2022 Lexus RX

2022 is a carry-over year for the fourth-generation (AL20) RX — the naturally aspirated 2GR-FKS 3.5L V6 is unchanged from the 2019 facelift, and 295 hp is now mid-pack in a luxury mid-size class that has largely moved to turbo sixes and high-output turbo fours.

Peak torque arrives at 4,700 rpm because the V6 is naturally aspirated, so the RX has to be revved to feel strong where turbocharged rivals deliver their maximum from under 2,000 rpm.

Lexus's own 2022 spec sheet quotes 7.7 seconds for the front-drive volume configuration and 7.9 for AWD; independent testing runs a couple of tenths quicker, but either way the RX is a relaxed rather than quick crossover and trails the turbocharged German competition.

The naturally aspirated V6 is quiet, smooth and entirely free of turbo lag in a heavily sound-insulated cabin, but Lexus calibrates throttle tip-in softly and reviewers consistently describe competent, unhurried delivery rather than eagerness.

The U881E/U881F 8-speed automatic is smooth and largely unobtrusive in normal driving, but it is geared and calibrated for economy — reviewers note it upshifts too eagerly and then has to hunt for the right ratio when asked for a sudden burst.

3,500 lbs is the standard unibody luxury-crossover rating — enough for a small boat or utility trailer but short of the 5,000 lbs several rivals advertise, and it requires the AWD-only Towing Package with its heavy-duty radiator and transmission/oil cooler.

Electronically controlled Dynamic Torque Control AWD is optional on every 2022 RX 350 grade and standard on the RX 450h, and it adds an AWD lock function below 25 mph plus a Snow drive mode — but it is an on-demand front-biased system with no low range, no terrain-mode suite and no meaningful torque vectoring.

The RX is a pavement-first unibody crossover: 8.2 inches of clearance and shallow 17.0-degree approach and 16.8-degree breakover angles, no skid plates, no locking differential, no crawl control and no off-road grade anywhere in the 2022 lineup.

2022 is the last year of the AL20 RX and offers two genuinely distinct powertrains — the 295 hp gas V6 and the 308 hp RX 450h hybrid — each in standard and long-wheelbase L form, but there is no turbo option, no plug-in hybrid (the RX 450h+ arrives with the 2023 redesign) and no EV.

The 3.5L V6 carries no cylinder deactivation and no engine stop-start, so combined economy is unremarkable for a 4,222-lb crossover; the RX 350 is graded here as a gas vehicle, with the far thriftier 450h hybrid scored as its own configuration.

City driving is the RX 350's weakest figure — with no stop-start system and no electric assist, the V6 burns fuel at every idle and every launch, and the hybrid's 31 MPG city shows how much is left on the table.

Highway is where the big V6 looks best — a tall 0.673 eighth gear and a 0.33 drag coefficient make 27 MPG respectable for the class, and the gap to the hybrid nearly closes at cruising speed.

A large 19.2-gallon tank offsets the modest economy and yields a solid mid-400s cruising range; the EPA publishes no separate range figure for gas vehicles, so this is manufacturer tank capacity times EPA combined MPG.

Running cost lands mid-pack for the segment — the V6's thirst is partly offset by the RX 350 being certified on regular unleaded, where most premium-badged rivals are priced at premium-fuel rates.

The RX 350 is EPA-certified on regular unleaded with an 87-octane minimum, a real running-cost advantage in a segment where premium is usually mandatory; the only qualification is that Lexus's own spec sheet lists 91 octane as recommended for full rated output, so it is regular-capable rather than regular-optimised.

NHTSA rates the 2022 RX 350 four stars overall in both FWD and AWD form, held back by a 3-star driver frontal result. Unlike 2021 — where a mid-year airbag change split production between 5-star and 4-star builds — the whole 2022 model year carries the 4-star rating.

The 2022 RX earns Good in all six IIHS crashworthiness tests — driver and passenger small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints — and takes a Top Safety Pick award. It misses TSP+ only because no headlight variant rates Good, which is a lighting problem rather than a structural one.

