Compact Luxury really is a thing, and few cars do it better than the 2024 Lexus NX.
You can get the NX as a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid or a gasoline-only vehicle for 2024. You can even get it in the classic Toyota / Lexus F-Sport trim, if you want a Tracy Chapman (Luke Combs) ‘Fast Car’; not that the NX really ever goes all that fast, but this trim does make you feel rather ‘Sporty’ with a little ‘Spice’ to it.
(I did test the F Sport trim, seen here. Loved it. I felt easy and breezy, just like the young Patty Simcox from Grease singing The Beach Boys song Fun Fun Fun. Yes, I am old, but I really don’t remember Fred Flintstone being in my stone carving class.)
The NX starts at just under $40K US, so, yes, compact luxury does not come cheap. But there is much that you get for your dollar – including a new interior color called Macadamia.
And – it is considered an SUV. Albeit small SUV, if you will, so know that before you step (carefully) inside.
That means (yes!) this is meant just for you and your best whomever and your small animal friend when you are not buying tons of bulk paper products all in one weekend.
Standard features are considerable: power adjustable heated front-seats, power liftgate, synthetic leather upholstery, 10-speaker sound system, front / rear parking sensors with automatic braking, emergency steering, lane-keep assist, blind-spot warning, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control … to name a few.
Again, the thing to keep in mind with a car this ‘compact’ is that it really is meant for just you and your partner. If you will be driving around your friends and family (often), or even your Great Dane, you may want to go up the food chain to, say, the Lexus RX or even the TX. I tested the brand-new 2024 TX around the end-of-year holidays last year. That was fun, in a really big way. Here is my review from a men’s magazine.
Car and Driver calls this year’s NX “perfectly pleasant” but vanilla. Yet, “it’s a tasty vanilla, though.” And what’s wrong with that?
I feel too often we as LGBT+ get caught up in our own fabulousness and need to have everything in our lives be a stage production, ‘round the clock, even when we are trying to take off our self-imposed girdles.
True, when we are paying this kind of money for a car, we expect more than just vanilla (Neapolitan Ice Cream at the very least). Or at least Premium Vanilla.
But as we glide into a more mature gay lifestyle for the 21st Century, I vote for a slowing of sorts. Time to not necessarily take it down a notch, but just maybe slow down the speed a bit. Vanilla is often a root flavor for many things more tasty.
So perhaps the 2024 Lexus NX is a root ingredient for a better, more simple and fantastic life while all around you is just a bit too much noise. Just a thought.
I am definitely into a stop-and-smell nature as intended these days.
While we still have it!
