hasema

I dont' know about you. but i have been looking into buying this car. I was dead set on this car but decided to try other cars out. So i went to test drive the m35 and the gs300.

Keep in mind i would be buying this car to assume the main roll of jetting my customers around (real estate agent). So i'm less amused by the sports handling.

My thoughts in a nutshell. i'm a bit tired and dont' feel like writing extensive.


M35- I dont' know why people thing this car is so great. I guess every magazine or comparison rates this car great because of the handling or performance. This is the easiest thing to rate a car on. but aren't we in the mid sedan luxury or not? I felt that this car was sports tuned. I did drive the sports version. I thought the interior looked to "infiniti" like. Just feels like they try to do things ultra modern. I am looking more for the classic look. I did like the trunk space. Pretty big. ANd the navi has a beatiful screen.

gs300 - i actually like this car alot. this car is very "lexus". the buttery steering. smooth and luxury. Definitely not a sports car. I think this is the reason its not scoring well with all the review editors. But if you are taking clients out this is a nice option. The turning radius is godly. I couldn't believe how good it was. It also made me realize how bad the RL's is. The bad thing about this car is the trunk space is tiny. hard to fit signs in this car. i guess my other car would be used for that. Also the fact that its hard to use the navi on the fly is a penalty in my book.


RL - i was actually in love with this car before i bought it. I was almost dead set on this. especially when it can be had for around 40. Well everything is great about this car other than the turning radius. You really dont' feel it in the test drive. It really hits home when you have it for a while. Which i haven't. I am basing this off the 04 TL. I owned the 04TL for 8 months. I sold it because i wasn't thrilled with the turning radius. Other then that it was a great car for its time. I really didnt' have the rattling or any of the issues other people had.
Also, the airconditioned seats would also be a nice feature i'm missing with this car. The RL also lost the touch screen navi which makes things so much easier.

now i have come to the conclusion that there doesnt' exist a car that i want. Any advice? i would buy the acura in a second if it had the turnig radius that i wanted.
Anyone who has driving the TL and RL can enlighten me on the turning radius. Is my predilictions true?

paul_philly

I too owned an 04 TL, but for 2 years. The car was great, but lousy turning radius, some torque steer, and front wheel drive.

I traded it for an RL last week - still lousy turning radius, but it's the same as the TL (39.7), but it's a bugger car...so somewhat forgiveable. Although I agree with you 100% in the turning radius needs improvement.

Regarding the touch screen navi - I HATE the fact the RL does not have touch screen navi; makes me miss the Navi in the TL. Acura claims that it's not touch screen now because 1) it sits too far away from the driver and 2) with 550 voice commands, no touch screen is neccessary. While I agree with the distance, voice commands are useless when others are in the car talking and it's too long to use voice - I'd rather just touch the screen.

Also agree with the absence of cooled seats - this should have been standard equipment like the competition.

Some other quirks I have are:

4 piston calipers only in front
Only 3 channel ABS, not 4 channel like all the other cars in the segment
Too much wood for my tasts.
Back seat room too small

My car has been in the shop a week (and I've only owned it for two weeks) for three TSB's and rattles in the back. All three TSB's will be completed and the rattles were identified (FYI - covering around rear sunshade will "buzz" over bumps and the plates behind the door handles were loose, also causing unwanted noise).

Once I get the car back with XM & Traffic working, as well as vibration noise free, I'm sure I will love this car...how can you not love it when everything is working as it should?

I also cross-shopped BMW 530xi, Lesus GS300 AWD and Infiniti M35 AWD. The BMW was WAY too expensive, Lexus was out of it's league (IMO), the M had a chance to gain my business, but I hated the dash.

I'm really looking forward to having it back in my possession...

So to answer your question, it's not just you - others share your observations, but it's a great car, so try not to focus on the pieves, but rather on the positives...

Rob L

I dont get the original post:

First, of course the M35 interior will be "infiniti like" since it is an infiniti. A company isn't just going to poof, change the interior from their normal design.

Obviously the GS300 will be very Lexus since it is a Lexus

You say you bought the RL but then said you'd buy the Acura in a second if the turning radius was what you wanted...which is it? You cant own a car but then want to buy it.

As for a car you want...go buy a used LS430 with ultra lux package and take your clients around in that...they'll like the rear seat features. Great car and the LS turning radius seems beter than the RL from my experience.




