sold so priced right

so my wife says she is liking the new MDX nowadays. I thought it was in the 50ks but looks like a base AWD is 47k which for some reason is more reasonable. She did mention CPO but did not notice that being available? Local dealer had some used ones for low 40ks but when that close from new I am always tempted to go new.

For some reason I compare it to a CX-9 and seems like a comparable version is 10k less then the MDX so a bit of a challenging to me to pay the extra money. But happy wife happy life:)

sorry rambling. she just got into her first accident so I think she is a bit motivated to get something new now.

My wife has been wanting a Mercedes wagon. Not a lot of miles but 3/4 years old, I think 18 are coming out right.

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/cpo/i...HH8JB3EA907195

Your wife is all over the place. :lol:

Not really, she always wanted a Mercedes wagon. I just never mentioned it in this thread since expensive and she drives a lot of miles. I am softening on my stance since it is her car so she should get what she wants. So started looking around for her.

I'd like an E wagon too.

That makes 3 of us

I am going to ask her why she removed the golf wagon off her list. 25k or so for a new wagon sounds pretty nice:)

The E wagon is damn nice.

I'm sure the Golf wagon is too. Just not as nice.

For example, even though the E61 is a beater with 120,000 miles people still rave about the polished wood on the interior. All I see is the chintzy plastic. But other people see the niceness.

The E wagon is even nicer.

wow this thread was started about 2.5hrs, my wife is going for a record on perseverating :D

Built out an Alfa Romeo Stelvio Sport on their website, pretty nice car for the money. Too bad I am scared as hell buying an Italian car.

Yeah, no way. It's pretty clear from reviews that the new Alfa's have more than a few problems.

:lol: I don't think i would even consider renting one, assuming Hertz or National even owns one!

I rented an Alfa once in the old country. (Pretty sure I posted about it here) For FWD hatch it was a very sweet car. The clutch didn't work and 1st or R didn't engage on certain cold mornings. :lol:

Yeah. Even I’ll concede at this point. Don’t think I’d even lease at a super price because of the annoyance standing factor.

It’s pretty amazing. IIRC, Alfa was basically chased out of the American market decades ago because of their astoundingly bad reliability. Logically, one would think it would be priority number 1, 2, 3, and 4 to shore that up and make sure their product was near bulletproof before re-entering such a market, but no...

Alfa probably has statistics to show that their reliability has improved over 150%


Unfortunately, this increased reliability only moved them from "very horrendous useless POS" to "useless POS"

:lol:

Finally got some time to go look at 2017 MDX base with SH-AWD.

1. MDX looks ok, interior is Japanese luxury. Not as nice as German but decent, probably wear better though..

A lot of standard features plus semi-automatic driving safety features. Odd that it had lane control as standard so if detects you starting drifting into the other lane it corrects it for you. Yet it does not have blind spot monitor as standard which I actually want for these big to me cars.

Driving wise- wife had no complaints but I basically hated it. Power was there but you had to really shove down the throttle to activate it. Had drive modes that didn't seem to do anything. Finally the steering was wacky, if you did some semi-aggressive steering movement it seemed to try to counter steer against you. My guess it was the safety features working against me. So much computer controlled safety crap going I feft I was barely driving the car. No clue if the SH-AWD was under there but to be fair did not drive any decent roads since industrial area. But I can't see the car being fun to drive anyways on a mountain road.

2. I wanted to try out the Costco car buying plan. The costco dealer would not tell me the pre-arranged price over the phone. Said it was an costco policy because there was complaints about giving the price over the phone :? The san diego approved dealer was at the opposite end of the county so not exactly handy to get to.

Price ended up being ok but about $1500 over what I expected. Leasing seem ok, 3 years at 15k for $570 with nothing down. I think it was $26k buyout. Dealer would not let me take the pricing info. If wife decides she wants it I would probably prefer to lease so I can walk away.

>>>>>

We checked out the 4-runner with the third row. Third row is tight, more of like jump seats but I think that is basically what they are for anyways, temp kids seats. We didnt have time to drive one but guessing the wife will not like it. We will go back and drive one plus check out a new highlander

Also need to check cx-9 awd. On paper this seems like the best car, kind of in the middle of cost, luxury and still has decent gas mileage. Hoping it drives better then the mdx which I think it should based on the reviews.

and yes worlds slowest car buying process.

Not as exciting as a mecan review would be. :)

I'm curious about the Mazda, but I doubt I'd buy one just on principle. Stupid 4cyl engine.

yeah, sadly I think my wife has ruled out the Macan since she wants to stick to third row for now.

I think I will be ok with the 4-cylinder since it has 310 ftlbs of torque or whatever. Guessing it will feel faster in town over the mdx unless they are aggressive with the MPG tuning.

That was a glowing review of the MDX :D

I found when I test drove the MDX and it was on some back roads I was really impressed with the way it took the curves but that could be because I was coming from having 3 MB GL450’s in a row which were all much larger and more truck like than the MDX

Having now lived with the MDX for just about a year I have to say it is a really good SUV. It is very carlike and also really comfortable to drive.

The steering can be strange at times as it has some computer controls that sometimes auto steer for you but overall I find it not that noticeable anymore. I certainly wouldn’t be taking it for a spirited drive but I wouldn’t take any suv for a spirited ride.

I’m not sure which drivers modes you changed, did you use the D/S button or the one that gives you the 3 different modes (comfort, normal, dynamic)
I find the multiple power modes really changes the car, in the sport and dynamic mode it is aggressive to the point of annoying to drive. It kicks into lower gears as it decelerates which would be cool in a 911 but this truck just isn't that much of a drivers car where it is enjoyable.

