My wife has driven our 1998 es300 for many years with very few problems and decided to start shopping for a new car. Of course, the lexus dealer was the first place we stopped. Her car needed servicing and they gave us an lx suv to drive around in. I tried to convince her maybe we should look into an suv and she said she would only feel comfortable in a sedan. We agreed we would look into some all wheel drive sedans. After looking at what lexus had to offer, we felt that they didn't offer enough room in their AWD models. We drove the new es350, it was very similar to the one we own now and enjoyed the navagation and phone features. We next tried the BMW AWD 5 model and found it a very stiff but a well handling car. The only thing was that it didn't have a full time AWD system and paying the MSRP was the only option. We next drove the A6 and found it had had plenty of room, but it was a little too responsive to our driving comforts. About two weeks later, we went back to the Lexus dealer to make an offer on the ES350. He gave us a great price but we told him we wanted to drive an RL and got a great price on a 2007 with some incentives. We drove 50 miles to the dealer offering "the deal" and test drove the RL. We loved it. The AWD handling had convinced me that if it could drive this well on dry payment, it could handle the rough weather in the winter. The technology package blew all of the competitors away. It had alot more room than the ES350 and we felt it had as much power too. Needless to say, "The Deal" turned out to be the old bait and switch. We were so disappointed! We were offered a 2008 price and felt we could never deal with someone like this, declined to purchase. We drove 50 miles home and went to our Local Acura Dealer who made us a no nonsense offer and bought the RL. I picked it up the other day and felt like a kid again getting his first new car. We are hoping to get the reliabilty that we got with our lexus and feel comfortable with our Local Dealers service so far.

 

Welcome to the RL club.

 

I almost bought the es350, but didn't even test drive the es350...give me your comparison...just currious. thanks.

 

the es350 had a very cushion ride, nice updates as far as body styling and tech features. It had the great pickup as far as acceleration like our old 300. We still own our 10 year old lexus with 50000 miles on it and would never give it up. The RL drives more like a Bmw than a lexus. All four wheels stay on the road like a BMW where the Lexus cushions the impact. I find the RL a sports model as far as handling to the Lexus. I cut across six lanes of traffic and maintain the center lane with no problem with the RL. The Lexus would have me in the outer lane. That sold me on the RL! Our old 300 could not handle any kinda of snow. We have a moderate incline to our apartment complex and it failed to climb. We have the traction or antisipplage control on the old lexus and it didn't work, why would I think it would work on the new model?

 

Thank you and I hope we made th right choice. Our dealer was great! I went to pickup the new RL and Paul gave me a great intro to the car. When he was done, he shook my hand and told me the way out of the dealership. On the way out, I saw Paul on the side of the road and he gave me an honorable japanese bow for good luck! Thanks Paul!

 

I too almost bought the Lexus ES350 myself. Test drove both but the RL gives you so much more for the money! Going on 9 months now with my 2006 RL and I have no regrets! Still loving everything about the car. You'll be happy! Best of luck and enjoy the RL.

 

Good thing you didn't...otherwise, you may be having a headache right about now because of that awesome transmission on the new ES.

 

Welcome to the exclusive club and we look forward to further posts from you!

 

Yes, they do have transmission problem.
In addition to that, there is wind noise above 45MPH on all ES350s and the Lexus can not find the solution. (This info. came from Lexus owners)

 

Welcome aboard, skierslick! Great choice in automobiles. I predict that, over time, you will come to appreciate your wise choice more and more. The RL/Legend really grows on you. If you love it now, you will LOOOOOVE it in a few months' time.

 

I just wanted to let everyone know how much I enjoy being a part of the club. Your responses gives me some confidence in our decision to buy the RL. We look forward to contributing to the site.
Thanks

 

Good point VoDoc, I'll second that. I can honestly say this is the only car I grew to like more as I drove it. Usually you love the car when you buy it and then start finding all the little quirks that annoy you. That didn't happen with me. You appreciate it more once you've owned it for a bit. If didn't have this darn CMBS issue, my experience with this car would be perfect. In fact, even with the CMBS issue, I still have not gone sour on the car. I would buy the car again (just not with that add-on feature).

