Used 2021 Lexus UX 250h Base for sale 

UX 250h comes in three distinct trims – the base, the F Sport, and the top-end Luxury trim. All the trims get a minor price bump for the 2021 Model-Year, and the price ranges from $35,100 for the base trim and goes all the way up to $39,800 for the highest-end trim. For 2021, a new rear cargo adjustable, double-decker board is added to expand cargo storage and blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are now offered as standard.

UX 250h base trim starts at $35,100 and offers some decent basic features, such as dual-zone climate control, bi-LED headlamps, eight-way power-adjustable front seats, smart access with push-button start or stop, etc. – most of the standard features you’d expect at this price range.

UX 250h Luxury is the highest end trim demanding a price of $39,800 and it also includes the base trim specs and features wirelessly powered LED-illuminated air vent knobs, a power rear liftgate, a 10.3” infotainment display, and a powered moonroof.

Lexus has forged an enviable reputation for reliability and customer care and these are among the brand's key attributes. The Japanese premium brand also enjoys a reputation for technology and sophistication, to which the UX's long list of standard and optional safety equipment lends credence. 

Lexus has been named the “Most Reliable Brand” by JD Reports for nine straight years. Now that is some feat. They have scored 79 out of 100 points on the Reliability Index, an extremely pleasing score. 

Reliability and Ownership Costs

Being a Lexus, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that J.D. Power gives it 4.5 stars for reliability, which is a truly stunning score. According to customer reviews, it has consistently been rated 5 out 5 stars, owing to Lexus’ legendary reliability status.

The Lexus UX benefits from excellent reliability as the Consumer Reports testing resulted in a perfect score. The test noted that the engine, transmission, and all other major components should stand the test of time.

When the new Lexus comes out, expect to pay $35,100 for the base trim, a slight bump over the original asking price of $34,500 for the 2020 MY.

The UX utilizes the Toyota CH-R’s platform, and, as a result, parts availability for long term maintenance should be widespread. In terms of ownership cost, the brand new Lexus UX 200 will cost you around $50,000 in 5 years; though the figure is not revealed, it will reflect somewhere near to it.

According to the NHTSA, the 2020 Lexus UX 200 is rated 5 out of 5 for overall safety without any recalls and complaints. It shows that the structure of this car is durable and the strength of this vehicle is robust.

Warranty

Lexus offers a reasonably decent warranty package of 4 years/50,000 miles (whichever comes earlier) for the basic bumper-to-bumper warranty and six an years/70,000 miles for the powertrain warranty. Being a hybrid vehicle, it obviously includes the electrical components warranty of 8 years/100,000 miles, which is pretty standard. The roadside assistance can be availed 24x7 and for a period of 4 years. Plus, Lexus also includes free scheduled maintenance for 1 year or 10,000 miles.

Talking about the opponents, the Mini Cooper comes with a 4 years/50,000 miles basic and powertrain warranty, while the Mitsubishi offers a much more lucrative five year/60,000 mile basic and 10 year/100,000 miles warranty. Meanwhile, the Toyota comes with a pretty basic 3 years/36,000 miles warranty and five years/60,000 miles for powertrain, and a fair two years/25,000 miles for maintenance.

Miles Per Dollar

Lexus offers an excellent 42 mpg, and the current gas price in recent times in the US is around $2.12. Factoring in these numbers, the average Miles Per Dollar (MPD) is about 19.81, meaning that you can go for approximately 19.81 miles in your UX 250h for $1, which is amazing.

If you want to get your hands on the new Lexus hybrid, we’d recommend going with the base trim. But it’d be better to go with the F Sport variant if you want a better, sportier version of the same car. The UX 250h is a pretty decent hybrid with good practicality and excellent fuel economy. The F Sport adds some niceties like F Sport leather-wrapped steering wheel, seats, and tuned suspension. It's the better deal for people who are looking for the sportier version of the UX hybrid. You also get the legendary Lexus reliability, which adds more and more trust.

Is buying a used Lexus UX 250h a good idea?

Lexus UX holds its value moderately well. Over a period of 5 years, the UX 250h is expected to have a depreciation rate of 46%. Overall, the value after 5 years is expected to be about $19,000. Over one year, the expected depreciation is around 13% or so, decent for this segment’s vehicle.

