so my mom bought a new bmw x3.

[hans007]

here are my impressions.


i am a biased suv hater, but i'd have to say that next to my dad's acura mdx, it seems like its a lower riding, car with a lower center of gravity.
basically its more like, a 3 series wagon with 18" rims and all wheel drive. its pretty short compared to her old car so i figure it probably is much more car like. from reviews i've seen it seems like it's got a very sporty car like suspension, which makes it horrible off the road but im sure better on the road. then again you coulda just bought a regular car but mom says its "safer" since kill or be killed i suppose. little does she know i want to buy an mr2 spyder some day haha. i will be killed by people like my mom. the car does look kinda cool, its not as wide or shuttlecraft looking as her old rx300.

women btw i think are easily swayed by car salesmen. she had said for months and months that she needed a navigation unit and leather. and that the 2.5 L bmw engine was plenty powerful even though i said it was not even in a 325i.

so she comes home today with a bmw x3 3.0 with pleather, and no nav unit. but it was in the color she liked and was in dealer stock. good lord.

 

[Nebor]

Wait, Pleather? Take that sh!t back.

 

[hans007]

yeah the only thing i can say about the pleather, is its better than cloth. its more of a vinyl actually. unless i'm on crack and somehow that is like just the toughest worst leather i've ever felt. i i think she downgraded a lot from her last car. her last car was a '99 rx300 and it had real leather. and a better stereo with a 6 disk changer which this one does not have. a new rx330 i'm pretty sure would acost less, then again it doesnt feel as good driving it and looks like an escape pod from a spaceship. my mom didnt even like the handling on it, and its my mom. oh she just wanted a new car, and well bmw prestige i guess. women dig the car prestige. so terrible.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Pleather :disgust: Ugh.

 

[NutBucket]

"Sensatec upholstery"

And sorry, the MR2 spyder is a pretty girly car. Rumor is its being discontinued anyway. Not surprising since I never see any except on the dealers' lot.

 

[geno]

Rumor is its being discontinued anyway

Thank god, this newer gen of MR2 is an abomonation to the history of the nameplate

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: geno

Rumor is its being discontinued anyway

Thank god, this newer gen of MR2 is an abomonation to the history of the nameplate

I agree completely geno. Hmm....The pussification of Toyota I like it!

 

[freebee]

This is truly terrible news. I'm sorry to hear about your mothers purchase.

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: geno

Rumor is its being discontinued anyway

Thank god, this newer gen of MR2 is an abomonation to the history of the nameplate

I agree completely geno. Hmm....The pussification of Toyota I like it!

well, it's mostly because they replaced a smooth silky, mini-ferrari of a car with a buggy eyed monstrosity with absolutely horrid design cues. Pair that up with a gutless engine, and you've got a slow ugly tub that handles like it's on rails. It's almost as if they wanted to rip the Miata off directly, just make it uglier and mid engined, so they decided to ruin the name of the MR2 for competition's sake.

EDIT - sorry to hijack the thread I'm done now

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: geno

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: geno

Rumor is its being discontinued anyway

Thank god, this newer gen of MR2 is an abomonation to the history of the nameplate

I agree completely geno. Hmm....The pussification of Toyota I like it!

well, it's mostly because they replaced a smooth silky, mini-ferrari of a car with a buggy eyed monstrosity with absolutely horrid design cues. Pair that up with a gutless engine, and you've got a slow ugly tub that handles like it's on rails. It's almost as if they wanted to rip the Miata off directly, just make it uglier and mid engined, so they decided to ruin the name of the MR2 for competition's sake.

EDIT - sorry to hijack the thread I'm done now

Don't worry about it. I started the hijack

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: freebee
This is truly terrible news. I'm sorry to hear about your mothers purchase.

well said. i saw an X3 on the road the other day. was totally repulsed by the looks of it. X5 looks a lot better IMO

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

THe BMW vinyl is actually really nice, by vinyl terms, and feels nicer than the actual leather in my '98 Honda Accord or '99 Acura Integra GS-R. I would probably spring for the leather, since you will get that money back in resale, but I don't see anything wrong with the vinyl.

 

[vi edit]

Good fake leather is leaps and bounds better than cheap real leather. You just don't have that leather smell. It's cheap, easy to take care of, looks good, and feels good when done well.

I haven't felt the stuff in the BMW's, but the stuff Audi puts in the A4's is actually quite nice, especially if it's perforated.

 

[freebee]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Good fake leather is leaps and bounds better than cheap real leather. You just don't have that leather smell. It's cheap, easy to take care of, looks good, and feels good when done well.

I haven't felt the stuff in the BMW's, but the stuff Audi puts in the A4's is actually quite nice, especially if it's perforated.

Sounds like you are comparing a blow up doll to a real woman.

 

[vi edit]

Sounds like you are comparing a blow up doll to a real woman.

If you think that's what I'm saying more power to you.

Truth is, in many instances, synthetic materials are better than the "real" deal. I used to work in a sportings good store for years and the best basketballs and footballs used sythetic materials that were far superior to their real leather alternatives. Sure, you could spend $40 on a leather basketball, but the $30 synthetic felt better, and kept that better feel longer than leather.

 

[BD231]

An X3??? YIKES!!!

That's one ugly fuggin car .

 

[ElFenix]

i am a biased suv hater

well it's a good thing that your parents drive station wagons rather than SUVs then!

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Sounds like you are comparing a blow up doll to a real woman.

If you think that's what I'm saying more power to you.

Truth is, in many instances, synthetic materials are better than the "real" deal. I used to work in a sportings good store for years and the best basketballs and footballs used sythetic materials that were far superior to their real leather alternatives. Sure, you could spend $40 on a leather basketball, but the $30 synthetic felt better, and kept that better feel longer than leather.

I for one am glad they use synthetic cat-gut for tennis racquet strings instead of real cat-gut.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

i am a biased suv hater

well it's a good thing that your parents drive station wagons rather than SUVs then!

yeah i know. neither of these things are even truck based. they just look like mean station wagons with giant rims. both have 18" ones. and big tires, that i might add cost a lot to replace.


like i didnt have time to really talk to my mom about the car until today.


apparently what i thought was pleather or vinyl was really leather. its like "hard leather" i dont know why bmw put that in there, instead of soft leather but whatever.


and yes i know the mr2 looks like a girls car, but im told it drives like a go kart and if i could afford a weekend car, i'd get that. or well a lotus elise ahha.

 

[Doggiedog]

I'm kind of interested. Since you have first hand experience in all these SUVs. How would you rate them?