Lexus UX 250h boot space & seating

Space for passengers inside the Lexus UX is adequate, but whoever you bring along for the ride will have to pack light; the compact SUV gets a small boot and limited storage solutions. There’s room for two average-sized adults in the back seats, however, and there’s plenty of adjustment in the driver's seat and overly-chunky steering wheel.

Lexus UX interior space, storage & comfort

If you’re sitting up front, the UX feels spacious and comfortable. There’s loads of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel for even the tallest or smallest drivers to get comfortable. The biggest annoyance is a steering wheel rim that's too fat and squidgy, and visibility to the rear three-quarters is quite poor. Otherwise, the seats – as in any modern Lexus – are super-plush, and support you in all the right places. Even after several hundred miles, you can get out feeling as fresh as when you got in.

Space in the back is adequate rather than generous. The door aperture is quite narrow and the roofline surprisingly low, so access isn't great, but headroom when you're in is actually surprisingly generous given the sloping roofline, while average-sized adults won’t be left wanting for knee room, either. Three across the back will be a squeeze.

There are ISOFIX fittings on both outer rear seats, of course, but this isn't a family-friendly SUV. It's easy to bash your head on the sloping roof as you lean into the rear seats, and the soft, almost velvet-like upholstery that's standard on the base car will be ruined in days if not hours by tiny, muddy boots. There's no durable, wipe-clean upholstery or plastic seat-backing to protect against your kids kicking the front seats, here. The UX is a style statement, not a family SUV.

When it comes to interior storage, most drivers will feel sufficiently catered for. There’s a leather-lidded cubby between the front seats that hides a couple of USB inputs and some phone storage, as well as a pair of cup-holders ahead of the infotainment touchpad and gearlever.

The cheap-feeling glovebox (one of the only areas that lets quality slip, in fact) is a good enough size, and there are door bins for bottles and loose items in the front doors. Storage in the back seats is poor, with only one map pocket and no door bins.

Boot space

The UX will hold 438 litres with the rear seats in place and 1,231 with them down. That's pretty small for an SUV, and the load lip is extremely high which will make it awkward to load heavy items. On front-wheel-drive cars, you do at least get a sliver of under-floor storage that helps improve matters, but on the four-wheel-drive version you lose even that. However, it does appear generous next to the Honda HR-V, which only has 319 litres of load space. This at least expands to 1,289 litres when the rear seats are folded down.

Both come with an odd, flexible sun shade instead of a normal parcel shelf that feels particularly cheap. Of course, you can fold the seats down, but even then the UX is trumped by many of its petrol or diesel rivals. There are plenty of standard family hatchbacks out there that offer far better practicality than the UX.