Lexus is the luxury arm of Toyota, and just like its parent company, Lexus is well-known for making some of the best cars on the market. With that being said, Lexus isn’t perfect, and here’s a look at the lowest-ranked Lexus SUV of the 2023 model year.

The 2023 Lexus GX received poor scores across the board

The worst SUV in Lexus’ lineup, according to U.S. News, is the GX. It got an overall score of 6.6 out of 10, and that’s a much lower score than what the other Lexus SUVs received. On top of that, the car critic gave the luxury SUV low ratings in multiple categories.

It has a critics’ rating of 6.0 out of 10, and its performance rating was even lower as it got a 5.9 out of 10.

That poor performance rating shouldn’t be a surprise since the Japanese luxury automaker only offers one engine for the SUV, and it’s a 4.6-liter V8 that gets 301 hp. This is the same engine that the SUV has had since the 2010 model year, which was the first model year of the current generation. Despite being a luxury SUV, its interior also received a poor score of 6.6 out of 10. 

The only area that the luxury SUV did well on was its quality and reliability. This also shouldn’t be a surprise since Lexus cars are well-known for their reliability.

The last area that the site rates is safety, but there wasn’t sufficient data about the GX’s safety, so it currently doesn’t have a safety score.

The 2023 Lexus GX is the worst Lexus SUV and the worst luxury midsize SUV

The GX is unique in the sense that it has a much lower score than the other SUVs on Lexus’ lineup do. U.S. News hasn’t reviewed the 2023 UX yet, but its 2022 model year received an overall score of 7.4 out of 10.

That makes it the second-worst SUV in the lineup, but it’s almost a full point higher than the GX. Then there’s the RX, which has an overall score of 7.7 out of 10. Finally, there’s the NX and the NX Hybrid. Both luxury SUVs got an overall score of 8.0 out of 10.

That score made them some of the best options in their respective segments. The GX, meanwhile, is the worst SUV in its segment. In fact, there’s not a single luxury SUV that’s competing against the GX that received an overall score of around 6 out of 10.

The luxury SUV that had the second-lowest score was the Maserati Levante, and it received a 7.0 out of 10.

Here’s why the 2023 Lexus GX is not a good luxury SUV

The Lexus GX had more cons than it had pros. On one hand, the car critic liked how the Lexus SUV performed off-road, and it liked how many standard safety features the Japanese automaker gave the car.

On the other hand, the GX’s ancient engine was the source of multiple problems. The V8 is reliable, and it was powerful when it debuted a decade ago, but it’s “lethargic” now, especially compared to the engines that are on other luxury SUVs.

The ancient V8 is also very inefficient. It gets 15 mpg in the city and 19 mpg on highways, for 17 mpg combined. On top of that terrible fuel economy, the GX’s interior isn’t that luxurious. The SUV has a “harsh ride,” and the third-row seats are too cramped for adults to comfortably sit in.