2025 Lexus LM350h Review: The Rolls-Royce Of MPVs

It’s not often we focus our reviews of a car as a passenger. After all, most of you reading our takes on cars do so because you want to drive them, and generally, those sitting in the back are a mere afterthought.

But if you’re looking for a Lexus LM350h, this will be different. You’re probably either obscenely wealthy and want something to be chauffeured to your central London office, in charge of fleet for a VIP shuttling service, or you’re reading this in 2040, running a hen do package deal company buying one third-hand.

And so, the back of the LM is what matters. This is, after all, an MPV, and driving comes secondary to the happiness of its passengers. We’re delighted to report they should be rather happy with this Lexus.

We must go to the origins of the LM to explain some more. MPVs and ‘being cool’ don’t usually go hand-in-hand in the West, but thanks to the weird world of JDM minivans (naturally), it’s possible.

You see, while the LM is a new car to Lexus in Europe, this is in fact its second generation and is largely based on the existing JDM Toyota Alphard. The first was limited to select markets in Asia, predominantly China and curiously, despite being built there, not Japan.

What the Lexus LM350h isn’t, as a result, is a dreary seven-seat people mover. In fact, the one we’ve driven can only carry two people. Instead, it’s all about giving those select passengers shedloads of space and a load of toys to play with.

Activate the sliding doors, hop into one of the reclining leather seats, and you’re met with more gadgets than you could really think to play with. The seats themselves are heated and ventilated, and come with a massage function. In the centre of the armrests are two neat little smartphone-like remotes which allow you to control the rear climate, lighting, window shades, the seats themselves and the centrepiece of the whole rear, the 48-inch, 32:9 ultrawide screen.

Granted, not a lot of external media exists that will make full use of the full screen (unless you fancy somehow fitting a sim rig in the back of there), but you can plug devices in through a HDMI port housed between the two rear seats and with a 240v plug socket back there too.

It means, with a bit of trickery, you can get a Nintendo Switch in there. Which means Mario Kart on the move. Utterly delightful. That said, an HDMI port and socket below the screen itself would’ve been welcome to add more flexibility to the devices you can plug in there.

The display itself is crisp, though, and you can split it into two separate partitions in case your passengers want to ignore each other with headphones in and watch separate shows.

Below that display sits some pretty spacious storage areas, and there are a couple of Rolls-Royce-esque umbrellas hooked on either side in case the weather proves sour. A neat little addition, we think.

What if you want more seats, though? You can have the LM with six – two middle row, two rear – but you lose the screen and the reclining chairs. We haven’t tested that version, so we can’t say for sure what it’s like, but it certainly looks pretty spacious.

The best thing about the rear though, is how isolated from the fact you’re in a moving vehicle you can make it feel. Turn on the divider between the front and rear so you can pretend the driver doesn’t exist, put up the shades and just absorb yourself in the serenity.

Road noise is imperceptible in the back, and the LM rides buttery smooth both at high speed and when you’re being carted around town in traffic. Really, the only way you’ll have an uncomfortable time is if your driver decides to become a full helmsmith.

Which is unlikely, to be honest. For all the fun the LM is in the back, it’s no shock to learn it’s pretty average for whoever is behind the wheel. Don’t mistake this for criticism, because the LM is all about the party in the back and making sure the business up front is done well.

Steering is light-set and despite being such a large vehicle, the LM is quite easy to manoeuvre. Handily, it also comes with a 360-degree camera and digital rear-view mirror, which you will need if your passengers have decided to pretend you don’t exist and deploy the divider.

We wouldn’t call it fun to throw down a back road, although amusingly in its all-wheel drive form, 247bhp from its 2.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid setup and with an electric motor on the rear wheels, it’s possible to break traction and get a little sideways. Not that we’d advise it.

It’s not a rapid thing either, but having instantaneous torque from that motor means there’s enough pickup for it not to feel sluggish. Power delivery is smooth, and its CVT pretty bearable as far as they go – albeit still groans a fair bit when your foot is planted. Nature of the beast and all that.

Ah, price. A front-drive, six-seat Lexus LM350h starts at £94,595. You’ll need the all-wheel drive version to get a four-seater, and that’ll rise to a monstrous £117,595.

Eye-watering money for a people carrier, but then this is no ordinary minivan. It’s Rolls-Royce luxury without the expense, and well, no Roller lets you play Mario Kart in the back. Consider us sold.