scooby doo

Before I recently purchased my RX300, I did what all men do, that is search other SUV makes sites to make the comparison. Truly, the Lexus was the leader at the end as well as the beginning. Our RX is a fine craft of workmanship. It combines LUXURY, PERFORMANCE AND COMFORT throughout! Comments at other websites said the RX is girly, etc. I got news for those folks! If you want the raw SUV feel, then go and buy an open top Jeep. The fact is, we all want an SUV but sacrifice luxury, except for the LEXUS. My Lexus includes the spoiler, side nerf bar and roof racks, black in color and its sporty enough for me and at the same time take off road.

I'm not climbing Everest and who are these folks kidding. When is the last time you saw an MDX, X5 or ML deep in the trenches of 4 wheeling. The truth is these folks would never take their vehicles off road for a real journey and face the consequences of few scratches and dents. It boils down to, I want my SUV to ride smoothly with all the luxury features!

If I want to 4-wheel, I take my 2000 TRD and yeah it has a few dents and scratches, but then again thats what its made for.

Okay, guys in RX ville, its time to show/describe your Luxurious, classy and masculine RX's

Daddy-O

Scoob,

I decided with my last car purchase that I wanted to sit up higher. I did my homework/legwork for months and decided on the RX 300. I was sold on the sound system, the comfort, the ride, and the reliability. I got the bonus that it's also quick and nimble. With every test drive of a competitor's offering, the RX 300 won out.

Apparently though, a lot of women drive the RX 300. Does that make it less masculine? I've seen 2 Lexus GS in my community. Both driven by women. One owns a dance academy and the GS is parked there all week. Does that make it less masculine? Most Explorers, Expeditions, Tahoes and Burbs I see are driven by women. Does that make those vehicles less manly?

The RX was groundbreaking when it came out and its appeal has not dwindled. It's been imitated, but not duplicated.

3rd row of seats? No thanks. Minivan-like? NOT!

Other than some body roll, my RX whipped azz on some twisty mountain roads last weekend at the Deal's Gap ClubLexus meet. I pushed it hard, and the RX responded. If I had another 40HP, I'd have kicked some serious GS butt.

Fact: Chicks dig the Lexus. It has a very high 'ooh' quotient. Well actually, everyone digs the Lexus.

Maybe it's just my fuzzy dice that turns heads?

Lil4X

I agree with Paddy and Scoob - while it isn't my juvenile dream car, or my my midlife crisis-mobile, it is a good compromise. After all, unless your lifestyle is one-dimensional, or you can afford a half-dozen vehicles in your own personal motor pool, any car is going to be a compromise. I guess I don't understand some folks buying an RX and trying to make something else of it. It is a mid-sized, crossover SUV with all that that implies. Yes, it's a little too tall and tippy for a canyon carver, a little too underpowered for the stoplight grands prix, and a little to delicate for a rockhopper.

I chose the RX because I have a job that requires me occasionally to haul a good deal of equipment, plus a client or two - and I was tired of being beaten up driving a truck. Sure, those 'Burbs were huge, tough, but stiff-legged particularly in 3/4-ton versions, and Travelalls were powerful - if squirrelly handling. They both rode like a lumber wagon off road and their highway handling is best described as "herding".

I regularly put 20k miles+ on my company vehicle every year, a good deal of which is on 2-lane blacktop. Unlike most family cars, mine is a business tool. I didn't need a serious off-roader, since most of my extra-pavmental adventures are dirt roads, pastures, and corduroy roads (wood planks). 2WD is usually adequate - but if it rains, I could spend a couple of days getting help. Vans and station wagons are too low slung to handle this kind of service....and I'm a little to tall and old to perform the human oragami required for most sportwagons.

My need is for a comfortable but compact conveyance, that is able to devour highway miles while hauling a moderate payload and get me out of my more foolish off road excursions. Thus the RX. It has served well as a near-luxury car for entertaining clients, swift Interstate transport when chasing a deadline, a hauler when necessary, even a couple nights' semi-comfortable lodging while holed up on location. It has been thoroughly reliable, and after a few days in the boonies, with a good detailing it reports for duty on Monday morning showroom-fresh. It was one of my better business decisions. I will replace it with another next spring.

RX300wannabeIS300

Gotta disagree with you Scoob! "Girly" is the perfect way to describe this vehicle. It is smooth, curvy, non-aggressive, and generally pleasant to look at. I don't know about you, but in my mind those words usually apply to the feminine half of the world.

As to the Acura, BMW, and the Benz:
- MDX - just as "girly" as the RX, except really boring, like any other Honda. Although it has quite a bit more punch than RX, hence can't be considered "wimpy" in comparison to the RX.
- X5 - better road handling than ANY suv (except for maybe the new Cayenne), in addition to being the best looking suv on the road (but that's of course a matter of opinion).
- ML - the only suv (out of the ones mentioned here) that can be considered a "real" off-roader and at the same time can be quite comfy on the road with the right suspension/wheel/tire package. The soccer-mom "minivan" rear, though, is killin' me!

