5 weeks of ownership - My likes and dislikes

C

cwillis

New member
Aug 27, 2023
1
10
Dallas, Texas
I recently purchased the GX 550 Overtrail + in Earth from Sewell Lexus of Dallas. I absolutely love the car! I had been on a waitlist since August of 2023! So glad it is finally in my garage.

I thought i would share some of things I love about my new GX and some of the things not so much...

  1. Love
    1. The color!
      1. I think Earth is such a unique color. i get compliments on it all the time. I've only seen one other Earth colored GX "in the wild".
    2. The design.
      1. I love how the GX looks and how its such a drastic redesign. It stands out from all other SUV's.
    3. The ride.
      1. It rides so smooth compared to my previous car (2017 Jeep grand Cherokee Trailhawk)
    4. Capability
      1. I haven't had a chance to take it off road yet, but excited to test it out. I won't be doing any hard core rock crawling, but plan to go to some of the OHV parks and do some camping/Overlanding.
  2. Not so much..
    1. Cruise Control. It just seems overly complicated with its features. Too many buttons. Too many settings. Just let me turn it on and set it.
    2. Android Auto
      1. I constantly have connection issues (don't know if its my phone or the cars problem). The nav works great but i have constant issues making phone calls.
      2. Difficult and too many clicks to get out of Android Auto back to Lexus features
    3. AC vents
      1. Not enough! I live in Texas and I feel like the AC can't keep up.
    4. Cool Box
      1. It's pretty much worthless. I didn't want it, but it was already optioned for it. I can't seem to think of a time I would need it. I always have a Yeti water bottle everywhere i go. Never found a need to keep things cool. If i had a need I would have a cooler with Ice.
    5. Gas tank size
      1. Way too small!! I can handle crappy mileage (I avg 15-16 mpg). My Jeep had a Hemi V8 so i am use to it. But at least it had a large gas tank. The GX only gets 265'ish miles to a tank. That means you are filling up every 220 miles or so..
    6. Screen/Buttons
      1. Too much is deep in the screen. Some features just need to have a button for quick access.
        1. I know i have massaging seats, but couldn't tell where to find them! lol
    7. Auto temp Control
      1. Ok, this might be a user error and i can't figure it out. But the heated/vented seats will come on even if nobody is sitting in the seat. I have to manually turn them off because it is set on Auto.

Overall i LOVE my GX! But thought I would share my thoughts on my first few weeks of owning it.
 
I just got my Atomic Silver / Black OT+ from Sewell Dallas 3 weeks ago. Are you gonna go to Barnwell or Bridgeport or both? I'm gonna head up to Bridgeport once I get my GX broken in. I only have 340 miles on it - I don't drive much - so it'll be a while.
 
Love my Overtrail+ too
The one feature that ticks me off is having to turn off the cross traffic alert everytime the key is cycled on.
Other than that I have learned to turn other features off that I don’t want on.
IMG_4893.jpeg
 
cwillis said:
I recently purchased the GX 550 Overtrail + in Earth from Sewell Lexus of Dallas. I absolutely love the car! I had been on a waitlist since August of 2023! So glad it is finally in my garage.

I thought i would share some of things I love about my new GX and some of the things not so much...

  1. Love
    1. The color!
      1. I think Earth is such a unique color. i get compliments on it all the time. I've only seen one other Earth colored GX "in the wild".
    2. The design.
      1. I love how the GX looks and how its such a drastic redesign. It stands out from all other SUV's.
    3. The ride.
      1. It rides so smooth compared to my previous car (2017 Jeep grand Cherokee Trailhawk)
    4. Capability
      1. I haven't had a chance to take it off road yet, but excited to test it out. I won't be doing any hard core rock crawling, but plan to go to some of the OHV parks and do some camping/Overlanding.
  2. Not so much..
    1. Cruise Control. It just seems overly complicated with its features. Too many buttons. Too many settings. Just let me turn it on and set it.
    2. Android Auto
      1. I constantly have connection issues (don't know if its my phone or the cars problem). The nav works great but i have constant issues making phone calls.
      2. Difficult and too many clicks to get out of Android Auto back to Lexus features
    3. AC vents
      1. Not enough! I live in Texas and I feel like the AC can't keep up.
    4. Cool Box
      1. It's pretty much worthless. I didn't want it, but it was already optioned for it. I can't seem to think of a time I would need it. I always have a Yeti water bottle everywhere i go. Never found a need to keep things cool. If i had a need I would have a cooler with Ice.
    5. Gas tank size
      1. Way too small!! I can handle crappy mileage (I avg 15-16 mpg). My Jeep had a Hemi V8 so i am use to it. But at least it had a large gas tank. The GX only gets 265'ish miles to a tank. That means you are filling up every 220 miles or so..
    6. Screen/Buttons
      1. Too much is deep in the screen. Some features just need to have a button for quick access.
        1. I know i have massaging seats, but couldn't tell where to find them! lol
    7. Auto temp Control
      1. Ok, this might be a user error and i can't figure it out. But the heated/vented seats will come on even if nobody is sitting in the seat. I have to manually turn them off because it is set on Auto.

