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With my boss' laundry list on his early ML, I stay faraway if you don't want to burn money. Luckily for my boss, who owns a celebrity type house and can afford to pay for some cars. I've seen my boss' receipts, it is mind-boggling and jaw dropping. You would think by him paying all this money to the dealership, he would get a rental, or a loaner, but he doesn't. As long as I've worked for him close to a decade, I've never seen a loaner car. If it was my friend, I would of yell and curse at him for keeping it. I'll be seeing the ML later today-lol.
We were considering the X5 but my husband didn't like its appearance in person, exterior or interior AT ALL. He wouldn't even sit in it lol. I may give one a spin this weekend. The GX I wanted to see was sold so I'll have to search for another. I have not read much about the Q7 but the body resembles a Chrysler Pacifica
Looking at pictures I can see the Pacifica-esqueness that you are mentioning, but in person and the overall vehicle itself...light years, light years apart from a Pacifica. I mentioned it precisely because it is consistently ranked as the best option in that class you are shopping in. If you aren't smitten with the Q7, then check out the Porsche Cayenne.
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Didn't care for the RX dash nor the tuna can RDX. I'm not obese nor exceptionally tall but at 5'9 I feel more comfortable in a mid-large size SUV. We also travel a lot and need some cargo space for pet carriers, luggage and such.
For what it's worth, the frontseat space in terms of leg, shoulder, hip and head room is pretty much the same between the smaller SUV's and their larger cousins. For instance, the RX actually has slightly more driver and front passenger space than the GX. Any difference is far more perception than reality. Also, I can't imagine how much stuff you would need to be taking with you for two people plus pets in carriers to not be able to make something like a RX, RDX or Q5 work.
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It would be wise of us to go with a smaller more fuel efficient vehicle but we want something bigger.
You want, what you want, no arguments from me. It does seem that you have very particular tastes and standards. Outside of the question marks on the ML, you can't go wrong in that class. So, just drive them all and pick the one you like best. There isn't much advice people can give you when your critiques are coming down to dash design, feeling like it's a "tuna can", not liking the styling or complaining of "ridiculous" road noise in one of the quietest SUV's in that class.
You want, what you want, no arguments from me. It does seem that you have very particular tastes and standards. Outside of the question marks on the ML, you can't go wrong in that class. So, just drive them all and pick the one you like best. There isn't much advice people can give you when your critiques are coming down to dash design, feeling like it's a "tuna can", not liking the styling or complaining of "ridiculous" road noise in one of the quietest SUV's in that class.
Right... it sounds more like a couple fighting over which SUV they're going to buy rather than a real inquiry as to which is best.
Looking at pictures I can see the Pacifica-esqueness that you are mentioning, but in person and the overall vehicle itself...light years, light years apart from a Pacifica. I mentioned it precisely because it is consistently ranked as the best option in that class you are shopping in. If you aren't smitten with the Q7, then check out the Porsche Cayenne.
For what it's worth, the frontseat space in terms of leg, shoulder, hip and head room is pretty much the same between the smaller SUV's and their larger cousins. For instance, the RX actually has slightly more driver and front passenger space than the GX. Any difference is far more perception than reality. Also, I can't imagine how much stuff you would need to be taking with you for two people plus pets in carriers to not be able to make something like a RX, RDX or Q5 work.
You want, what you want, no arguments from me. It does seem that you have very particular tastes and standards. Outside of the question marks on the ML, you can't go wrong in that class. So, just drive them all and pick the one you like best. There isn't much advice people can give you when your critiques are coming down to dash design, feeling like it's a "tuna can", not liking the styling or complaining of "ridiculous" road noise in one of the quietest SUV's in that class.
I must have driven poorly manufactured ones. A 2012 with 10k miles we took out the other day had more wind noise than our 06 Accord! I guess I just expected too much from a 40k vehicle.
I'll check out the others, RX and Q5.
