bam

So we were able to sell my wife's 2002 RX300 with 220000 miles this weekend and we picked up a new 2012 Nebula Gray Pearl RX450h, also this weekend, just in time for her birthday today. The old RX300 has been an awesome car and even at 220k miles, it was still running well. Proper maintenance and care is all it needed.

Originally, when shopping around, we (mainly I) wanted LED headlights and M/L but those options were only found on fully loaded AWD models and we didn't really want to move into that price point. We were also considering waiting for the 2013 but my wife wasn't too excited about the refresh but she didn't mind it either. At the end of the day, we got a great deal on a 2012 so we couldn't pass up the savings.

So far we're the computer is saying that we're getting 27.9 mpg so not too bad. Tires are set at 35psi cold and we're typically carrying around us two and our two boys. Sometimes my mom will come with us or her mom so we're usually driving with a full load so I'm sure that hurts fuel economy a little bit. Looking forward to trying to getting the claimed 30mpg.

My wife definitely loves the new car smell and all of the new features compared to her 2002 RX300. I've finished reading the manuals so I'll be going over how to use the features tonight.

As far as the buying experience, finding the car and arriving at the purchase price was as easy as can be and I wouldn't do it any other way. As far as the financing part, it seems that has not changed since we've been buying cars as they're still lying (called the guy out after I couldn't take it any more with proof) and still using the old line that they're not making any money on this deal. I guess some things never change.

Oh well, it's not like we'll be seeing that person ever again so no sweat off our backs. He's just trying to do his job but there are better ways to negotiate. At the end of the day, my wife got the car she wanted and she's happy so happy wife = happy life.

RXSF

congrats on the purchase. I have owned all three generations of RX and each time I continue to be impressed. Good looking photos too, what camera are you using?

bam

Thanks. Believe it or not, I'm using an S95, f2, no flash. The S95 is the best compact p&s camera on the market. I haven't tried the S100 so I can't comment nor compare to the S95 but it has reviewed good reviews as well. I actually prefer the S95 over the S100 because it's has a larger aperture.

RXSF

that's interesting. The pictures dont look like they came from a p&s.

kitlz

Congrats bam. Nebula Gray is a sharp color. And those are beautiful pictures. Must be a night and day difference going from the 300 to the 450h. Like RXSF, the RX only gets better. Kudos for reading through the manual. It's an invaluable source of information.

Another 450h in da house!

Cruiter

Really good looking car. How is it you guys get such good backgrounds for your photos ???

Enjoy the car, we know you will

BertL

Great looking car (and photos). Congratulations to you both!

GoHuskers

Good choice, beautiful car in a beautiful view. Congrats.

It looks like the RXh is selling well now. My local dealer has 38 RX350 but only 4 RX450h.

bam

Thanks again for the congrats on getting the car. It's been a long time coming as we've been talking about replacing her car for quite a while. Some of the delay was just timing but luckily everything fell into place and it worked out.

Thanks for the comments on the photos. Yes, it was taken with a p&s and if you're in the market for a new p&s, I would only recommend the Canon S95 or it's replacement, the S100. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I can't say that I have first hand experience with the S100 but many websites are stating that it's at least equal to the S95 in it's quality of pictures. I can say that the S95 is an awesome camera and well worth it's price. Even my wife, who cares nothing for camera technology saw some of the pictures that I took from the S95 when we first got it and commented on how clear and sharp the camera was.

As far as the background, we live right around the corner from a natural lake as we live on the outskirts of suburbia and wanted to take advantage of a nice setting. I wanted to take the pictures at the actual park but they're only open on wed, sat, and sun and didn't want to delay my post until then. At the park, they actually let you drive up to the edge of the water and I was thinking of doing that with the photos but seeing that it was closed, I just took these shots.

I've read all of the manuals except the Nav manual. I should be finished with it today but I don't read every single word. I'm pretty much skimming a lot of it because a lot of it is basic instructions and a lot of warnings. I'm mainly reading/skimming it to get the details on some unique features. For example, I read in the manual that you can actually link each individual key fob to a memory seat position. That's a nice feature that the salesman didn't go over and I can't say that I've seen any mention of that feature on this forum so it is definitely something that couldn've been missed had I not read the manual.

bam

I thought I'd share the car that we retired as well. It has served us very well for over 220k miles and was still running strong.

kitlz

bam, great picture. There are still plenty of 1st gen RXs on the road by me. It's a testament to how well the RXs are built. And the look was and still is unique.

currybob

Bam
Sweet new ride and welcome to the 3rd generation club!! I know ya'll will love this one even more than you old ride which looks well taken car of still a nice car for someone. These new ones have lots of stuff to learn about and if your wife is like mine you will have to do all the reading and learning and then show it to her.LOL

Bob

bam

Yes, it was very well taken care of. We did all of the required service items and even with two toddlers riding in the back, it was clean, except for some crackers and cherrios here and there. The person that bought the car knew what to look for and he knew that we were telling the truth when we told him that the tranny was still working fine and not slipping. There were some people that showed interest but after telling them what kbb list what a private sale price could be even with 220k, many people were turned off.

Your last statement about your wife is exactly my situation. She likes her new car and all of the new features but she doesn't care to read all of the manuals and such. I actually don't mind reading that stuff so it works for us and yes, I read everything and basically gave her the crib notes on all of the features.

lamar411

Congrats on the new ride, your old car looks just like mine.

Alpy64

Very nice car and pics (you seem to live in a very nice landscape too) and congrats for not having the roof rails which are definitely not well designed for such a car (i.e. without, it's more "european" style design like mine 450h; not same colour... see below (version 2010).