WagonWill

Thanks, but I don't want to buy a new car and the mobility program is apparently just for new rigs. Thanks for the link!

WagonWill

Yeah, I "wasted" some time here looking to see what's available and ran across several that were actually kind of tempting, like a Tesla S for $120/day. I don't need one, but it would be interesting.

F250

I just saw your thread and will be happy to take additional measurements on my 2010 RXh this evening if it would be helpful.

In the meantime, I'll give you some context for how well our RXh fits for me in terms of ingress and egress. I'm a large framed guy with lower back stiffness issues. I'm only 55, but you cannot say that my flexibility matches my age... it's worse. I'm 6' and 250lbs, but being built athletically, most folks think I weight about 30lbs less. Like I said, my lower back stiffness creates some limitations for me on a lot of vehicles. (It was difficult getting into and out of the Ford Fusion rental car I had all of last week). I typically drive 2002 F250 crew cab diesel every day, and there are obviously no ingress issues for me with that behemoth. The other vehicles in my family are a 2007 Volvo S60, 2006 Subaru Outback, 1999 4Runner, and our 2010 RX450h. Aside from my truck, the RXh is the ONLY other family vehicle which I can easily get into and out of without knocking my head and straining my lower back. The 4Runner is almost as good as the RXh, but not quite.

Here is what makes the RXh such a perfect pleasure for me during ingress and egress.
- The automatic seats automatically retract to the full rear position while the steering wheel powers up and away from me, both upon turning off the car and getting out, and this leaves the seat and door opening WIDE OPEN for when I go to get back into the vehicle again. (This, however, is only applicable for the driver side seat.)
- The "step in" height is absolutely perfect... no need for either climbing up or stooping down... I just step right into the vehicle.
- The door opening is tall enough for me to bend as I step in so that my head never hits the door frame.
- The width of the door opening is such that I can swing my legs into the vehicle easily without having to fold myself over uncomfortably... I do occasionally, though, kick my left foot against the front-most portion of the door panel upon stepping out of the vehicle.again.
- Upon getting seated, once I click the seat buckle, the mirrors, steering wheel, and seat all return to their pre-programmed positions without me having to re-adjust every time in and out (again, this only applies to the driver side front seat).

Like I said, let me know if additional measurements would be helpful.

WagonWill

Pete,

Thanks a lot, that's very helpful. I think that the 3RX will work out just fine for us and I'm going to continue my search for a good used one. I don't think that more measurements will be necessary, but I appreciate the offer.

F250

Glad to help any way I can, Will. I would recommend that you be ready to pull the trigger quickly. Research the options you want and survey the field for what the used ones are selling for around the country. The good ones sell quickly unless they are exceptionally overpriced. I missed getting a 2011 with slightly lower miles by just one hour on the day before we bought the one we have. Still, we found a good one and are really enjoying it. Although I am NOT a fan of the body style, it's not as bad as the 2RX's, though also not as good as the updates which came in '13, in my opinion. I would rather they look more like the other brands' styling, but I would only trade what I have for a newer RX or RXh.

WagonWill

Pete,

Yes, I agree, good deals don't last as it seems like there are a lot of buyers out there. I just missed what seemed to be a good deal on a private sale one, so it pays to be diligent!

I agree about the looks, and I probably shouldn't say this out loud on the forum, but I don't think they are very good looking either, but certainly not offensive either. I really dislike the 4RX, but I'm not going there anyway. I can't see the car when I'm driving and I don't think anybody's going to be "impressed" anyway....just another one of millions of cars on the road. That said I think that there are very, very few beautiful modern cars. I once pulled up behind a 918 Porsche Spyder at a light and then followed him up into the mountains where I live. I looked around the intersection at other drivers and then noticed other drivers as we headed out. NO reaction, nada, not even a second glance. Mind you this is a $845,000 hyper car with very swoopy styling. The other "weird" thing was that he set the cruise control at 65 mph, which was the speed limit, and just kept it there. So....what is his "ROI" (return on investment)? No attention, no adrenaline. Might as well drive a 3RX! grin

F250

Then, too, there is always the issue of "personal taste". Personally, I really really like the Porsche Cayenne, but my wife, daughters, and one of my sons all say it looks like something from the 80's -- wayyyy outdated to them. Heck, even some of the Cayenne owners (online forums) admit that the styling is outdated, but I still like it myself. I just find it sad that their reliability can't even begin to come close to the Lexus brand once they cross the 85K mile mark because it means I'll never get one.

As for the '17 RX... I've seen a number of folks in here talk about the front end being nothing but butt-ugly, and I have to agree on that particular issue. From the side view, I think the '17 styling looks a little too edgy, at best, like they were trying too hard. Like you... they are in a market which does not include me at all. Our 3RXh certainly keeps us satisfied. I've been on a couple of 5-7 hour long road trips in it thus far, and it beats anything we've had to-date, and the ride and quietness around town is just a real pleasure for us. It's more than "good enough" for our needs and desires.

Kansas

Maybe you encountered a 918 owner who happened to also be a responsible citizen. I've owned a number of very fast vehicles including multiple Lexus that were electronically limited to 150 mph and I adhere very closely to speed limits. So do my friends who drive similar vehicles.

The people I know who drive exotic and near exotic cars do not buy them for "attention" or "adrenaline". They buy them for the pleasure of owning and driving them and they don't care what others think. It is not necessary to drive a "real" Porsche ("real" excludes Cayman, Boxster and VW/Porsche SUV's) hard or fast to appreciate the sublime feeling of control and precision it provides - I know that from personal experience.

Back on topic. Your father should easily fit in an RX fine if he is only 5'9" and has normal body flexibility. But don't try getting him into a Tesla Model S which I think you mentioned. I'm in pretty decent shape for my age but a Model S is very painful to get in or out of its front seats.

Driving a vehicle that gets "attention" can be very unpleasant. I'll never forget what happened in 1979 - back when people actually subscribed to auto magazines - when Car and Driver published an article about the Mercedes 450SEL titled "Best Car in the World". Suddenly every snot-nosed teenager with a drivers license and a car was tracking my 450SEL and getting way too close. I had several very close calls with these children but thankfully that behavior subsided after a few weeks.