If you want to buy a used UX, it's best to look out for the 2018 model years, as they can be found for a decent value if you play your cards right. You can find one for around 71% of their original value. Also, being a relatively newer model has no risk of any significant depreciation over the years. Also, look out for the 2016- and 2017-year models.

2021 Lexus UX 250h will be powered by a 2.0-liter I4 that produces a mediocre 181 horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque. This is coupled with integrated dual electric motor-generators and a nickel-metal hydride battery pack. The choice transmission is a 2-speed CVT w/OD, since it is a hybrid machine, and it features an All Wheel Drive drivetrain. The electric motor hits when you need that extra torque or whenever you need an extra little speed boost.

There's no getting away from the fact that you need to keep the engine boiling at the top of its rev range to make any serious headway. This can get tedious when overtaking or merging onto the highway. The engine is quiet most of the time, but it sounds a bit rough under full load. Luckily, Lexus employs an Active Sound Control system to pump in a bit of fake engine noise, which sounds better than the four-cylinder groan from under the hood.

None of these throws respectable output figures, but the Toyota RAV4 comes close with 291 horsepower. The Lexus comes second in the horsepower race, while the Mitsubishi comes last. The RAV4 offers the best power output while being the cheapest of the bunch. Price to performance-wise, the RAV4 is the best, while the Lexus does okay too.

2021 Lexus UX 250h Acceleration and Braking Performance

The UX 250h has a 0-60 MPH time of 8.1 seconds, and it crosses the quarter-mile in 16.2 seconds. Those are not heart-pumping figures, but they are somewhat okay-ish, considering the humble engine at the heart of the Lexus.

Brake feel is reassuring, which helps make the UX easy to drive. Emergency braking performance, however, is lacking. The Lexus comes with 12” front rotors, which can stop it from 60-0 MPH in just 119 ft. The Outlander performs similarly, but the RAV4 takes well over 140 ft to come to a halt, which isn’t very impressive.

The Mini Cooper and Toyota are the fastest on the list, even though they offer pretty low figures. The Lexus takes 8.1 secs, but the Mitsubishi takes even more, 9.2 seconds, to finally reach from 0-60 MPH. The RAV4 offers the best quarter-mile timing, but it also comes with the most flawed set of brakes.

Lexus has hit the top marks with the UX 250h when it comes to fuel economy. It offers some of the best fuel economy figures in the crossover SUV market. Being a hybrid, it thoroughly benefits from the electric motors to provide it the extra juice needed to go the extra mile. 

The city/highway/combined driving figures are 43/41/42 MPG, respectively, which are incredibly pleasing figures for anyone. These are some of the best in the American market, as of now. Offering a tank size of 10.6 gallons, the Lexus can easily go over 400 miles, which should be more than enough for anyone looking to travel long distances.

Lexus offers the best fuel economy, with the Toyota following in behind pretty closely. The Mini Cooper and Mitsubishi are way far behind. Due to Toyota’s large tank size, it offers a significantly better range than the UX, more than 100 miles. Truly amazing.

Aimed at being a mid-range luxury crossover, the Lexus should feel like it, and it does. The seats are quite comfortably bolstered and offering good support. The front row seats are eight-way power-adjustable, and the driver's seat also has two-way lumbar support. Spacing is another major win for the front row, as it offers pretty vast legroom and also a headroom for comfort. The front row feels pretty airy. However, all that changes when you shift to the rear row. 

The rear row is plagued by lack of space, especially leg space, as legroom takes a big hit here. The rear row also has a slightly lesser headroom, although that’s not the main concern here. The steering wheel is wrapped in leather, and the shift knobs are too. Also, the color contrast feels pretty lovely on the inside. Overall, this interior shouldn’t disappoint many.

According to the charts, the Lexus offers the best front row legroom while providing the least rear row legroom. Talking about overall passenger capacity and spacing, the Mitsubishi takes the cake, while Toyota does pretty well. The Mini does offer pretty good headroom, and its rear row is a bit more spacious than the Lexus.

The UX offers 21.7 cubic feet of trunk space with the 60/40-split-folding rear seats in the upright position, dropping to 17.1 cubes on Hybrid models. You should be able to squeeze four average-sized suitcases in the regular derivative.

How’s the 2021 Lexus UX 250h’s infotainment system?

