Lexus RX 350L 2018 Review - Long-term test

There are now more seven-seaters on the market than ever before. Adding to its arsenal, Lexus has added a third row to its large RX SUV to make the Lexus RX L. This bigger, luxury model aims to move your extended family in style and comfort. We’ve added the RX 350L Sports Luxury V6 petrol model to our long-term test fleet to put it through our collective carsales family’s challenges.

Do today’s parents not have enough to contend with without the added task of ferrying bonus kiddies about? While the size of the average family hasn’t grown in the past few decades, apparently our need for more bums on seats in our vehicles has. With more weekend sports events to get to, and friends and families to help out, the addition of a third row of seats is becoming a necessity for many Australian family drivers.

As a result of our obsessions with stuffing our lives full of activities there’s been a recent explosion in the number of vehicles offered in Australia with seven seats, and one of the latest additions is the new Lexus RX L, a seven-seat version of the luxury brand’s RX large SUV.

There are two different powertrains available in the super-sized Lexus RX L range. We’re driving the 3.5-litre V6 petrol-powered Lexus RX 350L but Lexus also offers this lengthened model as a 450hL hybrid option, promising greater fuel economy at just 6.0L/100km (down from 10.2L/100km in the RX 350L).

There’s no diesel model and I reckon that’s a bit of a miss as it would give Lexus a potential performance package to rival some of Europe’s finest heavyweights. That also impacts towing capacity as the Lexus RX 350L is rated only 1500kg for braked towing, against the 3.0-litre TDi Audi Q7’s 3500kg. In towing-obsessed Australia, that’s a big strike against it.

There are two specification levels available on the RX L range, the ‘Luxury’ and ‘Sports Luxury’ featured here.

While it lacks the punch of a turbo-diesel, in regular driving, the petrol V6, which is paired with a pretty sharp eight-speed automatic transmission, is no slouch. It’s good for 216kW and 358Nm which is more than adequate for town driving or hitting the open road. That said, I reckon a bit more torque would give it the mumbo it needs to truly honour its Sports tag.

The fuel economy claim is 10.2L/100km on the ADR Combined cycle and during my time with the RX, over 400kms it achieved reasonably close fuel consumption of 11.7L/100km.

The top spec RX 350L Sports Luxury models are equipped with adaptive variable suspension which delivers a ride which is comfortable, if not particularly inspiring.

Unlike its premium Euro counterparts which can favour low-profile run-flat tyres, the Lexus RX 350L does well with its tyre option. The tyre that the Lexus rides on is a solid, sensible choice in the form of a 235/55 Dunlop tyre fitted to a 20-inch alloy wheel.

The chunky tyre fills me with joy! It is likely to prove more resilient to Australian country roads, and offers a more forgiving ride over pot holes and cruising on the freeway.

When I collected the Lexus, the tyre pressures were low, in fact so low that on a minus-degree morning in country Victoria one of them threw up a low tyre pressure warning. Once corrected to the right pressures detailed on the placard, the ride became more compliant, contributing to a cruisy comfortable drive experience.

While the Lexus isn’t equipped with a full-size spare, which is another must-have for country drivers, it is at least fitted with a space saver. Less handy is the fact that the spare is located under the body of the car, to make way for the third row of seats. I can’t expect the average Lexus driver will be changing their own tyre, but if they need to then a pair of cotton gloves is supplied in the Lexus amenity kit which will save getting grubby.

As you’d expect from a Lexus luxury model, the RX 350L Sports Luxury is well appointed with driver assistance technologies and a host of standard creature comforts. In fact, the only option fitted to our $101,500 (plus on-road costs) long-termer is premium paint at an additional cost of $1500.

Styling wise, the Lexus is not exciting and does not exude as much presence as, say, the Audi Q7 or Range Rover Sport. At the front it wears the gappy chrome grin of the current Lexus family with an oversized grille which you’re either going to love or hate. Our teenagers didn’t mind it, but older friends and colleagues were less enamoured.

On the inside, the two-tone cream and coffee coloured leather-appointed interior is attractive but it will be interesting to see how well it fares at the hands of younger families. There’s a host of clever storage areas and cubby holes and all-in-all, for our family of four the Lexus offers comfy, if not-earth-shattering accommodation.

As a family of four that doesn’t participate in weekend footy shenanigans, we didn’t have much occasion to use the third row. When we did give it a try, we found third-row access hard to use for almost-adult-size teenage kids. You need to pull the front seats forward in order to move the second row out of the way to get decent access to the third row.

There’s little legroom for bigger third-row passengers so think of this more as a 5+2 rather than a full-time seven-seater if you’re moving bigger kids around. If it’s truly a seven-seater that you’re after, I’ve found the Mazda CX-9, Audi Q7 and Kia Sorento  easier than the Lexus RX 350L.

The same goes for the infotainment system, which uses the older-style Lexus joystick – in place of the touchpad controls used in the LC and LS range. It makes for a system which is a little clunky and distracting to use.

We’ll be deep-diving into technology in a further review. But the Lexus is of course equipped with plenty of advanced driver assistance tech including adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist and adaptive high beam LED headlights.

Build quality of the Lexus RX 350L seems good with no obvious issues or creaks from the centre console which has been a complaint of mine for Lexus models I’ve driven previously. One area which could be improved is a knock from the steering when it reaches full lock – some extra bushing would help to make this feel less jarring.

Will the Lexus RX 350L win over our long-term test team? On first impressions, I’m going to suggest that my colleagues may not be that inspired with this seven-seater. It is relatively underwhelming against a field of seven-seaters with a lot to offer family buyers.

The powertrain offers reasonable performance from the V6 engine and the eight-speed automatic transmission shifts nicely. It is comfortable enough for a four-up nuclear family but not as flexible as other seven-seater SUVs.

As luxury brand vehicles go, the Lexus RX 350L Sports Luxury represents good value for its price. Features like heated seats and a large panoramic sunroof are included as standard and Lexus doesn’t play the same costly options game as say Audi, or Land Rover.

As such it represents pretty good buying if you’re a driver looking for a premium badge but for my money, there’s more enjoyable vehicles to be had elsewhere.

Long-Term Tests
motoring.com.au aims to make your choice of vehicle easier. Our Editorial section does this via our mix of news, international and local launch reviews, as well as our seven-day tests.

From time to time we also take the opportunity to spend even longer with a vehicle. These longer-term tests can be as short as a couple of weeks, but more recently we’ve settled on a three-month period as indicative of ‘normal’ ownership.

Long-term tests give our staff writers and contributors a chance to get to know a car as an owner would. While the car is with us, we pay for fuel, the servicing, and generally use and live with the car as a new owner would.

We believe long-term tests give car buyers a deeper insight into the vehicle on test, but also the qualities behind the brand and nameplate. The extended period also allows us to touch base with the dealer networks in question.

It comes as no surprise that manufacturers tend to have a love-hate relationship with long-term tests. Three months is plenty long enough to fall out of love with the latest and greatest, and start to nit-pick — just like real owners do.

How much does the 2018 Lexus RX 350L Sport Luxury cost?
Price as tested: 101,500 (plus ORCs); $103,000 (as tested, plus ORCs)
Engine: 3.5-litre six-cylinder petrol
Output: 216kW/358Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 10.2L/100km (ADR Combined); 11.7L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 234g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP (2015)