2024 Lexus LX Review: The LX Does Comfort, Not Sport

The fourth-generation Lexus LX finally replaced the old one two years ago after a 14-year career, now sitting on a new platform it shares with the Toyota Sequoia and Tundra. Instead of the naturally aspirated V8, the new-gen LX gained a twin-turbocharged V6 with 409 horsepower that improves both performance and gas mileage. And with pricing barely changing, you get a lot of SUV for your money. The LX is back for 2024 with no changes and the same five trims. With up to three seating rows and a length of over 200 inches, this is a full-size SUV, but it's not as big and roomy as American favorites such as the Cadillac Escalade or Lincoln Navigator. Next year, it will also have to take on a totally redesigned 2025 Infiniti QX80. Let's find out how it shapes up in a tough market segment traditionally dominated by domestic marques.

New for 2024

After the completely redesigned 4th-generation model was introduced two years ago, Lexus has made very few alterations to the LX range. This is again the case for the 2024 LX, which carries over from the 2023 model year with a single change - the headphones of the Ultra Luxury trim's rear-seat entertainment system are now wireless Bluetooth items. The only other change of note is that the base price of a new Lexus LX is higher in the USA this year.

2024 Lexus LX Price: Which One to Buy

The starting price of the 2024 Lexus LX is $92,565 for the base LX 600 trim, and it becomes the only trim retailing for less than $100k this year. Next in line is the LX 600 Premium at $100,515, followed by the LX 600 F Sport Handling at $106,775, and the LX 600 Luxury at $108,515. The most expensive trim, the LX 600 Ultra Luxury, will cost you significantly more than the regular Luxury at $133,140. All trims come with the same engine and have full-time four-wheel drive as standard. These prices are MSRP and exclude extra-cost paint, options, packages, dealer markup, and the $1,350 destination charge.

The Premium is the one we'd have. It combines the adaptive suspension with the standard 20-inch wheels to provide the softest ride in the range, and it adds a few nice features to the base spec, most notably a head-up display, a third seating row, ventilated front seats, and heated second-row seats. It just breaches the $100k barrier, but it's all the LX you need. The Luxury's big wheels, power doors, and premium audio system are nice, but we don't think they're worth $8k over the Premium.

Interior and Features

The upscale interior is expensively trimmed and very comfortable, with very supportive seats and low noise levels.

Inside, the LX offers much to like and little to criticize. The materials are of the highest quality, and the dashboard is upscale, with premium finishes. The tech is integrated well, even if the three-screen layout seems a bit overwhelming at first. A digital gauge cluster faces the driver, and there's a 12.3-inch center touchscreen for the main infotainment functions and a seven-inch screen below it for HVAC and Multi-Terrain Select functions. This enables you to keep an eye on the off-road vitals on the lower screen while watching the front camera on the top screen. Even better, the main HVAC controls are still physical buttons that are easy to use. The front seats are heated and power-adjustable, with ventilation and massaging in the top trim, while two or three rows are fitted, depending on the trim. The flagship is an ultra-luxurious four-seater, ideal for livery services. It's easy getting in via the standard running boards, but they don't fold for off-road driving. A standard surround-view camera makes maneuvering and parking less nerve-wracking.

Space

Interior space is not in the league of the Navigator and Escalade. The base trim has a three-seater second-row bench and can seat five people, while the middle trims have an additional 50/50-split two-seater third row that electrically folds flat and can accommodate two more passengers. The Ultra Luxury has two ventilated and massaging second-row captain's chairs only, so it seats four. It's tailored for a VIP in the right-rear seating position, with a power ottoman and the facility to fold the right-front seat way forward for maximum rear legroom. Still, there are only 112.2 inches in the wheelbase, and its overall length is over ten inches less than the Navigator and Escalade, so its rear-seat legroom is commensurately less. The third row is sufficiently cramped to be for occasional use only.

Cargo

Trunk space also suffers next to the competition, with just 11 cubic feet available behind the middle three trims' third row. The two-row base trim has 46 cu-ft of trunk volume behind its second row, but this falls to 44 cu-ft for the three-row trims with their electrically folding 50/50-split third row stowed. The Ultra Luxury has even less space behind its bulky second-row captain's chairs at 41 cu-ft. With the bottom trims' 60/40-split second row folded flat, there is 71 cu-ft of space available, but the two three-row trims have only 64 cu-ft due to the space taken up by the folded third row. The third row folds flush with the floor, but the second row doesn't, creating a sizeable step in the luggage floor. The Ultra Luxury's second-row captain's chairs cannot fold at all, and their bulk means there is only 41 cu-ft of space behind them - though it's more than enough for just four passengers.

