11.29.2014

Consistency Is A Virtue: The 2015 Lexus GX460

Front 3/4 view of 2015 Lexus GX460
The 2015 Lexus GX460.
The 2014 Lexus GX460 endeared itself to us late this spring, when we took it on a lengthy road trip through the Eastern High Sierra and Yosemite. A big, brawny SUV, it's an uncanny melding of luxury and rugged utility.




Rear 3/4 view of 2015 Lexus GX460
2015 Lexus GX460.
For 2015, Lexus has made only the smallest of changes to the GX460...adding Siri eyes-free mode, which allows you to work with iPhone's Siri, dictating text messages and the like, without actually having to touch your phone, and revamping the Lexus Enform infotainment app suite to include Stitcher and upgrades to iHeartRadio 4.0.  Everything else, from the base price of $60,715 to the EPA fuel economy estimate of 15 city/20 highway, remains the same.

Interior view of 2015 Lexus GX460
2015 Lexus GX460 interior.
Our 2015 tester was more heavily optioned than the 2014, and thus a bit more expensive.  When I say heavily optioned, it was just one package...the Driver Support Package ($4,340), but that includes a pre-collision system with driver attention monitor, dynamic radar cruise control, lane departure alert, intelligent high-beam headlamps, wide-view front and side monitor, CRAWL control (which automatically works the throttle and brakes to help keep the vehicle steadily moving forward on steep or uneven terrain), and a 330-watt, 17-speaker Mark Levinson surround sound audio system.

Bottom line with $925 delivery, processing and handling fee: $65,980.  A chunk of change, yes, but this is one of the few true competitors to Land Rover and Range Rover and is worth every penny.