Overall i LOVE my GX! But thought I would share my thoughts on my first few weeks of owning it.
Click to expand...
Congrats and welcome. Post some pics.
 
Redbird99 said:
For those with massaging seats, Can you control them with voice commands like you can the temperature control, and seat heating/cooling?
Click to expand...
I certainly haven't been able to find any voice command that turns them on or even takes me to the Massage page on the infotainment screen.
 
Cool box is great if you pick up a 4 pack from a local brewery but your cooler is already stuffed. Also a cold seltzer / water is nice to have handy while putting the miles down.

Agreed on the buttons for setting cruise, but once you study and practice it does work great. It's doing a lot, speed, dynamic distancing and steering.
 
I have a Luxury (got it a month ago) and I agree that some often-used features should be more accessible. It looks like they didn't do a good job usability testing some of them. Anyway, overall, I love it (way better than my GX 460 Limited). Still learning some new features every week :) . Still don't understand that both mud flaps and full cargo mat don't come by default or as a dealer installed option...
 
We have the Luxury+ with the rear captains chairs, and we are in Florida. Have the same dislikes, but we do enjoy the cool box.
Going from a Range Rover with storage everywhere to the GX with minimalism has it's positives and negatives.
Our RR was on air bags, so the ride is not as smooth, but the inside of the GX has more room and is more comfortable.

My only add to dislike is the amount of warnings and controls. I don't need to be beeped at every time I look away from the road or pull into traffic.
 
cwillis said:
I recently purchased the GX 550 Overtrail + in Earth from Sewell Lexus of Dallas. I absolutely love the car! I had been on a waitlist since August of 2023! So glad it is finally in my garage.

I thought i would share some of things I love about my new GX and some of the things not so much...

  1. Love
    1. The color!
      1. I think Earth is such a unique color. i get compliments on it all the time. I've only seen one other Earth colored GX "in the wild".
    2. The design.
      1. I love how the GX looks and how its such a drastic redesign. It stands out from all other SUV's.
    3. The ride.
      1. It rides so smooth compared to my previous car (2017 Jeep grand Cherokee Trailhawk)
    4. Capability
      1. I haven't had a chance to take it off road yet, but excited to test it out. I won't be doing any hard core rock crawling, but plan to go to some of the OHV parks and do some camping/Overlanding.
  2. Not so much..
    1. Cruise Control. It just seems overly complicated with its features. Too many buttons. Too many settings. Just let me turn it on and set it.
    2. Android Auto
      1. I constantly have connection issues (don't know if its my phone or the cars problem). The nav works great but i have constant issues making phone calls.
      2. Difficult and too many clicks to get out of Android Auto back to Lexus features
    3. AC vents
      1. Not enough! I live in Texas and I feel like the AC can't keep up.
    4. Cool Box
      1. It's pretty much worthless. I didn't want it, but it was already optioned for it. I can't seem to think of a time I would need it. I always have a Yeti water bottle everywhere i go. Never found a need to keep things cool. If i had a need I would have a cooler with Ice.
    5. Gas tank size
      1. Way too small!! I can handle crappy mileage (I avg 15-16 mpg). My Jeep had a Hemi V8 so i am use to it. But at least it had a large gas tank. The GX only gets 265'ish miles to a tank. That means you are filling up every 220 miles or so..
    6. Screen/Buttons
      1. Too much is deep in the screen. Some features just need to have a button for quick access.
        1. I know i have massaging seats, but couldn't tell where to find them! lol
    7. Auto temp Control
      1. Ok, this might be a user error and i can't figure it out. But the heated/vented seats will come on even if nobody is sitting in the seat. I have to manually turn them off because it is set on Auto.

Overall i LOVE my GX! But thought I would share my thoughts on my first few weeks of owning it.
Click to expand...
Awesome. Congrats! You’ve had no vibration or brake issues since you drive it off the lot?
 
Re: the cool box.

FWIW, I've had these in 2 200 series LCs and now the GX. At first, I thought it was worthless and barely used it. However, as time has passed I've found that I have come all the way around. I use it all the time - drinks, sandwiches, candy, snacks, whatever. We travel all the time and are out on the road for weeks on end. Having a cooler like that is fantastic IMO - the biggest trick, at first, is remembering it's there. After that, you find uses for it all the time.
 
cwillis said:
I recently purchased the GX 550 Overtrail + in Earth from Sewell Lexus of Dallas. I absolutely love the car! I had been on a waitlist since August of 2023! So glad it is finally in my garage.

I thought i would share some of things I love about my new GX and some of the things not so much...

