I have an 06 sc430 which I lease because I am self employed. I also have a Town & Country witch I own. I financed it because Chrysler was offering 0% financing at the time. Now my wife works for my company and my accountant is telling me to sell the T& C and lease another vehicle for her that I can write off as well. This is all because I am self employed and need to save in Taxes. The T&C gave me alot of problems and I will never buy Chrysler again if I can help it. I was thinking of an SUV. The ones I have in mind are Lexus GX, BMW X5, Mercedes ML350 and Porsche Cayenne. What do you guys think? Whitch one would you go with?

 

ince you seem to dislike reliability problems since you had the T&C the GX470 has a advantage over the rest. Dont think the ML is as big as the GX, X5 is outdated looking

 

dude, POLL TIME!!!

 

Acura MDX

 

Ever consider the RX400h? The tax write off can be bigger!

 

Real question is what will you do with it? Do you really need an suv or just want one for tooling around town? Functionally I would say GX but for fun definitely the Chili pepper. I'd avoid the Benz and well the X is just old and outdated.

 

I'm guessing you want it to be a gross weight of 5K or more and thus your choices? (Does the ML350 fall into that category?).

 

this is exactly the reason why i got rid of my 06 GS to get an 06 Range Rover Sport...it can help me w/ my self employed tax

 

range rover

 

X5 would get my vote.

 

Gx 470.

 

Of the choices you listed, I'd go with the GX.

Choose the X5 if you like to drive hard and want great performance. The interior is rather shabby and the technology is severly outdated. It is getting a major update this year, so I'd wait to check out the new design before buying the current.

The MDX offers the most for the money. It does everything well, but nothing all that great. If cost is important, this would be my choice.

The ML is solid in all aspects, and the styling and technology are current. The price is reasonable for the base model, but to get all the options you may want can really drive up the price.

The GX is tops in quality, but the performance and handling are not great. I really like the exterior styling, but I was never able to get comfortable with the interior.

The Cayenne... I love the interior, and it drives like you would expect a Porsche to drive, but the exterior styling just doesn't translate to an SUV. If you're OK with the exterior styling, then there's no reason not to buy the Cayenne. For me, if Porsche would combine the VW Touareg exterior with the Cayenne interior and performance...I'd buy that.

The choice you didn't list is the Range Rover Sport. Do yourself a favor and at least check it out. It's got great styling, great performance, the technology is current, and it's heavy enough for a hefty Tax credit. It's a new vehicle, so there's insufficient data on reliability; But, it's got a 4yr/50K warranty, the first 6 scheduled maintenances are free, and my dealer includes a full size loaner vehicle with all scheduled maintenance and warranty work.

 

I voted for M-B ML350. But actually I would suggest the new Lexus RX350.

 

Since Canada has different tax laws, I doubt the vehicle weight is an issue. Then again, I'm more familiar with US tax laws so what would I know.

I'd get them in this order

GX
MDX
Cayenne
X5
ML350

 

For daily driving, none of the list you mention, for various reasons, IMO make good daily drivers. If pressed among the four you listed, I would take the GX...it is far and away the tops in quality, but is truck-based, high and narrow and tends to get the tipsies. The European-nameplate SUV's are all too unreliable and expensive to service.
Given yours and your wife's needs, I think either the MDX or RX330 would be a better choice as a daily driver. My preference among those two would be the RX330...it has a nicer interior than the MDX.