Why A New Lexus RZ Is A Terrible Deal But A Used One (Or Lease) Is A Great Deal

Since my partner is a huge Lexus fangirl, I decided to surprise her on her birthday by taking her wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley north of Los Angeles using a Lexus RZ as our chariot. What I learned about the RZ — a vehicle that has been torn to shreds by so many journalists due to its limited EV range — is that it’s actually quite good. Well, as long as you’re a Lexus fan and you don’t buy it new. Here, allow me to explain.

The Lexus RZ recently demolished by YouTube sensation Marques Brownlee. His title, “The Electric Lexus: Please Try Again” is similar to his “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed” Fisker Ocean title in that they both sort of make you think he hates the car when he actually doesn’t. I myself really liked the Ocean, and you know what? I quite like the Lexus RZ, too. But not for its asking price.

Our trip in the RZ began in LA, and took us along the Pacific Coast highway, right along the shore.

Our destination was the setting of the cult-classic film Sideways:

The RZ showed up at our LA residence in “Copper Crest and Black Onyx,” and drew compliments from multiple folks who loved how the pink-ish color paired with the black.

Other than the color, what’s most surprising about the RZ is that it does the opposite of so many EVs — instead of looking small but actually being big (like the Hyundai Ioniq 5), it looks big, but is actually quite small. The photo below shows the RZ next to a Ford Bronco Sport. Yes, the RZ is farther away, so it’s going to look smaller, but it might surprise you to know just how much smaller the RZ is than the Bronco Sport small-SUV.

The Lexus RZ is 64.4 inches tall. The Ford Bronco Sport? 70.2. Yes, the RZ is half a foot shorter! And it’s about the same width, too.

As you can see, the RZ doesn’t look much taller than a Mazda CX-5 compact SUV:

Every time I parked the RZ next to any other crossover, I couldn’t help but marvel at how small it looks. In my head, the RZ is meant to be the electric Lexus RX, and if you look at only overall length, you might buy that. But width and height are what you notice most when looking at cars in parking spots, and in those areas the RZ is really more like an electric Lexus NX.

Luckily, on the inside, the car doesn’t feel any less spacious than an RX. In fact, it feels roomy thanks to an EV platform that isn’t saddled with a transmission/exhaust tunnel, and that only has to package small motors and power electronics instead of a big gasoline engine, transmission, power transfer unit, driveshafts, and on and on.

The Lexus RZ is about as long and wide as an RX, but it’s lower; the advantage is aerodynamics, which is important when trying to be competitive in the area of range (the RZ fails in this area; more on that soon). Luckily, this lower overall roof-height doesn’t make the car feel much smaller, and the ride height still feels reasonably elevated for those who like a more commanding view of the road.

The car’s interior is gorgeous. The vanilla leather blends beautifully with the car’s blue, almost suede-like leather. The steering wheel, dashboard, center console, and screens all just feel like high quality equipment. The RZ’s cabin is a humongous selling-point, to the point where I may end up buying one of these (more on that later).

But it’s not perfect. The car’s shifter is a rotary dial on the center tunnel and to the left of the small-ish cupholders. To use the dial, you push the outer ring down and crank it clockwise to go into drive or counterclockwise to go into reverse. Park is a separate button a few inches in front of the dial.

Here’s a video Lexus put out to teach you how to use the shifter:

I don’t like it. First, the value of a rotary dial should be to save space, but the dial and the park button take up plenty of valuable real estate on that center tunnel (which, it’s worth noting, has a nice storage area underneath, as shown in the image below). Why not put that dial somewhere up on the dashboard? Or, better yet, why not use a column shifter? Then you could have another cubby or larger cupholders in that critical location instead of a shifter that you rarely use while driving.

If you’re going to waste that space on a shifter, just throw in a standard PRNDL lever-style shifter like the one all the Lexus owners who want to buy this car are used to.

Speaking of what Lexus owners are used to, let’s talk about the infotainment system.

 

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While driving north up the Pacific Coast Highway, with the beautiful ocean to my left and bluffs to my right, I smiled and thought to myself: This car is ideal for people like my partner, Elise (not her real name). You see, she’s been driving Lexus cars her whole life, and has completely bought into the brand. She loves her 2017 RX-350, but she wants to go electric, not just for environmental reasons, but because she likes how they drive, and she enjoys not having to get oil changes or having fill up at a gas station. For Lexus fans like Elise, an electric RX would be perfect.

And in many ways, the RZ feels just like an electric version of her RX. The ride quality is exceptional, the cabin is quiet as a confessional, the seats are cushy, every surface feels high-quality, front visibility is great, the seating position is high enough, acceleration is decent — it hits all the high spots a traditional Lexus driver would want. But sadly, I think the infotainment system falls short.