  1. Love
    1. The color!
      1. I think Earth is such a unique color. i get compliments on it all the time. I've only seen one other Earth colored GX "in the wild".
    2. The design.
      1. I love how the GX looks and how its such a drastic redesign. It stands out from all other SUV's.
    3. The ride.
      1. It rides so smooth compared to my previous car (2017 Jeep grand Cherokee Trailhawk)
    4. Capability
      1. I haven't had a chance to take it off road yet, but excited to test it out. I won't be doing any hard core rock crawling, but plan to go to some of the OHV parks and do some camping/Overlanding.
  2. Not so much..
    1. Cruise Control. It just seems overly complicated with its features. Too many buttons. Too many settings. Just let me turn it on and set it.
    2. Android Auto
      1. I constantly have connection issues (don't know if its my phone or the cars problem). The nav works great but i have constant issues making phone calls.
      2. Difficult and too many clicks to get out of Android Auto back to Lexus features
    3. AC vents
      1. Not enough! I live in Texas and I feel like the AC can't keep up.
    4. Cool Box
      1. It's pretty much worthless. I didn't want it, but it was already optioned for it. I can't seem to think of a time I would need it. I always have a Yeti water bottle everywhere i go. Never found a need to keep things cool. If i had a need I would have a cooler with Ice.
    5. Gas tank size
      1. Way too small!! I can handle crappy mileage (I avg 15-16 mpg). My Jeep had a Hemi V8 so i am use to it. But at least it had a large gas tank. The GX only gets 265'ish miles to a tank. That means you are filling up every 220 miles or so..
    6. Screen/Buttons
      1. Too much is deep in the screen. Some features just need to have a button for quick access.
        1. I know i have massaging seats, but couldn't tell where to find them! lol
    7. Auto temp Control
      1. Ok, this might be a user error and i can't figure it out. But the heated/vented seats will come on even if nobody is sitting in the seat. I have to manually turn them off because it is set on Auto.

Overall i LOVE my GX! But thought I would share my thoughts on my first few weeks of owning it.
Click to expand...
Thank for the info! Just so you know, 1,2, and 6 on your dislikes is exactly same on the Ford Bronco I own. lol.
 
OT+ is... greater than the sum of it's parts. Love my truck but...come on Lexus the small stuff details matters.

1. Why does my car shake at idle? Dealer said it's "normal" for this type of truck but no way should my RPM gage go up and down a few hundred RPM's at idle. You know it's bad when passengers ask, what's that vibration? Perhaps I should put a glass of wine on my car seat and take a video so the Jurassic Park example could be seen lol.
2. Squealing brakes and yes I know, the parts are on back order and that will be fixed but for God's sake, should never have been released
3. Gas mileage is what it is but should have been far better than avg of 15-17 mpg.
4. Massage seats takes 6 button presses to turn on the massager and then back to the nav screen all while driving... When it turns off after 15 minutes you get to do that all over again...
5. ML stereo is simply not in the class it once was. Good but if Lexus is still relentlessly pursuing perfection this iteration clearly misses that mark.
6. Center console with cooler leaves no space for storage and storage in general for such a vehicle is tiny.
7. Why??? does the 2nd row in a vehicle with only two rows not have a sliding back seat? Put the drivers seat all the way back and you cannot fit a 12 year old behind. The vehicle certainly as a ton of room for a six inch slide.

Again, love my truck but this is a Lexus not a Nissan and we all know how long this truck was delayed for. They even had a different version that was scrapped because it didn't meet Lexus standards.
 
I had a new RX loaner yesterday when my GX was in for service. The RX has a massive storage bin under your elbow in the center console (no cooler) and another big bin at the forward end of the center console under the display screen. I'd kill to have either of those bins in my GX. The cooler is a cute gimmick but more storage would have been better.
 
That soft vinyl covering between the steering wheel and dash, that seems ill fitting, and an afterthought.....anyone know why it was done that way?

I've never had another LC/GX w anything like that, and it seems hokey.
 
New to the forum and a new Lexus owner…..love the GX look so much! A few questions…..

-wind noise is loud when driving down highway…..that normal?
-remote start……3 clicks of the unlock button? Works rarely for me…..
-no auto lock function for when you get out of the GX? Shocked there is no option for the doors to lock after x amount of seconds……

Any feedback is appreciated
 
DaveGx550 said:
New to the forum and a new Lexus owner…..love the GX look so much! A few questions…..

-wind noise is loud when driving down highway…..that normal?
-remote start……3 clicks of the unlock button? Works rarely for me…..
-no auto lock function for when you get out of the GX? Shocked there is no option for the doors to lock after x amount of seconds……

Any feedback is appreciated
Click to expand...
Lexus (or Toyota I believe) doesn't have auto-lock on any of their vehicles. It would be nice, but I've gotten used to touching the "lock" portion of the door handle after getting out.

As for the remote start, you need to hold down the unlock button on the 3rd press for quite a while before the GX will auto-start.
 
JPE said:
Lexus (or Toyota I believe) doesn't have auto-lock on any of their vehicles. It would be nice, but I've gotten used to touching the "lock" portion of the door handle after getting out.

As for the remote start, you need to hold down the unlock button on the 3rd press for quite a while before the GX will auto-start.
Click to expand...
pretty sure it's the lock button, not unlock. Why would you want to remote start you car and unlock it?
 
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