How does the 550 REALLY DRIVE on public roads - Dealer said it's awful !!

[YellowLab]

Have OT+ and drives smooth as silk. Coming from ~15 years in a couple of 4Runners, so the upgrade is noticeable. OT tires absorb the shock of potholes and run well on smooth roads. Storage, backseat legroom, HVAC, MPG not the best.

Have to agree on the silk part. My last vehicle was and X5 and before that a Cayenne. My fear with the OT+ was finding a huge gap transitioning from tight handling to something sloppy - with nose plowing, rolling, etc. I have been very impressed that this vehicle handles so well on the road and rides fantastic - overall a very good vehicle!

 

[mlinkibikr]

I have been driving my OT for 5 months. Avg mpg around town is 17.5, hwy is a bit over 19. My highway speed runs in the 80mph area. I drive smoothly around town, not many jackrabbit starts… and I stay in Comfort mode 90% of the time.
No roof rack, car is pretty quite for its brick like aerodynamics. The suspension with just me and no cargo is a little jittery. Put some weight on it and drives nice. I suspect the suspension was tuned to handle the awesome towing capacity, the sag when my trailer is attached is only an inch and a half. I suspect that you could dial out some preload and find a better place, but it’s not annoying to me. It’s a truck, yeah?
Steering and lean is dang good for its breed, power is always ready to smoothly dial in.
Downside … squeaky brakes (known issue but parts are in short supply). An unusual amount of hood fluttering which should have been designed with an additional longitudinal bend. Or just good steel vs lightweight aluminum.
I love mine. It’s like Lexus was reading my wish list when they built this. Great everyday driver, extremely capable utility vehicle.

 

[RPMSTL]

You are doing good with the mpg's.

The best I have so far is 16.8 around town - at least 50% of that on the highway.

Just finished a full tank of interstate driving and only got 16.09 - lots of headwinds at 80mph.

 

[K-man]

The ride is fine over larger bumps on the road, but my OT+ transmits sharp jitters over the smallest imperfections in the road, tire pressures at the recommended 35 psi in “normal” ride mode. It’s odd that smaller bumps seem to deliver more pronounced jolts and a jittery, nervous ride. Riding with 4 passengers and full fuel does not make any noticeable difference for my OT+. I have 1400 miles on the vehicle.

 

[jaytee]

Posting this here in the TALK section instead of PURCHASING section, but crosses both topics.

After getting a run around from my local dealer about not knowing when allocations will come, with guess of wait maybe 2-3 years, and a few markup add-ons, with $2k non-refundable deposit, I decided to head to a slightly bigger dealer more towards the downtown area.

The director at this 2nd dealer was not only super chill, but it was too easy to ask about when I could get a GX. He asks for my driver's license ands starts adding my order into his system, without even discussing what the deposit is, markup add-ons, wait lists/times.

I tell him about my experience from the other dealer, and he said here no problem, I get an allocation for your trim, I call you, even if it is not your colour, you like you take, you don't like you continue to wait. Claimed that most likely will not be several years to wait, will likely land on something that fits close.

Then I ask him how many he sells, he tells me 5-6 per year, wait what ? I ask him about his wait list, he gives me a best guess of 50-60 ppl. That math does not look good. Tells me not to worry, will all work out in the end, because people are too picky and will end up waiting and I can bypass them.

Then we discuss trim, tells me that 70% of the ppl on his list want OT, so better chances to land an LUX+/Exec sooner, competing with less ppl on the whole list.

THEN THAT IS WHEN THINGS TAKE A TURN IN THE CHAT (hence this post) ....................

Dealer: Have you ever driven a GX ?
Me: No

Dealer: Hmm, have you ever driven a big truck ?
Me: Besides the occasional U-Haul, nothing like an Escalade, Yukon or F-150 no, let alone a GX, oh yeah an Isuzu Rodeo in my younger years

Dealer: I owned 3 GX's, '21, '22 and '24
Dealer: They are TERRIBLE to drive on public roads, pulls all over the place
Dealer: I workout and am in shape, and I had to drive it with 2 hands to keep it in the lane
Dealer: Bounces all over the place, pulls left and right, struggle is real
Dealer: My wife hated it

Dealer: Will you at least offload with it
Me: Not at all, zero interest, just own it for fun and going to work and long road trip vacations
Dealer: Hmm, well ok, your choice

