Should you buy one?

The LBX is an agreeable car to drive and live with, but utterly lacks the X factor that should come with the Lexus badge, especially bearing in mind that the pricing is rather stiff.

It’s fairly refined and comfortable, it steers nicely, it feels well made and should offer decent economy. It’s also well equipped, with some pretty advanced features available higher up the price list. But when it’s up against cars from Europe’s established premium manufacturers, not to mention relative newcomers like DS, it needs to offer something special, which is where it falls short.

For some, especially those with previous experience of owning a Lexus, the name, the warranty and the dealer network will add up to sufficient reason to go for the LBX rather than, say, a Mini. But for us it fails to stand out in a crowded market.

You can see why Lexus has created the LBX: in search of new ways to continue its impressive SUV-led sales growth, it’s now building an SUV for a slightly different bunch of potential buyers. But the end result falls awkwardly between two stools by being not very Lexusy, in terms of luxury and sophistication, while being quite expensive for what remains at heart a perfectly decent Toyota.