carpersn

Just thought i'd grab everyone's attention and ask the inevitable-what do you all think of the new Lexus? www.autospies.com, if you haven't seen...

Personally, i think it looks like a bad Kia design team got hold of the front and rear end. The interior is a vast improvement over any other Lexus i've seen, but i still think their interiors feel and look Honda-esque (slick cheap leather, etc.)-please don't flame at me if you own a Honda-nothing personal.

The standard equipment level appears to be generous, so the pricing will be interesting to see...i like the surround cameras!

mricorp

Saw it at the show and I have to admit it was pretty sweet. We will definitely look at it when our lease comes up on the GL450.

That being said, I also saw the GL550 and LOVED it! Finally some nice factory wheels!

rkao

Going to the NYIAS later today (playing hooky from the office) and look forward to seeing it as we have an '06 LX470 on lease and it ends in 12 months.

The LX serves as my wife's daily driver as well as my tow vehicle so her opinion weighs heavily when the time comes.

We're very hooked by the GL with its promise of much better ride quality (haven't driven one yet) while the new LX also promises improved ride and comfort. If we do go with the GL, I suspect we'll stick with the GL450 instead of anteing up for the GL550.

And the added bonus is that the new LX leap frogs the GL in terms of towing capacity, all the way up to 8,500 lbs. now so that'll be a consideration as well; especially given the apparently difficulty of hooking up a trailer brake controller to the GL while the LX is more "domestic" in its approach to towing.

Looking forward to seeing it in a few hours...

oknish

The dash of 570 is too "busy" for my taste. Just my opinion.

Taz0369

Based on the photos, I'm not crazy about it at all...it looks like the bloated love child of the new Highlander and an amphibious assault vehicle. I would have expected something much better, but then again recent Lexus designs have taken a bit of a strange turn...is Bangle moonlighting?

Perhaps I will love it when I see it in person...I will reserve final judgement for that time.

GLDriver

I will be heading to the NY show tonight and see the beast for myself. Wondering how it may compete with GL550

rkao

We went, we saw, and we...still prefer the GL.

The disclaimer is that we weren't able to get very close to the LX570 as it was on a raised pedestal mount. But based on what we'd seen, the LX is definitely following the domestic full size SUV trend, albeit still in better taste than the Escalade or the Navigator.

My wife's comment on the exterior was: so what's changed? The interior design seems to be a huge leap forward compared to the LX470 and certainly we expect the fit and finish, reliability and quality to be at least on par with the current LX.

But after sitting in a GL, we still prefer the overall feel of this SUV and the only area that the GL scored lowly on our list was the low sightline especially where the A pillar intersects the upper windscreen as I'm 5'10" and my wife is 6' - probably due to the higher rake on the windscreen of the GL compared to the LX.

So it looks like the GL will get the nod in 12 months' time and the only thing left is to test drive it...and I have no doubt that she'll love it compared to the relatively lumpy ride of the body-on-frame construction on the current and next gen LX.

Taz0369

The other thing that I thought was a HUGE mistake with the new LX is the use of the fold up jumpseats for the third row...like what is in the current Lexus GX. What were they thinking? Is there some advantage to that arrangement that I'm missing? I had those flip up jumpseats in my 94 Montero...I HATED them then.

oknish

Are you sure of that? I could have swore that I read that finally LX570 was going to have power folding rear seats a la GL.

Taz0369

Got these photos from Car & Driver.com. I am assuming this is a production ready vehicle? I can't imagine why Lexus would take this route.

Danno4x4

We currently have a Lexus RX, which the GL320 will be replacing for my wife. I gotta admit, it has really been a great car... absolutely no problems with it.

When we were looking to replace it, we stopped by the Lexus dealership to see what they had. I asked about the LX570 and at the time, they had no pictures, just a couple of Lexus insider details which indicated that it would have the 5.7 V8 and that the starting price would be in the neighborhood of 70-75K.

If we hadn't decided to get a new vehicle sooner than later, we probably would have looked really hard at the LX570, but, now that i have seen it, I have formed a few opinions:

I am not really into the rear styling treatment. It definitely looks Asian... Just not my taste.

Pricing again looks to be about 75K. With the options that would be must haves for us, the vehicle would probably be up around 80K+.

The big gas engine, while powerful will really suck down the fuel. I had wanted something that could tow at least 7000 Lbs, with 3 rows of seats, but had minivan like fuel economy. The GL320 fits these needs better than any other vehicle on the road. We also evaluated the Yukon Denali, Expedition, Q7, LR3, and X5...

