Lexus RX450h - is it a good tow car?

I can't speak for the RX450h, but I had an RX400h for six years towing an 1800kg caravan and it was quite a capable and certainly very comfortable vehicle. However, don't expect wonders regarding fuel consumption when towing. It's great solo, especially under city driving conditions, but there is no saving wihen the caravan is behind.

The only two negative issues that I found with the car were it's ultra-small starter battery (identical to that of the Nissan Micra), which sometimes had trouble with coping with the demand, and a torque sensitive steering, but both those points may have been overcome on the RX450h.

Thanks for that Lutz, that's helpful.

do you remember what sort of mpg you got whilst towing? 

I think it was about 20 to the gallon when towing. However, solo around town it was quite possible to achieve 50. I never had a car with such a big spread, but bear in mind that it was quite a heavy caravan.

Did you buy the Lexus and if so what was your opinion of it? I too am looking at getting one.

I have the Lexus 350 RX Navigator, luxury and effortless towing. I have had it for 7 years and it has been faultless.Before retiring I was a Area Manager and before that a Sales Representative and had in excess of 20 new cars. Not one of those cars was even close to the reliability of my present Lexus.  Incidentally I tow a Lunar Delta.

I am  looking at buying a Lexus RX450 I read the report in the club magazine by John Rankin on his experience with a 2013 model. Does anyone else have any experience with the model. Thanks 

I’d be interested if anyone has real world mpg figures for this car. It concerns me towing with a 3.5 petrol engine but how does it compare to my disco 4 which returns about 28/29 mpg solo and 24/25 towing a large twin axle.

Also anyone know the nose weight limit?I’ve seen 80kgs mentioned on older models which would be too low for me.

if you drive 3.5 litre petrol car I'd have thought that mpg should be the least of your concerns ..... whatever it is, it's not going to be good. My 3.0 petrol Omega mpg was high teens at best while towing a large 2 berth Lunar (forget now its weight) and the worst I saw was during a horrible wet windy journey to the south west when it achieved abut 16mpg.

I would buy one tomorrow! I know Lutz has had one for a number of years, towing a heavy van. The report in a recent magazine also gives the car a glowing report. Reliability, comfort and performance are my criteria for purchasing and Lexus outperforms all. I don't give a monkeys if it does 18-20 mpg when towing, because any other vehicle wouldn't give you much better, towing 1800kgs. (For most, that would be a journey of 1000 miles max, twice a year. Those who reckon they get 30mpg towing those sorts of weights live in cloud cuckoo land and even if they did, a saving of £20 is laughable!) Speaking to owners just reaffirms the quality and legendary reliability the brand is renowned for.

Honest John website

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/lexus/rx-2015