We were shopping around for a new SUV for my wife to replace her '99 RX300 which was coming out of warranty and starting to exhibit some minor problems that we were concerned might turn into major problems after the warranty expired.

Through my work I had the chance to drive the RX330, the Cayenne, Touareg and several other model SUV's for comparison purposes. Here's what we settled on:



For more photos click here:
FX45 - Monique Pictures

Dollar for Dollar no other SUV could touch the performance of this car and the luxury and technology options were first rate. We didn't want/need a 3rd row seat, but did want something with some get up and go and lots of amenities.

I don't know if this is a sign of things to come, that maybe other RX owners will be switching to the FX, but for us and our needs it made sense to do so.

The RX was a good car while we had it, no complaints other than the crappy Goodyear tires it came with and Lexus's refusal to do anything about it (we had 4 flats in 3 years) finally switched to some Michelin X-terrains. However, the FX has made us forget all about our "old" RX.

If anyone has questions about the FX I'd be happy to try and answer them for you. Hmmm I guess I should change my autosig to "FX me baby"

Thanks!

 

Sucker!

Just kidding... well mostly kidding at least.

Anyway, stop by after you've had it awhile and let us know how it compares with your old RX300.

 

Will do, happy to. So far I'd have these comments:

FX45 outperforms the RX300 in straightline, handling and overall ride performance and believe it or not is quieter inside at highway speeds, it also doesn't suffer from that wind cavitation problem the RX300 has when you roll a window down.

The options on the car are very nice from a top notch nav system, HIDs, laser guided cruise control, intelli-key and others, and the seating in front is more comfortable. I rarely sit in the back but the FX has reclining rear seats as well and a really nice DVD entertainment system. The Bose system in the FX is better than the Nakamichi we had in the RX300.

Remember we had a 99 RX so some options like HID and Nav weren't available back then, so not an even comparison.

In short I'd say if you were looking for performance go the FX45, if you are looking for softer ride and more luxury go RX330, but even on the luxury front both cars are VERY close, however, on the performance front they are miles and miles apart.

 

FXKen,

Nice choice. If I were looking to replace my ’01 RX and after looking at the new RX330 and the FX45 I would have to go with you. Enjoy

 

car looks great! how would it handle under snow conditions with those tires?

 

How can you make the comparison?..the FX45 is twice the price of the RX, but I doubt twice the value. Don't get me wrong by most reports it's a great car, and all the "experts" are emphasizing "Car". But! so is my Porsche, which I do not compare to the RX

 

To anonymous - So far only one instance to test it in the snow and the FX45 did just fine.

To Shmelvin - I'm saddened to hear that you own a Porsche, I thought all Porsche owners were better informed. The FX45 fully loaded that we got was in the mid to upper 40's. An equivalently equipped RX300 or RX300 will easily punch into the lower 40's. So at best, maybe a $5k or if you get a lousy deal $10k difference. Certainly not TWICE the price. Maybe you are thinking of the Porsche Cayenne???

BTW, a fully equipped FX35 would be about the same price as a fully equipped RX330.

ABTW, How do you distinguish between SUV and car? After all, one of the RX300's selling points was that it was built on a car platform (Camry) and not a truck platform. The FX is built on the G35 platform.

 

FXKen -
I am also comparing the RX330, VW and FX35/45 & would also appreciate your FX updates. I drove an FX last night and was very impressed. The FX appears to be the most sporty of the three but I am still drawn to Lexus because of reliability. I may wait a year to compare their Consumer Reports ratings. Keep us informed. Thanks.

 

I just posted a long-winded FX45 update and comparison to the G35 coupe on www.freshalloy.com check it out at:

FX45 Report

As for reliability, that's hard to gauge on a brand new car line. Our Lexus had its share of problems, nothing major, but it did make a noise from the front end from time to time that was starting to make us wonder if something wasn't about to happen just after we got out of warranty. The statistical differences between brands like Lexus and Infiniti aren't as great and the individual probabilities on whatever car you end up buying, in other words you can make statistics say whatever you want, I wouldn't let that hold you back from buying the car you really want. I have a friend with an X5 and he complains that his is in the shop all the time, yet they are often rated as being highly reliable according to different sources. The only problem we've had with the FX45 was a chip on the wheel finish and that is being taken care of under warranty.

 

Ken,

The FX45 has only 27cu ft of luggage area compared to the RX with over 40cu ft. Most people looking for an SUV would consider this a major problem. I think for most people the RX330 will be the better vehicle for several reasons including Lexus reliability, gas mileage, luxury level, price and the limited "luggage area" the FX has. The RX330 might not be as fast or have skidpath numbers like the FX but who cares. Most people (99.9%) will not drive an SUV like a race car, heck most people that have high performance cars don't drive them like race cars.

 

I'm not sure where these cargo numbers come from, maybe one is seats up and seats down, but we took the rear cargo area rubberized protector out of our RX300 and put it into the back of the FX45 and for all intents and purposes it was the same. Plenty of luggage room if you ask me. If I wanted a pickup truck, I would have bought a pickup truck.

 

Maybe this picture will help:



The FX45 appears to be deeper to me, but in the FX45 the rear seats recline so that can cut into your cargo space, if you put them straight up and down you get more cargo space. In this picture they are reclined. You can see the rubberized mat container in the RX300, we moved that over to the FX45 without issue, although I'd like to get a different colored one now.

 

Ken,

The numbers are correct with both seats up, from the picture I would have to say they appear accurate. Most compact SUV's have 30cu ft of luggage area so the FX is inadequate for a mid size SUV if luggage area matters.

 

Hmmm I find that odd since I've seen both cars in person, the FX has a much more curved backend which doesn't really show with the gate raised up. The RX300 is obviously taller but the FX is deeper. If we ever exceed our needed storage capacity I'll let you know, but so far we haven't and that includes a 550+ mile cross country trip for two...

 

Ah running the numbers does indeed turn up some interesting characteristics.

The FX45 is wider and longer than the RX300
The FX has 105 cubic feet of passenger volume, the RX undoubtedly has less based on dimensions and having nearly 3 inches less headroom and over 3 inches less legroom. (Shoulder room is a wash)

So the question comes down to are you carrying more passengers or more luggage? Typically I'm more worried about my comfort than the comfort of my luggage.

Indeed the RX300 appears to have about 12cuft more storage space with the seats up if the specs are accurate. That would amount to a 4x3x1 foot section or roughly the space behind the seats being 1 foot deeper, in other words you could pile luggage 1 foot higher and block your view out the back. It's pretty obvious from the pics that is where the difference is since the back mat area is the same length and width, the only other difference is height and the FX is a lower slung machine than the RX, the wind noise at highway speeds reflects that quite a bit.

So the question really comes down to how often do you stack cargo in the back area higher than the seats? For those times the RX300 may be a better vehicle, but your passengers might prefer the additional leg and head room too.

Price on the FX35 and RX330 are comparable, true the 45 is more but includes more items. Luxury level in the FX45 is every bit as good if not better than the RX, certainly better than the RX300, probably more comparable to the RX330.

Therefore, I don't think it is any problem to make the trade-off of highly stacked luggage for more passenger room and more performance. As I said early on, YMMV, your criteria are bound to be different from mine, just don't dismiss mine or the vehicle (FX45) off-hand because as I said, we could have bought either and we chose the FX45.