Lexus NX 450h+ long-term review

I bid farewell to Chief, my circa-$92K Lexus RX 350h Luxury large hybrid SUV long-term loaner, around two years ago. And here we are, at the start of 2026, saying hello to the newest steed in the Chasing Cars long-term garage, the NX 450h+ F Sport midsize family hauler.

The first double-take was price. Here was a smaller, older-generation (from 2022 onward) SUV – a dead ringer for the larger RX in many respects, inside and out – and it’s priced from $96,000. Yep, four grand more outright, for a smaller Lexus SUV model (if now, in 2026, $97,200 before on-roads and goodies).

The question of value for money marks the kick-off of six months and a target of 10,000 kilometres of custodianship. And I suspect it will remain ever-present until the day, sometime around mid-2026, a final verdict is handed down and its key is handed back to Lexus Australia, as its various virtues are stacked up and measured against what’s around $107K on road.

That’s big coin, even among the Audi Q5s, BMW X3s, Mercedes-Benz GLCs and some 31 other nameplates consider premium ($60K-plus) midsize SUVs on the local market that the NX wishes to swoon buyers away from.

How’d that go for Lexus in 2025? Handsomely, indeed. The NX (6024 units) was its segment’s biggest seller last year, comfortably supplanting Mazda CX-60 (5410) and BMW X3 (4909) into second and third place respectively. The NX is certainly a popular rig amongst Aussies.

Regardless, most gravitate to less, ahem, fiscally adventurous variants than our new 450h+ F Sport, a plug-in hybrid version sat right at the 16-variant-strong lineup’s summit.

With the lowly 250 grades now discontinued, the NX range kicks off with the 350h Luxury ($71,700 list), a front-driven petrol-electric hybrid. Nicer Sport Luxury and F Sport trims can be had with the same powertrain ($79,200).

Adding AWD to the self-charging hybrid commands extra outlays of between $4800 (Luxury) and $5800 (Sport Luxury and F Sport). Turbo petrol all-wheel drive? It’s exclusively a racier F Sport grade ($79,450).

Want more? Feature-adding Enhancement Pack 1 and Pack 2 bundles are available throughout the range, priced between $3000-$6000.

A latecomer (November 2025) to the range was 450h+ Luxury ($84,500) at the entry point to the plug-in hybrid AWD powertrain (plus Enhancement Pack 1 as standard) leaving an $11,500 stretch up to our as-tested ultimate grade, the 450+ F Sport ($96,000) that adds Enhancement Pack 2 as standard plus, one imagines, the kitchen sink.

Month 1: All you can eat

Last minute copper swap saves us from an uncomfortable doppleganger

• Kilometres this month: Odometer start 3514 – this month 504km
  Fuel economy this month: 5.9L/100km
  Running costs this month: $81.33
  

What is it?

When handed the key to the fanciest 450h+ F Sport spec of the biggest-selling premium midsize SUV in Australia for a six-month custodianship, there’s little one might complain about. For full disclosure – and usual practice for Toyota/Lexus local arms – Lexus Australia is also stumping up for fuel and electron outlay. Nice.

But the concern was colour. “Khaki Metal” said the e-mail, which is the same colour as my last Lexus long-termer, the RX 350h Luxury nicknamed ‘Chief’ from a couple of years back. A great rig, that. Solid and comfy. I was a big fan. But given the large-segment RX and midsize NX look so damn similar to one another, some might think they’re twins of sorts.

“Sorry,” read a subsequent Lexus Oz email. “We’ve had to change the booking to a Sonic Copper example…” Phew!

Given their similar designs, I’d mistakenly thought the NX was simply the larger RX with 16 centimetres sliced from its wheelbase. There’s more to it. Overall length is 230mm shorter (4890mm vs 4660mm), the front and rear treatments are distinctive to each model, and the NX doesn’t have the RX’s curvaceous rear hunches or teardrop rear glasshouse signature.

They’re quite different inside, too. Lots of commonality in the display hardware, switchgear and design ethos, yes, but the theme is quite different once you bury down into it…which we’ll do in an upcoming update.

How much is it?

The topic of similarities nagged at me given the underpinning notion that ‘my’ new midsize Lexus SUV was, at $96,000 before on roads and options. Our Sonic Copper (adds $1750) example costs $107,088 on road in NSW. Yikes!

What’s the spec of our car?

Here’s the oversimplified breakdown of the full-blown 450h+ F Sport specification and features.

