Used 2016 Lexus RX 350 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 8A) Consumer Reviews

Buyer's Remorse

Numerous idiotic design "features" that give you a pain in the butt. Too many to list, so here are some highlights: Why does it only unlock the driver's door? Once inside, my friends have to wait while I fumble for the unlock button. The one-touch rear hatch opener almost never works. You can't listen to the radio and have your phone navigate, like you could with a normal car. AC compressor defaults to on, even when it's freezing outside. Complicated menu sequence required to turn it off - distracted driving at it's finest. Terrible throttle response, you could get killed waiting for it to rev up and downshift through about 6 gears. You have to accelerate with a lead foot or else it upshifts too far, and then has to downshift again. It buzzes on a rough road - coming from the headliner area, right side. Heater has numerous cold spots, with cold air blowing on my left ear and foot, unless you crank it up to about 80 degrees. Auto-dimming mirror doesn't work. You can't just flip it up, can't even raise it high enough manually, due to lack of travel. Why does the radio stop just because you start the engine? AM is totally muffled, even with the treble and midrange cranked. Why won't the windows roll down unless the engine is running? A manual crank would work better. WTF is with the door locks? I left the engine idling, went around to the passenger side to get something and it refused to unlock, so had to go back to the driver's side, open the door, and hit the unlock button, and then walk around to the passenger side again. The steering is way too stiff! It's worse on on the freeway than in a parking lot. My old arthritic hands can't handle it. I guess they think that's "sporty". The steering wheel heater is near-useless, since it only heats small leather strips at 9 and 3 o'clock - also it won't turn on automatically, even though the seat heaters do. You can't put your hands on the bottom of the wheel, since there's a giant "spoke" blocking it. Do not buy this car, unless you like to be frustrated. Update: Tried to find an SUV I liked better. Volvo had better steering, but was way too small on the interior. At least the Lexus has enough space. Too bad the seat won't go far enough back if it's raised up high. Lowering it moves it back at a 45 degree angle. LAME. I'm thinking about a Buick Lacrosse. Steering was nice and light, not truck-like, and the seat was pretty good. There was enough room, but not much more. The mid-sized Mercedes SUV drove really nicely! Great steering feel and response, and power. Interior is a bit too small though, my right knee bangs on the console. Update: Took it in to get an oil leak fixed. They had to pull the engine just to change a gasket. Then they damaged the oil cooler lines putting it back in. Took over a week. Had to scuttle our planned road trip, which wasn't the worst thing, since anywhere we wanted to go was 99 degrees! To those who "disliked" this review: I hope you enjoy your new POS! Don't say I didn't warn you.

amazing machine (with issues)

