Now you got me thinking... grrr.
http://www.siddillon.com/2004-Lexus-RX-330-Base-Blair-NE/vd/10526962
2004 RX330 - 14k - 130k miles.
Seems a bit high, but I am nearly positive she'd love something like this. I'd think it'd hold value a bit better than an Equinox, and still be stylish enough that we can hang on to it for while.
Biggest problem is the cost for the miles. Definitely better deals at the lower end of the spectrum. I'd assume Toyota engine reliability with a nicer interior. May have to toss this one up to the wife and see what she thinks. The beauty of it is that the local dealer has it on their lot.
Sorry about that. :whiste:
And I'd take that Lexus over the Subaru any day....more comfortable, quieter, better built, and will hold its value much better than darned near anything else in its class---outside maybe an MB. And for that price, I'd take that RX330 in a moment. I live on Cape Cod and around here, that price would've been a bargain.
Add to that the fact that the Lexus is more likely to be adult owned and maintained vs. the Subarus that are very trendy with the 20-30 y.o. crowd---a group not known for meticulous maintenance or upkeep and honestly, that group is also known for being harder on vehicles than older groups. Don't blast me--I remember how I was at that age and most cars favored by that age group seem to be beaten harder than vehicles favored by "older" age groups. I know, everyone here treats their cars like precious jewels, but y'all are most certainly the exceptions, not the rule.
We looked at the RX line when we bought our Murano last year. If we hadn't gotten the deal we got on the Murano, we'd have a used RX300 out in the driveway right now. In a peculiar twist, we were on our way to look at a 2001 RX300 when my wife spied the Murano we ended up buying.
It was a private seller, the vehicle was parked at a curb. I hadn't even considered the Murano as a viable option---CVT for one reason. But got a helluva deal on it: 2003 Murano with 72K on the clock, all maintenance records, very well kept (back seats and storage area didn't even look like they'd been used), had HID lights, had recently replaced tires, a set of not-so-cheap Goodyear Eagle LS's--horrible tires which got taken off and replaced with the Continental CrossContact LX's on the Murano right now, but the Goodyear's were almost the same price as the Conti's. Guess the Nissan dealer she got the tires from convinced her to put the original spec'd tires back on. But she laid out some coin for those crappy Goodyears.
I always look at the tires when buying a vehicle. If the tires are cheap, like Coopers or Pep Boy specials, I'll move along---if you cannot afford good tires, you probably couldn't afford proper preventative maintenance on the vehicle, either.
And we'd already gone through darned near every small-to-mid-sized SUV on the market....of course, we did/do have specific requirements, such as a minimum towing capacity of 3500# (we boat), large enough to ferry the two of us and our four dogs (Chow, Lab, Golden, and Aussie shepherd) without too much fuss, and the seats had to be comfortable for me. I have a partially herniated disc, L10-11, and most car seats have too aggressive a lumbar section which press right against the disc, so cannot tolerate most for any length of time greater than a half hour.
What we found:
RAV4, CR-V---both nice, but too darned small and both disqualified due to poor towing capacities
Highlander--very nice vehicle but the seats were uncomfortable for me and it had to have a tow package factory installed to get a 3500# tow capacity---darned hard to find
Pilot--worse seats than the Highlander and again, needed a factory tow package to get a higher towing capacity than the standard 1500# rating
Mazda CX-5--it's a Mazda and to me, completely unimpressive...rust issues, sorta goofy looking, uncomfortable, etc.
Hyundai Tucson and Santa Fe--both nice, but sorta funky interiors and exteriors, seats were so-so, and towing issues again
Tried to find a Mitusbishi to look at, but most were trashed in our price range
Subarus--fairly ubiquitous around these parts, but cruder sounding/feeling engines (sorry, Subaru fanbois, but flat 4 engines just never have impressed me over the decades....guess that's why very few car companies produce them, outside VW Bugs and Porsche 911), funky interiors and exteriors (really hate most of Subaru's styling---I don't love Japanese semi-sci-fi inspired designs, which Subaru seems to adhere to), the entry/exit was lower than on the other SUVs we looked at (important for us as we have become caretakers of my wife's 83 y.o father, who, after suffering a severe heart attack a year ago has become somewhat incapacitated and is almost unable to now get out of his Camry, so any low sitting vehicle became a no-go...had to have seats about standing height).
So, just my rambling incoherent thoughts about the mid-sized SUV market.