2024 Lexus NX 350h: The case against paying extra
The compact SUV from Lexus has long been on Mr. Driver’s Seat’s naughty list. Though it has improved in some areas, now its RAV4 underpinnings are sticking out.
2024 Lexus NX 350h Luxury: A little bit of luxury from Toyota’s upscale division?
Price: $58,075 as tested. Among the more noteworthy options were 20-inch wheels, $1,310; panoramic view monitor, lane change assist, and front cross-traffic alert, $1,070; power folding heated rear seats, $1,030; fancy headlights, $850. More noted below.
Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes the “wide variety of available power trains, roomy cabin, high-tech features,” but not the “mundane road manners,” or that it’s “not as quiet inside as expected” and “most models are fairly poky.”
Marketer’s pitch: “Experience amazing.”
Reality: Really not improving on its cheaper cousin, the Toyota RAV4.
What’s new: The 2024 Lexus NX compact SUV carries over from previous year, and even back to its 2022 redesign year.
I think Lexus is trying to save some dough because this time around the NX really felt like a RAV4. The NX has never been my favorite ride — it was here that I was introduced to the disastrous touch pad controller that has mostly been consigned to the scrap heap, thankfully — but now it’s just … not disappointing, but not feeling worthy of the name.
Competition: Volvo XC60, Lincoln Aviator, and Porsche Cayenne are all plug-in luxury hybrid competitors. In the non-luxury world, the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V, and Toyota Venza offer no-plug hybrid options.
Driver’s Seat: The comparison to the less-expensive, platform-sharing Toyota RAV4 started upon first entry.
The seats are trimmed in leather and heated and ventilated up front at no extra charge, but they weren’t quite as cushy as I’ve come to love from Lexus. The slick Lexus gauges are nice, though.
Up to speed: The Lexus NX 350h disappointment continues into the first pullout. It’s an exceedingly not-fast vehicle.
The 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine is mated to a CVT, and the system makes 240 horses, 20 more than the RAV4 Hybrid. It takes 7.6 seconds to get to 60 mph, pretty slow, according to Car and Driver.
The plug-in version takes just 6 seconds. Maybe I could look past some of these flaws in that one. But that didn’t help the Volvo XC60 much two weeks back.
Shifty: The NX 350h uses the Prius gearshift knob, up and left for Reverse, down and left for Drive. The CVT seemed to do what was asked of it during testing week.
On the road: The handling in the NX 350h is just acceptable, nothing like fun. On the bright side, it doesn’t bob and weave like many smaller SUVs, and so it makes a comfortable daily driver.
Friends and stuff: The rear seats provide nice space all around, for feet, heads, and knees, reports Sturgis Son-in-Law 1.0. They are a little snug from side to side, though. This is one bonus the NX offers over the RAV4, which had a flat, less comfortable rear seat.
The seats featured power folding and heaters for a price of $1,030.
Cargo space is 22.7 cubic feet behind the rear row and 46.9 with the seat folded.
Play some tunes: The 14-inch touchscreen is pretty cool. As I’ve said before, it definitely beats the old Lexus touchpads and knobs. But it also includes the HVAC controls, so it cuts into the usable area somewhat.
The sound from the Mark Levinson Premium Audio ($1,020) was quite good, somewhere between an A- and a A. That qualifies as a bargain, as I’ve seen some premium systems offer far less for three or four times as much.
Adjusting the equalizer is a difficult on-the-fly move, featuring sliders in the touchscreen.
One issue I noticed in this model: wireless connection between my iPhone and the system would quite frequently skip, a la old vinyl records, so test that out if you’re considering the NX.
Keeping warm and cool: The HVAC touchscreen controls mostly work OK, except for the slider control for the fan. It’s difficult to move a bit at a time.
The too-clever dials with the temperature readout in the middle seem mushy and difficult to move little by little as well, which seems to be most of the heating and cooling adjustment Mr. Driver’s Seat really wants.
Fuel economy: I averaged in the mid-30s in the usual Mr. Driver’s Seat round of testing, light on the highway miles.
Where it’s built: Cambridge, Ontario.
How it’s built: The Lexus NX Hybrid gets a 4 out of 5 from Consumer Reports.
(For consumers who follow my reliability notes, and recent changes to a 100-point scale, CR requested I stick to the old 5-point scale; they’d like you to pay for the more in-depth reports, including the 100-point scale. As a working journalist, I support their efforts to be compensated for their work.)
In the end: The RAV4 Hybrid is not much worse. Why not skip the prestige and just get the Toyota model?
Still, if we go back and compare the Volvo XC60 from two weeks ago, this is better. The XC60 moved faster but didn’t do anything else delightfully, and the reliability report is woeful.
I’d say ease up on the luxury, focus the hybrid performance, and opt for the Sportage, Tucson, or Venza.