Fall is the air. My favorite time of year. While we lived in San Diego, my favorite fall activity was picking apples in Julian. Back in Arizona, the best fall activity is a day at the pumpkin patch in Prescott. My husband, son and I jumped in the 2013 Lexus GX460 last Saturday to experience the cooler weather and bring home a few pumpkins for carving.
Thankfully, we had plenty of room to do just that. At $.75 a pound, we splurged on a couple gigantic jack-o’-lanterns because it was so easy to fit them in the 4-door SUV – with 91.9 cubic feet of total cargo space, we even had room to fit the giant, stuffed witch Matt won at one of the carnival games. We could have invited more people to come along though instead because the GX460 seats up to seven and has third-row, collapsible seats. However, sometimes pumpkins and witches are just better company.
With the 4.6 V8 4X4 6-speed automatic engine and 15 mpg city/20 mpg highway, the hour drive each way was no hassle in this Lexus. The alloy wheels, all-season tires, paired with the multiple safety features, made the GX460 a pleasure to ride. We were not the only ones in Phoenix in mid-October who thought it would be great day to escape to Prescott – the roads were packed and a lot of frequent breaking made me a bit anxious as the driver. I did not get to utilize the cruise control much. However, like I mentioned, the GX460 is full of safety features: 4-wheel ABS, emergency braking assist, stability control, electronic brakeforce distribution, traction control and much more.
We did get beautiful weather while we were there, but it is comforting to know that the 2013 Lexus GX460 would have handled anything Mother Nature could have thrown at us. Variable intermittent rain sensing wipers and rear defogger took a backseat to the power glass sunroof that was open all day. With 75-degree weather and clear skies, we enjoyed taking it all in with this feature. The 4 one-touch windows were another way to enjoy the cool outside air, even though the interior air filtration and dual zone climate controls were a huge convenience once we got back into Phoenix. Either way, fall is in the air. This Lexus makes that even more enjoyable.
I will say that the entertainment of the pumpkin patch is hard to beat – my 3-year-old son Berrett got to run through a corn maze, pick out his very own pumpkin, jump around in the inflatables, play in a box full of corn, swing, slide, feed the petting zoo animals and dance. He was loving it. I, on the other hand, preferred the entertainment inside the Lexus SUV. We had Bluetooth, satellite radio, and 9 speakers with audio and cruise controls on the leather steering wheel. One form of entertainment that we did get to enjoy together at the pumpkin patch was the hayride. Farmer Buzz even let Berrett drive the tractor; not as safe or luxurious as the Lexus, but not many other vehicles are.
After a long day outside, it was great to experience the comfort of the 2013 Lexus GX460 on the way home from the pumpkin patch in Prescott. The 8-way power, bucket, leather driver and passenger seats with multi-level heating were so extremely comfortable, and I know Berrett’s reclining rear seat and folding with storage armrest put him to sleep right away – it could have also been the countless activities at the pumpkin patch, but I am certain the comfort of the Lexus helped keep him stay asleep the whole way home. Never wake a sleeping toddler, so we even drove around town a while longer after we returned to Phoenix so he could keep sleeping. After all, it is not like we were inconvenienced by driving the GX460.
