Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Used to Own 2 MDXs Before - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By cooljohn - November 10 - 12:54 am

  I used to own both 2011 & 2014 MDXs but switched recently to 2017 RX 350 (Luxury Package). MDX has good acceleration/passing and excellent cornering. Other than those, RH 350 is better in every aspect. 2014 MDX had serious quality control problems like constant rattling from the under, scary noise when accelerating, steering getting stuck/making scary noise when switching transmission from rear to drive, almost impossible to drive on foggy/wet days due to defective mirror defrost function, backup camera almost impossible to use on wet days because of the stupid location of camera, and on and on. I took it to a dealer but all they said was there was nothing wrong with the car!! I got sickened with their response and decided to switch to RX 350 and I think I made a good decision so far. I have yet to drive more but so far Im very satisfied with RX 350 in every aspect.

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  Very nice car except engine groan, trans hunts - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By John Bowling - October 9 - 4:45 pm

  My wifes car, but I drive when we are together; about 75% of total miles. I could get used to the engine groaning sound if it werent for the 8-speed transmission constantly grabbing a gear so high it cant maintain speed on a hill (louder groan) and shifting back down within four seconds, then repeating the sequence. It is the constant attempt to keep engine revs under 1,800 rpm for fuel economy that causes the groaning and very slight vibration. The engine is laboring, even under the light throttle of a gentle driver the revs are so low. Downshifting manually a gear or two completely eliminates it, making the engine very smooth and quiet. The transmission is also reluctant to downshift when speed drops on a hill with throttle still applied. When climbing a steep hill into our neighborhood, I must make a sharp turn. I feather the throttle to time my speed reduction to reach 6 or 7 mph as I reach the sharp corner, still climbing steeply. As I turn it gets steeper and I add throttle. The speed drops further because its still in third gear. The torque converter sounds like it is being abused. The car slows to about two mph, slower than I want to go before dropping to second, but if I add enough throttle to make it downshift when it should it would surge ahead too strongly for the turn. It never selects first, which is what is needed. I now shift manually every time I climb any hill to prevent these problems. When I do, the engine is quiet, smooth, sounds happy at 2,000-2,500 rpm and of course there is no hunting. The transmission programming must have been done on flat land with fuel economy paramount. Positive effects are my gentle driving and their crummy programming have produced 25.5 mpg combined over many tanks of gas, which is well above EPA estimates. Beating EPA estimates by 15% is typical for me, but I can do it without such substandard transmission performance. One last transmission observation; when cruising gently, then deciding to pass, upon adding a lot of throttle suddenly the car does nothing for almost two seconds as it thinks, revs, drops several gears (all at once, to its credit) and finally takes off. Planning is required. I expect they will get all this sorted out, but keep these points in mind before buying a 2017 if they would bother you. Otherwise a great car. Very quiet, smooth riding, nice seat and steering wheel memory setup, 10,000 mi oil changes, very high quality materials with the luxury pkg. Oh, lane keeping assist rarely works and no headlight system, standard or optional, turns with the steering wheel, even though it is badly needed for curvy back road driving and they incorrectly call both systems "adaptive." Neither adapts to anything. Cornering lights with optional LED headlights are very helpful when turning, but when driving a curvy road at night there are still big dark areas to either side of the high beams, which swiveling headlights would fix. My BMWs truly adaptive bi-xenons with cornering lights that meet the edges of the high beams are far superior. Adaptive Bi-xenon means both low and high beams swivel. Wonderful for curvy roads, which is all we,have around here. My tread depth gauge shows fast tire wear despite 98th percentile on gentleness. Power steering is easy at low speeds, as it should be. Overhead view with backup camera beside it can be selected to display automatically at 6 mph and below. It is terrific for parking. My wife loves this car. I would say I like it despite its flaws. There are a lot of good points.

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  Luxury Yes - SUV Yes - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By Paul J. - July 8 - 10:38 pm

  I’m a Lexus fan and this is my 3rd. First SUV. Getting into the SUV market wasn’t easy for me. I loved my GS 350 and it had low mileage. The one and only reason to go to a SUV was so I could see around the one in front of me. Congested freeways in Southern California requires one to see brake lights several cars ahead in traffic. Ever been in a freeway which turns into a parking lot? It happens here. Anyway the majority of vehicles on the road are SUV’s it seams. So I got one simply to have a better view of the road ahead. Here is the review. 1) this is a luxury vehicle with a soft, quiet comfortable ride. If you live on or frequently windy roads, do you want a soft ride? For my tast it is too soft. 2) acceleration is OK but nothing like my GS 350. Since both the GS and RX have 3.5 liter engines I expected similar acceleration. Disappointing that isn’t the case. On the other hand driving slower and being more patient isn’t a bad thing but I miss the fun factor. 3) braking? No problems but I do believe my sedan was more responsive and would stop in a shorter distance. That is a feeling since no actual comparison was made. I may have been happier with the Lexus RX 350 Sport model as I was accustomed to a sportier vehicle.

