Lexus LBX Review 2024

If you’ve always wanted a Lexus but smaller, the new LBX may well fit the bill. It’s a compact and bijou smallish car, which is also its biggest drawback as space is limited if you’ve got four adults to move around. That’s probably why Lexus says it’s aimed at a younger audience than its larger models. The Lexus LBX will therefore be well suited to couples or those with small children, although boot space is limited, too.

However, if you like to travel light and enjoy the premium aspect of the Lexus brand, there’s no reason why you won’t find the LBX perfectly suited to your needs. In fact, the LBX might also find a home with buyers who already have an existing larger Lexus, as it boasts all the same things people love about the brand, albeit in a smaller form.

The Lexus LBX comes with just one powertrain, which is a 1.5-litre self-charging hybrid, making your choice of LBX a bit easier. What isn’t quite so simple is deciding on the trim level to buy, as unlike many manufacturers, the Japanese carmaker has produced quite a convoluted range of choices.

Based on the cars we’ve driven, the Lexus LBX Premium Plus Design is a good bet, and our pick of the crop. You get the benefit of the bi-tone exterior colours, which really make the car pop, plus there are some very cool 18-inch machined alloy wheels adding the icing on the cake. Similarly impressive is the interior, with perforated Tahara synthetic leather feeling quite opulent to the touch.

Of course, if you crave a little more luxury, then  the next trim up - the Takumi grade - makes sense despite being a few thousand pounds more. It gets you some posh trimmings, like an electrically adjustable memory seat for the driver, which is missing in the lowlier cars. There’s also the benefit of the Mark Levinson Sound System, plus slightly more plush semi-aniline leather seats. It seems hard to justify the forty-odd grand pricetag of the top-spec Takumi Design level, though.

Given the size of the smaller car market, there are plenty of options when looking at models similar to the Lexus LBX. Both the Audi Q2 and MINI Countryman are cited as the most likely rivals, but there are bigger and smaller variations at a range of budgets to lure people away from the pull of premium. You could also check out the Volvo XC40, the Volkswagen T-Cross, the Ford Puma, the Vauxhall Mokka or the Mazda CX-30.

Buy a Lexus and you immediately enter a world that calls on Japanese inspiration to create the desired effect. There’s what Lexus calls an Omotenashi-inspired cabin, with a Tazuna cockpit design - whatever that means - that oozes quality for the most part. Admittedly, the premium edge starts to slip as you prod and tap deeper down into the cabin area, but generally the quality and finish found inside and out of the LBX is top-class. Ambient lighting, with up to 50 different colour options in premium editions, helps set the scene nicely too.

The interior of the Lexus LBX is a nice place to be, with a 12.3-inch digital instrument binnacle and a 9.8-inch central touchscreen featuring Lexus Link Connect, which sits in the middle of the dashboard. 

There’s compatibility with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus the option of a digital key subscription that lets up to five users both unlock and start the car. The 13-speaker audio system from Mark Levinson that you get on the Takumi models sounds fab, although the rest of the range only gets a six-speaker setup. Meanwhile, there are front and rear USB ports on the plusher models, with just a front USB for the base-level Urban edition.

The Lexus LBX is the Japanese brand’s smallest car to date and is therefore well suited to the needs of urban dwellers. It’s easy to drive around town thanks to its compact dimensions and a tight turning circle. 

However, the trade-off is that the LBX is quite small inside. This isn’t much of an issue up front, provided you have the seats slid at least most of the way back, but if you're sitting in the back, you're going to feel quite cramped unless you're a pre-teen.

The Lexus LBX therefore works for families with small kids, or couples with no kids at all, even though it’s officially a five-seat vehicle. Similarly, the boot space isn’t too generous, either. Most models get around 330 litres, although cars with all-wheel drive see that shrink to  around 250 litres. For comparison, you’ll get 456 litres in the Ford Puma and 452 litres in the Volvo XC40. Fold down the back seats, which are split 60/40, and that space expands to 994 litres.

