lalin

My wife has a 2014 RX and her lease will be due in a couple of months. We like the car and were considering to get a 2016 but we are both very turned off by the new massive front grill. Worse yet there is no front bumper to protect the front of the car when it is parked.
In NYC it is not uncommon that when spaces are tight, you get bumped by the car in front or in back of you.
What experience do the city dwellers 4th gen owners have with the lack of bumpers?

LordBowral

There is a very strong reinforcing bar behind the grill where the bumper would normally be ...Grill will unfortunately take the hit and be more costly to repair but its the way of car designs the world over in 2016

hon3kong

My previous car was 2013 gs 350, didn't get a single dent on the front and rear bumper. The key is you gotta be smart on where you park. However, i drove my other car to Manhattan lol
Although you got turn off by the massive grill, but trust me. I got so many complements on my 4RX, people actually love how it looks. Maybe you will start to think that it looks good

bootman

You could just get one of these.....

Vincent05

Had a friend who bought a 16 RX with the plastic grille. He had his suv for a week when someone back in and broke it. Cost him alot of money to replace. That gave me second thoughts on those grille so I decided to get the mesh grille of the f-sport when I get mine, plus I like that look better.

bootman

That is made of plastic also and can just as easily break.

Put the bull bars on.

jduong29

If your so worried about the tight parking and getting bumped then you shouldn't be driving a high quality car in your town. Do you really think Lexus put out a car with no front bumper and no safety? LOL It seems like this is a personal issue that you don't like the front grill. To me I love the new front grill for the RX. Don't worry it will grown on you sooner or later.

bootman

Lets hope some jackass doesn't bump you out in the suburbs or at the airport, or at the mall, or at (just fill in the blank to wherever you go that isn't in an urban setting)

Things happen.
When it does to you (and I hope it doesn't) you will be looking at the bull bars also.
So don't be so hard on someone wanting to protect their new purchase.

coolsaber

This is how I look at this problem. Yes there is a front bumper or Lexus could not have sold this vehicle period. However the bumper cover design at least for the F sport is bad in urban environemnts and certain freeway conditions.

The number of idiots who park in urban areas are just dumb. They all have sonar guided parkin assist, aka bumping the car bumper is the indication to stop. Each of those leaves scuff marks dents etc.

The mesh grill also is going to attract bugs on freeways or chips from stones etc.

The only theing you can do for this, is get one of thoose silly bumper mat guards and cover up the front and rear. And paint film everywhere else.

Other people like I
1) Dont drive the vehicle in urban areas
2) Live with it, as a proverbial mark of passage, gives it character.

SW17LS

The bottom line is if another car bumps into the front of any vehicle, its going to damage it, whether its the grille or a normal bumper cover.

SFocLA

Looks like someones never been or lived in NYC. It is very common to see luxury cars everywhere with those bumper pants or bull bars even though they look ridiculous. People just can't park and spaces are super tight. Like bootman said dont be too hard on someone trying to protect their new car!

JosersRX

Wow that is hideous, IMO
There has to be better option out there... anyone else have any suggestions?

dfc350

Isn't the grill flexible? Skip forward to the 3:12 mark of this video and it shows it bouncing back from an impact.

coolsaber

flexible it is but it will still leave marks and fracture points when taking an impact. So its not like its a super material that flexes, keeps the paint in

echo2400

I hated the grill in photos and swore I would not buy another RX until they changed it. I've now seen it 4 times in person, and seeing it with the new sharp angles they have added it no longer sticks out like a sore thumb. It looks more masculine and I may buy one tomorrow.