The GL has got them all beat for the things that were important to us. And while the Lexus will no doubt be a high quality, comfortable and capable SUV that will continue to conform to Lexus' awesome reliability record, its just not the vehicle for us

AsianML

I like the LX570 inside and out except for the rear styling and the third row jump seats.

rkao

Yeah, it's pretty bizarre...I noted the switches for the power 3rd row seats and that because they are now powered, they do not appear to be removable based on the appearance of their attachment points. This is a step backwards IMHO as we usually do not have the 3rd row seats installed and enjoy the use of the full width flat cargo space - with the jumper seats not removable, the 3rd row seats will ALWAYS be in the way.

Compared to the GL which allows the 3rd row seats to fold flat - while taking away some useful cargo space due to the raised cargo floor, allows a flat storage area.

We decided that while the GL does have a smaller capacity for luggage and storage for long family trips behind the 2nd row seats compared to the current and upcoming LX, we can use a roof carrier if extra space is needed and this was on display on the lower level of the NYIAS where most of the SUVs are on display; MBUSA had a GL with a lockable roof top storage unit with the roof top racks. I also checked Thule's website and they have a wide selection of storage boxes for the GL.

Taz0369

Well the new Lexus looks like it already has a really high load floor...surely they could have found some room to hide those seats in the floor.

ruykava

more pics of the LX 570.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/lexus-lx-570.html

looks so-so to me. again, typical lexus in tt there is a lot of quality, but not much soul. somebody please hire a real designer for them?

carpersn

I'm still not believing the design of those third row seats-they're totally in the way, and it looks as though permanently attached.

I've also decided the vehicle looks like the Montero (not a good thing.)

Also, wonder why they went with a two-piece tailgate...

And finally, the seats look mighty close to the tailgate when in the up position (closer than in the GL).

oknish

Whatever doubt I had about LX vs GL has been cleared by the pics linked. That 3rd row seat design is just so - so (being generous). And the center console is so BUSY. Too much going on compared to GL's sleek and simple design.

rkao

The two piece clamshell tailgate isn't completely rare, the current BMW X5 also uses it.

We have a love/hate relationship with the two piece design as it makes it hard to reach the inner part of the cargo area with the lower tailgate down, but the two piece design also means that the upper tailgate does not require herculean efforts to close and requires less clearance.

Lexus also uses an odd design for its GX SUV: the side opening rear door instead of a tailgate, which we hated when we looked at both the GX and the LX.

The GL alleviates this problem mostly with the power operated rear tailgate (ripped from Chrysler's Pacifica I think).

AsianML

What do you mean by that?

Taz0369

Well, years ago I owned a 94 Montero...biggest mistake auto purchase of my life...but that's another story. Anyway it had the flip-up jumpseat design, and it WAS always in the way. When the seats where in the seating position, between the headrests and the spare tire mounted on the rear door, an entire kindergarten class could be standing behind you and you'd never know it. When the seats were either folded flat, or flipped up, they took up a considerable amount of room, making loading luggage or other cargo challenging. And with the seats flipped up...you completely lost visibility out the last section of side windows, making backing out of a parking space a leap of faith at best. I would almost rather see seats like the Tahoe that you could at least take out and get out of the way.

rkao

I can see why my posting confused readers...I jumped around the points.

I meant that the power operated one piece rear tailgate alleviates the problem of a heavy one piece tailgate and negates the need and the advantage of the two piece clamshell design a'la the LX470/570. And that the mechanism of the power rear tailgate along with the audible warning tones on the GL reminded me of a similar mechanism I'd once seen on the Chrysler Pacifica crossover and the Town & Country minivan.

StevethePilot

So what was this thing following a new Tundra down the Loop 101 in north Phoenix today? They turned off the freeway. I didn't get a shot of the front end but it looked more like the Lexus front end than the Toyota.

By the way, if the angle looks bad it's because it was from my freaking C230 loaner car on my way to temporarily pick up my GL320.

carpersn

Looks like the sequoia replacement, which is LONG overdue. Talk about a bloated de-contented heap of dung...

Danno4x4

Did you see any Markings that made you think Toyota or Lexus? I have seen several disguised vehicles down that same stretch of road and they are really tough to distinguish.

Does kinda look like a Lexus based on the way it is shaped though. I wonder if it is the new JX class that I heard about a while back. Sort of a mid-way between the LX and the GX class.

By the way, sgresser I am rooting for your 320. Mine was scheduled to be built 4/26 but appears to be in production now... Maybe with a new hose. I ordered mine through Schumacher though.

StevethePilot

Let's see the pictures as soon as it shows up, Danno! BTW, I was a member of the Arizona Land Cruiser Association for a while (they really looked sideways at me in my Lexus but eventually realized it was the same darned thing). I wonder if there is a Mercedes off-road group for us to join? Not to do anything too drastic, but at least maybe get them climbing some hills, splashing some mud, fording some shallow streams. You know, using them for what they were supposedly designed for!

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