- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.0T, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
175kW, 350Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 7.9L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4WD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
4 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2015)
2015 Lexus NX200t Luxury Review: Long-term report two
For our mid-loan report on our long-term Lexus NX200t, we sent it out into the country to see how it tackled longer drives out of the city confines.
- Different styling ensures NX stands out
- luxurious interior
- 200t is the pick of the range
- quality of fit-and-finish is top notch
- petrol engine gets excellent six-speed automatic
- Sporting promise isn't quite matched by the engine note or performance reality
- styling can polarise
- engine can be thirsty when pushed
With the CarAdvice garage overloaded with various test vehicles, we deferred to our Marketing And Communications Executive Kathryn Marshall, to spend some time with our long-term 2015 Lexus NX200t and report back to us after a weekend away in the country.
When Kat returned, we sat down to discuss her thoughts on the vehicle that has impressed everyone at CarAdvice HQ…
CA: Where did you go and what did you do?
Kat: I headed out to Cowra, NSW, about five hours West of Sydney to visit my in-laws with my partner, Luke. We left on Thursday straight after work and, after a quick stopover in Bathurst to say hello to some old friends, we arrived at the family farm a little after midnight.
As the farm is about 20km out of town, we had to make a couple of trips in to the supermarket throughout the weekend. On Saturday morning, we took Luke’s parents to Canowindra for lunch, one hour north of Cowra. They had actually requested that we take the Lexus as they could not contain their excitement about the sexy, silver SUV sitting in their driveway – they don’t see too many of them out in the country evidently.
CA: Was the car comfortable to travel longer distances in?
Kat: The NX200t is incredibly comfortable. The electronic adjustment for the seats made it easy to adjust the seat to my liking. Luke was in disbelief when he stumbled across the button for the seat heating! Both the driver’s seat and front passenger’s seat were very spacious – there was plenty of legroom even after a few hours on the road.
CA: How did you find parking and low speed manoeuvrability?
Kat: The rear camera and sensors made parking extremely easy. Out of all of the SUVs I’ve driven from the CarAdvice garage, I felt that the Lexus NX 200t had the best all round visibility. I felt aware and in control in terms of the of the physical size of the NX and as a result, reversing into the 45-degree parking spots in Cowra and Canowindra was not as daunting as I thought it was going to be.
CA: Any issues pairing a phone or using the audio system?
Kat: Using the Bluetooth for audio playback and the telephone was seamless. It was very easy to set up initially and the connection was re-established almost instantly every time I got back into the NX. The only issue with the audio system was that the radio froze occasionally in areas where the frequency changed. When searching for Triple J in the Blue Mountains after the Sydney station cut out, for about a minute the radio was not responding.
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CA: Were the controls for the headlights and wipers easy to find and use?
Kat: The lights were bright enough around town, but I felt that the low beam was a bit too low – it didn’t go very far in front of us out in the country. It was a bit dim for a late night drive to Cowra, where we had to be very conscious of how we used our lights due to the occasional oncoming truck.
CA: Was the console layout easy to understand?
Kat: We needed to spend a little bit of time working through each of the functions on the console to get our head around how they worked. It is certainly something you cannot figure out while you’re driving, as there are a lot of buttons and controls.
CA: Were the ergonomics a good fit for you?
Kat: Yes, the NX was very comfortable.
CA: What did you like about the car?
Kat: I liked the comfort and it was very spacious. The boot space was good too – it was perfect for country driving because it didn’t seem to lose any power going up steep hills. It was very easy to control going around bends as well.
CA: What didn’t you like about it?
Kat: Too many buttons – I love a simple dashboard to work with. It doesn’t have a digital clock either. You find yourself having to spend a bit of time processing the time which, when you’re on the road and on the move, is a dangerous and distracting thing! The clock hands were really thin so we needed more than just a quick glance to see it.
CA: Would you recommend this car to others?
Kat: Yes, absolutely, but at $57,000, I don’t have much to compare it to, given my budget is a little tighter than that. The Lexus NX200t is an incredibly luxurious and comfortable car all round. For anyone with a budget that stretches to nearly 60 grand and who is in the market for an SUV, the NX200t should absolutely be part of the consideration set.