Lexus Safety System+ 2.0 is standard on every 2022 grade, and Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert — standardized for 2021 — carries over as standard. That puts AEB with pedestrian and daytime bicyclist detection, all-speed adaptive cruise, lane departure alert with steering assist, lane tracing, road sign assist, intelligent high beams, BSM and RCTA on the base trim with nothing critical behind an options box.

IIHS rates the standard Pre-Collision System Superior for vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention, avoiding collisions outright at both 12 and 25 mph, and Advanced — not Superior — for daytime pedestrian detection. Lexus claims low-light pedestrian capability, but IIHS published no nighttime pedestrian rating for this model year, so that claim is unverified by test.

Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert are standard on every 2022 grade, but both are alert-only — a mirror indicator and a chime, with no steering or braking intervention on the blind-spot side. Rear Cross Traffic Braking arrives only with the optional Panoramic View Monitor package, so the active half of the coverage is still a paid upgrade.

Lane Departure Alert with steering assist is standard, and Lane Tracing Assist adds true lane centering when adaptive cruise is engaged, with a follow-the-car-ahead fallback where markings are missing. This generation's LTA is competent on clearly marked highway but is commonly described as wandering within the lane rather than holding a confident center line.

All-Speed Dynamic Radar Cruise Control is standard and operates the full speed range down to a complete stop in traffic, pairing with Lane Tracing Assist for an integrated highway-assist experience. It is refined and well matched to the RX's commuter mission, though short of the more capable German systems in this segment.

No hands-free highway driving is offered on the 2022 RX at any trim. Lexus Teammate with Advanced Drive launched on the 2022 LS 500h but never reached this fourth-generation RX; LSS+ 2.0 is a hands-on suite that nags for steering input.

Headlights are the RX's clear safety weak point and the sole reason it holds Top Safety Pick rather than TSP+. No 2022 variant rates Good: the standard LED projector and the Triple-Beam LED package both rate Acceptable, and the adaptive Triple-Beam auto-leveling AFS unit rates Poor for excessive glare — so the most expensive lighting is the worst-rated hardware.

Forward sightlines are good for the class thanks to a low cowl and a commanding seating position, but the floating-roof styling brings thick rear pillars and a shallow backlight that create real over-the-shoulder blind zones. Standard BSM/RCTA and power-folding auto-dimming mirrors compensate electronically, while the Panoramic View Monitor that would fill the remaining gaps stays optional.

IIHS rates the RX's child-seat anchor hardware Good with additional usable positions, its top grade: two outboard positions carry complete LATCH hardware and a third accommodates borrowed anchors. Wide-opening rear doors and a flat, roomy second-row bench make installation straightforward in the five-seat RX 350.

The scored configuration is the standard-length 2022 RX 350, which seats five in two rows — the three-row option required stepping into the longer, differently bodied RX 350L.

Front headroom is mid-pack for a mid-size crossover, and because neither moonroof is standard the volume build keeps the full 39.4 inches.

Front legroom is near the top of the segment band — 44.1 inches is three full inches more than the 2023 redesign would offer, and it is the standout number in the RX's interior package.

Second-row headroom is genuinely good for the class despite the RX's fastback-influenced roofline, sitting near the top of the SUV band.

The 40/20/40 second row slides fore and aft, so 38.0 inches is the best case and it comes at the expense of an already small cargo hold — adults fit comfortably, but this is a mid-pack number rather than a limousine.

The standard-length RX scored here has no third row at all. Lexus answered third-row demand with the separate RX 350L body, and even there the seats are token — the L's third row is among the tightest sold in any mid-size SUV.

Cargo room is the fourth-generation RX's structural weakness — whichever measuring convention you use, it is the smallest hold among mid-size luxury SUVs and well below the bottom of the segment band, a direct cost of the sliding rear bench and the sloped tailgate.

Even taking the most generous third-party figure the RX trails two-row rivals by a wide margin, and Lexus's own published number puts it far under the segment floor; the seats fold nearly flat but there simply is not much box behind them.