Dealer: You know this truck is highly stolen right
Dealer: Those f***** are good, they will put a tracker on your truck and follow you everywhere
Dealer: Have a client who had his GX stolen 3 times, even with tracking on it
Dealer: Wife felt she was being followed all the time
Dealer: Did you check with your insurance, won't be cheap
Me: Yeah insurance not bad, close to the cost for a TX, aware of the high theft thing, very worrisome
Dealer: Ok, your choice, let's continue

Dealer: Have you driven a TX500h hybrid
Me: Only the TX350
Dealer: The TX350 is a cow, the 500h is an incredible drive, handles so well, super comfortable, lots of power, neighbour has one and the look is growing on me. Own an RX500 and want to upgrade to the TX500 next, amazing drive (with 4-wheel steering too)
Dealer: My wife said to me, I am done with this madness (GX), between horrible street driving/handling and high theft fear, change models

Me: How come you are willing to "sell" me a GX
Dealer: Simple, you will either lease or finance with us. If you were coming in here to pay cash, different story (export)
Me: How much for financing
Dealer: 6.9% for 72 months, $2200/mo (CAD) with zero down, can talk trade-in later

Me: Any mark-ups / add-ons
Dealer: Nothing, why would I do that, just the truck and a bit of luxury tax
Me: (thinking) probably making their money on the financing interest

Dealer: You know this thing is a gas guzzler right ?
Dealer: No joke, cost me minimum $160 - $180 (CAD) per week, was horrible.

You get the point here, the chat went on way more than the above, but in the end, he told me, I call you, you want it you take it, you don't want it, the next guy will take it. You change your mind and eventually want a TX down the road after impatiently waiting, can move your deposit to that. I can make you a deal on a future TX, zero deal on the GX.

Great looking truck, but is the drive really THAT BAD on the roads ???
Is the gas consumption really that bad ??
Are those who are financing paying that high of an interest rate with Lexus ??
Are some dealers allowing a cash purchase ??

My GX premium+ drives great. Love it. Had the GX 460 prior to purchasing the 550.

 

[killy]

I actually don’t really like the way comfort mode rides, I think it’s less comfortable and adds a fair bit of unwanted undulation.

Haven’t tried it much off road so maybe it’s a better setting for rutted roads or something.

 

[DaMizunoMenace]

Sounds like the dealer is definitely trying to sway you. How would you feel if you had to wait to make the sale since there is low inventory? My sales guy tried to sell me a TX too, lol. I’m waiting on the GX but that’s just me.

 

[K-man]

I actually don’t really like the way comfort mode rides, I think it’s less comfortable and adds a fair bit of unwanted undulation.

Haven’t tried it much off road so maybe it’s a better setting for rutted roads or something.

Agreed—the comfort mode actually makes the minor bumps and jitters feel looser and less pleasant.

 

[adecoite]

Posting this here in the TALK section instead of PURCHASING section, but crosses both topics.

After getting a run around from my local dealer about not knowing when allocations will come, with guess of wait maybe 2-3 years, and a few markup add-ons, with $2k non-refundable deposit, I decided to head to a slightly bigger dealer more towards the downtown area.

The director at this 2nd dealer was not only super chill, but it was too easy to ask about when I could get a GX. He asks for my driver's license ands starts adding my order into his system, without even discussing what the deposit is, markup add-ons, wait lists/times.

I tell him about my experience from the other dealer, and he said here no problem, I get an allocation for your trim, I call you, even if it is not your colour, you like you take, you don't like you continue to wait. Claimed that most likely will not be several years to wait, will likely land on something that fits close.

Then I ask him how many he sells, he tells me 5-6 per year, wait what ? I ask him about his wait list, he gives me a best guess of 50-60 ppl. That math does not look good. Tells me not to worry, will all work out in the end, because people are too picky and will end up waiting and I can bypass them.

Then we discuss trim, tells me that 70% of the ppl on his list want OT, so better chances to land an LUX+/Exec sooner, competing with less ppl on the whole list.

THEN THAT IS WHEN THINGS TAKE A TURN IN THE CHAT (hence this post) ....................

