Lexus TX 500H Review
Lexus TX is literally a big addition to the Lexus lineup. Not only does Lexus get a new big three row SUV that can legitimately seat adults in the third row.
This new vehicle gives Lexus customers the ability to have a third row without paying a ton of money, relatively speaking for features that they don’t really need.
Previously, if you wanted a three row SUV from Lexus, you had the old GX, the LX, and then the RX 350 L to choose from. Lexus TX 500H Review
All of them are great in their own way, but they’re either too small or too expensive if what you really needed was a way to transport a lot of people in comfort.
Now that has changed because of this TX. The official trim name of this is the 2024 Lexus TX 500 HF Sport performance Luxury with all wheel drive.
Lexus TX 500H Pricing
Now, the cheapest Lexus TX, which is the non-hybrid TX 350, starts out at $55,050.
This hybrid model starts out at 71,300, and after all the upgrades and delivery, it goes all the way up to $78,169. Lexus TX 500H Review
That still isn’t cheap, but considering your Lexus options between the GX and the LX for a three row SUV, this is a relative bargain.
If you don’t need that full-time, four wheel drive capability. So if you’re shopping for a luxury vehicle with a comfortable and roomy third row, the TX is far ahead of the competition.
The Acura MDX, Volvo XC 90, Audi Q7, BMW X7 They’re all nice in their own way, but they have cramped third rows.
The Cadillac Escalade ESV has a very roomy third row, but the price of admission is well over a hundred grand. Lexus TX 500H Review
The only real competitor to this Lexus TX is the Toyota version, which if you don’t mind the more budget friendly materials inside and missing some of the real interesting features of this Lexus TX, then it’s a real bargain.
Exterior Feature
So here are the exterior features I love about the new Lexus TX, the new grill I think it looks cool.
Lexus looks like it’s going through somewhat of an identity crisis right now as it slowly changes the grill designs from the massive hourglass designs that we’ve seen in the past. Lexus TX 500H Review
The new Lexus GX that has a smaller, more functional grill, the new RX is doing something strange with its nose while the Lexus LX is still holding out on the super massive grill design.
Now new grill design is a modern take. It has more of an EV grill influence and it’s very distinctive.
Front Side
This F sport has a sportier front bumper design with the blacked out elements for the fog lights and also more brushed aluminum trim.
I like the lighting on the Lexus TX. The LED lights are auto leveling. The daytime running lights have upside down check mark design.
Then there’s also fog lights in this model and cornering lights that will turn on so, so you can see better when you’re turning into your driveway at the back.
The TX has a single light bar design that is now a new design signature for the Lexus brand as well as that word Lexus spelled out.
And then I love the big wheel design on this, looks very sporty. These are 22 inch wheels and it’s exclusive to the fsport lineup. Lexus TX 500H Review
With this wheel, you could sort of see the really large calipers on there. There’s six piston calipers and that’s plenty of stopping power.
Overall, I think this is a pretty good looking three row SUV. It looks capable and also luxurious.
The paint is called incognito It’s a chalky type of finish, sort of like Audi’s nardo gray paint, and it’s exclusive to this F Sport lineup.
Interior Of Lexus TX 500H
Talking About Interior The door handle is also another switch, so you could just push button to open the door, but for a mechanical backup, you could just pull twice and that’ll open the door.Lexus TX 500H Review
And once you’re inside, yes, this looks like a nicer version of the Toyota Grand Highlander.
The layout is almost the same, but it has Lexus’s own twist to things like the bigger screen that looks more integrated with the dash.
And then you see the Lexus steering wheel design which has some very nice soft touch buttons that correspond to the things on the heads up display.
The gear shifter is of a very similar design to the Toyota Grand Highlander.
The cup holders have a more interesting design where you can just completely remove out of the way and place it somewhere else so that you could place larger things. Lexus TX 500H Review
You’ll find all the cup holders in this car is designed this way, and if you’re an inventor or you like to tinker with things, you could potentially make a design with the same interfaces and therefore you could just clip on anything that you want.
The armrest has a really nice surface to it, and this has a split design so that you don’t have to bother your passenger to get inside the armrest.
I like that you get heated seats, ventilated seats, and also a heated steering wheel. Previously Lexus had something called climate concierge.
It was kind of a gimmicky thing, but basically it was a single auto button that controls all of the different climate settings. Lexus TX 500H Review
There is a big panoramic sunroof. This offers plenty of light for the first and second row occupants.
