The Lexus UX competes in the luxury automaker’s subcompact crossover segment, and while it received some good changes in the 2023 model year, it’s by no mean a flawless SUV. In fact, one of the Lexus UX’s least-liked features has to do with its interior, which is an area that car shoppers assume a luxury car would do well on.

Here’s what J.D. Power’s APEAL study found

Every year, J.D. Power sends out a survey to thousands of verified owners, and this is one of the main ways that the car critic gets info about new cars on the market. The survey asks owners about their basic demographic info, and the main portion asks owners to rank how their car performed in 10 categories. 

The study found that 63% of car shoppers who buy a brand-new Lexus UX are women, and this is higher than the average for the segment, which is 55%. The median age of someone who bought a new UX is 56 years old, and that’s about the same as the median age for the segment. The area that owners liked the most about their subcompact Lexus SUV was its exterior design.

Owners also liked how it felt to drive the car, as well as its fuel economy. This isn’t a big surprise, since Lexus only gave the UX hybrid powertrains for the 2023 model year, so the SUV has an above-average fuel economy for the segment. Owners also liked how safe they felt when they were in the car, as well as setting up and starting the car.

These are the areas that Lexus UX owners liked the least about their car

Despite being a luxury SUV, owners didn’t actually like the UX’s driving comfort. Its powertrain is also not well-liked, and this is probably because the SUV’s hybrid powertrain only gets 181 hp. Owners were also dissatisfied with the car’s interior layout, as well as getting in and out of the car. The area that owners rated the lowest, however, was the UX’s infotainment system.

This is interesting since, according to J.D. Power, Lexus gave the UX a brand-new infotainment system for the 2023 model year. As a result, it’s possible that the owners who were taking the survey were owners of a 2022 model year of the UX. That model year of the SUV had a console-mounted remote touch interface, which the car critic described as “quirky.” 

The SUV’s old infotainment system also featured smaller screens than the 2023 model year’s. The 2022 UX had a 7-inch touchscreen as standard, and Lexus offered a 10.3-inch one as an option on the higher trims. The 2023 UX, on the other hand, gets an 8-inch touchscreen as standard, and the optional touchscreen is now 12.3-inches in size.

It’s concerning that the Lexus UX’s infotainment system is rated so poorly by owners

It’s not entirely clear why owners rated their Lexus SUV’s infotainment system so poorly, but there are several reasonable explanations. The SUV’s old infotainment system was installed in the UX for its 2019 to 2022 model years, so clearly Lexus didn’t think it was a hit.

That being said, while Lexus did revamp the SUV’s infotainment system for the 2023 model year, like any other major changes, it may take time for owners to get used to them.

As such, owners may be dissatisfied with their SUV’s infotainment system simply because they are still learning the ins and outs of it. Regardless of why owners dislike the UX’s infotainment system, it’s concerning that a luxury car isn’t doing too well in terms of its luxury tech features.