Dealer: Have you ever driven a GX ?
Me: No

Dealer: Hmm, have you ever driven a big truck ?
Me: Besides the occasional U-Haul, nothing like an Escalade, Yukon or F-150 no, let alone a GX, oh yeah an Isuzu Rodeo in my younger years

Dealer: I owned 3 GX's, '21, '22 and '24
Dealer: They are TERRIBLE to drive on public roads, pulls all over the place
Dealer: I workout and am in shape, and I had to drive it with 2 hands to keep it in the lane
Dealer: Bounces all over the place, pulls left and right, struggle is real
Dealer: My wife hated it

Dealer: Will you at least offload with it
Me: Not at all, zero interest, just own it for fun and going to work and long road trip vacations
Dealer: Hmm, well ok, your choice

Dealer: You know this truck is highly stolen right
Dealer: Those f***** are good, they will put a tracker on your truck and follow you everywhere
Dealer: Have a client who had his GX stolen 3 times, even with tracking on it
Dealer: Wife felt she was being followed all the time
Dealer: Did you check with your insurance, won't be cheap
Me: Yeah insurance not bad, close to the cost for a TX, aware of the high theft thing, very worrisome
Dealer: Ok, your choice, let's continue

Dealer: Have you driven a TX500h hybrid
Me: Only the TX350
Dealer: The TX350 is a cow, the 500h is an incredible drive, handles so well, super comfortable, lots of power, neighbour has one and the look is growing on me. Own an RX500 and want to upgrade to the TX500 next, amazing drive (with 4-wheel steering too)
Dealer: My wife said to me, I am done with this madness (GX), between horrible street driving/handling and high theft fear, change models

Me: How come you are willing to "sell" me a GX
Dealer: Simple, you will either lease or finance with us. If you were coming in here to pay cash, different story (export)
Me: How much for financing
Dealer: 6.9% for 72 months, $2200/mo (CAD) with zero down, can talk trade-in later

Me: Any mark-ups / add-ons
Dealer: Nothing, why would I do that, just the truck and a bit of luxury tax
Me: (thinking) probably making their money on the financing interest

Dealer: You know this thing is a gas guzzler right ?
Dealer: No joke, cost me minimum $160 - $180 (CAD) per week, was horrible.

You get the point here, the chat went on way more than the above, but in the end, he told me, I call you, you want it you take it, you don't want it, the next guy will take it. You change your mind and eventually want a TX down the road after impatiently waiting, can move your deposit to that. I can make you a deal on a future TX, zero deal on the GX.

Great looking truck, but is the drive really THAT BAD on the roads ???
Is the gas consumption really that bad ??
Are those who are financing paying that high of an interest rate with Lexus ??
Are some dealers allowing a cash purchase ??

Hello from Maui where we have the worst roads and it rides smoothly over all the pot holes & raised asphalt…..I’ve had my OT+ for about a month and haven’t experienced any pulling. We have a million speed bumps here and it actually glides pretty nicely. I had a 07 GX and the gas on that was way better the this one…. It’s shocking how quickly it goes from full to 1/4 tank! I’ll also say the engine is quite loud compared to my V8 GX. I was told a year but was super lucky and got the ‘24 they kept to show pp because it was exactly what I wanted and they probably were getting in the ‘25. My dealer said the deposit was refundable and it was illegal not to return it if I changed my mind….maybe it’s different laws in Hawaii.
I pulled a trailer with a horse and it acted like I was pulling nothing…..so that was impressive! To me it’s an absolutely beautiful vehicle and I get stopped all the time with pp asking about it. With add-ons I paid $80k cash (we needed a tax write off and it’s over 6k lbs so it qualified
Overall I love it!

 

[Neils]

Hello from Maui where we have the worst roads and it rides smoothly over all the pot holes & raised asphalt…..I’ve had my OT+ for about a month and haven’t experienced any pulling. We have a million speed bumps here and it actually glides pretty nicely. I had a 07 GX and the gas on that was way better the this one…. It’s shocking how quickly it goes from full to 1/4 tank! I’ll also say the engine is quite loud compared to my V8 GX. I was told a year but was super lucky and got the ‘24 they kept to show pp because it was exactly what I wanted and they probably were getting in the ‘25. My dealer said the deposit was refundable and it was illegal not to return it if I changed my mind….maybe it’s different laws in Hawaii.
I pulled a trailer with a horse and it acted like I was pulling nothing…..so that was impressive! To me it’s an absolutely beautiful vehicle and I get stopped all the time with pp asking about it. With add-ons I paid $80k cash (we needed a tax write off and it’s over 6k lbs so it qualified
Overall I love it!

I invite you to come visit Montreal to validate your statement of Maui having the worst roads, and you will quickly conclude that your roads are paradise compared to ours.

Thanks for the reply, good feedback, like all the others above. Looks like everyone showed up in numbers (maybe minus 1 or 2) to say the GX550 is a great ride and not horrible like the sales guy told me. Gas mileage seems to have a concensus, it’s dog poop !!!