My wife and I are looking at purchasing our first Lexus, a 2011 GX460.
Everyone love their 2nd generation GXs?
My wife has been reading online reviews. She's found a couple different ones where they stated you wouldn't be happy with this vehicle if it wasn't used off road. Why would someone write that? Are there features with the GX that detract from mainly on road driving?

 

I traded my 2010 GX 460 Premium for a 2014 GX 460 Luxury and have never been off road except for driving through fields on a farm.. I wouldn't have purchased another one if I didn't like it. Take one for a test drive and don't listen to online reviews...

Good luck with your decision and welcome to the forum.

 

Thank you for the response. We found one we like and really enjoyed driving it. We were curious why someone would think that, other than being socialists and liking to tell people what they should own/drive.

 

It's not the smoothest ride IMO. It's lumpy and you can feel all of the bumps in the road, it's also very heavy. I watch wives drive around in them and shake my head because I know they get tired of wielding a GX around. They don't tell you to drive if off road to be militant or control you, but it's not enough fun and not smooth enough, nor is it efficient enough to justify as a daily driver for most people. If you don't plan on using it off-road, or you don't live in an extreme climate it's just not a competitive offering.

 

Tell you the truth I'm regretting owning this 2014 GX .. I should stick with my BMW theme...
But wife like it .. What can I say...

 

GX is a totally different animal than a X5 or ML. Ride and handling is a lot better in the Germans. The GX feels heavy and has sloppy handling. In the end, I still love it cause it is my travel car and I don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with my X5 :-)

 

today on highway i was doing about 90 in my gx.
an x6 came up behind me and left me in the dust.....probably doing 120+

the gx is a truck. it drives like a tank. it has a frame underneath, so it will drive hard and stiff and feel heavy of course. its very different from a car based cuvs.

if you want fast good handling but want to sacrifice reliablility, get a BMW. MB is garbage imho.

i weighed in on pluses and minuses, and to me the GX is better choice. i wouldnt be getting a 2nd one if i wasnt happy with it. The trend towards smaller compact SUVS will make this a dinosaur one day, but they wont drive as solid as our GX.

 

When I was looking for a new SUV / SAV I looked at both the X5 and the GS as those were the only 2 I could both afford and liked the look of. That being said since the X5 came out I have always wanted one and I had driven them many times and loved them. To this day I still like the looks of an X5 better than my GX. The day I was ready to buy I went to the Lexus dealer and drive my GX, then went to the BMW dealer a drove an X5. Well I'm glad I did that because I liked the comfort and larger size of my GX over the stiffer seats and harsher ride of the X5. Also the X5 had too much black plastic inside for me and the 3.3 just didn't give it the strong feel that the 4.6 that the GX has. The X5 handled much better than the GX but a friend of mine has an X5 and he hates it in the snow.

I'm happy that I bought the GX but I still like the looks of an X5 better.

 

I agree with this. at the same time when you need to go over a curb don't try it in a explorer or x5 the GX laughs at them....ok maybe I drive odd.

 

Well. I wanted a vehicle with better handling too, but its impossible to find a vehicle that does it all: some offroading, reliability, handling, comfort, etc.....

so do what I did:

I bought the GX for the reliability and I bought the german sports car to blow away the X5: best of both worlds. :-)


Don't X5's have electrical problems still?

 

I may be strange but I much prefer the way my GX drives to my Dad's MB GL. Of course I came from a T4R and a Sequoia. To me it seems to be just the right size to haul the stuff for a trip to the beach house for a couple of weeks or 30 bags of mulch but still small enough to park easily. I do not get tired driving it in long trips and enjoy the quiet cabin. I live on a BIG hill here in WV and made it up and down during this atypical winter with no problems at all. The GX is definitely not for everyone but it fits me fine. I think one of my favorite things though is that you do not constantly see yourself coming back - by that I mean there are so few on the road that it is not a cookie cutter car like a MB350 or heaven forbid a Ford Explorer. I like the fact that it's unique and a little off beat. Good luck with your purchase and I am glad that you found your way to thus forum. There are great people here and I have learned a great deal from them in the short time I have had the GX.

 

We were initially looking at yukon/tahoe size vehicles. Actually, my wife had her heart set on an Esalade, but I refuse to buy one. We saw this GX at a Toyota dealer and took it for a drive. The ride seems very smooth, very little body roll in turns, plenty of power, tight turning radius and very attractive inside and out. We'll mainly drive it on road but the winters here in Northern Indiana will require some use of the AWD system.
I like the styling of the MB, Audi, and BMW but parts and service on those vehicles seems extraordinarily expensive.

 

I guess the bottom line is, know what you are getting into with the GX before you buy it. I test drove it like 3x, I was eyeing it for years and I gave it a lot of thought. In the end, the safety features, and reliability is what sold me even though I knew it felt heavy, handling is fairly sloppy, and it didn't have the acceleration, but that is OK. It is a truck and I use it for hauling stuff like boxes, and traveling because I don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with my BMW. I came from a 2012 Cayenne S, so that is a total opposite SUV from the GX, but I'm still liking the GX because it serves a purpose. And, if I want to rip the turns on the weekend and have the power and handling, I'll go drive my other sports car.

btw. It is actually pretty peppy on the freeway for passing cars if you just switch it in manual mode.

 

[QUOTE=frank69m;8507973

btw. It is actually pretty peppy on the freeway for passing cars if you just switch it in manual mode.[/QUOTE]

Shifting gears manually?

 

Yeah, it has tiptronic