I think the big picture is these are SUV’s and my take on these type of vehicles is not are they fun to drive but more about the comfort and utility. Of course I want a nice ride, nice handling and nice power but I’m not looking for any of those categories to be ‘great’. To be great you need an X5M for a MB Amg though I’m not a truck guy so none of those would really interest me.

Thanks for the feedback. I am trying to keep to a 50k max so AMG/M are out since don't want to buy them used.

I know you (Jeff) mentioned the Macan, today I have the attached loaner car, it is a 2017 Macan S with 400 miles. Overall great car, still feels like an SUV but it reminds me of the BMW X's I've driven which have a drivers feel to them. I was a little disappointed by the exhaust note ... maybe there is a sport exhaust option to purchase to change this :dunno:

It also was not quite as fast as I expected ... big picture is for an SUV it is kind of fun'ish to drive, the weird thing is it didn't feel sports sedan'ish which was the feeling I got when I first drove my sisters 2015 Macan S, her car felt like a Tall sports sedan.

My brother is picking up the redesigned Audi SQ5 in a few weeks I am interested to see how that one drives.

BTW Porsche maintenance is crazy ... over $2k for this service but at 5 1/2 yrs old it isn't quite as bad as I thought. It just kills me they have to remove my rear bumper to do it.

thanks, odd that the new version does not feel like your sisters. Don't think there are any sport suspension options. There is a trick diff that you can option but guessing you did not push them that hard to notice.

a buddy of mine just got a Q5 3.0T. Its quite pleasant. A little too small in the back / trunk for my 3 kids and a dog needs ( I would feel bad putting my dog in the trunk without the seats down, something she fits really well in the x5 and decently in the 3 wagon), but I enjoyed thrashing it around for an hour.

Yeah, I was wondering... Did something change? Or did you just perceive it differently this time.

It is strange ... i’ve got to drive my sisters car again ...

Ok spent another day driving the Macan S and yes living with a car compared to a small drive changes things ... this car drives really well and I for the first time had thought that I could replace my sedan with this one though then thought again and said maybe it’s wishful thinking ... no clue :dunno:... I haven’t driven my A6 for a week and when I drive it tomorrow I’ll know for sure how I really feel.


Meanwhile this little truck drives and feels very good ... it is in a different league than the suvs I have had which includes the MDX and the gl450.

Still kinda reminds me of the X3 and how good that suv drives.

Which model X3 did you like?

The last one I had as a loaner a couple of years ago was either a 2015 or 2016 with the small engine but had the m sport package. For an suv it was fun’ish to drive. Felt more like a tallish sports sedan than an suv.

Getting closer I think... test drove three suvs today.

First up Toyota dealer

2018 4-runner sr-5 4x4
-trucky but it is one. Basically a old tech suv you can buy new.
-steering was honest. Brakes were super sensitive though.
-interior is utilitarian
-wife was concerned about gas mileage. Told her a 23 gallon tank so should not need to fuel up more often.

2018 highlander
-drove just like our current higher lander, marshmellow on wheels.
-wife liked it since she likes her current highlander
-a lot of room and tech for money.

Toyota salesman was high pressure slimy salesman. Telling us what we needed:rolleyes:

Next Mazda

2018 Mazda CX-9 touring
-feels like great power( 2.5t). All the NA v6 we have driven seem to shift to the highest gears as fast as possible but this did no so feels fast.
-handling is good for a suv
-interior is very attractive. Looks like a German suv but does not feel like it, aka hard plastic and fake metal trim.
-driver and passenger room is on the small side. Guess ok since my wife and I are not large.

Good salesman with no pressure.

So I prefer the 4-runner and Cx-9 and my wife seems to prefer the 4-runner and highlander. She has not really mentioned the MDX but Since I told her I didn’t like it so seemed to have influenced her. Basically it seems like the 4-runner but I am a bit worried she might tire of it doing her freeway commute.

Edit: highlander is the rational choice, best gas mileage ,tech,room and value. But for me it is boring and the same thing we currently have just new. But this is my wife’s car so trying to get best for her. But she trusts my opionion and she does want to get something I like since I drive the family around in it.

I love car salesmen...

Found one that matches my wife's requirements so clicked on the dealers "Send Me Today's Best Price" button and filled out the contact info. Get a quick response saying let's meet so you can test drive. I respond back that I already test drove one so just want your best price. No response since this morning :(

Some of them are excellent.

But many of them are complete idiots.

Just got a reply this morning :? What a great price :)

Can "dream" and "Toyota" even be used in the same sentence?

yeah Toyota is terrible.

First off you can search toyota.com for what is available but it does not tell you what dealer they are it.:?

So then searched local dealer websites for the config my wife wanted. Found two leftover 2017 at different dealers that matched her requirements. So tried contacting the dealers and finally track down that both had been of them have been sold. Is it that fricking hard to update a website? Thinking it is like leaving a for sale sign up at a house that has been sold, get them leads.

Pulled the trigger on a 2018 Toyota 4x4 SR5 Premium last weekend for my wife. Silver was not her first choice but she like it when she saw it. It was the only color I could find in Socal that matched her configuration. It has black interior.

I am pretty happy that she decided on it. Seems like a good other vehicle to go along with the turbo. New but very utilitarian so kids(and I) can beat it up without getting upset. Already trying to make plans to use if for desert camping and baja. Figure it is a very long term car so will probably keep it as third car if she wants something different in a few years.

Had 1 mile when we got it. Never seen a car so low, I would assume they put a few miles on it at the factory?:confused:

Enjoy!

3 years of contemplation and you end up with a 4runner?!

Just kidding... Enjoy. :D

Do those have a third row now?