CDR A

I'm interested in RL owners' reflection on it being a family car. I have two children, 3 and 6. My wife does the vast majority of child transport (03' Explorer), but I would likely assume some duties once I move into a car from my BMW motorcycle. The other vehicles I've considered are:
06 Audi A6 Avant (wagon) -- $5k more than 06 RL and very rare in California area
06 BMW 5 series wagon -- $10k more than comparable 06 RL with reliability issues
06/7 BMW 3 series wagon -- right price, good reliability, but too small for my 6'4" frame
06 Infiniti FX35 -- right price, good reliability, right size, but rough ride and bad mileage

I like the parchment interior and understand that it is maintainable, but other perspectives appreciated. Black interiors are always too hot for me (although I would go with Infinti M35 cooled seats!). Wife thinks I could use seat covers to protect against scuffs on back of seats (kicking feet).

OK -- family car or no way? Thoughts?

CDR A

OOPS - I meant taupe as my preferred interior color.

neuronbob

Welcome to AZ!

I use my RL to transport my two-year-old; I bought the RL when my son was four months old. As long as you a) use a seat protector for your child/booster seats to protect your leather and b) clean up barf/messes quickly (seat protectors, as I found, are also good barf collectors instead of it collecting on your seats ), you should be just fine. He's only barfed in the car once, and that was on a long trip.

Chas2

Any of the wagons you are considering have one thing the RL does not, a big trunk area, even if it is not fully enclosed in the sense that a sedan trunk is. How important is that storage area to you?

Seating wise, you should be fine. I think I would try the RL with a 6'4" frame however.

CDR A

Trunk-wise, I feel a bit cheated with a sedan that doesn't have fold down back seats. Not many do in fact. It is an option on 5-series sedans, don't know of others. My practical nature always values dual purpose vehicles. It's my only major NEGATIVE for the RL.

As far as my size goes, I can "fit" into any of the vehicles with ease. The real problem is that when I adjust the seat where I think it should go then my left elbow goes down at the door frame instead of on the door arm rest. That's where the suv type vehicles work better (FX35 for instance or our Ford Explorer) because the seating is more upright allowing me to move the seat more forward. I can make the RL just work and the M35 too. No way in the 3-series.

Anyone else have kids and the RL? Anyone compared it to the Audi A6 wagon?

VOdoc

I have 3 kids ages 7, 7 and 9 (yes, twins!). For routine transport we use my wife's '04 Odyssey since the kids can't readily touch each other. For special family outings we use my RL. There is usually low-level warfare in the back seat due to their proximity. Now that they have outgrown booster seats, they can all fit. Otherwise the RL backseat really only accommodates 2 kids. They like every feature of the RL except the middle seat belt, which overlaps the one next to it. That, and the fact that there is no DVD player. I feel extremely safe and secure in the RL with or without kids.

Interesting assortment of vehicles in your OP. You forgot to mention that the Infiniti FX35 is the fugliest clownmobile ever offered for sale (IMHO). Have you thought of a Volvo V70 or XC90 wagon? We've had several Volvos and liked them a lot. My sis loves her V70. They do like to spend time in the shop...

GoHawks

I have a 12 and 10 year old and the RL serves us well. They both are travel hockey goalies and I occasionally use it to take them to a practice or game. It won't work for both at the same time, but it does work for one.

We (not just me), but my whole family loves our RL.

ssim3

I had a RL and traded it on a MDX because it did not offer enough space for family trips, now I am getting my wife a R350 & myself an E500 CPO with the AMG body kit picking them up tommorrow. I prefer the sedans & she did not want the MDX as her daily driver, but likes the R.

CDR A

What was the turn-off for the MDX? We're considering an 07' in about 2 years . I love the looks of MBs, I just see the Consumer Reports on reliability and wonder - my 03' Explorer has been pretty good but gets bad marks. Wish you the best !!

Ibn Rushd

My uncle has the 06 RL and for family trips, it's not enough since he has four kids, but when it's just him and his wife or him and the kids (13, 12, 5, 3) (not all at once as none can sit in the front yet), it's perfectly fine. And my uncle and his brothers usually take the RL when they're going to see the movie. My 6 foot 3 cousin complained about a lack of headroom in the back seat and having absolutly none in the middle.

But being 6"3, he had no issue in the front.

But when all of them are going somewhere, they take the 07 MDX. He and I agreed that if we couldn't use the RL and wanted to, the MDX does give a similar feel, and it's similar enough that you won't miss the RL....TOO much.

neuronbob

I'm still crying that the wife chose the Pilot over the MDX simply for the reason that I miss having the RL's creature comforts. Wah! Not that the Pilot is bad....I do like it....I just want the comforts of my RL....like seat memory. It's a real PITA to move the seat back from right next to the steering wheel after the wife has driven the Pilot...