The huge center console has plenty of space for two cupholders, a wireless charging pad, and a storage box, which becomes a cooler box on the top trims. Of course, the requisite lockable glovebox is present and accounted for, as are four door pockets, front seatback pockets, and cupholders for the rear rows. The Ultra Luxury comes with a big rear center console with storage, a wireless charging pad, a table, and cupholders.

Materials and Colors

The base LX 600 and the LX 600 Premium have leather upholstery, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, brown open-pore wood trim, and a choice of two interior colors - Black or Palomino. The Luxury upgrades to a steering wheel trimmed in leather and wood and gets semi-aniline leather upholstery and a choice of three interior color schemes - Black, Palomino, and White/Peppercorn. The F Sport Handling gets semi-aniline leather, Hadori aluminum trim, the base trims' steering wheel, illuminated door sills, F Sport aluminum pedals, and two available cabin colors - Black or Circuit Red. The Ultra Luxury's quilted semi-aniline leather goes with special trim-specific Takanoha wood trim, and it gets the Luxury's leather/wood steering wheel. Every trim above the base grade gets thematic ambient interior lighting.

Features and Infotainment

At the base level, the LX comes with five-passenger seating in two rows, heated front seats, a 10-way power driver and eight-way power passenger seat, leather upholstery, a 60/40-split third row, a power-adjustable and leather-trimmed tilting/telescoping steering wheel, open-pore wood trim, a seven-inch HVAC/Multi-Terrain Select display, and an eight-inch digital gauge cluster. The higher trims gain access to standard or optional features such as massaging front seats, ventilated and/or heated second-row seats with or without massaging, two second-row captain's chairs, adjustable thematic ambient interior lighting, aluminum trim, a console-mounted cooler box, and more.

The cloud-connected infotainment system comprises a 12.3-inch touchscreen with Wi-Fi and a 30-day AT&T trial subscription, Remote Access and Drive Connect, both with a three-year trial, the latter including cloud navigation, Google Points of Interest, an intelligent assistant, and Destination Assist. The system also incorporates Bluetooth with audio streaming, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM with a three-month Platinum Plan trial subscription, four USB ports, a wireless charging pad, and a 10-speaker audio system. There is an additional seven-inch lower touchscreen for the climate control, which also serves as the control screen for the Multi-Terrain Select system, showing real-time vehicle data during off-road driving while the camera view is being displayed on the main screen, so you don't have to switch screen views.

The Premium adds another two USB ports and a head-up display, while the Luxury upgrades the audio system to a 25-speaker Mark Levinson Reference 3D setup, the latter optional from the Premium level. The Ultra Luxury is the only trim with a rear-seat entertainment system with dual 11.4-inch screens, a seven-inch center touchscreen, a wireless charging pad, and wireless Bluetooth headphones, but this is a $2,725 option on the Luxury.

Performance

The sole Lexus LX engine option is a twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V6 with 409 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, linked to a ten-speed automatic transmission and permanent four-wheel drive with a Torsen limited-slip center differential. No hybridized powertrains or RWD drivetrain options are available. This combination endows the Lexus LX with a 0-60 sprint of 6.9 seconds and a top speed limited to 130 mph - decent performance for this class. Trailering is just 100-300 pounds shy of the Navigator, with every LX trim blessed with a towing capacity of 8,000 lbs. The Tow package with a trailer hitch is standard on all trims. With a dual-range transfer case, around eight inches of ground clearance, and standard Crawl Control with turning assistance, the LX will make it surprisingly far off-road, too, within the limits its size and weight impose.

The LX offers a refined and resolved package; ride quality is excellent on the standard suspension, further improved by the adaptive dampers fitted from the Premium level. It leans in corners but handling is fairly neat and vice-free for a near-6,000-pound SUV, though people used to European rivals will find it far too soft and floaty. It has responsive brakes and light, accurate steering making it easy to place. The top trim's 22s make you hear the impacts more, but it still rides compliantly. The F Sport Handling adds a sharper edge that not everyone will appreciate; it rolls less with its standard rear anti-roll bar but jitters more than the others, so one has to ask oneself if handling is the sort of thing you want from a behemoth like this. The powertrain actually responds to changes on the drive-mode selector and is never anything less than silky and effective, with seamless ratio swaps and plenty of power.

Fuel Efficiency

The Lexus LX's mpg figures as rated by the EPA for the city/highway/combined cycles are 17/22/19 mpg - better than the figures of the Escalade (14/18/16 mpg) and Navigator (16/22/18 mpg).