As a baseline, the cheapest (hybrid 350h FWD, $79,200 list) F Sport variants fits:

• 20-inch alloys
• F Sport exterior styling
• Three-projector bi-beam LED headlights
• 14-inch media touchscreen 
• F Sport 10-way driver, eight-way passenger electric seats
• Leather accented trim, seat heating and ventilation
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Eco/Normal/Sport/Sport+ drive mode selection
• 10-speaker ‘premium’ sound
• 360-degree camera and front and rear parking sensors
• Dual-zone climate control
• Handsfree power tailgate with kick sensor 

That version fits a 2.5L natural aspirated-based self-charging hybrid totaling 179kW in either front or all-wheel drive (for a $5800 upcharge) though, typical for Toyota/Lexus, there are no peak combined torque claims for either.

The ‘premium’ powertrain of our long termer is the plug-in hybrid 450h+, available only in all-wheel-drive guise. This PHEV’s naturally aspirated 2.5L petrol four (136kW/227Nm) is in a lower state of tune than the self-charging 350h unit (140kW/239Nm).

And, interestingly, the electric motors – 134kW/270Nm front and 40kW/121Nm rear – have the same outputs across both hybrid formats.

But the 450h+ PHEV is positioned as the ‘alpha’ powertrain, with peak combined power at 227kW against the 350h’s 179kW. Lexus claims a 0-400m time of 6.3 seconds for the plug-in NXs.

The PHEV has the best ‘efficiency’ claim, too. With its large 18.1kWh lithium ion battery and 87km peak electric only driving range claim, the 450h+ variants are advertised at a scant 1.3L/100km, far more miserly than the self-charging hybrids’ 5.0L/100km (FWD or AWD) let alone the far thirstier 8.4L/100km claim of the 2.4L turbo petrol versions.

As a self-proclaimed skeptic of claimed versus real-world PHEV fuel economy stats, we’ll deep dive in a future report once we have a couple of thousand scientific kilometres under our plug-in’s shiny 20-inch wheels and crunched the numbers.

However, to dissect the wealth of features on our priciest 450h+ F Sport guise, it’s worth checking out what the cheaper ($84,500 list) 450h+ Luxury gets given the $11,500-pricier F Sport shares an identical powertrain with identical performance and efficiency claims.

The 450h+ Luxury essentially fits much of the above-mentioned 350 F Sport except:

• 18-inch wheels
• Sunroof
• Comfort seats with four-way passenger electric adjustment, four-way driver’s lumbar 
• Single-colour mood lighting
• Rear outboard seat heating
• Steering wheel eating
• Dual-zone climate with humidity sensor

The 450h+ F Sport, for its $11K-ish upcharge, adds or replaces:

• 20-inch wheels
• Auto-levelling LED headlights
• Adaptive variable suspension with performance dampers
• Intelligent parking assist 
• F Sport interior
• Head-up display
• Smart key card
• Digital rearview mirror
• Mulit-colour mood lighting
• Privacy glass

The whole Enhancement Pack 1 and 2 thing adds another layer of feature complexity and, formally, the flagship 450h+ F Sport gets the ‘2’ pack as standard. But not all of it. Not offered is the 17-speaker Mark Levinson sound sound auto system as standard on Luxury Sport grades, nor can you get the panoramic glass roof offered elsewhere in the line-up even as a cost option.

How long is it sticking around for?

The 450h+ F Sport lobbed into the Chasing Cars garage at the beginning of December 2025 and will head home, all going to plan, around mid-2026.

It arrived with 3514km on the odometer and was sidelined for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year period at the office in trade for a stint in a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and, thus, we only went through three-quarters of a tank of fuel (and a single full battery charge): hence the lean $81.33 monthly running cost if sobering six-litre fuel consumption (against its glowing 1.3L claim).

Again, we’re going to have a very close look at that combined efficiency claim in the coming months…given there’s a $11,000 premium for our long termer over the ($85,000 list) 350h AWD F Sport self-charging hybrid that ought to return, again, somewhat similar (5.0L/100km claimed) fuel consumption.

What are we going to do with it?

Easy. Mostly urban testing around Sydney, plus at least a couple of long interstate trips where we’ll not only assess its grand touring suitability but be able to get a fair read on proper average consumption on a single trip where both the battery and fuel tank are run as dry as we dare.

We’ll also check out its family friendliness, its performance and dynamic capabilities give the F Sport schtick, delve into safety and, as a key component of any long term testing, shake out the gremlins and discover if the pricey Lexus presents anything in the way of real deal-breakers to the ownership experience.

And, as always, we’ll try to get a read on if our spec is the sweet spot of its range, or whether you’re better off spending your hard-earned somewhere further down the ladder. Or, perhaps, might it be smarter to plonk the folding stuff down elsewhere, like maybe on a larger RX stablemate in a grade costing similar outlay…?