Which grocery getting luxury "crossover" SUV for wife?

[sdifox]

Mercedes R class.

bad idea. German car built in America = fail beyond belief.

My brother has one.

 

[JTsyo]

For 5 years, wouldn't leasing make more sense or do they hold enough value to be better than the lease?

How about the GMC ones? I've liked the Arcadia from the exterior at least.

 

[The-Noid]

For 5 years, wouldn't leasing make more sense or do they hold enough value to be better than the lease?

How about the GMC ones? I've liked the Arcadia from the exterior at least.

Shockingly that is what we ended up doing.

We are going to do a lease or prepaid lease on a Q7 Prestige. After running back through things the Q7 seemed like the best choice although it is slightly bigger than we originally were looking at. My wife said it drove "much smaller" than it looked. I like the extra space in case we have more kids and overall towing capacity puts it more in line with a real SUV.

Although I hate having a payment we are going to setup a separate account and ladder some bonds out for three years or they offer a possible 0 money factor (i.e. 0 interest) if you prepay the lease. Will decide what to do in three years but my hunch is we end up buying it so I don't really care. Will post some pictures when it arrives in four to six weeks...

 

[GrantMeThePower]

Did you compare to the new Touareg at all?

 

[cliftonite]

acura mdx?

 

[Jodell88]

Pontiac Aztec

/thread

 

[SamurAchzar]

Did you compare to the new Touareg at all?

This. It got amazing reviews and it's a newer design than the Q7. That's what I'd get.

 

[KK]

We got the MKX last month. So far I like it, although I have told the bitch to shut up more than a few times. It is a little frustrating trying to talk to the mytouch, some of it stems from not know what all she does know and what you think she should. Driving wise, we are getting anywhere from 21 to 23 MPG and seems to have plenty of pep.

 

[Overgloc]

Toyota Venza is NICE!!
http://www.toyota.com/venza/photo-gallery.html

 

[ViviTheMage]

Q7 3.0TDI or the Porsche Cayenne S turbo

 

[DVad3r]

RX 350 hands down. Test drove one and I really liked it.

 

[DVad3r]

Out of the list you made though.

1. New ML with the 240 hp diesel.
2. 2011 + MKX

 

[compman25]

bad idea. German car built in America = fail beyond belief.

My brother has one.

Good idea, German car built in America = Hasn't failed period. I actually do own one. I would get the R class.

 

[DietDrThunder]

Cadillac SRX and Infiniti FX are too small.

Buick Enclave appears too big.

I have to agree with you on the Cadillac SRX, it is too small. I've been driving a fully loaded SRX for the past 12 days (loaner from the dealer as they are waiting on a J tool
to be shipped in order to fix my CTS). It also has a bad blind spot as the B-pillar, in my opinion, is located too far forward and in my left eye's periferal vision. If Cadillac had a
SRX with 3rd row seating like the Buick Enclave, and the B-pillar was relocated maybe 4 inches rearward, I wouldn't mind the SRX.

My personal opinion is the Buick Enclave is about the right size, but I've never driven one.

 

[sdifox]

Good idea, German car built in America = Hasn't failed period. I actually do own one. I would get the R class.

I know all of 2 R class owners, both are bitching about them. My brother's in particular, the back gate keeps not wanting to report it is closed, the whole thing had been replaced, same problem coming back. Pile on top the tons of complaint I hear about Rs and Ms led me to my opinion.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Lexus RX seems to be the defacto "yuppie woman" CUV. Don't see that on the list.

This. They are really nice comfortable mommy wagons. Very chick friendly too.

The X5 would get my vote out of your list though. Go drive one, you'll be converted.

 

[jlarsson]

Range Rover Evoque (perhaps too small?) - $44k+
Land Rover LR4 - $48+

 

[GrantMeThePower]

Range Rover Evoque (perhaps too small?) - $44k+
Land Rover LR4 - $48+

I test drove the Evoque yesterday...I could not believe how small it was. In pictures it is absolutely beautiful. In person...its the size of a golf or A3. My girlfriend immediately said "ugh. no way" I was pretty bummed because i was excited about it, but I had to agree. It was tiny.

 

[Dari]

Acura MDX. Highly reliable with great options and priced very well. The highest end model is in your budget. As a plus, even though it is large, because of the SH-AWD, it drives like a small car. These are why it is the best seller in its class.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

She works as well and I don't really care about the money, we already automatically save 25% of after tax income and both max retirement plans at work.

If I bought the Porsche, I would have to buy the Turbo. I would shoot myself because of the depreciation and my bonus wasn't that big. Intrinsically we hate debt and want to leave money in savings not take money out.

Not a huge fan of the Lexus, neither is wife.

Forgot about the Acura will go try that one this week.

If you want to leave money in savings, why are you buying a luxury car? What will a luxury car do that say a fully loaded Ford Edge or Explorer not do?

 

[jlee1]

Volvo XC90

Reliable
Comfortable
Luxurious
Looks Great
and no stereotype lol

 

[Arkaign]

I'd say the usual Japanese suspects are perfect for a wife's grocery getter.

Lexus RX, Acura, Infiniti.

Resale will be decent, reliability will be good, and they'll get the job done.

Going german is just asking for potential maintenance issues, and some of their resale values plummet due to very high up-front costs and lots of richer than rich people that don't want to keep a vehicle longer than 6 months to a year at most, flooding the market. Also, the most attractive things about the German SUVs/CUVs is the superior driving dynamics for more sport-oriented people. Probably 99 out of 100 women don't give a shit, don't know the difference between fwd, awd, 4wd, or rwd, etc. I'm not trying to be sexist, because many men out there don't know much substantive about vehicles either.

What I'm trying to say is that this thing is going to be an appliance, get something that makes sense to your pocketbook that makes her happy, and call it a day. I'd be shocked if she didn't love the Lexus RX, and in 5 years it will still sell for a pretty penny and not look super dated, as the styling and resale are very consistent with Lexus. Ditto Acura and Infiniti to perhaps only a slightly lesser degree.