Well, you guys are a convincing bunch. I just looked up the Q5. Really really nice but they are about 50K. Sounds like backward logic, but since I am not excited about getting an SUV I don't want to spend that much money whereas if I was getting a coupe that I was excited about, it wouldn't seem that unreasonable. I don't know if I want to even test drive it because I'm sure I could find another use for the 15-20K I'd save by getting a Murano or Outback and don't want to fall in love. Between Nissan and Infiniti's I think we have had 7 of them and have always been very happy. But then again, maybe it is time to stop holding that grudge against Audi due to the mental scars from that one test drive.
I won't buy a Mercedes ever since they were associated with Chrysler - too many bad experiences with Chrysler products. I like the styling of the BMW and I do have a 1987 325 that I bought for my kids to use - it's fun to drive, but they suck in the snow. I realize that BMW makes an all wheel drive vehicle, but they are late to the game. Audi has been making the quattro for at least 35 years - all wheel drive with sports car handling, you can't beat it. If you want to buy second hand, 70K can get you an awfully nice loaded A8 with low miles. That's what I call a luxury sedan.
I swear I don't work for CarMax. Their site is just really easy to use. 09 with 21k miles at $29,097 and you get the roof rack and heated front seats. http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/def ... lts%20page
Good points about the Mercedes Chrysler merger. Anything Chrysler, outside of the Jeep brand, and even then only really the Wrangler, is pretty much crap. I know people on here will say that they love their Chrysler mini van and thats great, but the association of the two brands together I'm sure didn't do much good for Mercedes. I like BMW's because they are fun to drive. Are they the best in the snow, are they the most luxurious compared to their German brothers? Maybe not, but still dam nice. But where they excel is the driving sensation. Except for their SUV"s,. Not sure I could get a German SUV. I'm pretty much a Chevy truck guy at heart.
Yup Chrysler can go pound sand. There Caravans except the new one, about 50 percent of the ones needed at least one transmission job. There pickups with Cummins diesel, at least 50pecent needed front ball joints, tie rod ends, and a steering gear with linkage. You cant get a rebuilt steering gear in the aftermarket because they are such shit they cant keep them together, when they go they upgrade them to one double the size. And from a parts guys point of view, ford/chev say for there ball joints for a span of 12 year, will have one set of lower ball joints and two set of uppers. So for 3-4 parts you can cover over a decade. Dodge since they cant engineer for shit, have to keep changing parts every 2-3 years, sometimes less.
I had a RAM 3500 turbo-diesel, and had to go through the front-end thing. I don't think the problem was the design as much as it was the materials... they were cheap-as-fuck Chinese parts that bent and wore out like tinfoil. I popped in a US-made after-market replacement kit (not cheap, but cheaper than OEM), and it worked like a charm. Night and day difference. But I'll still pick that 6.7 Cummins and the Allison transmission any day of the week... phenomenal power and performance.
Dodge used allison transmissions? Shit i must of been asleep for a while, i knew the Allison's were in the chev's, always thought they used ZF or Aisin. But yea, only reason to get the dodge is because of the cummins.
I think there were only a couple of years where they did... don't recall the exact details, but I know that the 3500 I had came with it. (I can't remember the year... I bought it a few years used from the dealer).
My parents who live in rural Appalachia Pennsylvania picked up a BMW X3 in 2010. I wouldn't ever take one farther off-road than gravel, but as far as driving in snow/inclement weather, they've been rather happy with it. The only real complaint they've had is climbing in and out of the sport seats. They're in their early 70's, so it take that for what it is.
Our high school football team keeps getting beat so badly that I'm surprised Child Protective Services haven't been called in.
How about a real boobs vs fake boobs shaking video? I'm also...kind of impressed with how accurate this is: Spoiler
Shake it! I like them both, so I find your use of the word "vs" offensive. Also, I thought I would check out the http://www.jessijune.com link that was posted in that video. That did not disappoint. Thank you.
I like where this is going, but we have an insufficient sample size for a legitimate test here. Ladies... do your part! For science!
When we were looking for our current car we were headed to a Lexus dealer and passed an Audi dealer on the same road. We ended up stopping there and driving a Q5. It was awesome. Hands-down the best-driving SUV we've seen. However, when we got home I looked up the reliability and determined that we would never own the Q5 or any Audi for that matter. We went with our original plan and got the Lexus RX350. It's probably a little larger than you're looking for since it's nearly identical in size to the Murano, which we also drove and liked. If you currently love your G35x, then it seems like the logical choice is the QX50 if you're going to an SUV. It's on the small side, will be very similar to what you know and love, and has an incredible engine. When we took a trip to the Grand Canyon area a few years ago we ended up with an Infiniti G37x for a rental car. I absolutely loved driving that car, and the QX50 is basically the taller version of that. If you're still looking for options though, the Acura RDX seems like a good one to compare to the QX50. I don't think anyone mentioned it yet. You could consider the 2015 Lexus NX also, but it hasn't been released for sale yet. Can't beat Lexus reliability.
Is it still that bad? I was under the impression that they improved alot of the reliability issues in the last 5-6 years, since the fairly radical redesigns and change in marketing aims. I know they were notoriously bad for a long while.
I've been really pleased so far. I've got a 2007 A4 and outside of regular oil changes and scheduled maintenance, I haven't had anything really expensive so far. I'm at just over 100k on the ODO. YRMV of course. Potato quality photos: http://imgur.com/a/DfkoR I will say, the center dashboard will light the fuck up if there's an issue, and considering I'm not the most handy person on the planet, I drop it off at the dealership for them to sort out, grab a loaner and go about my business. This is one of the reasons I prefer Audi - all I have to do is call ahead, let them know what's up and they have a brand new car waiting for me while they resolve whatever is going on. I don't know if other brands have that same level of service, but if they do and you prefer it, go with that. I get that its a marketing scheme to entice me to buy a new one. Its working. I had no idea I needed an S4 in my life.