CAR GAZING
RX 350 shows perfection, but no personality
Lexus continues to lead luxury SUV sales, dependability ratings
By Derek Price
It's hard to believe the Lexus RX is already 10 years old.
While crossover vehicles didn't gain widespread popularity until about five years ago, the RX 300 was a trailblazer when it was introduced way back in 1998. It was like an SUV in many ways, with a high ride and four-wheel drive, but it was actually based on a car platform that made it feel like a Lexus should – poised, smooth and silent.
It was also a sales winner. It quickly became the world's top-selling luxury SUV, despite bigger luxe utes like the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator hogging the spotlight. It quietly rose to its place of prominence, where it's remained ever since.
Today's RX has a bigger number to indicate its bigger, more powerful engine – it's now called the RX 350 – but its basic mission has remained the same. It's all about quiet, comfortable cruising without any worries.
And really, that's the biggest reason to look at Lexus. Lots of companies make great luxury vehicles – I personally prefer the European ones over the Japanese – but strangely enough, the premium price you pay for a luxury car doesn't always translate into higher quality.
Just look at the J.D. Power and Associates dependability rankings. Lexus is ranked higher than any other brand, far higher than the European luxury brands I'm so fond of. Heck, Land Rover – which makes some of the most expensive SUVs in the world – is ranked dead last for dependability.
So there you have it. The Lexus is the rational choice.
Unfortunately, car buying isn't an entirely rational process. All kinds of other things enter the mix, many of which the Lexus just isn't very good at – things like personality and character, style and lovability – all those intangible things that J.D. Power and his clipboard-toting buddies can't measure.
In that way, I see the RX as too sterile a car. Too perfect, perhaps.
It certainly has the perfect engine, a 3.5-liter V6 that makes 270 horsepower. It's balanced, logical power, not the explosive Zeus-like power you get when gearheads build a luxury car. It's just the right amount, offering quick acceleration that feels far more refined than excessive, somewhere between the sportiness of a turbo four and the vulgarity of a V8.
It also has a near-perfect interior. Everything feels so tight, so luxurious, that you know you're driving something special. Even the headliner feels like brushed lambskin.
At the same time, it's not a pretentious luxury car. There's wood trim, but nothing really flashy or ostentatious inside. It's just simple and well-built, like an early American highboy.
Aside from its rather drab personality, the RX 350's greatest weakness is its suspension. It's not quite as creamy as most other Lexuses, as it jostles a bit over bumps and feels almost like it's trying to be sporty. But it's not. It has lots of body roll and a traction-control nanny that makes sure you never have too much fun.
Hopefully this will be addressed in the next all-new RX, which is due in 2010 and will be unveiled at the Los Angeles auto show later this month.
For now, the near-perfect RX 350 will have to do.
(Derek Price is a newspaper editor and freelance writer living in Texas.)
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