Everyday storage is competent rather than inventive: a deep center console bin with two cupholders, pull-out front door pockets, seatback pockets, a cargo tonneau and three 12-volt outlets, but no underfloor cargo tray, no household outlet and no signature storage idea of the kind the class benchmarks now carry.

Seat comfort is one of the two things this RX is consistently praised for — deeply padded, supportive front chairs with power lumbar, and a reclining rear bench that makes long stints easy. Heated and ventilated front seats are an option rather than standard, which keeps it out of the very top band.

On the standard suspension the RX delivers the cushioned, isolated ride that defines the nameplate and leads most of the segment for comfort. The deduction is for the F SPORT, whose firmer tune and 20-inch wheels are widely described as jittery on broken pavement.

Hushed at highway speed and a benchmark for the segment: acoustic glass, sound insulation designed into the door panels, instrument panel and floor, and a naturally aspirated V6 that stays distant unless worked hard.

Dual-zone automatic climate with a deodorizing filter is standard, but for a $50,000 luxury SUV a surprising amount is optional — heated and ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, heated rear seats and the wiper de-icer all sit behind option codes, and remote pre-conditioning needs an app subscription. There is no separate rear climate zone.

The final year of the fourth-generation RX opened at $45,570 plus Lexus's $1,075 delivery, processing and handling fee for the front-drive RX 350 — a modest position in the mid-size luxury field, several thousand under a comparably equipped X5 or GLE. Pricing moved during the model year: Lexus announced the 2022 RX 350 at $45,320 in August 2021 (a $100 rise on 2021) and the in-market figure had drifted up by a few hundred dollars by the time cars were on lots.

There are no equipment grades on the gas RX 350 for 2022 — one trim plus F SPORT, with content added by package — so the volume build is all-wheel drive with the Premium Package, which brings the seat, steering-wheel and mirror memory and wood trim that buyers at this price expect. AWD is the majority take in this segment, and stepping further up the option sheet (Navigation Package $2,285, Navigation with Mark Levinson $3,365, Luxury Package) is what pushes real cars past $55,000.

The 3.5-litre 2GR-FKS V6 and eight-speed automatic are thoroughly proven units in the seventh year of this generation, so unscheduled spend is genuinely low — CarEdge puts the RX 350 nearly $3,900 under the luxury-SUV average with a one-in-ten chance of a major repair in five years. What keeps the number from being cheap is Lexus dealer labour rates, 18- and 20-inch tyres and complimentary maintenance that stops after a year. The published estimates straddle this figure by more than four times, so it is set between the poles rather than taken from either, slightly under the fifth-generation car on the strength of the older, simpler powertrain.

Resale is the RX's single strongest ownership argument, and being the run-out year of a superseded generation has not dented it: two independent estimates put five-year retention at about two-thirds against a luxury mid-size SUV class that loses half its value. Cars sold into the 2022 shortage at or above sticker have held up unusually well in the used market since. Set near the top of the 40–70% SUV band, short of the ceiling only because these remain projections.

Lexus's basic new-vehicle limited warranty runs 48 months or 50,000 miles across the 2022 range, mid-pack for a luxury brand — level with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, behind Genesis and Jaguar's five-year terms.

Six years or 70,000 miles sits near the bottom of the 5–10 year band — Lexus leans on its dependability record rather than warranty length, so an RX 350 buyer gets markedly less paper protection than a Genesis (10 yr / 100,000 mi) owner. The long hybrid and battery terms apply to the 450h and 450hL, not to the gas RX 350 scored here.

The included-maintenance period is genuinely short — one year or 10,000 miles, covering just the first two scheduled services, beaten by Toyota's own 2 yr / 25,000 mi ToyotaCare and by BMW's and Jaguar's multi-year plans. Four years of unlimited-mileage roadside assistance and the brand's loaner-and-concierge dealer culture are real perks, but the 2022 RX missed the connected-services extension: Lexus stretched the Safety Connect and Service Connect trials to ten years only on Lexus Interface cars and the 2022 NX, LX and UX, leaving this Enform-based RX on the ordinary short trial. That puts it mid-band rather than above it, and a notch below the redesigned car that followed.