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Originally Posted by mkarch
The cars you're looking at aren't that different from one another. Whomever is going to drive it should make the (largely superficial) decision on which model you go with. The MDX is the most practical choice. Why not just get separate cars if picking one midsize SUV is this difficult?
That would be me but considering he will be making the majority of the payment, I'm giving him a say. Sorry if someone being nitpicky while spending ~40K dollars bothers you lol
Last edited by meowmeow25; 05-17-2013 at 12:30 PM..
I love my ML ... BUT ... once they start throwing up lights and issues they sort of get used to the attention and do it all the time. I'm currently 1500 miles into a 3500 mile roadtrip with the check engine light showing, now it did go off for a short while yesterday when I mistakenly fed it Super instead of regular ($1.55 Canadian a litre :O ) but its back and it'll stay back probably until the day I find some sucker ... errr I mean sell it.
Cannot fault the ride quality or the handling especially on ice but .. maintenance
I've read many similar stories. Hope yours is just a gas issue. That's another reason I'm steering towards the MDX, even though it's loud I know maintenance isn't as high and we are familiar with build. Breaking out of the mold can be costly.
I must have driven poorly manufactured ones. A 2012 with 10k miles we took out the other day had more wind noise than our 06 Accord! I guess I just expected too much from a 40k vehicle.
I'll check out the others, RX and Q5.
My wife has always been a fan of the MDX and I get to try out a lot of vehicles in my line of work. There must have been something wrong with that one, because road/wind noise is pretty restrained, IMO.
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That would be me but considering he will be making the majority of the payment, I'm giving him a say. Sorry if someone being nitpicky while spending ~40K dollars bothers you lol
I don't think there is anything wrong in being nitpicky, it's just that once you get to the point of being nitpicky, there isn't much people on the forum can do to advise you. The RX is a great vehicle, but if you don't like the dash, you don't like the dash. I think you achieved the goal you were looking for. Everyone pretty much advised you to avoid the ML and gave a couple of other suggestions. At this point, it's all your personal preference.
That would be me but considering he will be making the majority of the payment, I'm giving him a say. Sorry if someone being nitpicky while spending ~40K dollars bothers you lol
Now it makes more sense. In that case the person paying for the majority of it should have final say. But that's neither here nor there.
Back to the car itself. There are a couple of considerations when buying a late model used 'luxury' vehicle that you haven't mentioned, so I'm guessing this is your first one. The big one is whether the vehicle is certified pre-owned. All of the manufacturers you listed do have certification programs, and I suggest you look into them. You might say "well, a 2012 is so new and still has a lot of factory warranty left" however, there's a lot more to it than that. It's a often a big red flag if the dealer is selling a late model luxury-type car without a CPO certification. Here's why.
Low mileage late model cars that were returned early have a much higher chance of having been involved in an unreported accident, or have some weird gremlin that wasn't easy to fix under warranty. Odds are the dealer knows or suspects this and chooses not to offer the vehicle as certified. Just because it's a 'luxury' dealer doesn't mean they're above this. Certain dealers in an area may actually specialize in re-selling these rejects passed on from the other nearby dealers. Usually it's the one dealer in the metro area located in the poorest neighborhood, but they can pop up anywhere.
On a good quality used car the CPO warranty costs the dealer and manufacturer very little, so naturally they select the best cars for inclusion in the program. Yes, you're paying more but you're also stacking the odds in your favor of getting a car that's in the top 25% instead of the bottom 25%. It's not a 100% certainty as mistakes are made, but the odds are better. If you're spending $40K - and that's a lot of money for you - an extra $2K or so to get the cream of the crop is well worth it over the course of ownership.
Bottom line, if you're going to buy a used $40K car, focus less on the nit picky details and more on the quality of the car itself. Otherwise, just buy a new one.
I vote for a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. Be different!
470HP, 8 speed automatic, and lots of goodies for around $60K!
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I must have driven poorly manufactured ones. A 2012 with 10k miles we took out the other day had more wind noise than our 06 Accord! I guess I just expected too much from a 40k vehicle.
