10 REASONS WHY LEXUS 450h+ IS BETTER THAN TOYOTA RAV4 PRIME // ENGINEER'S FULL REVIEW

hello everyone this is david from automotive press guess what i have here today i have the new lexus nx 450h plus which is a plug-in hybrid version of the new lexus nx being compared to the toyota rav4 prime in the xse advanced technology package they're both based on the same platform built in two separate factors in japan they're more similar than different perhaps but i do believe there are reasons why you might want to buy the nx versus the rav4 prime let me tell you as an automotive engineer what the differences are and whether or not it's worth upgrading to the new lexus nx plug-in hybrid [Music] the standard versions of both the lexus nx and total rav4 are built in north america but the plug-in hybrids are built in japan at least for now so they are built in two different factories in japan but nevertheless the quality should be similar so i'm using my digital caliper here to measure the gap between the panels in terms of the actual alignment and the width of the gap and i'm doing comparison for both and i can see that it's quite similar for both models because the gap here between the hood and the front fender it's about 4.7 millimeter on the lexus nx and a little bit better surprising on the rav4 prime it's about 4.5 millimeter but as i move backward here the gaps between the front fender and the doors and between the front doors and the rear doors are virtually identical for both and if i kneel down and look at the panel alignment also very similar so i can tell that in both cases they've done a really good job with the overall exterior panel alignment and the overall body integrity but there are some difference in terms of paint quality even though this rav4 prime have an exceptional paint job i can tell that this one seems to have a little bit more gloss and a little bit more of a refined feel to the paint so they might have taken a little bit more care into myself putting the clear coat on the lexus nx but generally speaking the paint job is quite similar and so let me use a paint thickness gauge now to see if there are in fact any differences in terms of thickness of the paint which is one reflection of the overall paint job so i have the paint thickness gauge here which is what i use to measure the thickness of the total paint that's applied to the cars typically speaking thicker than better but you do want the paint job to be between 100 to 180 microns let's take a look at both models to see if there are any differences 119 on the lexus 113 on the rav4 prime so almost identical what about on the front fender here 124 115 so very similar just a very minor differences a little bit thicker on the lexus 118 on the front door and 109. so in all cases the lexus nx have a slightly thicker paint maybe like five to eight percent which support my belief that there is a little bit more clear coat applied to lexus compared to the toyota rav4 prime but otherwise the paint job is quite similar and surprisingly good on the rav4 prime now let's take a look at the interior and see if there are any differences in terms of the manufacturing quality and the fit and finish so now i'm inside the lexus nx and of course you can tell there is a big difference in terms of design between this and the rav4 prime it's a beautiful interior and i'm going to talk about that in a second but for now let's check the fit and finish and the quality control so i do my usual punch test and look for areas where you could replicate squeaks or rattles and you know i've been doing this for a little while now and i can't find anything that is loose or out of place everything fit well and aligned well of course it's lexus building one of the best factories in japan the quality and fitness finish is excellent now let's take a look at the rav4 prime and see if the inside is any different so now i'm in the rav4 prime which is a car we own so we use this every day and i can tell you from driving this all the time there's not a squeak or rattle anywhere inside even when you drive over some bumpy road and when i do my punch test everything is solid and the stitching and the manufacturing quality is first rate the alignment of the parts the components all looks good it's built in japan at least in terms of this rav4 prime and so the quality is very comparable between the two models now let's go back into lexus nx so i'm now back in the lexus nx and what i want to do is point out 10 reasons why you might want to buy the nx plug-in hybrid compared to the rav4 plug-in hybrid so my first reason why i do believe the nx is better than rav4 prime is simply this gorgeous interior in fact we own that rav4 prime we own two of them and so we drive it all the time and one of my office staff who uses the rav4 prime quite frequently said well this one looks so different she was so surprised by the difference between the two she thought the two cars are completely different models not based on the same platform so first of the 10 reasons why i do believe it's worth buying the nx versus the rav4 prime is the beautiful interior that has amazing quality and everything from the seat design to the dash design to the large screen well all looks fantastic in here now the second reason why it might be worth upgrading and buying the lexus nx versus the rav4 prime is the exterior design it is much more organic more expressive more dynamic and of course this is a personal choice but i do think the lexus nx looks way better than the rav4 prime nothing wrong with the rav4 primes design but this one looks expensive this one looks kind of traditional and very ordinary so if you're asking me which one looks better for me personally i think the lexus nx looks way more dynamic and more expressive and i like it better than the rav4 prime the third reason why it's worth paying a little bit more for the lexus nx versus the rav4 prime is the beautiful infotainment system it's a new 14 inch screen here compared to the smaller nine inch screen and the rav4 prime and also we have a new os which is called the toyota connected it's much faster it's more intuitive it has a lot more functionality although i will also argue that it's a bit more complex and the more difficult to use but nevertheless this amazing infotainment system is nothing short of a great accomplishment from toyota compared to the rav4 prime which is beginning to look outdated in addition you get a full 12.3 inch digital display in the instrumentation here in the lexus nx compared to a much smaller and semi-digital instrumentation in the rav4 prime so if you're type of person who loves to get as much information as possible from either the digital cluster or the infotainment system and be able to use all kind of information well there is obviously a big difference between the nx and the rav4 prime the fourth reason to buy the lexus nx is the full complement of technology if your type of person who loves to get as much of the cool features as possible well obviously nx has abundance of that even the doors are digital and electronic so when you open the door you have to press this little button and it opens electronically same on