New pre-Lexus member

Broc Luno · February 6, 2020

I'm actively shopping for a gently used nice Gen II RX 350. And once I get it, it will do both on-road daily driver duty, and mild off-road photo adventure stuff. I'll have two sets of wheels and tires so I cn have peace, quiet, and comfort in the daily driver world. The other set will have tires that can handle somewhat sharp SoCal Desert rocks w/o sidewall cuts.

Off-roading seems to be a polarizing subject among Lexus owners? I made my living doing erosion and trail condition surveys for CA State Parks/OHMVR Div (the off-road side). I have literally driven thousands of miles of trails in a stock Ford Ranger 4x4 Pick-up and my own personal 88 Big Bronco (both had Lo-range and Posi, no lifts). The company truck ran street tires. My Bronco ran BFG A/T's. Very, very seldom got stuck. But you gotta use your head ...

The reason I'm on the Lexus forum is that the old Bronco is long in the tooth (230K - original 5.0 engine and AOD tranny), and now that I'm old enough to draw SS and a pension, I am selling the Bronco, and will buy a 2008~9 RX 350. I really want the comfort of a luxury cross-over. As far as I can tell, the RX will do just fine.

I have been doing a ton of research on what will actually work off road, and be very pleasant on the street? So many cross-overs have this deficiency or that ... I won't be doing any black diamond trails (toughest rating), or rock crawl events. But I will be going to the SoCal deserts to finish off a book my Mom started about WW-II training areas, before she passed. That means routes more difficult than gravel/dirt roads. It means sandy washes and scree slopes. I know the routes, but I want to get there (photo locations) in comfort. It's a 1,400 mile round trip, before I go on the dirt.

Yes, I could buy a toy like a built CJ-5. But I also want to travel and pull my boat (16' outboard) out of state. So comfort is top of the list. Now seeing the crazy Russians in mud and snow, and yah-who kids with older RX's crawling Utah and blasting mud, I'm convinced that the RX is the best of both worlds. Soon'ish I'll be among the Lexus owners of the world !!