$49,625 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (67% retained, or about $33,249) leaves about $16,376 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,800 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $22,176 in total.

2022 is the final full model year of the AL20 RX (2016-2022), a fully debugged seven-year-old design carrying over the 3.5L V6 unchanged, and it is one of the highest-rated vehicles in the segment for predicted dependability: J.D. Power scores the 2022 RX 85/100 for quality & reliability ('Great'), and Consumer Reports has rated the RX at or near the top of the mid-size luxury SUV class throughout this generation. Held just below the very top because the 2022 cars carry the Remote Touch touchpad infotainment that repeatedly drags Lexus down in owner-reported problem counts even when the mechanicals are flawless.

Lexus is the benchmark brand in US dependability and has been throughout the ownership life of a 2022 car — ranked #1 overall in J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, and consistently top-two alongside Toyota in Consumer Reports' brand reliability rankings. No rival in the mid-size luxury SUV class (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Acura, Volvo, Genesis) has a comparable multi-year record.

The 2022 RX has an unusually clean NHTSA record: a review of every Lexus RX campaign in the recall feed finds no 2022-specific defect recall at all. The only campaign reaching the 2022 car is 25V744000 (October 2025), a Panoramic View Monitor software fault that can blank the rearview image, remedied by a free software update — a compliance recall, not a mechanical one. The RX-specific campaigns of this generation land on other years (the 2020-2021 occupant-classification sensor recall 23V865000, the 2019/2021 fuel filler pipe recall 21V043000, the 2017/2019-2020 Denso fuel pump recall 20V682000), and none is a repeated systemic pattern. Short of 90+ only because the PVM software recall is a genuine FMVSS 111 non-compliance rather than a nil record.

The RX 350's 3.5L 2GR-FKS V6 and Aisin eight-speed automatic are among the most durable mainstream drivetrains sold in the US — naturally aspirated, port plus direct injection, chain-driven, with owner and independent-mechanic reports routinely putting well-maintained examples past 200,000 miles and a meaningful share beyond 300,000. The scattered oil-consumption, cylinder-wear and timing-cover-leak complaints attached to the 2GR-FKS cluster on early 2016-2018 builds; a 2022 car is at the end of the engine's development run. No turbo, no dual-clutch, no belt-in-oil, no high-voltage pack to age.

Reviewers consistently rate the AL20 RX cabin as a genuine luxury interior for the money — soft-touch surfaces across the touch points, convincing NuLuxe or real leather depending on trim, damped switchgear and careful detailing — and it is a clear step above the entry Lexus models. It falls short of class-leading because by 2022 the 2016-vintage design reads dated against a refreshed Genesis GV80 or Volvo XC90 interior, and the lower console and door areas use harder plastics than the price implies.

Assembly quality is the RX's signature strength: reviewers describe superb, consistent fit and finish, even panel gaps and a rattle-free structure, and the model is built in the two plants with the strongest quality records in the Toyota group (Toyota Motor Kyushu in Japan and TMMC Cambridge, Ontario). Lexus also placed in the top five of the 2022 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study. Not higher because IQS problem counts for Lexus in this era were driven partly by the Remote Touch touchpad, an interface complaint that owners report as a defect.

Lexus service satisfaction is the best in the luxury business — repeat leader or top finisher in J.D. Power's luxury Customer Service Index — with loaner cars, complimentary first-year maintenance and Toyota's parts logistics behind the counter. The network is roughly 240 US stores, far thinner on the ground than Toyota's, so rural owners drive further than a mainstream-brand buyer would, which is what keeps this out of the top band.

The RX 350 is materially cheaper to keep than its luxury rivals: the 2GR V6, eight-speed automatic and much of the chassis hardware are shared with the Toyota Highlander, Camry and Tacoma, so wear parts are abundant, independent shops know the car, and annual running costs come in a third below the class average. It stops short of the top band because Lexus-badged body panels, trim and electronics are dealer-priced well above Toyota equivalents, and the enthusiast aftermarket for a luxury crossover is thin.

