Drive Notes: 2024 Lexus GX 550 Premium AWD

by Tim Healey

Published: February 20th, 2024

drive notes 2024 lexus gx 550 premium awd

Today I am testing a 2024 Lexus GX 550 Premium AWD that may have just come from the national launch event.

I say that because this one is a pre-production unit. So it's not quite fully sorted. Still, a short loan this week has been instructive.

Price, by the way? Base is $62,900 and the estimated as-tested price, including the $1,350 destination fee, checks in at $66,450.

Pros

This is a torquey little f-- ahem. Anyway, there's plenty of twist on tap from the 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6, with 479 lb-ft on tap. Oh, and this thing isn't little, but you knew that.
Lexus interiors continue to be among the best in the biz, and now that company seems done with bizarre controls such as mouse pads and has shifted to the new Toyota infotainment over the dated and ugly unit, the cabin here is a very pleasant place to be.
The engine has a pleasing roar.
HVAC and audio controls are mostly easy to use, and the audio sounds good.
The seats are all-day comfy.

Cons

Too much engine noise intrudes. Same for wind noise at highway speeds.
The ride is a bit too stiff on broken pavement.
This particular tested didn't feel well put together on broken pavement, but that could be chalked up to it being an early build. Same with the first bullet point here.
Hopping into and out of Apple CarPlay is easy. However, trying to hop between two AM radio stations requires more menu-diving than it should.
There's body roll aplenty when cornering.
The blocky design is going to be polarizing.

See you next time

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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Comments

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4 of 38 comments

ChristianWimmer on Feb 21, 2024

The interior might be well-made, but the design is just hideous in my opinion. It’s to busy and there’s no simplistic harmony visible in it.

In fact I feel that the nicest Lexus interior ever could be found in the original LS400 - because it was rather minimalistic, had pleasing lines and didn’t try to hard. It looked just right. All Lexus interiors which came after it just had bizarre styling cues and “tried to hard” if you know what I mean.

2 Reply
- See 1 previous
- Chiefmonkey on Feb 28, 2024
  
  I think the interior is atrocious. All I see is hard plastics and a bunch of plain looking aluminum. Where is the opulence you would expect a Lexus to convey?
  
  Like
- Joel on Mar 13, 2024
  
  Reminds me of the Citroen BX my parents rented when we went to Spain in 1990, it was fun to play with the air suspension but it was just a very sterile and soulless car. Par for the course for my dad, who was one of the guys who drives 64 in the passing lane and even straightened the curves without indicating which just drove people behind him nuts.
  
  Like
Fatima on Mar 02, 2024

Too much engine noise so good !

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