change. Crossing our fingers! 🤞

jlficken

Unavailable for nearly a year at the earliest....wow