As Lexus’s best-selling car, and top selling luxury SUV over the past decade, their RX 350 SUV is a blend of class, quality build, with the latest in technological advancements.
I must preface this review by admitting my wife owns a 2008 RX 350 and loves it. And with over 60,000 miles on the odometer, she has never had a mechanical problem other than it needed new tires.
We were privileged to spend a week in the 2026 RX 350h Hybrid that’s offered in FWD and AWD and in seven grades of Standard, Premium, PremiumPlus, F Sport Handling, F Sport Performance and F Sport Design. There’s also a plug-in version.
RX 350h has a bold and sculpted front that has a distinctive look all its own. There’s none like it on the roads. Its back end has chiseled lines that make it look like it’s moving 55 mph standing still.
This classy theme follows through to the interior, especially the cockpit with NuLux heated/ventilated front seats that is complimented by a huge 14-inch infotainment display that requires some time spent with the owner’s manual to master it. It serves the gamut of HVAC selections, rear/front overhead view cameras, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto 4G connectivity, XM radio, drive mode selections that offer Eco, Normal, Sport and Custom modes, plus many more functions and features.
The console houses a stubby gear selector, with paddle shifters, that it shares with a wireless phone charger and an EV switch for all electric only power for short trips.
Over on the single digital gauge cluster that hosts multiple purposes including a driver information display that gets signals from the sensor in the steering wheel column when it senses driver inattention to the road.
RX’s interior door handles are unique in that you give a subtle push and the doors partially open.
RX 350h’s rear seats are posh and nicely padded with good leg and ample head room and can actually seat three short-legged passengers as the transaxle hump is low profile. The rear of the console offers separate HVAC controls for back seat comfort.
Back in the spacious cargo area with the rear seats upright there’s 29.59 cubic feet of space that measures 41 inches deep, 44 wide and 29 high. Flip the rear seatbacks and capacity increases to 46.19 cubic feet for 72 inches (a full six feet) of cargo loading depth. And like all Lexus vehicles, it includes a First Aid Kit. Beneath the cargo floor is a space saver tire and jack.
RX 350h gets its grunt from a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder that combined with the electric motor, generates 246-hp and 233 lb/ft of torque for EPA mileage estimates of 37 city, 34-highway mpg and with a CVT automatic transmission. So powered, RX 350h carries a tow capacity of 1,000 pounds and Lexus tested provided a 0-60 time of 7.4 seconds, and that’s pulling a curb weight of 4,480 pounds. Needless to say, there’s no want for power.
Ride wise, and inherent in all Lexus vehicles, it was smooth and super quiet, especially in EV mode. Handling was impressive as well as the RX parked easily and made nasty road imperfections a mere ripple. The RX also came with self-parking as can be seen on recent TV ads.
As for its winter weather driving prowess, RX has an impressive 8.15 inches of ground clearance to handle appreciable snow depths. I’m surprised though that Lexus engineers didn’t include an AWD lock as my wife has on her RX 350. Another quirk, it would be nice if it had a rear window wiper like my wife’s car has.
Price wise, the 2026 RX 350h came with a long list of standard features such as Lexus SafetySense System 3.0, Blind Spot Monitor w/rear cross traffic alert, Power moonroof, alloy wheels and more.
RX 350h was base-priced at $56,530 but with the Convenience Package ($1,420) that included several niceties, 14-inch touchscreen as a 9.8-inch is standard ($1,105), and with Drive Connect/Cloud Navigation, Power Rear Door w/Kick Sensor ($150), wheel locks ($99) and Cross Bars in the roof rack ($475), they took the bottom line to $61,229 with delivery.
To its credit, RX 350h came with impressive government 5-star safety scores of a perfect five for an overall score, four for driver/passenger frontal crash, five for front/rear seat side crash and four for rollover.
As said, the 2026 RX 350h offers Lexus quality build with prestigious luxury, and great envy by its competitors.
