MemesGenes

I'm in the market for a compact SUV for my wife, and the 2015 Lexus NX 200t is currently at the top of my list due to Lexus' reputation for comfort, safety, quality, and reliability. But while researching the reliability of this model online, I was surprised to see that JD Power gave the 2015 Lexus NX 200t relatively poor reliability ratings. As you can see here, they gave the 2015 Lexus NX 200t a 10/10 for mechanical and a 9/10 for exterior and interior, which is great, but the features and controls only got a concerning 5/10. What's going on there? Are people having problems with the electronics and climate control?

I'm also concerned about the long-term reliability of the 2015 Lexus NX 200t's turbocharged engine (the 8AR-FTS) because I know that turbocharged engines in general tend to be less reliable than naturally aspirated engines, and because I read that this is the first turbocharged engine offered by Lexus in America. I'm assuming that the engineers at Toyota/Lexus know what they're doing, but I'm still wondering if they placed profits and efficiency over reliability when selecting this engine.

Thanks a million in advance for any helpful responses.

Lex2000TL

JD Power collect data on fist 90 days (I may be confused about time as my review was couple of years ago) of vehicle ownership. Most NX owners reported on lousy Nav and idiosyncratic touchpad. This is the first issues that show up. I did, when I received JD-P survey. There was nothing else to report from car mechanical standpoint when I filled out JD-P survey.

Although, I have to say that 90 days of ownership do not give enough time to properly evaluate the car. For example, my NX engine only came to life at about 5K on odometer. This looks like quite long break-in period…

In regards of turbo engines, Lexus engine supposed to be up on the top due to its fuel distribution and turbo designs. Only time will show, though. However, NX has its turbo engine since 2015 model and there plenty NX-s with a ton of miles on odometer, so it should already show its issues if there are any.

ukrkoz

You answered your own question. You want to check it out in real life?

ross7777

JD Power doesn’t test or rate long term reliability. I’ve never consulted JD Power prior to purchasing a vehicle.

gulshan

Those days of keeping your car for 10 years is gone imho. The nx will easily give you 5 to 7 years of bang for buck luxury, good ride, reliability, decent mileage and good residual at trade in for your next ride. The cpo is like 7 year total/unlimited miles. Regarding electronics and controls..rarely you may have to go in for software update/recall/fix under warranty. No big deal. i would not take JD power reports seriously. Turbo issues like carbon build up usually occur at very high mileage. Even then the fix/cleaning intake valves is probably equivalent to a timing belt change cost wise. Just make sure to use premium gas.

no1SomeGuy

Yes, 10 years is gone because you can keep them 12-15 years now. Vehicles are MUCH better built and WAY more reliable than they have ever been.

The turbo is not what causes carbon build up, it's caused by the move towards direct injection without the cleaning effects of the fuel passing over the valves with port injection. Luckily the NX engine has both port and direct injection, so it will not suffer from carbon build up as bad as purely direct injected engines.

Premium gas is a requirement for knock prevention, not for the cleaning additives.

gulshan

Thanks. Good info on Turbo details. Regarding keeping car for long, a 10 year old car as of now will not have rear view camera, collision avoidance, adaptive cruise.. car play, and ton of such features and probably a NA non turbo engine (in this context not including sport cars)
So the reason we may not keep a car for 10 years is not because of reliability but rather for fuel efficiency , all the latest new tech that comes every year etc

no1SomeGuy

We still own a 2008 Rav4 v6 AWD Limited (and my 2016 NX200t F Sport Series 3) and the Rav4 gets roughly the same mileage, maybe 1-2mpg difference at best. All those new tech features (which my NX does have) don't really matter, sure they're kind of cool, but I was taught to drive properly and don't need to rely on tech to keep me safe. In fact, about the only feature I like on the NX is the blind spot monitors and backup camera since it has some pretty big blind spots, not a problem on the Rav4 since it has GREAT visibility...the rest are somewhat useless/nuisance.

If you're the kind of person who has to keep up with the latest tech all the time, fine, keep your vehicle for 5-7 years...but from a reliability perspective (which is what this thread was about), vehicles will easily last 10+ years. I fully intend to keep the NX for 10-12 years.

MemesGenes

Yeah, buying a normal car almost seems dumb right now due to Elon Musk claiming that Tesla cars will become fully autonomous by the end of this year. But knowing Elon's track record for exaggerating milestones, fully autonomous driving is probably closer to 2 to 5 years away once you factor in the regulatory process.