Lexus GX 460 now passes our test

Consumer Reports is lifting the Don't Buy: Safety Risk designation from the 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUV after recall work corrected the problem it displayed in one of our emergency handling tests.

We reported last month (available to subscribers) that when we pushed our GX 460 to its limits in a test we use to evaluate what's called lift-off oversteer, the rear end slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways. That could cause a rear tire to strike a curb or to slide off the pavement, possibly causing the vehicle to roll over.

After our testing, Lexus halted sales of the SUV and issued a recall of the 9,400 GX 460s that had been sold. Its parent company, Toyota, upgraded the software for the vehicle's electronic stability control system, which was supposed to prevent the problem. We had the recall work performed on our GX 460 by a Lexus dealer and again put the SUV through our series of emergency handling tests. This time it did not slide out in the lift-off oversteer test. Instead, the stability control kicked in earlier, making the vehicle more secure and forgiving. We urge all affected GX 460 owners to have the recall work performed as soon as possible.

The repaired GX 460s have gone back on sale, and we will publish the results of our full test of the vehicle in an upcoming issue.