New 2024 Lexus GX Is Shaping Up to Be A Super Square Deal

That button on the rear glass and the rear windows are good indicators that the new GX may be what we’ve been waiting for.

byAaron Cole|
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Lexus GX owners are strange. I’m one, I’m weird, and I don’t care. While other people pointed and laughed at buying one of the “oldest” new cars on the road, I still didn’t care. I bought it specifically because it is old. Around the world, the Lexus GX is also the Land Cruiser Prado, and its reputation and historical V8 engines are bulletproof—some of the cars are, too. The first gen’s 2UZ motor’s legend status was minted a while ago. The second gen’s 1UR will get the same checkmark soon. 

That’s a long road to say: Changing the GX isn’t strictly necessary. If it ain’t broke, and so on. So, the photo released Thursday of the upcoming Lexus GX that’ll bow June 8 made the back of my neck sweat and raised my pulse 20 bpm instantly. It’s not the first teaser we’ve seen so far, but it is the one that gives us the most intel on what’s going on. Thanks to this photo and the others, the new GX appears never to have met a right angle it didn’t like. The boxy look is mimicked in the straight-line accents, such as the taillight that spans the width of the rear, and we can see small inserts in the rear roof pillar that visually separate the top from the bottom. 

Along the sides, there appears to be a kink in the rear window that, coupled with the accent, gives me some pretty sweet 80 Series vibes. I’m nerding out on the chonky side-view mirrors—it’s what the FJ mirrors would look like if they still made it today, I’d bet—but true geekery lives at the rear. That small button on the rear glass? That means the glass goes up, and the rear gate may go somewhere else. The GX may keep its signature—and admittedly not always convenient—swing gate. Or perhaps the GX gets a tailgate now, but that’s a further stretch because that’s always been the provenance of the Land Cruiser. Or, perhaps, the GX gets a boring old liftgate now, which I surely hope not. 

Nonetheless, paired with the other teasers we’ve seen, we know that the GX’s uptown looks are going down in the mud, and I’m fine with that. What makes me nervous? I fear the V8 is going away, almost assuredly replaced with Toyota’s twin-turbo V6 and perhaps a hybrid system. It wouldn’t be a surprise because, with full-time four-wheel drive, I manage mid-teens mpg all the time, which is downright lousy. We’ll find out what’s under the hood and how the back opens on June 8. 

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