TampaRLX-SH

But if you had the MDX you would be dislocating your shoulder everytime you yank on the door handle and wonder why it won't open. Everytime my delaer loans me an MDX I curse like a sailor. The Pilot, being obviously different....is safer.

Ibn Rushd

Haha, his wife gave him a 20 minute lecture about how she hates the MDX and wants the Odyssey back!

lindros2

We're about to trade my 2005 RL for a 2008 RDX. Lack of fold-down rear seat and small trunk are major shortcomings. I can live without rear-seat DVD (aftermarket would probably work too), but trunk is a killer.

db22

Comments on the thread so far:
1 - Teach your kids to respect property and you won't need to cover the leather.
2 - Don't eat and drink in the car and the kids won't throw up.
3 - Do not drive a car if you are over 6 feet tall.
4 - Don't have more than 2 kids, even big cars are only good for 4 people.
5 - You don't need a DVD. Make the kids look out of the window so that they will have a clue when they leave the nest.
6 - If the trunk of the RL is too small then you have too much gear.
7 - If you failed on any of the above then you may have to buy a Odyssey.
8 - Don't resort to buying an ugly, unreliable car because you can't make the RL work for you.
9 - Just kidding!

larrynimmo

I am over 6' tall and I my seat is positioned about 2" forward of the back position. Now sitting in the back seat is a little close for me.

VOdoc

We obviously failed your tests as we are on our second Odyssey! Dad (me) still gets the RL....

CDR A

While on vacation in the Bay Area, I had a free afternoon and decided to re-test drive the RDX and the RL . I noticed on the stickers that the RDX had the same gas mileage as the RL. I also got to look at the fleet of 09' RLs that they were unwrapping and prepping for sale.

On the 09' RL -- I think the nose is an effort to make it look like the sportier TSX. It doesn't do much for me, but then again it wouldn't keep me from buying one. The interior was nice, but I didn't notice anything glaringly different from my casual sit.

I drove the 07' RDX. It was a nice drive. In comparison to my 03' Ford Explorer limited, the ride was quieter and smoother, but the bumps were felt and both the turbo and road noise were evident. The turbo noise didn't bother me too much. I could also deal with the road noise. I didn't experience the skip effect some have when cornering sharply -- perhaps I didn't drive it aggressively enough.

I then drove the 05' RL they had in stock. It felt heavier. The ride was smoother, quieter, and more refined. The acceleration didn't seem available unless you really stepped on it, then it was there nicely. Perhaps that's the cost of a better overall fuel economy than many other luxury sedans.

It appears that the 07' RDX had more tech items - back up camera and MP3 player. Besides the collision avoidance features in 06' and later, are there any tech advantages of the RL over the RDX?

So I'm once again torn. I enjoyed the RL more overall, but the RDX seems so much more practical. The price was the same, the gas mileage the same.

Any thoughts out there on the subject?

GoHawks

I had an RDX for a weekend. Here is a list of differences I noticed.

RDX has auto up/down on only the front windows as opposed to all around on the RL (also not sure you can roll windows down with the remote like on the RL).
Active headlights on the RL
Keyless entry and start on the RL
Power tilt and telescopic steering wheel with memoryon the RL
Sunshades with power rear on the RL
RL has beefier brakes (I think the fronts are six piston and the rears are four).
Aluminum suspension components on the RL
Noise cancellation on the RL
A more sophisticated SH-AWD (variable overdrive to the outside wheel versus fixed on RDX and MDX).

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there is more.

CDR A

Thanks GoHawks, what were your impressions of the ride/noise level over that duration? Was it suffering, managable, or just fine? Thanks!

GoHawks

First off, it is no replacement for the RL. Aside from what I mentioned above, there are intangibles that just make the RL "feel" more luxurious. Whether it's the quality of the leather (not that the RDX is bad), or road feel.

Like I said, the RL just felt more substantial.

That said, I really liked the RDX, more so than I expected. From a perfomance perspective, the turbo definitely gives it lively acceleration. I like the interior layout, and it felt well put together.

If we were looking to buy a smaller SUV that didn't require a ton of room, I'd definitely look at it. Note what I said in that last sentence. There isn't very much space (read: utility). My kids play hockey and I was taking them to a clinic. It was a challenge getting two hockey bags, two sets of goalie pads and sticks in the thing. Typically those sorts of hauling duties are left to our Toyota Land Cruiser, but I wanted to give it a shot.

Like I said, I liked the RDX, but it definitely isn't a replacement for the RL.

geronimomoe

IMHO, the RL is head and shoulders above the RDX. The tech goodies may be similar but the quality of the materials in the RDX is most likely not as high as the RLs.

If you're looking at an advantage, I'd say the RL is far harder to rollover than the RDX..

Between the 2, I'd chose the RL. My