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  Good overall combination. - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By Don - September 30 - 2:25 am

  I had two Toyota Highlanders before this Lexus RX350 FSPORT. The latest Highlander was an 08 Sport model. I got an FSPORT for the tighter suspension because the regular RX350 is supposed to be a little squishy for handling. I also test drove an Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and Macan, Acura MDX and RDX, BMW X5 and X3 and a Highlander hybrid. Every one is a good SUV, but as a total package including reliability, I liked the Lexus. I have 5,500 miles on it right now. I have pushed it hard on a very curvy road to the neighborhood and it handles very well. There is just a hint of wanting to break loose when pushed to the limit, but body lean and steering are as good as it gets for an SUV. A Porsche might beat it, but not by much. The seating is comfortable, but my right knee wants to bump the underside of the dash or the center console when driving (Im 61"). The seat and wheel move out of the way to enter and exit - nice touch. Mark Levinson sound system is very good and road and wind noise are hushed. Tons of safety features on my vehicle...radar cruise control is nice but ...more later, blind spot monitoring works very well, lane keeping assist is nice but can be annoying because it makes many small corrections, triple beam lights are very good, auto hi beams pretty good at detecting other cars but just a bit slow to respond at times, Acceleration is great but "Eco" mode constantly shifts back and forth at lower rpms in lower gears. Visibility is good except out the rear sides where the C pillar blocks the view badly (backup camera makes up for that to some degree). Some of the safety features are tricky and at times annoying - they are not as refined as I would like. Examples: Radar cruise control resets based on the last set speed, not your current speed, unless you brake or cancel the setting and nothing tells you this; so if you set it at 35 and then accelerate to 55 and reset it, it will go to 34, not 55...not good for the cars behind you! Radar cruise will also bring the car to a near stop behind someone turning off to the right - so much so that a vehicle behind you may not expect it. Radar cruise will automatically trail and stop behind a car in front, but when you approach a car stopped at a red light, it is like a game of chicken - the car will stop, but it is too quick for comfort. When you reset radar cruise to a lower speed , it sometimes slows the car down by braking and other times it downshifts - unpredictability is not what I paid for. With a bike rack in a trailer hitch mount behind the car, you have to disable multiple safety features in order to be able to back up. You can override it temporarily by keeping your foot on the gas, but it is a tricky maneuver. The manual doesnt tell you this happens, so you get to call Lexus to ask how to make the car back up. The navigation display quit working as did the left side dash info screen for no apparent reason...restarted the car and it was okay. Nav system will take you on little back roads to save you 30 seconds rather than weighing time/distance with better roads - you will get there, but in a suboptimal way ... always check a map too. The A.C. system is anemic in cooling the car when it has been sitting in the sun - needs the fan to rev up more temporarily. Styling is a love it or hate it proposition and I am still undecided about that. You cannot get roof cross bars from Lexus if you have the panoramic roof - you must go to the aftermarket. Lexus says you have to modify the rear suspension on the FSport if you add their trailer hitch - but not if you buy a Curt hitch from etrailer! So, read all the footnotes for every option which is where this info is hidden. Given the price, reliability, handling, comfort, safety features, and interior space, this is a good bang for the buck, but disappointing in several annoying ways. I bought mine through Costcos auto buying program from a dealer 225 miles away and his price was $1,700 below invoice (not MSRP) with a few BS add ons to get $600 of profit back. I thought it was a good deal since it gave up all the regular margin and his 2% hold back. MSRP with options and delivery was $61,000.

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  New car for safety. - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By Roland Philip - September 22 - 9:12 pm

  Electronics, navigation, radio complex and not intuitive. Need to study manual which is complicated.

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  Love The Vehicle, However intermittent noise - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By Ron - August 19 - 12:20 pm

  Purchased Vehicle March 11, 2017. I Love The RX350 AWD. Lexus did a great job with this vehicle. I have just one irritant, there is a intermittent noise or vibration that occurs from time to time with no associated speed or condition. Every time I took it to the dealership and went on the test drive with the technician the noise did not occur and we drove the vehicle under all sorts of condition for more than an hour. So we have not been able to duplicate the issue currently. For now the noise has stopped. My fear is that it will comeback, I just wish I could get the noise to occur with the tech in the car. Ill just have to wait and see if it returns again. Over all Im thrilled and love this vehicle. RLP.

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  Great ride....Poor Instrumentation - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By RPHBucks - July 18 - 8:09 am

  The ride is great and the interior is quite comfortable. Luggage/Cargo space is minimal. The instrumentation with its many switches are scattered about and some are difficult to read without their display lighting on. Some software features do not work and Ive been waiting over 2 weeks for their telephone support to fix the issue. I understand Im not the only one with software issues. Their support personal are not very technically savvy with different answers to the same question. Acceleration is not very quick with a noticeable hesitation. Would probably have purchased another Audi knowing what I know now. Lexus has tried offer a high tech car, but, cant get them all to work and then their support is inadequate.

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  RX #2 - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By BEN GUIDOTTI - July 4 - 4:49 pm

  i HAD A rx 350 2011 SO THE CAR IS VERY MUCH THE SAME

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  Great Ride-Instrumentation Poor - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By Rudy - July 9 - 8:09 am

  Great ride but the instrumentation is not for the "Grey Hairs"! Control switches are scattered about and difficult to read. Software has nice features but requires a smart phone. Phone Tech Support is lacking as agents are NOT really knowledgeable about all the features. Gas mileage on a recent 1,200 trip averaged about 25 MPG. Frontal view is terrible as it is very difficult to judge where the "real" front is located......be careful!

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  I Phone 4S So yesterday! Three ways of control. - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By Captain - April 14 - 8:52 am

  Call it a small thing, but why would Lexus go out of their way to create a nifty holding compartment for an outdated phone size and place it right in the middle of the console? Technology is usually a good thing, right? Well in my opinion, Lexus overdid it. There are three ways to adjust the radio, the navigation etc. Why not just make it simple and make it great? Otherwise it is a fun car to drive and handles well.