The LX has a fuel tank capacity of 21.14 gallons, so this restricts its expected range on a tank to around 412 miles.

Safety

There aren’t any crash results for it, but the LX comes with an entire suite of driver assists, with only the head-up display not being standard on the base car.

There is no NHTSA or IIHS safety review of the Lexus LX as neither organization has crash-tested the SUV, but it's a new design, so there shouldn't be any cause for concern.

Standard-fit driver-assistance features include an auto-dimming interior rearview mirror with a HomeLink transceiver, hill-start assist, trailer-sway control, a wiper de-icer, automatic LED headlights, a surround-view camera, a Multi-Terrain Monitor, blind-spot monitoring, and Intuitive Parking Assist with rear cross-traffic alert and reverse braking. The Lexus Safety System+ 2.5 driver-assistance suite is included as well, comprising front-collision alert with pedestrian detection and automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, road-sign recognition, lane-departure alert, lane-keep assist with steering assist, lane tracing, and automatic high beams. On all trims above base, a color head-up display is standard as well.

Lexus LX600 vs LX 570

The Lexus LX was given a substantial makeover for 2022 when the fourth generation SUV debuted with the new LX 600 naming structure. LX 570 is what the preceding Lexus LX generations were called. Older models had a much larger, thirstier engine and looked markedly different, too. The latest generation proudly wears a contemporary version of the spindle grille at the front end, and a more modern rear end with a full-width light bar. The latest-gen LX also has air intakes under much sleeker LED headlights. More modern technology has been added inside the LX 600, too.

Here are the key differences between the LX 570 and the LX 600:

• 

  Lexus LX 570

  Engine

  5.7L V8 Gas

  Drivetrain

  Four-Wheel Drive

  Transmission

  8-Speed Automatic

  Horsepower

  383 hp

  Torque

  403 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm

  City

  12 MPG

  Highway

  16 MPG

  Combined

  14 MPG

  Curb Weight

  5,800 lbs

  Ground Clearance

  8.9 in

  Maximum Towing Capacity

  7,000 lbs

  Show More

• 

  Lexus LX 600

  Engine

  3.4L Twin-Turbo V6 Gas

  Drivetrain

  Four-Wheel Drive

  Transmission

  10-Speed Automatic

  Horsepower

  409 hp

  Torque

  479 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm

  City

  17 MPG

  Highway

  22 MPG

  Combined

  19 MPG

  Curb Weight

  5,665 lbs

  Ground Clearance

  7.9 in

  Maximum Towing Capacity

  8,000 lbs

  Show More

Reliability

JD Power has not yet rated the new-generation Lexus LX's reliability, but it's unlikely the brand's reputation for dependability will falter for its biggest SUV. It certainly seems to be the case if we look at its recall history. At the time of writing, there has only been one recall of the latest LX - the 2022 LX was recalled for potentially deactivating stability control.

Added peace of mind comes from the 2024 Lexus LX's warranty cover. The limited warranty is valid for four years/50,000 miles, and the powertrain warranty for six years/70,000 miles. Complimentary maintenance is included for a year or 10,000 miles.

Warranty

Design

The LX bears one of the most in-your-face renditions of the Lexus Spindle Grille, with seven contrasting twin vanes reaching all the way down to the bottom of the bumper and a big Lexus logo between the standard-fit LED headlights. The rest of the fairly conventional shape is quite boxy for maximum practicality and depends on the smaller design details to set it apart, such as the arrow-like chrome-trimmed side windows in the rearmost roof pillar and the blade LED taillights. At the bottom of the range, you'll find 20-inch alloy wheels filling the arches, with the three top trims boasting 22-inch items. All trims have roof rails, a tow hitch, a power tilting/sliding moonroof, and a power liftgate - the latter is hands-free with a kick sensor above the base level. The F Sport Handling has blacked-out exterior trim, dark-gray wheels, and mesh sports front grille in gloss black.

Verdict: Is The 2024 Lexus LX A Good SUV?

The LX is an excellent update of the old car that went before it, but it's less successful as a full-size three-row SUV among its even larger competitors. Most of its shortcomings revolve around its smaller size, with both the Escalade and Navigator offering far more space for people and their things. If space isn't that important, and you just want a dependable and comfortable SUV that has more than a modicum of off-road talent and an occasional third row, the LX might be just what the doctor ordered. It's simply too wallowy after you've climbed out of an X7, but this car's talents do not lie with sportiness but with comfort and above-average off-road ability instead.