Nx Alternatives

ColinBarber · October 8, 2015

For all you NX owners out there, what alternatives to the NX did you consider before making your decision?

DJP · October 8, 2015

For me there wasn't any other serious contender. A combination of factors including styling, reliability, spec and the hybrid/petrol combination made it a short list of one. I'm little more than a week in but am delighted with it so far.

Sent from my iPad using Lexus OC

Goggy · October 8, 2015

Much like DJP said. I did try a lot of cars and SUV's. After a while I decided sitting higher up was what I wanted, easier to get in and out as well, + easy to get grandchildren in and out. So on the SUV front I did try the BMW X3 but did not want Diesel. It is also a bit boxy. I also tried a Audi Q3 1.4 petrol, but the styling is boring, it is not as reliable and the spec was not as good. Most of the others had too much cheap plastic. The Mitsubishi Phev was so cheap looking inside it put me right off, so I didn't even test drive it. So for great styling, a truly luxury interior, superb seats, reliability, practicality, reasonable MPG for a big car (forget 54mpg, real world is 32-38+, which compares to other SUV's) there really was nothing else. Easy really. :)

October 9, 2015

We thought about the New Discovery sport as we have a freelander and have done since new(2010),then tried to get one of the last Freelander Metropolis's

but at the time had all gone,loads available now though.Then just happened to go into Lexus and the Nx had literally just been rolled in to the showroom which was october 2014,the better half liked it and it was different so we went for it.

When finances allow we will get a Range rover sport.

Actually right at the end of september Lexus offered us a brand new RX450H,all we had to do was hand our NX back and pay and extra £200 pound a month for the privilege,we declined.

AlanDL · October 9, 2015

I had kept away from an SUV before as I was concerned about the higher centre of gravity causing more car sickness in the wife! We had a DS5 which was a little higher than normal saloon, and that was ok. Then had the NX test drive and wife was fine! I had thought about the Audi Q5: one of the things about the DS5 was its width, and I was getting fed up with that. The Q5 is quite wide, and so numbingly dull to look at, but definitely a quality car and probably more able than the Lexus. But it is due to be replaced very soon (albeit with another dull shape) so I definitely did not want a 7 year old design. Then obviously the BMW X3: but BMW options list is so long, and I do not know what the resale value would really be with at least a quarter of the cost spent on options; also quite dull looking, but only coming in diesel (which even before recent VW events I was turning against). Mercedes didn't really have a contender for this size. I tried lower down the food chain, and tried the Kia Sportage: good car, with loads of kit, but a rough diesel, and wasn't that comfortable, but great value. Again though about to be replaced, along with its sister the Hyundai IX35. The new Hyundail Tucson has a lot going for it: self parking, opening panoramic roof (why can't Lexus do that: Audi and BMW do it as well), touchscreen tech. I seriously thought about waiting for that car, and it has now come out. The closest contender for me was probably the Honda CRV 1.6 Executive; I test drove the version it has just replaced (a refresh), and all the salespeople raved about how the new 1.6 diesel and automatic would be so much better. It has some terrific features (amazing seat system), although the dashboard a bit ugly. The CRV is best selling SUV around the world, and built just down the road to where I live! But in the end I felt it was still a bit of a facelift with lots of chrome, and I thought that paying more for the fully loaded version would not work out the best value, and while probably 10k less than the Lexus, that might well be eroded pretty quickly. In the end I totted up the pluses and minuses of the Lexus vs Honda, and Lexus won out by a wide margin (even down to colours that I liked, I got the Sonic T). For example the Honda didn't have an opening sunroof which I wanted: the DS5 had a panoramic roof, but I kept the back part closed anyway (in the Honda you couldn't even do that to its panoramic roof). I preferred the touchscreen on the Honda (used to have one on my IS250, but then reviewers said it was very sluggish. But overall there were at least 15 other areas where I thought the Lexus was better, and having had the car for a while now, I think it is literally immeasurably better than the Honda or the Kia: it is extremely refined in comparison, and apart from some niggles (see my thread that I posted today), I am delighted with it. Also while the Lexus cost more, I bought my IS250 S-EL in 2007 for £32,000, and sold it privately (to someone who then exported it to Nigeria) six years later for £9000: in other words it cost just about £4k a year, and that is a lot better than the resale value of the Hondas. I am sure that others could dispute figures till the cows come home, but I have never liked a car so much so quickly than the NX.

ColinBarber · October 9, 2015

The Mitsubishi Phev was so cheap looking inside it put me right off, so I didn't even test drive it.

I'm seeing these more and more on the roads. It does have some nice features such as remote heating but styling wise it needs some work.

The Toyota RAV4 is more direct competition with the Honda CRV and Kia than the NX. The RAV gets the same hybrid drivetrain early next year, than may actually take some sales away from the Lexus, essentially it is the same vehicle with some body panel and interior changes.

Goggy · October 9, 2015

I really like the idea of a plug in. Had there been a NX plug in I would have had one without any doubt at all. I did write to Lexus just to see if there were any plans for one, but there is nothing on the horizon. That is the future of cars, so I am sure it won't be long before we all have one. A plug in that only does 30+ miles before the petrol takes over would do. Of course Tezla look interesting, but a tad pricey right now.

DJP · October 10, 2015

A plug in would be perfect but I don't believe Lexus are interested in that route.

Goggy · October 10, 2015

A plug in would be perfect but I don't believe Lexus are interested in that route.

Not yet, I am sure it will come, is has to. Some way off yet though.

rayaans · October 10, 2015

A plug in would be perfect but I don't believe Lexus are interested in that route.

Not yet, I am sure it will come, is has to. Some way off yet though.

Unlikely - their investing in hydrogen

ColinBarber · October 10, 2015

Given Toyota have the largest R&D budget of any car manufacturer there is no reason why they cannot do both, and in fact they do given that a plug-in Prius has existed for many years and a new version of that system is in development.

I think they feel that a Lexus owner doesn't want the hassle of plugging their vehicle in to charge it.

As it is, Toyota's slow and conservative development of hybrid and EV has allowed a large number of rivals to catch up and pass them at their own game.

Martin J · October 10, 2015

In the end there were no close competitors to the NX for our purchase. It was actually the GS that brought me into a Lexus showroom first but the lack of cargo flexibility, with the Battery location behind the rear seat, ruled it out, and NX was launched soon after. The outstanding reliability and economy of my previous Prius made the Toyota hybrid system a key factor. Like others I considered the Outlander PHEV, but the current Outlander belongs to a select group of cars whose current model actually looks less modern than the previous incarnation. The styling - or lack of it - really is dire.

I did visit the Tesla showroom during a trip to London, but the Model S price was too high with options factored in, and it's a much bigger car than it looks in the pictures. The Tesla Model 3 will I suspect attract a lot of interest from Lexus owners when it appears. I'd already gone off diesel long before dieselgate, and would never consider it - no matter how much work is done on particulate filters and NOx converters. Very happy so far with the NX, and ironically had never considered owning an SUV before. Agree about a plug-in version as an obvious NX development; for those doing a fair number of short trips it would significantly improve NX fuel economy, and I don't see a mature hydrogen infrastructure in place in time for 2017/18 when many current owners might be considering changing.

rayaans · October 11, 2015

I wonder if the F-pace will be a competitor. Its a really odd thing being in between an NX and the new RX in terms of dimensions and pricing also sits in between the NX and RX too apart from the S models which go to about £60-65k with a decent spec.

No petrol engines either apart from the 3.0 V6 - very odd, and the Diesel only has 180hp. Id imagine the test figures are slightly optimistic at 8.2s!