mikez

Hey guys / gals

Long time (but no longer) lexus owner here. Just curious when you decided on the NX, have you looked at other close competitions and what swayed you either way?

I had a lexus IS250 and needed more cargo space for pets, went to the Lexus dealer to look at the CT but realized the hatch opening is too small. After looking at a bunch of other cars ended up with a Land Rover Disco Sport.

I knew the NX was a competitor but never really drove it partly because the sales lady I was with was too busy on her iPhone than talking and I had a really short time frame to make a decision. Happy with my choice but always curious to see the other angles

Mike

Swacer

I compared the NX with the following cars initially:

1. Range Rover Evoque - Found the car to be much too small inside and Range Rover has terribly low reliability.
2. Acura MDX - Bigger vehicle, but the dealer wasn't very flexible on price, and I preferred the look of the NX at the time. Plus, IMO, the MDX is shaped like a minivan.
3. GMC Acadia - Bigger vehicle, though the V6 in those have timing chain stretch and oil burning issues. Plus, the tech was lacking severely.
4. Toyota 4Runner - At the time, there was no retrofit for the headlights (from Halogens to LEDs - which exists now), it was the old version of Entune (the version matches Lexus now).
5. Honda Pilot (previous generation) - Bigger Vehicle, but just couldn't get around how ugly it was.

However, after issues and other factors, I've decided to go to a 4Runner.

philwojo

We looked at the MB GLA 250 and considered that, as well as a Audi Q5, we ended up with the NX 300h as that was by far our favorite of the 3 inside and out.

We have had it almost a year now and love it so far, no major problems with it (knock on wood).

Phil

mikez

Thanks for sharing your insights! It is hard to find a car that ticks the box both exterior and interior looks as well. I went to the Audi dealer next door and was pretty appalled by how cheap the interior of the Q5 is (in my opinion)

fishcak3s

Looked at NX, Q3, Q5, RDX, previous generation Pilot, 4 Runner and Highlander hybrid.

I share the car with the wife so she has a say in it too. Q3 drives nice but it's too small. Q5 has a cheap feel interior like Mikez mentioned. Wife doesn't like the Pilot nor 4 Runner as they're too big to her liking. So it was between the RDX, Highlander hybrid or the NX.

I prefer the Highlander hybrid or the NX, she prefer the RDX and NX. Highlander hybrid costs as much as the NX F sport 2 we've got so we settled with the NX as it made both of our lists.

chandlervt

1) Subaru Forester Turbo
2) RDX
3) Outback
4) Infiniti Qx50

Loved Outback but too noisy and no negotiating room. Both Forester and Outback have terrible seats for longer drives. I would have still gone for outback because of the cargo space but they have the oil burning issue which I frankly do not want in my life right now. Same goes for Forester. Can't sit in those seats for more than 20 minutes.

RDX ruled out simply because no Acura dealer is close by. We would have still compromised but the 2 dealerships which are closest are just one level above Honda in service.

Qx50 was the hardest to rule out but even with generous discount it was out of our budget plus cargo space was annoyingly small. Being a RWD the bump in the center in rear seats meant only 4 can sit in the car. The sloping roof line severely compromises cargo space. We even considered it again (2016 version) when I bought RX recently. Good tech but dealers refused to negotiate much

Mr645

I looked at the Audi Q3, MB GLA250, Lincoln MKC 2.3.

I liked the Q3 the best, but there was no build with the features I wanted that was also within my price range. I basically wanted the Audi Sport, 19" wheels and Sunroof, but every model in the area also had every possible option and stickers close to $50k.

I really liked the Lincoln because of the powertrain, but the unsupportive seats and push button transmission were disappointing. The MB GLA was just uninteresting to drive. Really did not feel like a Mercedes Benz. Got a weird look on the salesman face after the test drive. He asked "So, how do you like it? " I replied "I don't, thank you for your time"

So while I still find the NX underpowered and sometimes get annoyed with the stupid beeps and interlock features, like applying the parking brake if I undo my seatbelt while stopped. Or the fact that it will not stay in sport mode when restarting the car, or that I cannot turn off the back up camera, etc. I still find the NX a great touring car with plenty of space, very quiet and comfortable on the highway. Which is the main reason we bought a small SUV, for road trips.

TeaAholic1

I looked at the BMW X1, Mercedes GLA 250 4MATIC, Lexus NX 300h, Porsche Macan S.

I ended up buying the NX 300h (obviously )

BMW X1
Relatively nice interior. Diesel engine that I test drove turned me off. Too loud, too underpowered. Maybe I would have liked it more if it was a petrol.

Mercedes GLA
I quite liked this one. Fits my own style, was powerful enough. I found it to be a little small. And the interior was not super luxurious, it is an entry level Mercedes.

