Is Lexus the luxury vehicle benchmark? 2024 Lexus TX500h helps answer the question

In 1983, Toyota Chairman Eiji Toyoda issued a challenge to build the world’s best car. Code-named F1 (Flagship One), the new car was to head up a new brand – Lexus.

This was no half-hearted effort. With an investment of $1 billion USD, the project involved 60 designers, 24 engineering teams, 1,400 engineers, 2,300 technicians and about 450 prototypes.

I was at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January 1989 when the Lexus LS400 made its global debut. It went on sale in September at Lexus stores throughout North America.

A Japanese brand competing in the luxury car segment against the old German stalwarts? Darauf kannst du wetten!

At the time and for a few years thereafter, many pundits made fun of the notion of a Japanese manufacturer going head-to-head with the best from Germany – Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Guess who got the last laugh? Lexus not only outsells the competition, but consistently sets the benchmark for both initial quality and long-term reliability.

Lexus vehicles are now produced in more than 90 countries around the world. The first Lexus produced outside Japan, the RS350, rolled off the assembly line in Cambridge, Ontario.

The Lexus portfolio consists of a dozen different models, not counting hybrid versions of many of them: IS, RC, ES, LC (sedan and convertible), LS, UX, NX, RX, TX, GX, LX. and GX.

After the LS400, the next Lexus to come to market way back in 1989 was the ES350 – a heavily upgraded Toyota Camry.

In the three decades that followed, Lexus has made an art of producing versions of Toyota products that stand apart.

Such is the reputation and prestige of the Lexus name, consumers have proven more than willing to pay the extra cost of that badge, even if the same basic vehicle often wears a Toyota badge.

The latest example is the TX500. I hadn’t spent more than five minutes with the test vehicle – a 2024 TX 500h – before I felt a familiarity. Then it dawned on me. Two months earlier I had spent a week with the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander. The Lexus was a dressed-up version of the Grand Highlander. Both are based on the corporate TNGA-K platform and share the same hybrid drivetrain.

The first thing I had noticed about the Toyota Grand Highlander was its size – inside and out, but most importantly, the room it provided for passengers.

The same holds true for the Lexus TX. The exterior is not that far removed from a minivan, minus the convenience of sliding side doors. The interior is even closer to that of a minivan. There are three rows of seats and, significantly, the third row is not third class. There is room in that row for tall people with long legs.

The TX replaces the RX350L in the Lexus lineup. It is far superior to that stretched RX in all areas. It has an additional 250 mm between the front and rear axles. That translates to more people space inside.

Access to the third row is much improved thanks to second row seats that slide and pivot with the release of a single lever.

The one weakness of all that legroom in the second and third rows is a rather small cargo area when all three rows are in place.

Since this is Lexus, the accommodations are first class throughout.

Supple, soft-touch surfaces abound. Two-thirds of the width of the vehicle are covered by a single housing that curves from the driver’s side, with a 31-cm digital instrument cluster blending seamlessly into a 36-cm infotainment screen.

The latter operates primarily through touch but there are actual buttons for temperature and volume controls.

First, second and third rows get multiple cupholders and USB outlets. First and second row seats are heated and ventilated. There is a wireless charger in the centre console.

Positively sporty: under the hood of the 2024 Lexus TX500h

The TX500h has a turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine producing 275-horsepower and 317 lb. ft. of torque. On paper that would appear to be insufficient to impress in a 2,300 kg vehicle.

In typical Toyota/Lexus fashion, the hybrid drivetrain is a lesson in smoothness and efficiency. And, thanks to a 64-kilowatt electric motor driving the front wheels and a second 76-kilowatt one in the rear, total system output is 366 horsepower and 406 lb. ft. That’s enough to make this big ute positively sporty when the right pedal is depressed.

That electric motor in the rear brings all-wheel-drive capability. The instant power from the electric motors allows you to pull away from rest smartly, with very little help from the gasoline engine. The TX 500h will accelerate from rest to 100 km/hr in less than six seconds.

Thanks to a unique rear suspension that allows those wheels to turn slightly in the same direction as the fronts at slow speeds, the TX is much more maneuverable in tight quarters than you would expect. Very impressive for such a long vehicle/long wheelbase.

FACTS & FIGURES – 2024 Lexus TX 500h

PRICE

Base: $84,200

As tested: $86,538 including freight

SAFETY

Intuitive Parking Assist with Auto Braking, Blind Spot Monitor with RCTA, Backup Camera with Back Guide Monitor, Parking Support Brake, Rear Seat Reminder, Digital Latch with Safe Exit Assist

INFOTAINMENT

35-cm touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rear camera washer, wireless charging, garage door opener, cloud-based navigation system

STANDARD EQUIPMENT

22-in alloy wheels, panoramic moonroof, power hatch with kick sensor, digital display rear view mirror, digital key, heated and ventilated front and second row seats

MECHANICAL

Turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder, 275-horsepower,  317 lb.-ft. of torque, regular fuel. Six-speed automatic transmission, all-wheel-drive

DIMENSIONS

Length, 5,114-mm; width, 1,989 mm; wheelbase, 2,949 mm; weight, 2,095 kg

COMPETITION

Acura MDX, BMW X5, Cadillac XT6, Genesis GV80, Infiniti QX60, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Lincoln Aviator, Mercedes GLE, Porsche Cayenne, Volvo XC90