The volume RX 350 leaves the showroom with an 8.0-inch display — small for a 2022 luxury SUV — and the 12.3-inch screen the marketing photography shows costs a navigation or Mark Levinson package.

The 2020 facelift made the screen touch-capable, which removed the worst of the old Remote Touch frustration, but the console touchpad is still required for some functions, there is no home button on the screen, and the 12.3-inch display sits far enough away that icons are a stretch from the driver's seat.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on every 2022 grade, but wired only — the connection runs through the USB port inside the center console, and wireless projection did not reach the RX until the 2023 redesign.

Native navigation is not standard — it arrives only with the 12.3-inch Navigation package, which also unlocks Dynamic Voice Command's broader phrase recognition. Base cars get a basic embedded voice-command system that most owners bypass for CarPlay, though Alexa integration is standard.

Audio is the strongest part of the RX's tech case: nine speakers standard, twelve with navigation, and a genuinely excellent 15-speaker Mark Levinson surround system at the top — one of the better factory systems sold at any price.

The volume RX 350 uses conventional analog gauges with only a 4.2-inch colour multi-information display between them. The configurable digital meter is an F SPORT item, so most buyers get a cluster that already looked dated in 2022.

There is no whole-vehicle over-the-air update capability on the fourth-generation RX. Connected traffic and app-suite content stream over the embedded DCM, and map data refreshes are handled through the navigation subscription or the dealer, but vehicle software is not updated remotely.

The Lexus App covers the core remote set — engine start, climate, lock/unlock, vehicle locator, service scheduling — and Safety Connect adds collision notification and stolen vehicle locator, but the useful functions lapse into a paid subscription after the trial and there is no phone-as-key.

Six USB ports spread across both rows is generous for 2022 and beats most rivals on count, but they are USB-A rather than USB-C, wireless charging is an option code, and there is no household outlet anywhere in the vehicle.

SmartAccess proximity entry with push-button start and a power liftgate are standard on every grade, and the remote fob can lower the windows. Hands-free kick-sensor liftgate operation is optional, remote start lives in the subscription app rather than the key, and there is no digital key.

A backup monitor is standard, but everything beyond it costs extra: the Panoramic View Monitor, Intuitive Parking Assist sensors and Rear Cross-Traffic Braking are bundled option codes, and no automated parking system is offered at any price.

A colour head-up display is offered as a standalone option code rather than being locked to a top trim, so any 2022 RX 350 buyer can specify one — but it is never standard, and it is a smaller, more conventional unit than the large HUDs appearing in German rivals by then.

Child-seat logistics are a genuine strength — IIHS gives the anchor hardware its top Good rating with extra usable positions, and the 40/20/40 bench slides and reclines so a rear-facing seat can be accommodated without gutting front legroom. The limit is the cargo hold: a stroller plus a week's groceries is a real squeeze behind the second row.

Lexus Safety System+ 2.0 is standard on every grade — all-speed radar cruise, AEB with pedestrian and daytime bicyclist detection, lane tracing, blind-spot monitoring — plus a rear-seat reminder, so families are not buying up for safety. IIHS Top Safety Pick and a four-star NHTSA overall (three stars driver frontal) keep it short of a top-band score, with headlights the specific weakness.

A quiet cabin, comfortable reclining rear bench and six USB ports make the RX a pleasant four-up tourer, but the rear amenity list stops there — no rear climate zone, no rear-seat entertainment, and luggage space with all seats occupied is the smallest in the segment, so a family of four packs light or uses a roof box.

This is what the RX is engineered for: a smooth naturally aspirated V6 with no turbo lag and no stop-start shudder, light steering, a cushioned ride and standard all-speed adaptive cruise that handles stop-and-go traffic. Fatigue over a commute is about as low as the class gets.

