The NX and RDX are both good choices if looking at crossovers.

You might also want to check out the BMW X1 and Volvo XC40 since you don’t seem to need a ton of space and are coming from a great handling IS.

 

Please check out the Cx5 turbo. It drives faaar nicer than the NX and it's just a nicer vehicle. I had the NX for a couple days as a loaner and it was...uninspiring at best.

 

‘Uninspiring’, yes that’s the perfect word to describe the NX I test drove before finding my IS.

 

I really like the bmw x1 (and x2 -- the x2 more, actually) but i swear, everyone says not to buy a bmw, to lease a bmw and i want to purchase a vehicle. i feel as if leasing is great if i need the latest and greatest every three years, but i don't. i need solid transportation for 6-8 years and then i move on to the next car. and that's a reasonable amount of time to own a car, i feel, without it having major problems. i suppose i could buy a very comprehensive extended warranty from bmw to cover the portion not under warranty, but that just adds to the cost.

so far my autotrader.com list consists of a bunch of is200ts, one awd is300 (f-sport package), and one is350 (350s are harder to find than you'd think in socal bc a lot of them are base and not f-sport versions). it also contains some ct200hs which i know, i know, are super slow and not at all comparable to the IS as my mom used to drive one and while it did ride better than a prius, it's a prius. additionally, i have a few brand new acura ilx a-spec models because you can get those insanely cheap and their engines are actually more sprightly than my IS's 2.5l was, but they handle worse and are all around rough around the edges even though the heavily facelifted 2019/2020 versions look insanely better than the older ilxs. they're also super noisy -- don't know if they added more sound insulation to the 2019/2020 major revision. and finally it contains a bunch of x1s. the x1 is, again, a stupid bmw which everyone tells me not to purchase...conflicted because the vehicle is far better looking than the lexus ux. faaaar better looking.

i have held off on adding either the NX or RDX because i only carry myself and i rarely carry a passenger and they are kinda tall/large for me.

i'm trying to stay under 35k which sucks because that's not usually my price bracket, it's just that i'm right now forced into buying a car given parameters that i don't usually have due to what the insurance company is going to give back and also what i have in my bank account at the moment. this isn't a fun process to say the least.

 

water did get inside the vehicle, unfortunately as the car died as waters rose to about the lower edge of the windows and flooded everything under the hood. i panicked and didn't know whether to get out of the car through the window while the windows still worked, so i opened the sunroof just in case. someone behind me in a large gmc suv pushed me out of the rising waters so the car also has rear cosmetic damage from the vehicle pushing me out of harm's way.

 

Ok, there’s some info we didn’t have before, and no, you don’t want to restore that car.
Sorry for your loss, glad you’re ok.

 

thanks -- glad i'm okay, too. never been in a situation like this before and while the area is prone to flooding this flash flood was out of the ordinary as the rain was incredibly intense.

as for the vehicle, it's totally ruined.

options at this point: is350 f-sport (on the upper end of my budget but the best bet out of the bunch), is200t f-sport (comfortably attainable and also probably pretty reliable, although the turbocharger makes me a bit nervous), ct200h f-sport (boring but economical and all in all not a bad looking car imo), bmw x1 (iffy longterm reliability but an attractive vehicle), new acura ilx (not the most refined of the bunch but probably reliable -- my 2016 ilx that i own, but my aging mother uses, has been trouble free since 2016. nonetheless, at the bottom of my list)

 

Wow...I didn't realize it was that bad! Holy crap!

 

Damn, I'm sorry this happened to you. It's crazy to hear how a car got this badly flooded in San Diego, I've lived here for a long time and never have heard of or seen any cars get flooded to the windows. I believe you said you are in Fallbrook, is it really that bad inland to the point where this happens? Sucks even more since we don't get much rain anyways...

Things happen my man, be glad you are safe as that is most important. If you want to get a BMW or have any questions, feel free to PM me I'll be glad to assist you. The 3 series is great if you are looking to lease. Due to the depreciating values of them, I would not purchase though.

Good luck man. Crazy how fast time flies, think I got my IS right around when you did too I remember PMing you and asked where in SD you were lol.

 

Ooook it's a lot worse than I thought too. At least you have the means to take care of it and you got some good options. I think the NX looks great but doesnt sound all that fun to drive I guess.

And I thought the same thing of ALL places for someone to live and encounter flash flood to this degree....here in San Diego. I think I can imagine where this happens though driven up to fallbrook a couple times.

 

yeah, dude, fallbrook is really picturesque but i work at a low point in the valley and i guess just too much rain was running off the foothills and onto the road and it all happened extremely quickly. i live in temecula because temecula is prettier than fallbrook imo so i was taking de luz road from de luz on the fallbrook side, passing through de luz on the temecula side and into wine country where i live. crazy to think that that type of flooding would happen here in north county, but yeah, it's definitely possible. i've never seen flooding that bad in my entire life much less in southern california. it was one of those scenes where i was about to be one of those people standing on the roof of my car hoping that some helicopter would rescue me but then out of nowhere this giant gmc pushed me out of the water. no airbags went off but they might as well have because i was hit hard from behind...i guess so the gmc wouldn't stall, too? i dunno, but i owe that guy a case of beer and pizza for sure.

 

I've driven the NX before twice as a loaner from Lexus, easily one of the worst cars I have EVER driven. Cant even begin to describe why, it was just horrible. I thought it was just me so I let someone drive it for a few and they ended with the same conclusion as me.

If you mentioned the car was flooded that bad right off the bat, not a single person here would have said it would've been repairable. That car was done as soon as the water level reached in the cabin and fried your electronics. EVEN if it was repairable, you would not want to own it any further. Carpeting would need to all be replaced too (and this is the least of your problems with a car this badly flooded).

So on the good side, you should be happy they didn't even try to repair it and just paid you out (if that makes you feel better). That is what you would have wanted in this scenario to be honest.

 

yep, you’re absolutely right.

now I have to decide whether I want to spend the extra 7-8k for 350 over a 200t/300 f-sport.

I’m picking up the check from geico today in San Marcos. We’ll see what I decide to get — most likely the 200t/300 just because I won’t have to finance as much. My totaled car was paid off, so I don’t want any large payments. I’m upset about it.

 

Insurance premium out weight the saving from gas.
Most people buying Tesla keep saying how much they saving from gas but forgot to mention how much more they have to pay for insurance.

 

When I bought my 200T, I'm thinking of buying a smaller engine may save money on gas because of better gas mileage. It's not the case for my driving (mostly in traffic). The gas mileage is a little better than my big **** Sienna.
If I have to do it over again, I would get the 350 instead. The turbo lag on the 200T is suck compare to my other Turbo car, the Supra. Newer 200T/300 may have improve the turbo lag (I don't know).
The current ES is nice.