I've driven all of the above suvs (except the Acura) long enough to form a somewhat accurate opinion about the vehicles. If I'd have my pick, the X5 with a sport package would be it - absolutely can't beat its handling, performance, and good looks.

Why did I buy the RX then? Ok:
- my wife digs it! (she's the prime driver)
- most affordable of the bunch
- 99% driven on paved roads

Don't get me wrong; I love this truck - luxurious? sure! comfy? yup! pretty? of course!... but a "True Man's Vehicle"? I don't think so!

Fire away!

wwest

the Rx300 is.

If you live south of the "snow" line, the RX FWD is likely the perfect vehicle for you. No need to bother with the extra cost of the AWD, you don't need it and it simply isn't there anyway.

AS a Californian would say...

There's no "there" THERE!

gsenthil

Real men dont need objects to strengthen their masculinity. They KNOW they are man enough and thats what counts. This is the 21st century. It is considered ok for a man to have feelings, or to even cry.

I do what I want to do, and buy what I like and thats what makes me a man. Buying a vehicle just because it looks manly would make me the biggest wimp/wuss/!@#$%^

If you want something manly, dont buy SUVs. More women drive SUVs than men. Period

My friend and I were looking to buy RX. He drove one- it was love at first sight. Nothing else appealed to him. While he was still flirting, I went ahead and bought mine. He gave the lame excuse that RX was kinda feminine. I pitied him. Couple of months later, he and 6 more people were in a manly Yukon that did a not-so-manly ballet flip (aka rollover) he went and bought an RX.

Last month I [Man driving a "girly" RX] was rear ended by a lady driving a "manly" Chevy Blazer. I had a few scratches on my rear bumper. Her radiator grill/cover was broken. Headlights came off. Front bumper got broken and scratched.

I agree with the previous poster- MDX is wimpy and feels cheap and rough. ML is a good off roader but has that minivan look at the rear end (and questionable reliability]. The X costs much more for a lot less and the rear is ugly [IMHO].

Being a _man_ its my duty to ensure safety of my family [once I get married and have kids ...]. I wouldnt want them in anything other than the above 4 in consideration.

I drive the RX. I wear pink. I dance. I cook. I dont drink beer. I dont even watch sports.

But I am a man. Because I do what I want to do. Thats what real men are made of.

I would have been more of a man if I had not got provoked by posts calling RX girly....

Daddy-O

Perfect? What ho! With 6-8 months of nights above 55º? Please, lest we forget ourselves and the constant reminder of impure evaporators and tainted plenums.

Whimpy? Not in the dictionary.

Cream puff? That's the expression I've always heard in describing an older, usually secondhand car (or boat) in very good condition. An expression usually proffered by the seller, and then used by the purchaser to impress his friends.

RX 300? As I overheard in Charleston SC once,

"It's where them that are, be."

Chicks dig the roundel.

RX300wannabeIS300

Here's a thought...

What does calling a vehicle "girly" have anything to do with one's "manliness", or "muscularity", or "machoness", or ... you get the point.

Calling RX "girly" is a simple observation of this suv's stand among other vehicles in it's category. It is NOT a reflection of the owner's "manliness" or "girliness", unless, of course you try to take that approach towards boosting your confidence!

In a line-up of the 4 suv's mention in this tread, RX is the "girliest" in looks and performance, plain and simple. And before anyone gets bent out of shape - "girly" is NOT a "bad" thing! Depending on ones perspective, "girly" is what some people (like my wife) want!

One more thing before I get slammed... if you are going to say RX is not a "girly" suv, please provide your definition of "girly"

Daddy-O

Bob Dole did.

gsenthil...Now that was a great post.

Daddy-O

Nuff Said!

wwest

What Bob Dole "did" was simply proof of his acceptance of who and where in life he was/is. I think that's a better definition of masculinity than some seem to have.

Daddy-O

Dole's 60-second ad was a paean to our ludicrous assumption that old age can be eradicated with hair dye, plastic surgery and pills. And Dole has made use of all three, achieving a historic Grecian Formula hat trick.

Shilling for a drug company, masculine?

Let's make it a 4-top!

wwest

No, none of us can go back, but "pills" do help us not succumb to the effects of old age so readily.

Never taken an aspirin? You will, more and more as you age.

But I do agree with you about the cosmetic stuff, except for the women I love. All of them throughout the world, darlings all.

LexRX

This thread is hilarious I don't see the use in agonizing over the preception of the RX. I like the way the RX looks and functions which is why I bought it. I didn't go ask a neighbor what he thought of it

I have more important things going that the preception of my Lexus.

Daddy-O

Hehhehheh