Hybrid Review: 2023 Lexus UX 250h

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My last drive of 2022 was also my saddest. It isn’t that the 2022 Lexus UX 250h is a dull vehicle — it’s an acknowledged appliance, and I’m fine with that. No, I’m sad because it underwhelms so directly and immediately. 

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The UX 250h is Lexus’ compact hybrid crossover, built from the same platform as the Corolla, Corolla Cross, and Prius. It’s a great little platform in those Toyota hatch configurations, delivering strong efficiency and reasonable value with an acknowledged economy feel. Stretched into a Lexus application, however, it simply doesn’t cut it. 

What you get for your near-50k presents acceptably on the showroom floor, with a modern external appearance and extensive use of leather and soft-touch surfaces all around. Standard driver assists are a plus from base, but it is surprising that heated seats are not equipped as standard. Rear legroom is reasonable for my 5-foot-8-inch frame, but boot space is quite shallow. Feature content highlights include dual-zone climate, adaptive cruise, smooth lane-tracing, and 10 airbags. Buyers will likely spruce up their experience with the $2,300 Elegance package, which adds a heated steering wheel, heated and ventilated front seats, active LED headlamps, blind-spot monitoring, rain-sensing wipers, and a moonroof. 

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Infotainment is on the small side at just seven inches, but brings Toyota-Lexus’ slick updated UI. The optional digital instrument cluster display feels a generation behind the centre display, but does what it needs to. Much more frustrating, however, is Toyota’s insistence on shoving subscription features in your face: if you opt to use a slicker Google Maps or Waze display over wireless CarPlay or Android Auto instead of paying for Toyota’s native system, the system defaults at every startup to a prompt to subscribe to Toyota’s service. It’s a disheartening reminder of the looming shift away from actually owning the features that our cars come ready for. 

It may be at the bottom of the Lexus lineup, but with a pre-tax starting price of $43,595 including freight, it doesn’t come cheap. With that cost (and brand reputation) comes a certain degree of expectation: even the baby Lexus should be smooth, quiet, and refined. 

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It isn’t, and from the first moment pulling out of the parking lot, my senses were disturbed. The UX 250h is buzzy, reluctant, and unpleasant. Vibrations flow through touch-points. At speeds below 30 km/h, the steering wheel and pedals transmit a rumble similar to the sensation of rusted wheel bearings. Above this speed, the engine and CVT buzz and whine under traffic-matching acceleration. It’s a noisy, vibratory experience I’d forgive in a value model like the Corolla, but not here.

Some degree of vibration is to be expected of a vehicle riding winter tires, but a Lexus is expected to insulate drivers from that. This tester is equipped with Continental WinterContacts, a familiar and wholly inoffensive tire on most any other vehicle. 

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NEW: Compare Lexus UX 250h specs and features using the Driving.ca research and compare tool

To be sure, the 2023 UX 250h throats up a little more than the Prius, its four cylinders displacing a larger 2.0 litres. Run through an efficient CVT, Toyota reports fuel economy figures of 5.7 L/100 km city and 6.2 L/100 km highway; regular drivers should expect figures closer to 8.0. It’s a respectable and commendably efficient setup, but it’s far from quick down the on-ramp. 

For all its disappointments, the UX 250h is still a reasonable, usable vehicle. Viewed with tempered expectations — as a pricey Prius trim package, perhaps — the UX 250h seems a more nicely appointed, handsome, and inviting Uber. Its compact footprint makes it an easy vehicle to maneuver around the city, all-whee- drive is helpful in winter driving, and its LED lighting is reassuring on rural back roads. The Toyota Venza is also good at all of these things, and is more honest about it. 

The UX 250h is a ticket to telling the Joneses that you own a Lexus, but if all you need is an easy, reliable, respectable way to putt around town, save $7,000 and buy a Prius. They’re actually kinda cool now.