Craigyyy

Telescoping for me is fine, but why not ask for more. Noisy fan is funny but a legitimate complaint in a luxury review.

Steering and handling is a legitimate claim, but this is never going to have crossover car steering and handling. It's a body-on-frame truck.

A real complaint would be inadequate gas tank size, premium fuel requirement, the large pricetag, lack of collision avoidance tech, or how basic things like heated seats are huge cost-add options when this is supposed to be a luxury vehicle.

bd5400

I don't think a premium fuel requirement in a luxury vehicle would be considered a real complaint. It's also hard to argue that the fuel tank is an inadequate size since it's pretty similar, or in a couple of cases slightly larger, than its primary competitors. That's likely limited/influenced by the Prado anyway.

It is, in fact, annoying when seemingly basic features aren't standard on "luxury" vehicles but unfortunately it's a fairly common practice with the luxury brands. It's always odd to see BMWs and Mercedes driving around with low quality halogen headlights and tiny little dash screens with plastic inserts for the space the upgraded screen would occupy.

For me, my complaints would be things like the cheap feeling center storage area/lid, the fact that the front door panels and rear sub cover/enclosure will rattle easily, at least with the ML system (which can sound terrible outside of the car), and some of the shared bits with lower models always remind you that you're driving a nicer version of a cheaper car. Things like the turn signal stalk (and its lack of an auto indicator feature for lane changes) and the instrument panel indicators. The headlight indicator light, the park sensor light, and the eco light are all really, really cheap looking. Others have expressed discontent with the rear swing door, and if not the door itself then the direction that it opens, though I actually like it. I've also read complaints about the bumpers and how easily the clips break but that's more of an owner complaint since you'd need to live with the car to have that problem.

Also, I noticed that he complained that "comfort" was too soft while "sport" was too harsh and that there needs to be some middle ground. Isn't that just...normal mode?

Craigyyy

It's a real complaint for many. http://www.autonews.com/article/2016...p-with-premium Lexus dropped premium fuel on the RX a couple years back, but for some reason still requires premium in the GX and LX, when the Toyota counterparts take regular. At many gas stations in my area it's about $15.00 more expensive to fill the tank with premium.

Overseas both Prado and Land Cruiser have auxiliary tank/extended tank options. Admittedly it's not a huge complaint, but it's something I would appreciate having, and one reason that long-term I might go for an F150 or Raptor instead of another Lexus or Toyota product. Most of the competition's SUV offerings might have the same size tank, but they get better MPG so they offer more range.

Yeah it's pretty shocking all the stuff that you have to pay extra for on the German stuff. Inexcusable IMO. Still have to pay extra for a backup camera, and that's going to be federally-mandated as standard equipment in two years.

I also like the swing door

And re the suspension modes, that's what I thought too! Did the guy not think to just leave it in the middle? However I have to agree there's not enough difference in the modes.

tecman

Competent off road yet fragile

jtrue28

Always amazing to see that these "review" vehicles are always completely loaded up. His vehicle had the RSES as well...he going to use that, of course not.

For the true off-road person, yeah maybe the front end, side steps and rear would get in the way, but for most of us, the vehicle is very high and suitable for what we would need it for.

I'm not sure I would buy a Lexus, if my main use for the vehicle was going to be 100% off road driving.

Craigyyy

He's only talking about the fascia and the running boards being fragile. The rest of the truck he's happy with, although I disagree that there are better options if you're not going offroad.

The GX, particularly the loaded out luxury model, is a bit of an oxymoron. Almost none of these ever go off the pavement. The press car guys are going to give him a loaded lux that comes with crawl control since they know he's going offroad, but that's not really the point of the vehicle or its target market.

The Prado doesn't even come with boards unless it's optioned up, and the fascia is much higher and tucked, and the boards on the more expensive models are also a lower profile and give more clearance.

Personally if I was buying new, I'd opt for a Prado over the GX if I could. But I still prefer the GX to the 4runner which is all we get over here.

It is irritating though how a lot of these offroad guys hold a contempt for people who don't take their 4x4 trucks offroad, as if we should all buy a sedan or something since we don't need the capability. In reality the vast majority of these guys don't need the capability themselves, and the extent of their offroading is going to a park and splashing through ruts and puddles. Very few of these offroad guys actually own a ranch or a farm, or have to go offroad every day for work, etc.

paui4m

Apologies if I missed it, but I haven't seen this posted:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...60-test-review

tecman

I like the blue with the silver sport package. Explanation on the gate swing direction at 3:30

Acrad

Acrad

bbqsoup

Awesome! Thanks for posting. Some good viewings when slacking off at work lol.

Acrad

kroorda

I have a 2013 GX and I live on the western border of Rocky Mtn National Park. I am also a volunteer for the US Forest Service. My GX takes me everywhere I need/want to go, and it does so very confidently.

Acrad

That's really awesome to hear!!! Ever have anyone give you odd looks for being off the beaten path in a Lexus?

Acrad