My only issues with the RL are the cheap OEM tires that suck, the front brakes rattle over some bumps at under 60 km/h (supposedly they ahve a fix for this but still, the brakes never should have done this) and the rear sunshade and its holder are cheaply made. The turning radius isn't good but I can live with it.

I like having the knob thing for the nav system rather than touchscreen...the finger prints of a touchscreen would piss me off and I fail to see how a touchscreen is safer to use while in motion than the knob which gives voice feedback when turning it. Yeah it may take a bit longer to get to some menus but I'd rather have people take an extra 2 seconds of getting to a menu than looking at the screen and running into me. Then again, I bet most who use the system in the RL look at the screen when going through menus rather than listen to the voice feedback so my idea of it being safer isn't seen in real world use.

msu79gt82

Duh Of course there is no such thing as a perfect car. All car buying decisions are a compromise between what the buyer NEEDS, WANTS, and can AFFORD. You need a nice car to drive around clients, you want one with certain refinements and qualities and you operate within a budget. You will have to compromise to some degree; which vehicle BEST matches your needs/wants and wallet?

PS: I used to own a TL-S and its poor turning radius was very annoying. It is a strike against the new TL and RL for me also (not necessarily a deal-killer but a point of compromise neverthelesss).

WhitePearl_RL

Go test drive a new Cadillac STS V8 and V8 AWD, new DTS, or wait for the STS-V. I am a Cadillac enthusiast had a 2004 ESV Platinum and 2000 STS that I purchased new and was going to go back to Cadillac, however I bought the RL and have no regrets yet. My 2000 STS went 109,000 miles and performed near flawlessly till I sold it. The only thing that bugged me was the severe depreciation the car took compared to its European and Japanese counterparts.

vp911

I agree with the observation of getting a used LS430. Low miles fully loaded.

hondamore

As a realtor, you should consider you clients reaction to your vehicle of choice. Many clients may climb into your LS430 and think, "Geez, if this guy can afford a $75000 car he must be a really slick salesman who is going to pressure us into anything he wants to make his commission". A "status" vehicle may actually give your clients the wrong impression. I know that I have dentist friends who are dumb enough to park their MB's and BMW's in front of the office and they get nothing but grief from their patients when it comes time to pay their bills. You may find the RL is the perfect solution whereby you can impress them with the quality of your vehicle without appearing to be flaunting your wealth. Just my .02.

Nocturnal

Odd that the turning radius of the RL is so large. It's one of the things Audis do well. Both my S4 and my wife's A6 Avant turn very tightly. Still going to buy an RL though

Rob L

Only the idiots think like that and they arent worth having as clients since they will be pricks regardless. Normal & intellgient people dont look at a guys car and assume he will have shady business practices.

More people I think would see the car and think "wow, this guy must be a great realtor if he can own a car like that so we need him" which in itself is stupid but people think that way as well.

Then again, most dont know the prcies of cars at all so it may not matter. When I was in highschool one of my teachers thoght the Lexus ES300 I was driving one day (my moms car at the time) cost 20 grand and not the 45 grand price it was. On the flip side, one of my friends thought the same car cost 70 grand and I laughed at him...so unless it is a bmw, mb or exotic many people have no clue if the car costs a lot or not.

I am in a business that works on commission and know all this from seeing it first hand. Oh and if I were a client of this guy I'd rather be carted around in a loaded LS430 than the RL.

Anyway, I say go the LS430 route and get a used one to save some cash.

AcidHorse

I don't get this fascination with realtors and the cars they're supposed to drive b/c they have to drive Ms. Daisy(s) around . IMO, drive the car that you want and don't be concerned about what the clients will think if you drive them around a Hyundai.

The only thing I know about real estate is buying them and selling them later for a profit, but has a client ever bought property based on the realtor's car?

Choose what you want, but get the Infiniti

Rob L

Sadly, I'd easily say yes.

People are image whores and think that presentation is the way to judge someone. There are people who will see a realtor driving in a nice car and think that to have a car like that he/she MUST be good at his/her job so he/she is someone worth having as an agent.

I've seen this mentality first hand and it is silly but a reality.

hasema

Well, I have decided not to purchase a car. I will just assume the X5 from the family. I held off on it because there are times were i will be driving into raw land looking at some land development projects.

I don't think driving a Lexus will give others the impression that i am conceded or a shark. Prevalent clients probably would trust someone who shows some success. I was thinking about the new rx400h. That car is great for gas mileage. THe resale market would probably be good too. Toureg v10 tdi was another choice i was considering.

I guess i will wait till i'm at a better position to get the car i really want. THanks for the input gusy