Notice how there are only a few physical buttons — two climate control temperature dials, a volume dial, a couple of defrost buttons, a park assist button, and a camera button. For conservative, well-heeled (and usually older) Lexus buyers, this just seems like a misstep. Which 30 year old is buying this Lexus RZ whose technology is years behind the likes of Lucid, Tesla, Hyundai, and others? Nobody. This car is being purchased by people who drive Toyotas and other Lexuses; they want the vehicle to be luxurious, reliable, and simple to use. Maybe I’m wrong and Lexus has customer clinic data that disagrees with me, but it seems to me that the last thing a Lexus owner want is to have to deal with all the controls being on a touchscreen, a shifter that require a how-to video, and a bunch of beeping and booping electronic nannies.

And my god were are plenty of nannies in the RZ.

In the voice notes that I took while driving the car, I say the following:

“Air conditioning is middling. Android Auto/maps/navigation had at least one bug; it would not show my directions. Other issues include cruise control refused to go above 60 mph until I shut the car off. Very frequent notifications if I’m not lookin gat the road. Too many beeps, sounds, all sorts of annoying buzzing if there are people around or if I’m not doing what it wants me to, much of which can probably be turned off.”

That’s right; I couldn’t get the map to show directions, but what was worse than that was that I could not increase the cruise control speed beyond 60 MPH. No matter what I tried, it wouldn’t go above 60. I had to actually shut the car off before I could crank up my speed.

Otherwise, I was just annoyed by all the beeping and bopping; every notification about pedestrians and nearby objects and my state of attentiveness — it was all just too much. I’m sure I can shut some of it off, but out of the box, the RZ drove me mad. And if you’re a typical Lexus owner who doesn’t want to deal with BS and just wants a reliable, decent, easy-to-use car, these might tempt you to turn away.

And that’s a bit ridiculous. Because that’s the only customer who will take the RZ seriously.

I say this because the RZ isn’t really competitive technology-wise, as Marques Brownlee notes in his “Please Try Again” video. It doesn’t charge fast enough at 150 kilowatts, it doesn’t offer enough range at between 196 and 266 miles of range (my RZ300e had an EPA range of 224 miles), it doesn’t have a frunk, and honestly, it’s a bit slow. The RZ300e I drove will do zero to 60 mph in about seven or so seconds, which for a gas car is quick enough, but in an EV, there’s just something about feeling the torque instantly and then waiting a full 7 seconds to reach highway speeds that made the car feel a bit lethargic. The 5ish-second 0-60 time of the higher-trim RX450e is definitely quick, but it isn’t going to impress anyone with plenty of EV driving experience.

The RZ is, technologically, not particularly advanced for an EV. It’s just fine.

Add a starting price of $55,175 and you’ve got a ridiculously tough sell on your hands. Except maybe to Lexus owners, who are flush with cash, loving your brand thanks to a history of reliable vehicles with great service, and just want an electric version of their trusty steed. The RZ should have been built for the traditional Lexus owner, but with the infotainment/software issues I noticed, it seems like it was built for a customer who doesn’t exist.

It’s trying to be too cool and tech-forward, when it should really just follow the old K.I.S.S. rule that has made Lexus such a strong brand to begin with.

With that said, I still liked the quiet and comfortable SUV during our 125 mile trip to Solvang, and I’m sure if I turned off all the nannies most of my complaints would disappear (even if the air conditioning felt pretty weak, even at max).

We filled up the car overnight outside our hotel using a Level 2 charger, then we left the car parked for a few days while we joined a group of random folks on an amazing wine tasting experience across multiple vineyards.

I’m not much of an alcohol-drinker, but there’s just something fun about traveling around from vineyard to vineyard with random folks, all while a bit buzzed, and on a gorgeous sunny day.

Solvang, by the way, is a fascinating place; the land was purchased by a bunch of Danish Americans, who, around World War II, started erecting Danish architecture. Now it’s a tourist town for wine-lovers, and a great destination for folks who want a relaxing weekend outside of the hustle and bustle of LA.

On the Sunday after our drunken Saturday, we headed for the hills and went on a nice hike:

When we arrived home, I topped the RZ off at a local fast-charging station, and handed the keys back, knowing for sure that it wasn’t going to be the last time I’d drive an RZ. You see, Elise is probably going to buy one, and I think it’s a good call.

Obviously, spending $60,000 on a car that can’t even do 250 miles of range (she’d want the all-wheel drive RZ450e) is absurd, but have you seen the prices on used RZs?

These RZs, almost all with under 5,000 miles on the clock, cost between $35,000 and $40,000. Imagine if they had a few miles on them! In a year or two, I bet these will dip into the $20,000 range. And Elise’s 2017 RX only has 42,000 miles on it; she should be able to trade that thing in for $20 grand at least:

All in, she’d pay probably less than $10,000 to upgrade from a 2017 to a 2023, she’d save money on running costs, and she’d finally have Apple Carplay and other modern tech. As someone who has a place to plug in at home, and who regularly commutes only a few miles a day, she just doesn’t need a gas car. The Lexus will be perfect for her; she became a fan after our Solvang trip (she didn’t find the bings and boops and nannies too bad), and assuming she enjoys driving it (I drove the whole trip) and the car keeps depreciating, why the heck not?

The RZ is an annoying and expensive new car, but a great used car for Lexus people like Elise. I think she should wait a year or so, then pull the trigger and enjoy that quiet, cheap-to-operate, modern electric goodness.