the exterior of the door in terms of handle you don't actually pull the door handle you just literally touch it and pull it lightly and the whole door opens so it's quite an interesting technology they placed in the nexus nx not to mention other things like advanced head-up display and then many other features that are not in the rav4 prime you're obviously paying for these features but once again if you like cool features and cool technology the nx is better than the rav4 the fifth reason why you might want to buy the lexus nx compared to rav4 is a safety feature now granted the rav4 prime has plenty of safety features and it's pretty up-to-date but this is the one that has the latest lexus 3.0 version which has additional features that are not in the rav4 prime so once again if you like technology you want the latest equipment and the latest safety features this one has more than the rav4 prime now granted sometimes too much technology isn't a good thing and when you're driving this lexus nx there's all kinds of warning that comes through the system such as when you're trying to make a turn and the car is too close by or you've left something in the rear seat there's all this warning signal that comes on so sometimes you want to turn them off because it's too much of a good thing but generally speaking i do believe that newer technology for safety features the better because it's going to protect you and your family more effectively the sixth reason why you might want to buy this one versus that one is that there is a slightly shorter waiting time and waiting list for the lexus nx 450h plus compared to rav4 prime the rav4 prime is now sort of a three to four year waiting list which is absolutely crazy but this one is about a year maybe year and a half at the most so it's almost half of the waiting time of course this is more expensive so that's why there's not as much demand as the rav4 prime so if you really want to buy a plug-in hybrid from either toyota or lexus and you don't want to wait three or four years well you have to get the lexus nx because this is only one you can probably get your hands on over the next year or year and a half the seventh reason to consider is the fact that the lexus nx 450h plus drives better than the rav4 prime now granted both cars are based on the same platform so they do drive quite similarly but there is a noticeable difference the lexus nx is a little bit smoother in terms of the feel the steering has a little bit better feedback it's quieter inside right is a little bit more smoother so when you're driving the nx it does feel more expensive it does give you a bit more of an upscale and a luxury feel now i will say that rav4 prime is surprisingly good in this regard but there is no question that the nx does feel more expensive and will provide you with a little bit more comfort and upscale feel than the rav4 prime which brings me to the eighth reason which is to do with the suspension setup i think the calibration and the adjustment of suspension by engineers is better on this lexus nx than the rav4 prime because over expansion joints and some bumpy road this one definitely handles them better it's a little bit more of a damp feel in terms of suspension it does give you a better ride overall and it's extraordinary smooth on the highway the ninth reason to think about is the difference in prices between the two models now if you compare the base model to the base model of the two the price difference are not as much as you think of course if you go up to the flagship model the top of the line lexus nx compared to the top of the line rav4 prime there's a much bigger difference and you have to decide whether it's worth swallowing that difference but if you compare a similarly equipped features for feature between the rav4 prime and the nx well the price difference is actually quite reasonable and with all the extra luxury features you get and extra cool technology you might just assume that it's worth the upgrade the tenth and the last reason to consider is the fact that lexus has a better warranty and better service than the toyota rav4 i have purchased lexus is 500 recently and i really noticed a difference in the way i'm treated as a customer compared to a typical toyota dealership and you do get a longer warranty here in canada a four year compared to three year for toyota so you do get a little bit more of everything but the most noticeable thing in terms of ownership of two car is the fact that you're going to get much better service with lexus product and you're going to be assured of getting things like a loaner car when your car is in the shop so i just gave you 10 reasons why i believe the lexus nx plug-in hybrid is worth buying over the rav4 plug-in hybrid but obviously you'll have to make that decision based on the price differences but i do want to point out a few things that i'm not too crazy about in the lexus nx as well so what are some of the things i'm not too crazy about on nexus nx well for one thing the technology is a little bit too much even though it's cool to have so for example the electronic or electric door mechanism it's okay when you're trying to get out because you just push the button and move away but when you're trying to get in from the outside the door handle has just a bit of a micro delay when you touch the door handle and pull it out so if you pull it too fast then there is a bit of hesitation so i'm not too crazy about this design as an engineer i don't think there's any advantage this way compared to normal door handles also keep in mind that if you're purchasing this in canada the lexus nx plug-in hybrid does not qualify for the federal grant for the ev credit because the pricing is too high whereas the rav4 prime still qualify for that so there are several thousand dollars in price right there because you get the federal grant for the rav4 prime but you cannot get it for lexus nx and because nx450 is slightly heavier and a little bit bigger than the rav4 prime you also get slightly less range not by much but there is a difference in terms of the total range that you can drive in a pure ev mode between the nx and the rav4 prime the range by the way is 42 miles or 68 kilometers in the rav4 prime compared to 37 miles or 60 kilometers for the nx plug-in hybrid so overall which one do i like better well i do know the rav4 prime very well because we own it and we drive it all the time but i will admit given the choice i don't mind paying the premium for the nx plug-in hybrid because it's a beautiful interior more technology cool features and it does drive a little bit smoother and it feels a little bit better than the rav4 prime so i think it's worth paying extra for the lexus nx 450h plus which is an awkward name what do you think let me know in the comments below whether you like the lexus nx better than the rav4 prime and whether you think it's worth paying the extra for this vehicle thank you so much for watching i'm signing off for now more videos to come your way [Music] you

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Id: SVSYOCeZXZo

Length: 14min 53sec (893 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 02 2022