Looking at new car for the admiral

BillK2632

BillK2632

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2009
2,917
Lake Norman, NC
Boat Info
2014 Cobalt R5
Engines
Volvo Penta V8-300 DPS
So wife has a 2006 Lexus RX 330. It's her second RX, both white, she isn't into cars at all, typical Lexus, 150k miles and virtually no problems. I always thought we would keep buying Lexus's, we have had several, I currently have a 2004 LS430. All of our Lexus's have been pretty much trouble free and all have gone way over 100k miles - the LS is at 140k and the RX 145k. My old ES had 180k when I sold it to a friend and it now has over 200k still looks and runs great. So, we really should stick with what works and get another Lexus, but we really don't care much for the styling of the new one's - especially the SUV's. We probably will not get another one, at least for my wife - more than anything she wan'ts something different.
I know there are a lot of car guys here and probably people that own the ones we are looking at. Anything we get will either be new or < 3yrs old and certified pre-owned.

1. Audi Q5 - seems to be what wife likes most at this point. Maintenance and reliability is a concern. Have also heard about oil consumption problems that I am not sure are fixed in new models.

2. Volvo XC60 - We have had several Volvos (740,850,V70 Wagon, and 2 S60s) only minor problems with any of them - not trouble free like a Lexus, but all were good cars. Not sold on Volvo's new 4 cylinder engine that they put in everything now and am hearing about oil consumption issues with their engines also. Otherwise we like the look and styling of the XC60.

3. Acura RDX - Never had an Acura and only one Honda. I think this would be the most reliable of the 3, but not sure we like the styling over the Audi or Volvo.

4. BMW X3 - I had a 325e that was a really good car and other than the maintenance no problems to 150k. Naturally aspirated 6cylinder 5sp -- but they don't build them like that anymore. I hear maintenance nightmares - maybe hearsay, I just don't know.

If you have had any of these - newer models let me know what you think.
 
Acura yes
Audi is lipstick on a pig (pretty on the outside)
Volvo for soccer moms and grand parents
BMW nice but after a Lexus I don’t think you will like the ride
 
I’d take a serious look at the Acura. We have had a few. Me a Few TLs. Admiral has an MDX. In typical Honda fashion, short on frills but reliable.
 
I don't have any experience with the first three but I bought my wife an X3 several years ago and it had a bunch of problems. If you like to work on cars yourself, it seems like BMW makes them hard to fix on purpose and it's near impossible to find any info/specs when you need it. I would never get another BMW after that.
 
Wife had an Audi S5 coupe and is now in an S7. Both move quite well and the interior materials/fit/finish is great.
Right now the S7 has a service bulletin/campaign out for an oil screen that can block flow to the turbos - but no fix as of yet!
My car is the grocery getter Audi A5 S line coupe. Very few problems until about a month ago - then four things popped up.
We are leaving it at the shop while on vaca and expect to have a 3K+ bill waiting when I get home. But it has 115k+ miles on it. I love this car.

I've owned one Honda and two Acuras in my life and the wife had an RL in the early 2000's The RL was nice - really nice.
The Integra I had back in the early 90's was ok. The TLX I had for about a year in 2015 was the most uninspiring thing I've ever drove in my life but reliable. When stuff went wrong on the Acuras, my wallet did not burst in to flames like it does with th Audis. So how did I end up in a car that I really did not like?... Loved the looks but the biggest POS I ever owned was an Infiniti Q50s. At least once a month something was wrong. Almost all of it fixed under warranty but shortly after the warranty crapped out so did the fore/aft motor for the driver seat - $3000 to fix because some one thought integrating the seat motor in to the seat frame was a good idea. When they said they could not get it fixed under warranty, I drove two dealerships over to the Acura dealership and impulse bought the TLX - dumb. Had it just over a year and then bought my A5.

When Audi's break, and in my experience it's certainly more often the Acuras, but not twice as much, fixing them is expensive.
Love the reliability of the Acuras but with the exception of their top tier car and SUV, it's a Honda with nicer plastic and more sound deadening.
 
BillK2632 said:
So, we really should stick with what works and get another Lexus, but we really don't care much for the styling of the new one's - especially the SUV's.
Click to expand...

