2024 Lexus GX

We kept going back and forth between colors and trims but finally picked up this OT Plus in Earth.

My wife has taller tires than me!

 

After a month with the GX, I've really appreciated the Tacoma.

The GX is the wife's and Tacoma is mine and everything I dislike about the GX is the reason I picked the Tacoma a couple years ago. The number 1 reason I'm driving the Tacoma is the transmission but everything else about it still feels like I'm operating it. It's obviously not a sports car and pretty crude by today's standards but I like that about driving and probably why I love motorcycles. I like the hydraulic steering and feedback it provides. The lack of intrusive safety features and having a physical key to turn it on. I like how it doesnt auto brake, try to yank the steering wheel or beep every time it senses impending doom. I wasn't a fan of the factory stereo, but it was easy to upgrade. Meanwhile the Mark Levinson in the Lexus under performs and it'll probably be headache to upgrade.

I suppose the same can be said about most new vehicles but it's nice to know I'm extremely happy with what I've got. One thing to note is the Lexus, despite weighing more, having significantly more power and full time 4WD it gets the same MPG as the Tacoma.

 

What MPG is it getting? I hear the hybrid Land Cruiser is getting 19 city and over 21 highway. That’s significantly better than my Taco with a lift and 33’s.

 

We mostly do city driving with shorter trips so it'll get 14 which is what my Tacoma gets. Wife had a work trip this week which was maybe 70% highway and she got almost 19.

 

Nice! I much prefer the new GX over the Land Cruiser. Looks better and has a better engine.

 

Finally saw 2 in person, one brown one silver, they are WAAAAAAAY better looking in person, the photos dont do much for them.

I really dont care for the LC250 and hope the 4runner looks closer to the GS.

 

I had one for a week an averaged 18.4 MPG doing a lot of around-town driving, a disproportionate amount of idling, and a bunch of hard acceleration runs. Don't doubt I could have pulled off 20-22 MPG easily if I was paying attention to it / caring about MPG.

 

Did the 5K mile oil change and took it on a ~1100 mile round trip trip from Texas to Arkansas last week. Keeping it under 80 it managed 20 MPG hand calculated. If you're just cruising along flat land the V6 and 10AT does a good job keeping up without needing to dip into boost. Once things got hilly towards Arkansas the turbos did their thing. The top gear barely turns 2K RPM at 80 mph, but the lack of aerodynamics and tires really hurt the mileage. Played with the drive settings and there is a welcome difference between normal and sport modes in controlling body roll. It was actually welcome once we got into the tight twisty sections in the Ozarks. I will say this is one of the least confidence inspiring vehicles in fun back roads that I've owned.

One major gripe that's echoed on the forums is the small gas tank. Around town the low fuel indicator comes on around 260 miles but once we got to highway MPGs we managed 360 miles of comfortable range. I find the seats start to get uncomfortable after a couple hours. The massaging seats are a nice feature but I'd prefer more support and firmness. I told my wife that I find my motorcycle easier on my lower back on long trips over her Lexus.

Got it buried up to the wheels once we got to my in-laws property, but locking the center diff made easy work in crawling out.