BCRCornet

Do you have "all weather" tires, or "all season" tires? Nitpicky, but there IS a difference.

See this article.

I have Nokian WR G2 All Weather tires on two of my other vehicles, but they're not made in the 235/55R19 size I need for my RX.

VET4LES

Your right they are all season.

RXSF

possible. the RXh uses a fully electronic steering (which btw turning the steering wheel is still unreal to me) so there is probably programming in there to increase and reduce effort.

ejvette

Road noise my god the GS had run flats that was torture took em off after 5K miles.

BCRCornet

Actually, I didn't notice any (or any noticeable) difference in road noise with the Nokian WR G2 tires compared to the previous Michelin all-season tires I had on the cars, before. (One was a Dodge Grand Caravan minivan, the other a Honda CR-V.) YMMV, of course.

socalJD

I guess I'm in the minority since I loved my 3GS and was sad to let her go - had an '08 GS350 ML/Nav and did not have any of the issues you guys had. To me the GS is more upscale than the RX, lil' things like standard LED interior lights instead of halogen bulbs & memory settings for both driver & front passenger seats. If Lexus ever launches the GSF, I would be very tempted. . .

tacomaboy

No need to get insulting. I have owned two Muranos and two Lexus. I can tell you exactly the differences between them.

As far as interior quality, Lexus is better, but not by a huge amount (I am comparing the LE Murano to the RX, which is fair given the price).

The Lexus' leather is softer, but the Murano's leather is not bad.

Both vehicles have a good amount of plastic.

The Lexus has the optional wood steering wheel which we liked very much, the Murano did not.

Both vehicles have similar quality wood trim... not very much.

Seat comfort, ride quality, wind noise was about the same in both vehicles.

The Lexus has the nifty headlights. Not that critical though.

The Murano had a smoother transmission (CVT). The Lexus has a better engine note. The Murano had a more powerful feeling motor. Both the Lexus Premium audio and the Nissan Bose systems were equivalent in sound quality.

Where the Murano edges out, is in sheer usability. Trying to select artists from your ipod is simple and quick, the AC system makes more sense. The control layout is just better (thanks to a horribly designed UI in the Lexus). Reverse camera has a very useful set of moving lines that show where the car will go in reverse - very handy. The seat heaters are much more effective. The rear seats have auto switches to unfold them. The Murano has a really nice dual moonroof, and toggling from flipped up to open is much more simple than the Lexus' awkward implementation.

As I said both are great vehicles, and there are upsides and downsides to both, but for the money, I think the Murano is a better choice - living with it is just a bit easier.

Having said that, we just traded in out 2010 RX350 for a 2011 Highlander Hybrid Limited. We gave up quite a few things for the 3rd row and 28MPG. The leather is not quite as soft, but on this trim, the interior is not far from the Lexus quality. The SE however is very plain looking. We will have to see how living with this vehicle goes.