The folks over at Lexus build excellent cars. The brand nails the luxury details buyers want, and has made build quality a hallmark ahead of performative tech, ensuring generations of buyers have stood by the company through thick and thin. Perhaps the lone issue with the carmaker's portfolio — and admittedly, one that's incredible to consider this long into the SUV's preeminence — is that Lexus has never really sold a purpose-built family crossover.
The Lexus SUV lineup starts with the pint-sized UX and NX crossovers, and ends with burly, luxed-up Land Cruisers: the GX and LX. The Lexus RX has filled that vast chasm between them, but it hasn't been a perfect fit. An RX owner with a second or third kid on the way — I have relatives facing this exact dilemma — has not had a sensible Lexus option to level up to.
At least, until now. Lexus just debuted the all-new 2024 TX. It's a big three-row crossover, one that's closely related to the Toyota Grand Highlander. Unlike most Lexus cars, it's built in America and designed for the American market. The TX offers three powertrains — two of them hybrids. And it starts at just $55,050, nearly $40,000 cheaper than a three-row LX.
I traveled to the swanky (and on that day, sweltering) suburbs of Austin, Texas to sample all three versions of the TX. And as a parent with multiple children, I felt seen. The TX delivers the same impressive family-friendly formula as its Toyota sibling — just elevated a bit for the Lexus audience.
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The 2024 Lexus TX: What We Think
Tyler Duffy
I'd like to picture myself as a Lexus GX or Land Cruiser dad. But the TX makes far more sense for my multiple-kid reality. There are more engaging family SUVs to drive; there are more opulent SUVs; there are more off-road-capable SUVs. But there aren't many SUVs that meet the specific needs of family life better than the Lexus TX.
The TX is stylish, comfortable and efficient. It offers a range of solid powertrains. It's Lexus-level quiet. It offers a versatile cabin for growing families. And — at least outside of the Toyota context — it's a pretty darn good value.
To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.
All three Lexus TX engine options work fairly well, but the conventional hybrid is best
Tyler Duffy
Two TX engine options carry over from the Grand Highlander. The base engine is a turbocharged 2.4-liter inline-four — the same used in the 2024 Toyota Tacoma. It pairs with an eight-speed automatic, puts out 275 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque and earns an estimated 23 mpg combined.
The first upgrade engine is a 2.4-liter conventional hybrid — known as the Hybrid Max in Toyota terminology — which bumps the output to 366 hp and 406 lb-ft and earns an estimated 27 mpg combined with a 6-speed automatic.
Where the TX and Grand Highlander differ is the high-efficiency option. Lexus offers a 3.5-liter V6 plug-in hybrid for the TX, rather than the Prius-like 2.5-liter hybrid used in the Sienna. The PHEV packs 406 horsepower, pairs with a CVT and delivers 33 miles of EV-only range with an estimated 29-mpg-combined rating.
Lexus let me sample every option. The base 2.4-liter gas engine is strong, torquey and smooth. It can sound a tad grainy when pushed but has no problem muscling the car up steep hills.
My favorite was the 2.4-liter conventional hybrid. It has an abundant reservoir of power and torque that makes the car feel dramatically quicker and more responsive. And it adds rear-wheel steering and the Lexus Direct4 all-wheel-drive system to the mix.
The PHEV worked well too. The 33-mile range estimate felt about right in real-world driving. I liked that the acceleration off the line felt smooth and consistent shuttling between hybrid and EV modes.
However, the PHEV is not noticeably more potent than the Hybrid Max in real driving, and it's not that much more efficient, either. Also, you have to deal with plugging it in — and the last thing a parent needs is one more thing to manage. The PHEV won't be available until sometime in 2024 and it could jack up the cost to around $80,000. I'd stick with the conventional hybrid.
And the Lexus TX is easy, comfortable and quiet
Tyler Duffy
One truism you can bank on as a parent: no one will ever ask you to stop, drop and perform a timed autocross run in your three-row crossover. Ditto for a hard 0-60 mph acceleration. Lexus optimized the TX for the family driving it needs to do. And like another standout, the Kia Telluride, the TX makes driving really easy at a life stage where everything else can seem hard.
The TX handles its weight decently in corners. But the suspension is tuned softly for the obstacles most owners will encounter: bumps; the ride was smooth sailing on not particularly great Texas pavement, even on the largest 22-inch wheels. TX steering is on the light side too. But no parent wants to wrestle a bear on their way back from their kids' third birthday party of the weekend (with a stomach rumbling after turning down a slice of pizza they definitely wanted).
Quietude has become a Lexus hallmark. The brand has turned sound deadening into an art form. Every TX comes with Lexus's active noise cancellation tech to counter road noise with opposing frequencies. Under normal conditions, the TX felt library-like. And even on a rough stretch of graded pavement (coincidentally?) on our test route, the noise barely pierced the equilibrium.
The TX provides a usable cabin for real-life familes
Lexus
Lexus typically does an amazing job with interiors. And when you level up the TX, you get the soft touch cabin materials, semi-aniline leather and the 21-speaker Mark Levinson sound system. But what's great about the TX interior is how versatile it is for real families.
The third row is adult-size. I'm 5'11" and was able to sit behind myself twice — in the second and third rows — with ease. And it's easy to get back there, with one touch that thrusts the second-row seat forward and helpful features like a grab handle, a seat belt latch and a grippy floor pad. That third-row seat is also positioned higher to improve visibility and help reduce "passenger fatigue."
It can feel like the third-row seat is just for carpooling kids. But having adult capacity back there provides a lot more functionality. Many families are multi-generational; adding a grandparent into the mix often means one of the parents climbing back into that third row. In the TX, that's not an act of martyrdom.
The Lexus TX also has modular cupholders that can move around the cabin, and USB ports at every seat. The 20.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row isn't game-changing. But it is enough to throw all of your beach stuff and a good cooler into the back with a full load of passengers.
I was skeptical, but I kind of dig the TX's new grille
Tyler Duffy
The TX looks subtle and sophisticated. The most notable feature is the new "unified spindle" grille. The new RX makes a gradual transition from body to grille. The TX still has the classic Lexus grille shape, yes but it has bodywork running through it with the grille recessed in an integrated, linear pattern.
Lexus says the unified spindle helps with aerodynamic efficiency. It also helps the car look more low-key. A full-on spindle would have been a "punch you in the face," Lexus LM-style look. That would go down well with JDM enthusiasts and car journalists in theory — but be far too flashy for the three-row crossover audience.
The Lexus TX is — mostly — a good value
Tyler Duffy
The TX is positioned fairly well with its competitors. You can get a fairly nice Lexus TX for less than $60,000 when competitors like the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS start above $80,000. Offering the conventional hybrid gives the TX a leg up on more comparatively priced vehicles that only offer a PHEV (Volvo XC90, Mazda CX-90) or gas engines (Acura MDX).
But then again ... the Toyota Grand Highlander is pretty much the same car as the TX. It doesn't have that coveted Lexus badge. But it can get you into the Hybrid Max engine for about $15,000 less than it costs in a TX.