There’s just one engine option available for the Lexus LBX, which is a 1.5-litre self-charging hybrid with the three-cylinder engine working in unison with an electric motor that drives the front two wheels. An all-wheel drive model is also available. The higher-grade models (Takumi, Takumi Design and Original Edition) are fitted with a Sequential Shiftmatic system. 

This effectively lets you decide on the shifting using paddles just in front of the steering wheel. Up on one side and down on the other, which is simple enough. However, considering just how few people seem to use this more manual approach, it seems hard to see why Lexus has bothered, but the option for human intervention is there nonetheless.

The engine delivers 136 PS and a 0-62mph time of 9.2 seconds for the front-wheel drive model and 9.6 with all-wheel drive. Official figures show fuel economy of up to 62.8mpg and CO2 emissions from 102g/km.

This being a Lexus, and therefore a car from a premium brand, one of the key expectations is that the refinement will be high and the noise levels low. While this certainly appears to be the case on models at the higher end of the trim specification, which get active noise cancelling tech, lower-end trim levels don’t quite provide the same experience. Curiously, however, the Lexus LBX feels a little quieter  in its most basic form when it comes with the cloth trim as opposed to cars with the leather-type upholstery.

There’s a touch of wind noise from the door mirrors and around the side windows, and taking a little more edge off the refinement is the whine of the small engine when pushed, spoiling the otherwise serene surroundings of the cabin. Oh, and there are the obligatory bongs coming from the driver assistance and monitoring system, too.

The Lexus LBX features a raft of now-expected driving aids, which may or may not improve your enjoyment of the car depending on your tolerance for audible warnings. All models in the range come with a five-star Euro NCAP rating.

Head for the higher-end models, like the Takumi edition, if you want additional aids via the Advanced Safety Pack, that comes with the likes of a panoramic view monitor, lane change assist and front cross traffic alert.

Lexus regularly comes top of the polls when it comes to reliability and customer satisfaction. It therefore seems logical to expect the same levels of quality with the new Lexus LBX, although it’s too early to confirm whether the brand’s stellar reputation will continue to dominate customer service opinion polls.

Insurance groups on the Lexus LBX range between 23 and 25, depending on trim level. Since the scale of insurance grouping goes from group 1 at the cheapest end to group 50 at the most expensive, you can expect very middle-of-the-road premiums.

The Lexus LBX is a hybrid and as such it will currently cost you £180 per year from the second year of taxation. 

Pick one of the LBX models in a pricier trim that tips the price over £40,000 when new, and you will also have to pay a surcharge of £390 for five years from the second year of taxation: and that applies even if you're not the first owner. When buying a used example, it's always a good idea to quickly Google the reg of the car you're considering in order to be sure what you're letting yourself in for.

Lexus probably thought they were doing the right thing by offering up the LBX with a host of trim levels, although this seems in direct contrast to most manufacturers, who are doing the exact opposite and simplifying theirs. Therefore, the Lexus LBX is available with a dizzying array of trim options that come across as slightly bewildering. 

Entry-level Urban cars come with fabric upholstery, manually adjustable front seats, a 60/40 split folding back seat, dual-zone climate control, a synthetic leather steering wheel and gear selector, heated- and power folding door mirrors, automatic lights, a 7.0-inch digital instrument binnacle, and the 9.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth, two USB ports, cloud navigation, wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, and a six-speaker stereo.

Premium trim adds synthetic leather upholstery, heated front seats, driver lumbar adjustment, a wireless smartphone charger, automatic wipers, front-and rear parking sensors, an rear privacy glass, 

Premium Plus trim adds a bigger 12.3-inch digital instrument binnacle, two extra USB ports, a head-up display, and smart keyless entry, while Premium Plus Design trim simply adds different alloy wheels and different interior treatment.

Takumi trim gives you genuine leather upholstery, a powered driver’s seat, a Mark Levinson stereo upgrade with active noise control, 360-degree cameras, rear air vents, 64-colour ambient lighting, and adaptive high beam headlights. Takumi Design, give leather and ultrasuede upholstery, and different wheels, while the Original Edition gets some different exterior styling bits.