A 4,200-lb crossover with a naturally aspirated V6, no cylinder deactivation and no stop-start returns middling economy — around 22-23 MPG combined and roughly $2,700 a year in fuel. Cheap Lexus consumables and Toyota-shared parts pull it back toward average, and buyers wanting low commuting cost had the RX 450h alongside it.

At 192.5 inches long with a 38.8-ft turning circle the RX is manageable rather than nimble in town, and the floating-roof styling leaves thick rear pillars and a shallow backlight. A backup camera is standard, but the surround-view monitor and parking sensors that would settle the issue are optional.

The RX is not a work vehicle in any serious sense: 3,500 lbs of towing with the AWD-only package, no bed, no published payload headroom worth planning around, and the smallest cargo hold in the mid-size luxury class. It will pull a small utility trailer and that is the end of it.

The mechanical package is as durable as anything in the class — the 2GR-FKS V6 and Aisin eight-speed are famously long-lived and shared with Toyota's fleet workhorses — but the vehicle around them is aimed squarely at luxury use: NuLuxe or leather trim, carpeted floors, no wear-friendly interior option and no fleet presence.

There is effectively no work provision: three 12-volt sockets and no household outlet, a carpeted cargo floor with basic tie-downs, roof rails only if you buy a moonroof package, a hitch available only on AWD cars, and no upfit ecosystem behind any of it.

As a mile-eater the RX is excellent — a library-quiet cabin, seats reviewers single out for long stints, a 19.2-gallon tank giving roughly 440 miles between fills, and standard all-speed radar cruise with lane tracing to take the edge off interstate hours. It stops short of the top band only because the lane centering wanders and the driver assist is strictly hands-on.

AWD with a lock function below 25 mph and a Snow mode makes the RX a dependable trailhead vehicle on gravel and in weather, but 8.2 inches of clearance, a 17-degree approach angle, no skid plates and no terrain modes keep it on maintained surfaces — and roof rails for a bike or box are an option tied to the moonroof packages.

The seat hardware is better than the box it serves: a 40/20/40 split that slides, reclines and drops flat with one-touch levers, plus a tonneau cover and an optional hands-free liftgate. But 32.6 cu ft maximum is the smallest in the segment by a wide margin and the roof rails needed for overflow are inside a moonroof option.

The RX is tuned for isolation, not composure at pace: a soft front strut / rear double-wishbone setup that leans early in corners and feels clumsy when pushed, though it is entirely secure and predictable at the speeds owners actually use. The F SPORT Handling package's adaptive dampers sharpen it at a real cost in ride.

Electric rack-and-pinion assistance is accurate and easy to place but deliberately light and largely feedback-free — reviewers describe the steering as easy rather than communicative, and it is one of the clearest gaps to the German rivals.

Hardware is adequate — ventilated discs front and rear with a four-channel ABS — and the pedal is smoothly calibrated for comfort, but it is soft and long-travel by design, and Consumer Reports measured wet stops about a car length longer than most luxury SUVs on this platform.

The naturally aspirated 2GR-FKS V6 and eight-speed automatic are seamless in everyday use — no turbo lag, no stop-start shudder because there is no stop-start system, and shifts that pass almost unnoticed. The deductions are for soft throttle tip-in and a transmission that upshifts eagerly then hunts when asked for a sudden burst.

The V6 is distant and smooth at cruise and sounds cultured rather than coarse when extended — a naturally aspirated six in a cabin built around acoustic glass and layered insulation is close to the best case for this measure, short only of an EV or a V8 with real character.

A 38.8-ft turning circle on a 109.8-inch wheelbase is mid-pack at best for a mid-size crossover, and it shows in tight parking structures and three-point turns.

A commanding seating position with a low cowl, power seat adjustment including lumbar, tilt-and-telescope wheel and clear physical climate controls make this an easy car to get comfortable in. Against it: the console touchpad demands attention that should stay on the road, and the floating-roof styling leaves real over-the-shoulder blind zones.