They might as well put an auger on the front and you can do the driveway with it :eek:
 
You nailed it on the issue with Lexus. I just can't get over their styling. I'm sure we have to be a minority because it's persisted year after year after year.

Way back we had an ES and it was bulletproof. Never had an issue in over 100k miles. By the time it was ready for replacement the styling changed and we went elsewhere.

Now has a BMW 535i. Has 65k miles on it. We think it's a pretty car and like it's high speed ride and stability. That said, we've had a couple of very pricey repairs $5-6k) even tho it's driven very gently by my wife. Also, the human interface is infuriatingly unintuitive and way overly complex for the simplest of things. We're probably close to replacing it and it won't be with another BMW.

Audi is on the list but I wonder if they are just another BMW in different clothing.

I've owned an Acura before with good results and I'm sure the RDX is very nice and reliable but just seems invisible and I wonder about resale.

Never owned a more modern Mercedes but some of their SUVs look pretty good.
 
We have driven Lexus Cars and SUV's since th e early 90's. Lots of miles bertween Tennessee and Florida and the only money I have had to spend on them was for tires and regular maintenance. We have a 2010 GX that has 150K miles on it and it looks and runs like new. We were ready to do something else and after looking around we traded our old 2005 LS430 for a new GX and love it. I gave my 130K mile RX to our grandson who was heading to college about 4 hours from their home and I kept the 2010 GX as an every day driver.

My wife and I didn't like the front end appearance of the new Lexus cars/suvs but she has a way of boiling things down to the brass tacks…..we were discussing the look of the new GX and she admitted that niether of us liked the look of the grill but she opined that we ride inside the car and we cannot see the gril from that viewpoint. I usually run the miles off a car so this is the first Lexus we have had with all the modern electronic safety features and we love it.

Stick with what works for you………..




Frank
 
Don’t be a fool stick with Lexus

however this gls450 my wife drives has been trouble free…. But might have got lucky

86EACF40-E019-4B03-90B6-B313178351B3.jpeg
 
I am going to throw this out there... My daughter recently moved from a Toyota Rav4 Hybrid to a Hyundai Palisade. She loves it and I am pretty impressed with the quality and features available for the price point. Additionally, the 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain, 5 year/60,000 new vehicle limited, 7 year / unlimited miles anti-perforation, 5 years/unlimited miles 24/7 roadside assistance is very nice also.
 
Stingrayaxe said:
I'd go with the BMW. Just think, with the BMW you don't have to use turn signals and you can disregard lines in parking lots.
Click to expand...
Somewhere in the “Joke Tread” there is a meme of a new BMW driver orientation video being watched by a new BMW owner. It was titled “How To Drive Like An A-Hole”.
 
My wife has a BMW X3 - it is expensive to maintain. It is a 2018 and only has 25,000 miles. She had a Mercedes SUV prior and the engine went out at 40,000 miles. It was a manufacturing engine block defect. But was a lot of issues after the engine was replaced. Primarily dealer induced. I have a 4Runner and it is trouble-free other than maintenance. It is a gas guzzler and the trim and such is not the quality of probably a Lexus. But after having multiple BMWs - I appreciate the lower cost of ownership and hassles.
 
I’ll play, GO TESLA. Joking I hate the looks of the Lexus also if your going for looks the Germans nailed it reliability is another thing. These premium brands in my opinion are just rebadged Hondas,Toyotas,Nissans, the interiors are cheap feeling you can’t beat the interior quality if a German import.
I have an AUDI S5 Coupe although not a daily driver I really like the comfort and fit and finish I get compliments daily on how beautiful it is. The quality is great I just hope it never gets the bugs they’re known for. AUDI Q7 is another beauty.
 
I got my first Acura in 1986 when I stumbled onto one of the first dealerships in San Francisco and bought a Legend sedan. Great car that lasted until the late 90's when I thought I needed something more utilitarian and had a pickup for a few years. I bought an MDX in its first year (2001) and have had Acura SUV's ever since, MDX's until 2019 when I went with the RDX. FWIW, I have never, ever had a failure that required a repair, just regular maintenance visits. Resale as a percentage of initial cost has always been very favorable.
 
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