on edit 77,350 miles 10/2/2021 Ok, "FINALLY," 77 thousand miles and years of irritation, the transmission logic is resolved. Transmission now shifts smoothly at low speeds and it's not so fast to upshift. On a whim, I asked the service advisor if anything had been resolved on the transmission firmware. They tested it again, and said "Yes." They flashed the ECM with TSB L-SB-0032-19 REV1 - ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! The car is now, smooth shifting at low speeds. It made an enormous difference. It's like a different car now. Anyway, I hope this helps someone... I doubt I'll be posting (whining) again. I think I'll just enjoy my "new" car... On edit again 8/31/2021 76118 miles (items listed in no particular order as I think of them) on edit: 4/2/2020 after 2.5 years and mileage now at 60720 miles... - I can live with it, but, I've had it back to LEXUS 3 times for the incredibly irritating shift logic at slow speeds. LEXUS keeps saying it’s ok. It just doesn't need to be this way. This also a very unhelpful / dumb dealer response. I can tell it's been programmed this way! It's exactly the same every time after the car warms up! Re-program it! Make it stop! The low speed 4th to 5th gear shift (I think it's 4th to 5th) at such low speeds makes the car feel VERY unresponsive and at first used to concern me that something was wrong. Now I generally know where/when it will occur and manually shift it in to 4th (S4) and hold it there until I pass that point. This is our 4th LEXUS in a row. The others didn't act like this... (and I "don't buy the "hit to mileage" as an excuse - it would be virtually negligible to hold 4th for a few more seconds) (but I digress) Just a note here: Unofficially here, (off the record) I know that there have been other complaints about this to LEXUS (It's not just me) - The car has been incredibly reliable and quite satisfying to drive otherwise ("some" features aside) - Do we still love the car? "Yes, but I will "at least," consider other vehicles on our next purchase if this "issue" (as I see it) is still there" - The lane control system is about worthless to me. I no longer or seldom use it. Maybe I'd activate it on a very long trip. * It favors the left side of the lane. It doesn't really center the car. I find that a bit irritating * It's not a very responsive system and will definitely let you drift off road to the left OR right . (may be by design, but it's a useless system to me) * It does alert you though, if you drift too close to a lane divider or edge marker (so I guess it's somewhat useful) - The "radar" integrated cruise control is by far my favorite feature! I like how that works in the "pacing" and stopping department (not so much in "re-accelerating" from a stop or slow down) - mileage "generally" is a bit of a disappointment at 17.5 combined. (considering an 8 speed transmission) - The mileage reset "between fueling mileage reset" is in a bit of an irritating place (always having to look left around the steering wheel) - The "TAKE A BREAK" feature needs to be removed. That can activate at any time. I have no idea what kind of logic is programmed in to this system. This is just a severe irritation. Otherwise, as in typical Toyota fashion, "things" are very ergonomically laid out. (hard to improve on) - Brakes...The brakes will haul this machine down quickly (see line above) I will add, the rear brake pads for sure, are different on the "Japan built" vehicles. What's up with that? "Try to 2nd source those pads! Futile..." (rear pads lasted 50K miles-that's pretty good! Front still OK, that's even more impressive) as of this update, I have been able to 2nd source replacement brakes and rotors from a third party. LEXUS pads were extremely expensive. If you have a "J" as the first digit of your VIN, your car was built in Japan... - The rear hatch door "hand placement" opener is not reliable...period...(they need to fix it - make that "just plain reliable" - at least on our car, it's "painfully irritating") - stock radio sounds great - programming channels is not real intuitive and I forget how to program channels between times - have to look it up each time - might just be me, I'm getting older... - small thing, but the glove box blue light could be brighter bottom line: It may not seem like it, but we still love the car... On edit: June 15, 2020 I know it doesn't bother many people, but I will never get used to this weird transmission logic. I love the car at road speeds, but around town the transmission makes some of the oddest shifts and at times slams in to gear fairly hard. I just hate the "shift logic" around town. The power is largely "unpredictable" and still the dealer says it's normal. Road car...(thumbs up) Around town I simply don't like the "driveability" or drive experience much…

Our Second 2016 RX350

Last June we traded in a 2005 RX350 for a brand new 2016 RX. This June we traded in a 2006 GX 470 for a 1 year old RX 350. While I never thought I would give up my big SUV, the year with the RX convinced me that I had to have one as well. This car is an incredible all around vehicle, and now I can say that it is a joy to own 2 of them! I could go on for a couple of pages on all the aspects of these cars that we love, but to some it up, comfort, handling, gas mileage, looks, and yes, I LOVE the electronics. This is the main reason I wanted to write this review. The entertainment system in this car gets a lot of hate around here. So bad actually, that I was hesitant to even buy our first RX because of what was said. I will tell you that when you first start using it, the joystick seems out of control, and I can see why people complain. However, after reading up on the system and practicing on it while the vehicle was standing still, it is the coolest control center in an automobile I have ever used. The joystick and the display are so intuitive that I've gotten to the point where I don't even have to look at the screen to get done what I need to get done. Plus, the voice activation system (if you take the time to learn how to use it) is quite amazing. I have learned how perform the bulk of my tasks with my voice. It really doesn't get much better. So, if you go down and drive one of these things and get turned off by the controls on the entertainment system, fear not, soon you will be guiding the joystick like a pro and landing on SAT without even trying.

wonderful vehicle at this price range

Awesome package

Total satisfaction with purchase and ownership. I like the moe aggressive lines and look of the 2016 model.