Nobody takes the long way home in an RX 350. It is deliberately, successfully an appliance — 7.7 seconds to 60, light steering, soft body control and a muted V6 — and the F SPORT adds the look and the firmness without changing the character.

Safety content at base is the strong half: every 2022 RX 350 carries Lexus Safety System+ 2.0 with all-speed radar cruise, lane tracing and road sign assist, plus blind-spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert made standard the year before — a suite BMW and Mercedes were still charging for. Comfort and tech content is where it thins out: the base car runs an 8.0-inch touchscreen with no navigation, NuLuxe rather than leather, and leaves the moonroof, heated and ventilated seats, memory settings, wireless charging, the 12.3-inch display and the surround-view camera to option packages, so a realistically equipped car is several thousand above the sticker.

The value case is made in ownership rather than on the window sticker: the RX 350 retains about two-thirds of its price at five years where the class loses half, and its maintenance and repair costs run well under the luxury-SUV average, so a buyer gets the money back even after paying for the packages the base car lacks. What holds it out of the top band is what the money buys on day one — a 295 hp V6 that is merely adequate against a GV80 or X5, an infotainment system built around the disliked Remote Touchpad, and content-per-dollar at base that Genesis in particular undercuts outright.

This is the widest the RX has ever been: two powertrains (3.5 V6 and the 308 hp 450h hybrid), two body lengths including the three-row RX 350L and 450hL, front- or all-wheel drive on the gas car, an F SPORT split into Appearance and Handling packages, a Black Line special edition, and Premium, Navigation, Mark Levinson and Luxury packages layering content on top — a spread from $46,645 to past $60,000 delivered. The three-row option in particular is something the fifth-generation car dropped entirely; the main gap is the absence of a plug-in hybrid.

Even in its run-out year, on a seven-year-old platform and starved of inventory by the chip shortage, the RX sold 96,041 units in the US and remained the best-selling mid-luxury SUV in the country for the 26th consecutive year — roughly a third of Lexus's entire US volume from one nameplate. It sits below the top band only because the number was down sharply from 2021's record as Lexus brand sales fell 15%, a supply-and-changeover decline rather than a demand one, which the redesign's 18.7% rebound the following year confirms.

Lexus carries unusually durable brand equity built on dependability, dealer experience and resale, and the RX is the model that built it — the nameplate widely credited with creating the luxury crossover and leading its class for a quarter century. It sits below the top band because the brand's pull is reassurance rather than aspiration: at this price Mercedes, BMW and Porsche still hold the prestige halo, and by 2022 the spindle-grille styling and Remote Touchpad interface had become the things reviewers used to date the car.

Scored on buyer benefit, and 2022 was close to the worst year on record for it. The semiconductor shortage gutted Lexus inventory, factory cash all but disappeared, and dealers routinely transacted at or above sticker — the RX hybrid was identified as the single most marked-up vehicle over MSRP in most US states. A run-out model year would normally be when the discounts arrive; here the opposite happened, and buyers paid a premium for the privilege of waiting.

This is the worst freshness position in the RX's history: 2022 is the seventh and final year of the fourth-generation AL20, two years past its 2020 facelift, and the all-new fifth-generation car was unveiled on 31 May 2022 — during the model year — so anyone signing late in the run knew a ground-up replacement with a new platform, new powertrains, Lexus Safety System+ 3.0 and an entirely new multimedia system was weeks away. The 2022 changes amount to paint colours, standalone fog lamps and a reshuffled F SPORT package.

Critics rated the 2022 RX highly as an ownership proposition and unremarkably as a car. US News put it third of the 2022 luxury mid-size SUVs at 7.8/10 — a better placing than the redesigned 2023 car managed — on the strength of the smooth V6, comprehensive standard driver aids, solid crash ratings, good economy and below-average projected ownership costs. Against that runs a consistent set of complaints about the Remote Touchpad interface, cabin materials that trail the Germans and dynamics nobody describes as engaging, and its honours are of the dependability and safety kind rather than comparison-test wins, which is squarely the well-reviewed-but-rarely-the-pick band.