Lexus is the luxury brand of Toyota, and like Toyota, Lexus makes some great cars. The newest Lexus SUV, the Lexus UX, lives up to Toyota’s reputation for making cars that have great fuel economies. Here’s a look at the new 2020 Lexus UX and why it’s getting rave reviews. 

The Lexus UX’s great fuel economy

While the UX doesn’t come standard with a hybrid engine, the UX that Consumer Reports tested had a hybrid engine. This was partially because the only way to get all-wheel drive, according to Consumer Reports, was to get the hybrid version of the UX. 

As Consumer Reports found, the hybrid UX gets a great 32 MPG in the city and 42 MPG on highways, for a combined 37 MPG. For comparison, the 2020 Lincoln Aviator is a hybrid luxury SUV, much like the UX is.

However, the Aviator only gets a fuel economy of about 27 MPG combined. Because of this great fuel economy, Consumer Reports said that the hybrid UX has the best fuel economy in its segment. 

The regular 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine on the UX also gets a good fuel economy as well. It gets about 29 MPG in the city, 37 MPG on highways, for a combined 33 MPG. But while the UX’s fuel economy is far and above better than its competitors, Consumer Reports liked a lot of other things about the UX as well.

The Lexus UX’s other great features 

Toyota is known for taking safety seriously, and the UX is not an exception. As Consumer Reports said, not only did the UX do very well in its crash tests, but Lexus also equipped it with a lot of smart safety features as standard. 

Every UX, according to Consumer Reports, comes with Lexus Safety System+ 2.0, which is Lexus’s suite of smart safety features. Lexus Safety System+ 2.0 equips the UX with: forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, a pedestrian detection system, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and Toyota’s own version of adaptive cruise control. 

Other common smart safety features, such as blind spot warning and a rear cross traffic alert are optional on the UX. Overall, Consumer Reports praised the UX’s safety features during the road test. 

Another aspect of the UX that Consumer Reports thought was great was its reliability. Consumer Reports gave the UX a 5 out of 5 for its predicted reliability rating. This isn’t too surprising, since again, Lexuses and Toyotas are known for being reliable cars as well as being safe cars.

Overall, Consumer Reports gave the UX a score of 80 out of 100, making it the best luxury SUV in its segment. This high score allows the Lexus UX to beat other luxury SUVs such as the BMW X1 and the Buick Encore. 

How much the Lexus UX costs

The standard UX starts at $32,000, but again, Consumer Reports did not test drive the standard UX. Consumer Reports drove the hybrid UX, which costs a bit more. Lexus says that the hybrid UX starts at about $34,000. That said, compared to the other SUVs in Lexus’s lineup, the hybrid UX is a bargain. 

The Lexus RX starts at $44,000, the Lexus GX starts at $53,000, and the Lexus LX starts at $86,000. Lexus is a luxury car brand, so its cars are going to be well-equipped to make up for that price tag. That said, the hybrid UX’s great fuel economy also helps its owner save money in the long haul.

For example, Consumer Reports says that owners of the hybrid UX will spend about $775 a year on fuel costs. For comparison, Consumer Reports says that the Lexus RX gets 22 MPG combined and its owner will have to spend about $1,330 a year on fuel costs.