The vanilla UX 250h trim comes equipped with a 7” touchscreen while the Luxury trim gets a 10.3” split-screen system. The screen can be a bit unresponsive and laggy at times, but it does come loaded with almost all the modern features you expect, and they mostly get your job done in the long run. Some of which are:

• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
• Lexus Enform Wi-Fi with 4 GB/3-month trial
• Lexus Enform App Suite 2.0
• Lexus Enform Remote
• Bluetooth Streaming
• Voice command
• 4 USB Ports

Other options include an 8-speaker premium audio system, a heads-up display, a self-dimming rearview mirror with universal garage remote, wireless charging, and a heated steering wheel. The infotainment system leaves a lot to be desired. Some of the controls are in unusual locations, such as the audio knobs on the center console. The system's menus are complicated, and the Remote Touch controller is an unwieldy way to make selections.

Lexus produces some of the best-looking and most stylish vehicles on the market, and the UX is the smallest crossover they produce. The front features the sharp and angled twin-LED headlights, which are trademark Lexus headlights. The trademark Lexus front grille also adorns the front fascia and makes them look even more sporty and sensual. The sides are quite small and don’t look like they belong to a crossover. 

The rear fenders and the rear of the car are somewhat subtle and don’t emanate the same aggressive aura as the front. Although, the rear tail lights still look pretty cool with their sharp and angled cuts and shapes. The rear glass is slightly sloping, which further adds a nice little touch to the aesthetic.

To complement this styling are some vivid colors like Cadmium Orange and Redline. The UX has 18-inch alloy wheels as standard. The UX 250h doesn’t shout about its hybrid character but rather whispers it with that lower-case “h” on its rear badge. Otherwise, it’s virtually indistinguishable from the UX 200.

Lexus is the lightest vehicle of the bunch, and it also has the highest ground clearance. The Mitsubishi is the lengthiest, while the Mini Cooper is the least lengthy. The Toyota is the widest, but the Lexus also comes close. Overall, the Toyota and its brother, the Lexus, are both high off the ground, while the Mini Cooper is the lowest-slung car on the chart.

Lexus UX 250h does excellent in the safety benchmarks, too, scoring a 5-star rating on NHTSA, and it also scored “GOOD” on all the six Crashworthiness tests conducted by IIHS. It was also awarded the Top Safety Pick for 2020, which speaks volumes about the UX’s excellent safety. 

Since the 2021 UX will feature the same chassis and exterior design, it’s fair to say that the 2021 model will also fare quite well in the long run. Some of the noteworthy safety and driver assistance features of the 2021 UX 250h are:

• Back-up Camera with dynamic gridlines
• 10-airbag system
• Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert
• Stability control
• Rain-sensing windshield wipers
• Rigid body structure with crumple zones

2021 Lexus UX 250h vs. Mini Countryman PHEV

There isn’t a lot to go on here as the Countryman is truly an underperforming machine when faced against the Lexus. It does offer better acceleration and also a more spacious interior, but other than that, the wins for the Mini Cooper are almost none. Pricing doesn’t help it either. Overall, the Lexus is a more practical crossover.

2021 Lexus UX 250h vs. Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

It’s almost the same story as with the Mini Cooper here. The Outlander truly is an underachiever against the Lexus. The Lexus offers better interiors, exterior design, acceleration, fuel economy, and overall better practicality. The Outlander isn’t an ideal option when compared against the Lexus.

2021 Lexus UX 250h vs. Toyota RAV4 Hybrid

Both sharing DNA of the same company, the parent gets the better choice here. The RAV4 hybrid costs less and offers better performance, power, fuel range, interior spacing, and features than Lexus. Granted, the Lexus has a more luxurious feel to it, but in raw practicality, the RAV4 is the better Toyota to get here.

Lexus UX 250h is definitely a very decent crossover, one of the smallest of its kind. It offers a pretty respectable level of luxury, okay-ish performance for an SUV, good practicality, and extremely safe features. Backing that up is the legendary Lexus reliability and also the scheduled maintenance.

Being a hybrid, you also get an immense fuel economy with an extraordinary range, which makes making this purchase decision a bit easier. The Toyota RAV4 is a great alternative but if you want a more visually appealing more luxurious crossover, then the UX 250h might just be the next one.