This Lexus SUV stretches its long legs on an East Coast road trip
“I stomped down on the pedal. I set the cruise control. Five hundred raging horses blew on by the state patrol.” So began my road trip from Maryland to Miami in the big, long Lexus TX 550h+.
OK, well not exactly. I stole those lines from the country singer Robert Earl Keen, and his 1988 song, “Goin’ Down in Style,” about a young man making a break for the border.
Come along for a family road trip in the Lexus TX 550h+, a big, family-oriented SUV, offering spacious third-row legroom and generous cargo space behind the third row. But before hitting the road, here are some of its features.
- The TX is offered in seven grades: Standard, Premium, Luxury, F SPORT Handling, F SPORT Performance Premium and F SPORT Performance Luxury.
- The TX comes with three powertrain options: a 2.4-liter turbocharged inline 4-cylinder on the TX350, a 2.4-liter turbocharged hybrid on the TX500h, and a 3.5-liter V6 plug-in hybrid on the TX550h+.
- The TX550h+ features 33 miles of all-electric range, and a combined city and highway gas mileage of 29 mpg, per the EPA. I averaged about 26 over the course of my two weeks.
- All TX models come standard with a 12.3-inch multi-information display.
- Depending on grade, the second row is available in two configurations: captain’s chairs or a 60:40 split-folding bench.
- A base TX starts at $57,090, after shipping.
- The TX550h+ Luxury AWD I drove came in at $85,639, after shipping and some options.
- Check out the full features in a previous Car Review.
OK, everybody in!
Day 1
I was absolutely riding in style. This luxury Lexus SUV may not boast 500 raging horses, but mine counted 404, which is still a lot. Also, I didn’t blow on by the state patrol, so much as politely pass by while mixed in with other traffic.
That’s once I got up to speed, which didn’t happen until I passed Fredericksburg, Virginia, in accordance with the laws of physics. After that, the adaptive cruise control was the hero of the trip, although it was a godsend in previous low-speed situations, too.
Here’s the deal: You set a maximum speed, pick a general following distance and steer, and the car does the rest, accelerating and braking in accordance with the car in front of you. In low-speed situations, I had to tap the accelerator to resume the function after hitting zero mph.
While these systems are far from new, they have gotten much more refined, to the point where I gladly put my life, as well as that of my wife and two young kids, in this one’s hands. This system is also exceptionally intuitive and easy to use. However, it does require driver monitoring.
In Virginia, one event unfolded as such, if memory serves correctly:
Car display: Look out we’re gonna crash!!!
Wife: AAAAAAAAAH!!!
Kids: (Oblivious, watching some brain-melting cartoon on an iPhone.)
Me: Don’t worry, I shall save the day by applying the brakes manually!
Wife: WHY ARE YOU TALKING?? JUST STOP THE CAR ALREADY!!
Or something like that.
Everything turned out fine. I set the car to follow a bit farther back from there on out and had no other issues. There’s incentive to follow closely, as road clowns continually cut you off for leaving the safest distance between you and the car in front of you. An even more advanced feature, called Traffic Jam Assist, requires a user profile and subscription, which I didn’t have time to sort out as I rushed to get out of town.
With me mostly just steering that day, and with the TX controlling the throttle and brake, we made all the required bathroom stops, hitting a Royal Farms in the afternoon and a Wawa in the evening before reaching our somewhat midway destination of Savannah, Georgia, around midnight. We took a couple of items inside our hotel and left the rest in the cavernous TX, which had the third row folded down.
Day 2
The kids got back into their rear captain’s chairs, which feature microsuede and leather in a beautiful light greige color. However, my concern was that the seats would look like a tie-dyed rainbow when I gave the car back, thanks to various foods and bodily fluids. The seats wound up holding up quite well, however.
I reminded everyone, again, and loudly, not to mess up this roughly $86,000 car Lexus had lent me.
Our day began with another fill-up with premium, as required on this one. That fuel helps this plug-in hybrid make the aforementioned gobs of power. This SUV could also be charged up to give me about 35 miles of all-electric range, which is handy-dandy for around-town driving. However, the fuel tank is on the smaller side, leading to a gas range of about 300 miles.
This is the top-of-the-line powertrain in the TX, featuring a 6-cylinder engine combined with those electric motors, and is really the way to go if you’re considering one of these SUVs, and can afford it.
Our bathroom stop-to-driving time ratio increased on this leg of the trip, but one of the pit stops was for the shimmering restrooms of Buc-ee’s. We still got to my in-laws, in South Florida, in time for their noche buena dinner, which translates to “night of eating shredded pork until you are so full you become ill.”
Day 3
On Christmas, this holiday-colored TX in Matador Red Mica gets a rest.
Day 4
I dazzle my Miami family with details of the TX. In addition to everything above, I point out that this is Lexus’ longest SUV, designed along with the Toyota Grand Highlander to offer not just a third row, but also an accessible one that leaves room for cargo with the third row in use. We then return to our food coma that began two days before.
Day 5
Drink Jai Alai IPAs near the pool. No automotive activity to report.
Day Six
After much scanning of Facebook Marketplace, the TX has some hauling to do. I’ve located some sheet metal for my 1972 Chevrolet Caprice project in this part of Florida. My 4-year-old and I strap in. He knows there will be fruit and soft pretzels in it for him.
We ride in luxury to Port St. Lucie, which seemed much closer on a map. Fitting the gargantuan old car part requires folding the second-row seat partially down, but after that, it fits comfortably. We ride home in comfort, too, with the TX continually soaking up bumps and making important acceleration/deceleration decisions.
Day 7
I use the charged-up electric motors to drive, gasless, to the holy trinity for DIY auto repairers: Harbor Freight, Advance Auto and Home Depot. I then start my sheet metal restoration in order to leave my mother-in-law a less rusty part to trip over.
Days 8 and 9
I mull beside the pool, racking my brain for quibbles. OK, fine: a lack of powered soft-close doors, which close the door the last fraction of an inch, and which I have come to expect at this price point. Having no obvious spare tire made me nervous on this long trip. And I truly lament the lack of a soundproof bubble for the children, which Homer Simpson proposed roughly three decades ago. Finally, I wished for more thigh support from the seats before realizing I’d been adjusting them wrong. D’oh.
Days 10 and 11
We journey back home, stopping approximately every seven seconds for a restroom. Emboldened by my long-haul trucker mentality and my comfort with the adaptive cruise control, I set a post-midway stop for Florence, South Carolina. After a lukewarm, poorly-draining shower and a middling breakfast (Thanks so much SpringHill Suites!), we make our final push for Maryland.
The end total was an average of about 26 miles per gallon, which is pretty impressive for a large luxury liner. Unloading took awhile, which is a testament to the sheer cargo volume of this beast. And while I’m glad to be back home, I’m aghast at the prospect of having to brake for myself again.