Car Deal of the Day: a luxurious Lexus NX plug-in hybrid SUV for £281 per month

• Premium crossover majors on quality and equipment
• Economical plug-in hybrid system, and smooth to drive
• £3,611 down and £281 per month

Shopping for a car can feel a little overwhelming at the moment. The diesel power once favoured by many drivers is basically extinct, petrol cars can cost a fortune to run in larger vehicles, and then there are all the new electric cars, which are better to drive than ever and go further than ever on a charge, but still aren’t suitable for all buyers.

It’s just as well that you can still buy hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles then, which are as familiar as petrols, cost as little to run as diesels, and don’t require quite as much re-learning as an electric car. Toyota and its luxury arm Lexus are experts in hybrid tech, and it’s the Toyota RAV4-based Lexus NX that is the focus of our latest Car Deal of the Day.

In particular, it’s a £281-per-month lease deal from Evans Halshaw Leasing, through our parent site Carwow, which we’ve got a beady eye on. It’s a 24-month deal with a 5,000-mile annual allowance, and one of the attractive things about it, other than the modest monthly outlay, is a relatively small initial payment of £3,611.44.

That doesn’t seem like much money for quite a lot of car. The Lexus NX isn’t the sort of prestige family crossover designed to entertain the driver – you’ll need to look towards a BMW X3 or an Alfa Romeo Stelvio for that – but when it comes to factors like quality, comfort, and equipment, the NX scores highly.

This Lexus NX 450h+ Premium comes with the latest iteration of the brand’s 2.5-litre plug-in hybrid system. Essentially, it operates much like the brand’s regular “self-charging” hybrids, but there’s enough battery capacity for just over 45 miles of pure-EV range, and in our hands, our old long-term NX 450h averaged more than 70mpg with regular top-ups.

With 309bhp, it’s a fair bit more powerful than hybrids of old, and Lexus says it’ll get from 0-62mph in 6.3 seconds. If you’re really lead-footed, then you’ll hear some engine noise under hard acceleration, but most of the time the NX is pretty silent too, just as a luxury car should be. In this more powerful form, it’s also all-wheel drive, for extra reassurance over winter.

The NX’s cabin is smart, with a 14-inch touchscreen, 10-speaker audio and excellent quality, while Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are both standard. In some ways, it’s a shame this deal means you’ll only spend two years with the NX, because the chances are you’ll get to the end of the term and want to hang onto it for longer.

The Car Deal of the Day selections we make are taken from our sister site Carwow. Terms and conditions apply, while prices and offers are subject to change and limited availability. If the deal expires, you can find more top leasing deals on Carwow’s leasing hub page...

Check out the Lexus NX Hybrid Car Deal of the Day or take a look at our previous Car Deal of the Day here...