Tannoiser

Hi everybody,
I introduce myself: I'm Alessandro, 50, from Italy.
My company sent me the list of the new company car to chose from. One of the options was the Lexus RX 350h: nice and luxurious car but too long for my garage. Then I would opt for the "smallest one" the NX 450H, in the luxury trim.
Just a few questions because the fleet manager is pushing on me to place the order.
1. eCVT: is it so bad? I mean, now I drive a BMW 3 Series 320d (I know diesel is not very present in USA) but it's a car with a lot of torque. How is about performance the 450h and, above all, how much annoying is the engine sound when you push down the throttle?
2. Infotainment: does it work? I mean, I read of some problems with Apple CarPlay.
3. 12v battery. I'm a little bit scared because I read about many issues. I live in Milan, and the office is 4km far from my home. I would use the NX450H in ev mode all the week and probably I would turn on the combustion engine just in the weekend. Is it a possibile problem for the 12v battery?

The alternative to the NX would be the Audi Q5 phev, as I told the RX 350H, and the just announced new version of the BMW X3. I'm very tempted to wait this last one, but....they still have to begin the production and honestly, there are too many lights in the cabin for my personal tastes...

Thanks a lot for any advice you'll give me (and forgive my Italian English).

Alessandro

Dkaplan

I have the 2022 NX350h and it’s great. I’ve had no problems whatsoever with anything you mentioned. The transmission is fine, CarPlay works fantastic, and I’ve never had a problem with my battery. I would buy the car again in a moment.

Tannoiser

Thanks a lot, really apppreciate. What about the performance?

lsft

1. eCVT is not bad at all. If you drive the car mostly in EV mode you won't even notice the eCVT.
2. CarPlay issues. I rarely get a connectivity issue with connecting to CarPlay. Typically would see issues when I remote start and my phone is close to the car and it tries to connect, but when I reboot the infotainment it works fine.
3. 12V battery - I had a battery replaced, but I drive 600meters to the gym in the morning and 600m home. Any car when driven this short distance would cause 12V issues. However, many people have had 12V battery issues even when driven further away. Never have the car running on ACC mode and keep the car running when you idle rather than turning it off to save energy. At this time it does seem that if you just let the car idle for 15 mins it will help charge up the 12V battery. I typically just let it run and check emails in the car.

Sounds

My only warning is front windshields are not available if replacement is needed. I don’t know how It is in your area. We just got a 2025 350h lux and really like it. We also have a 2019 X3. Our3rd since 2006. Excellent ownership experience. Good luck whatever you choose.

Droid13

HI Alessandro, Hmm, located in Milan you say, looking at electrified company car you say. Any chance you work for Prysmian knowing they are a fairly big company HQ'd in Milan and live in the power distribution and renewables energy sector? I work for them in their North America operations, and regularly cross paths with people from Milan.

In any case, I support much of the opinions already stated here. Toyota/Lexus eCVTs are excellent, but yea, they can be a bit noisy when accelerating hard due to the droning at high RPMs that is often a feature of vehicles with CVTs. Performance I would rate very nice for everyday use, but certainly not up there with more performance oriented vehicles. Infotainment system for me works extremely well, my only complaint is that its not the best design (looks pretty, but sometimes a bit functionally awkward), but for what it is, works well enough. I used Android Auto myself and on rare occasions I do get a disconnect, but its not often and usually connects back easily. The 12V battery does seem to be an issue for some (seemingly more with the 450h+ model), difficult to say how wide spread but its mentioned enough to probably be more than a "rare" problem.

Finally, just some general thoughts. Many people buy Lexus not because its the fastest, or drives the best, but for its reputation for reliability. No, they certainly are not perfect. I personally buy Toyota/Lexus because I tend to keep my cars for around 15 yrs give or take and so far getting their cars to go for 15 yrs without really spending much at all on repairs seems an easy thing to do. You mention Audi as an alternative. Not sure about opinions in Italy, but in North America Audi has a reputation for being very nice cars to drive, handle very well, but once they start to age they can be very expensive to maintain in decent working order. For you, company car, you probably don't care about long term reliability so that could be advantage to Audi in that respect, not caring how much repairs cost when its 10 yrs old.

Tannoiser

Hi, thanks for your reply, very useful indeed. And….no, I’m not working for Prysmian…..

oreon333

Lexus is not really a sport car, so do not expect it to ziiiiiippppppp like a BMW or maybe get spart package to get some more power. Anyway people get Lexus for their reliability, so they can use it for 20 years. Anyway, eCVT is not really a problem for me, your results may vary Infotainment is also pretty good and I have no problems. Battery is a problem when you do not drive much, or you only drive a short distances, or you are doing something in your car while it is in ACC; but if you do not do any of those your battery would be just fine.

Tannoiser

Thanks for your reply. No, I do not expect to go fast like in a BMW but....As I explained in my initial post, typically I'll do most of the week 3km to office and 3km back to home. And during the week maybe something more. So I'll use the car mostly in ev mode. In these conditions, as you told me, can I have problems from the 12v battery? I remember that I would order the plugin model.....This is really the last thing that makes me a little bit hesitating.....

Thanks

BobMillar

Hello, I have a 2022 450h+ F-Sport model, which I am very satisfied with now that I have changed out the runflat tyres for Continental Silent types. The e-CVT drive is not noticeable, because the car is always driven by the electric motors in front wheel drive or 4wd, or locked 4wd if you need it. The bensin motor drives a starter/generator that charges the traction battery and that battery drives the car's electric motors. However, under heavy load or full acceleration the bensin motor and electric drive are "mixed" together to provide up to 300+ HP, which gives the car very good acceleration despite it being so heavy. It may be faster, but it can't compete with roadholding and agility of a typical sports saloon because it is heavy and it is SUV format with higher ground clearance. That said, you can take it to places you would never go in a BMW saloon.
The 12v battery problem only requires that you take care to see it is charged normally and don't drain the battery while sitting waiting for long periods on auxiliary moge or loading up the car over some long time. When the car is in ready mode, the12v battery is charged via a voltage converrter 600v-14,3v, but the drain on the traction battery is quite low. Get a voltmeter that can plug into the 12v outlet and you can see the voltage under different conditions: Ready, driving, stop/start, ACC and so on.
With the above, you need to be sure to be able to charge the car at home, preferably with a 3-phase charger. because 60 km sounds a lot, but when you have AC and Lights, radio and such going that 60 km can rapidly be 19 and you need the motor to get home. I drive electric only round our small city and always bensin on any journey, preferably with the car fully charged.

oreon333

6 km daily is nothing, you would be better off with a bike haha . Yeah the battery will struggle, so your options then in that case would be to have a smart charger (NOCO Genius5 or whatever else you like) at home to constantly charge at home, or get a electric 450h+ and still charge it overnight at home. Anyway, you got to have to be able to plug in at home, if you can't, well look somewhere else then