Second Row
Now talking about the second row and to open front door, you just press button and it’ll unlatch the door for you.
The one safety benefit is that when you’re parallel parked and you’re trying to open door into traffic, the Lexus TX can sense the oncoming traffic, and if there’s a car, it will prevent the unlatching of the door.
So that’s one safety benefit to this design. The second row has the same door handle design, and once you’re inside, you can see the captain’s chairs configuration, so this can seat up to seven people.
I love the leather and the microfiber finish on the seats, and you can find automatic climb controls, also heated seats, ventilated seats for the captain’s chairs, a couple of USB ports and more storage options. Lexus TX 500H Review
You can also find 120 volt outlet right below the venting is all up on the ceiling. In the center, you find a set of cup holders, and this is the same exact design that you could find in the front, so you could completely remove that.
3rd Row
You could also remove center console entirely and just leave it at home.
This way you could have easier access to the third row. As for the third row, which is kind of like the whole point of this vehicle, it’s really easy to get into.
You could just press button and this will tilt and slide the seat forward slightly so that you could easily get in.
And once you’re in, you’ll find that there’s plenty of leg room at 33.5 inches. but my favorite part of this Lexus TX seating position is that knee is not a lot higher.
So this is a much more relaxed seating position. In other smaller three row SUVs, you’ll find that your knee is going to sit a lot higher so that you’re just much more cramped. Lexus TX 500H Review
Boot Space
As for the cargo space, the thing about smaller three row SUVs is that not only do you take a hit on the third row comfort, but you also lose out on a lot of cargo space potential in the back.
That’s not the case in this Lexus TX because with the third row up, you have 20.2 cubic feet of storage.
Now with the third row in the down position, you get up to 57.4 cubic feet of storage, and with the second row down, you get up to 92 cubic feet of storage in this Lexus TX.
Technology
Now let’s talk about the technology and start with 14 inch touchscreen for your infotainment system. Lexus TX 500H Review
This is a very big screen, but the real screen element here is really just the top two thirds of it.
This is what changes when you go through the different menus. And the lower third of the screen is always showing your climate controls.
And I think that’s a great thing because you don’t wanna be hunting through the different menus to get into your heated seats, ventilated seats, and also all of your climate controls.
Some of the more important climate controls, like the temperature settings, the front and rear defrosts are all still physical buttons, so that’s a great thing.
This comes with wireless apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto, and since this has the technology package upgrade, it adds the panoramic view monitor.
So you could push the button and it’ll pull up the 360 degree camera view. If you push into gear, this will show an overhead view of the car.
And on the right hand side, you could kind of toggle between what views are shown there. Lexus TX 500H Review
This one comes with a wireless charger as well, and I think your experience may vary depending on the type of phone that you have and also your phone case.
Safety Feature
When it comes to safety, this has Lexus Safety System 3.0, so it comes with a whole lot of features like adaptive cruise control, lane tracing, blind spot, rear cross traffic alert.
Again, this has that safe exit assist feature, which might potentially save you during parallel parking situations.
But there is this one interesting addition and it comes in the form of infrared sensors on hump by the steering column.
Now, this is something that I’ve run into with GM cars equipped with Super Cruise or Ford with Blue Cruise, and that’s a level two advanced driving assistance system, which has Adaptive Cruise control and also lane keeping systems like in most cars.
But those systems provide completely hands-free driving as long as you’re traveling on a known road normally on highways.
TX 500 H has the same powertrain as the Toyota Grand Highlander hybrid max. It has a 2.4 liter four cylinder turbocharged engine with a hybrid system, so it makes a total 366 horsepower with 406 pound feet of torque.
That’s a small power bump over the Grand Highlander hybrid max. This Lexus TX has a little bit more weight to carry around.
So this one has a slightly different engine tune. Zero to 60 is about the same with the Toyota version, and it’s around six seconds. That’s pretty quick for a big SUV.
That hybrid system is attached to a six speed automatic. Now, you may think, why doesn’t this have an eight or 10 speed transmission like other cars? I can’t really say.
But considering that this is a hybrid, it still gets pretty good gas mileage for this size car, 27 miles per gallon in the city, 28 in the highway, and 27 miles per gallon combined.
And Lexus recommends 91 octane premium fuel The power delivery is very good. The electric motor gives you that instant torque, and then the turbo engine keeps that momentum at full boost in the mid range.