Lexus NX
Really liked it. First time sitting in a Lexus. Love the hybrid powertrain (as I wanted to get a car with some electrification, and who does it better than Toyota?). Interior and styling is a little strange, you either love it or hate it? Very well optioned here (in Australia at least) and is not tiny like the GLA.

Porsche Macan S
I loved this car out of all the ones I drove. The design is to die for. I love the interior (which seems to be a bit of a button fest inside) and the design of the entire thing. The exterior is absolutely gorgeous and I love the clamshell hood!
2 reasons why I didn't get the Macan over the NX. Simply:
1. Too expensive. Fully optioned NX here is 84K the base Macan S *STARTS* at 85K with no options.
2. No electrification. In Australia, the Macan S is the base model with the 3.0L twin-turbo V6 and I personally want something luxurious and don't care for lots of power.

I supposed I could have gotten a Cayenne S E-hybrid but the pricing is still very unrealistic for what I'm looking for. Also, I believe that Lexus will be very reliable. I have never owned a European car before and I keep hearing horror stories from my friend which made me stick to Japanese again.

Mr645

I would have loved the Macan but here in the USA, I was able to lease the NX F sport for $400 mo (12k/36/$1250 at signing) and the Porsche dealer flat out told me a base machine would be $700 mo on a lease. Invited me down to test drive it but said with tax, won;' be under $700 mo unless I put a lot of money down

TeaAholic1

Can you explain to me what this "lease" thing is? I understand this is very popular in the USA but I have no idea what that is. Do you lease as in "borrow" then change to a different car in a few years? What if you want to keep the car?

Mr645

Lease, sort of like a long term rental.

You select the term, 24 months, 36, 39, 48 mo etc. and select how many miles you will drive, 12,000 per yr is popular

based on this information a leasing company determines the estimated value of the car when the lease is over. Let's say sticker price is $45,000 and the leasing company says the car will be worth 62% of its purchase price after 36 months and 36,000 miles. So $27,900. So for the 36 months you pay $475 per month. If you go over the miles you pay perhaps 20¢ per mile, also if there is any exceptional damage, you have to pay to fix it. When the 36 months are over you can either turn the car in, walk away, or buy the car for the same agreed price of $27,900. The same car, $45,000 financed over 60 months would be $750 per month.

Some examples, 2006 BMW X3 leased, after 4 years the car was worth less then the estimated residual value so we turned in the car and walked away.

2012 Subaru WRX, 3 yr lease. After 36 months the contract value was $16,700 and I purchased the WRX for that amount, a month later sold it for $20,000

Toyota Matrix (Corolla Wagon) after 39 mo lease was valued at $9200 on contract so I financed that and kept the car several more years.

Basically it's a way to pay less each month for a car then if you were to buy it, and also trade into new cars every 24-48 months, so the cars are always under factory warranty.

On the downside, you never build equity in the car, you never actually own it. Your only paying for the car for the time your using it, then turn it in

Mr645

Another plus to leasing is that the leasing companies are often the same company as the manufacturer. My 2015 NX200t is leased through Toyota Motor Finance. These leasing companies often inflate the residual value of their cars so even though after 36 months the car may be really worth $25,000, the leasing company owned by Toyota may put that value at $27,500 so the payments to the consumer are lower. The goal is to have that customer back in the showroom in 36 months looking for a new car instead of owning it for 5 to 6 to 7 years, perhaps even longer.

mikez

Ah, I looked at a Macan S as well... that was my first choice car. I actually didnt even looked at Land Rovers until i watched on fifth gear, and the presenter said the fully loaded Evoque = entry level Macan cost haha.

And yes, the Macan is to die for, but the price of the car I wanted was like 68k USD. That's a lot of money to when my goal is to get a car that can fit 3 dogs and basically the car will smell like dogs and be covered in dog hair...

And Mr645 explained it well. Leasing is just an financial arrangement where the bank owns the car, and you pay for the depreciation of using it for x # of years and miles. Best deal is when you pay less than the depreciation, bad deal is when you pay more than the car depreciates.

binhhphung

I looked at the new MDX, waited for 2016 RX but finally chose the NX

Swacer

In hindsight, I wish my wife and I would have looked at the Macan, however, as many have said the price is outrageous compared to the other offerings in the market. However, you're getting arguably a lot more car. (But it should be noted, that per Edmunds, their useable interior space is almost identical with the NX)

But then you get a mixed bag with Porsche, you either get a car that last 20 yrs, or you get a car that costs you $2k every 5,000 miles to keep it running because things keep breaking. Hard to argue with 330hp though, that is the one thing the NX lacks....a backbone. It also has over 2x the towing capacity.