Hello All,

My current DD is a 2011 Camry SE and really like it for the economical reason. After my friend's recent rear-ended accident in her 2006 Camry resulting in the death of her 2 years old son I have thought carefully about my life priority. I now realized that Family safety is much more important than the benefits of fuel savings. With that in mind, I am looking for another SUV. My spouse's DD is a 2010 RX350 so another RX is out of the question.

I have been looking at slightly used SUVs but their prices are so hard to swallow. They either don't have all the options I want, not as clean, bad smells, or imperfections.....dings, scratches, dirty seats....Most of all, OUT of Warranty. Looked at couple of Lexus GX470s from 06-08 with 60k to 80k miles and they range from $26k to $36k. Looked at a NICE 09 X5 with 49.3k miles but the first test drive was not good due to the 21" wheels. Looked at the 2012 Tacoma but the smoothness and luxury of my past and current Lexuses steered my away from it. Checked out the Sienna SE but my spouse said that she does not see me good in the van.

Here are my options and limitations, please give my your opinions:

Price: About $50k
Driving: I drive about 350 miles / week with about 300 miles on highway (70-80 mph)
Type: SUV, don't want wagon, vans, or cars even though I REALLY like the LS460.
Class: 5 passengers. I can live with the third row but not required since I only have 2 boys for now.
I want to stay in the Premium class and I will keep this one for at least 6 years. The next car to be replaced is her RX. I live very close to many dealerships (like 2 miles away) that sell BMW, MB, Lexus, Toyota, Caddy. Acura, Audi, and Porsche are about 50 miles away.

Please give me your thoughts. Thank you all.

 

Acura MDX is nice, but due to have a major replacement soon.
My 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland has been very impressive, 17K flawless miles now.
Toyota 4Runner Limited should be nice as well.

 

MDX is really excellent and priced very competitively.

 

We (the family) have owned four 4Runners (2002, 2003, 2x2004) but I don't like the new design at all. I might need to see the MDX.

Thanks.

 

Sorry to hear of the little boy's death. My condolences to the family.

If you want an SUV, safety is your first priority, and your budget is roughly 50K, look first at either the Volvo XC90 http://www.volvocars.com/us/all-cars...s/default.aspx or the Mercedes GLK http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/class/class-GLK. Both start under 40K....but can run 50K or more with a lot of options. Mercedes and Volvo traditionally lead the industry in safety-features. While reliability of individual vehicles can, of course, vary, though, in general, don't expect Japanese-type reliability out of a Mercedes or Volvo, especially in the electronics....and service/repairs can be expensive. I would consider getting a new one, take advantage of whatever free or wareranty service you can get, and then, as the warranty is about to expire, consider getting something else....or another new one.

 

What makes you so sure that a Camry is going to be less safe than an SUV? I drove a 97 Camry and was stopped in traffic when I was hit from behind by a Ram Quad Cab going 50-55MPH. There was a landscaping utility truck in front of me, so my "little measly Camry" was smashed between two huge vehicles. The passenger compartment was completely intact, but there was nothing left fore or aft of the wheels. The car held up fantastically...paramedics were shocked that I was able to walk away from the scene.

What exactly happened with your friend's accident that you feel like you need an SUV? I'm one of the folks who believes that just because you sit up higher and feel safer, that doesn't mean that you necessarily are.

 

Volvo SUVs (and some Ford SUVs, when Ford owned Volvo) use not only a typical yaw-based VSC stability-control that corrects for under/oversteer, but also an additional Roll-Control stability system that takes the greater amount of body-roll and higher center-of-gravity into consideration. That was another reason I mentioned the XC-90 first.

 

Going overseas you see the Lexus LX 470s, 570s, GX 470s, 460s and Land Cruisers, Prado's etc. They are among the toughest and most safe vehicles in the planet. They are trusted worldwide to be capable in near any situation.

 

My wife used to have 2007 IS250 and she loved that little chick car and would NOT want an SUV at all because of its size (she is 5.2 and 110 lbs or less). She was in her sister's 2001 Civic with my our son and her other 2 sisters. An old pickup ran the red light and she t-boned the truck, car totaled. If the truck was a little slower and t-boned the Civic instead we would not know what happened then. After that accident, both of them are now driving RX'es.

I am happy to know that you were fine in the accident. It was your lucky day, not the car. I feel safer driving the SUV than the Camry and I don't drive crazy so not to worry about roll-over.

 

Forgot to add, a new X3 would also be in that range.

 

You could got for mid grade SR5 Sequoia by Toyota. Although you said you want the premium, we looked at one that $47k which had power seats, 4WD and all the safety features. You can't be any safer than a Seq.

Or how about a Toyota Tundra Platinum?

 

Damn. I was gonna say get a new 4Runner, but if you don't like the body style it ends there i guess
We have a 2010 in the Garage right now and loving it!

 

Which 4Runner do you have? We are looking at Trail model. What kind of MPG are you getting?

 

We have the SR5 model. It's not my daily driver or anything, but i've taken it out on extended trips, and it got about 22 mpg on the highway (That was with 4 people inside and cruising around 70) With mixed city driving and everything, it gets about 17 mpg.

Absolutely 0 issues with it though. As in it hasn't been to the dealer for anything but scheduled maintenance so far.

 

Overseas they don't have road infrastructure like we have in the US, and you need rugged offroaders if you need to get places. In the US, such SUVs are simply a waste, unless you like to go offroading or need to tow stuff.