 

Interesting, cause I thought if I got an RL I would want the CMBS option. I know I read about your issue, it does not activate quick enough to be as useful as it could be.
you don't recommend it at all?

 

Well, it's part of a $4000 package. In my opinion, having now seen it in action, it won't really help me in most situations and isn't worth the money. But that's my opinion.

It's not so much a "3 stage early warning system" (like they describe it). it's more of a "last second alert system". Also, my "box crash" test proved to me that the 3rd stage reacts so late that it has virtually no time to slow down the car in any meaningful way. As you can see in my video, my head doesn't lurch forward or anything when the seatbelt triggers. My brother the "camera guy" was sitting sideways in the seat. The camera didn't even wiggle. It's very light braking that occurs about 1 second before impact. What's that going to really do for you? It's MUCH different then the sales pitch. You'd have to watch my Youtube video and decide if you want to pay $4k for it. I don't want to necessarily discourage you.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vrmqB9DnndU

 

I noticed the "we" in your title. Maybe another thread to start, but I have noticed that my wife is way more into the RL than my 'ol TSX or any other car we have owned. She actually pesters me to drive it quite often.

Given that the RL is quite a step up is probably one factor, but she says that it is more the way it drives, how quiet is it and also the safety and navigation features.

 

My wife insisted on the navigational package. She was impressed by the demo with the voice activation. I actually use the navigation on my verizon phone to get to a sales call when needed. So I am use to it and she has to learn it. I have been picking her up at the bus stop in the RL and she is dying to drive it. I am hoping to get her behind the wheel this weekend. She still does love her Lexus, but it will be interesting to see she if she likes driving the RL over time more than her old car. She is very nervous driving in the rain and snow with her Lexus. I hoping that she can get more confidence driving the RL in these situations.

 

What kind of Lexus do you have? If it's an ES (or even a GS) I'm going to go out on a limb and say, as a women, she will like driving the RL better. It will handle more solid and the nav system is absolutely superior. Wait till she learns all the voice commands and how to control most of the cabin functions by voice. "Temperature 71......", "Call Home...."

I have a lot of experience with the Lexus Nav and voice system. Absolutely no comparison. You say the commands properly and you'll never be repeating yourself. Plus, you can easily program an entire destination by voice while driving.

 

It is a 1998 es300. She had a camery before this one so it was a step up in comparison. I will let you know what she thinks.

 

I never drove a 98 ES. Can't say for sure. I know the RL handles MUCH better then the new ES models. To me the ES drove like a Toyota Avalon. Seemed to floaty. The RL drives like it's on rails. Very sure footed (as you may already have noticed).

Search around, one of the guys just yesterday metioned he hit a 6" puddle of water, on an exit ramp curve, and the car held the line perfectly. I don't think she'll have trouble driving in the rain.

 

I had a 2003 lexus gs-300 from 03 to 06 There is no comparrison in handling & feel my o6 rl is far better I also thought i would buy the 2006 gs-300 but after a few test drives & some real featue for $$$ comparisons here i am with the 2006 rl No regrets This is just a solid great car no problems at all since 03/06 approx.15,000 miles

 

My wife finally drove the car with one of her friends this weekend. I didn't even have to ask her which she liked better the Lexus or RL, of course the Acura. She loved the handling and the the tech features which she is getting use to. She pampers the car and calls it the "baby". I will say that I also like it better than the Lexus I do agree than the is a real need for some more low end torque power in the RL. We averaged about 20 mpg and was satisfied with the initial consumption. I guess we will be fighting on who drives the RL for now on.

 

Well - the first 1K miles have clocked over after a long weekend in the Sierra Nevada foothills doing some wine tasting. The car is super. The only issues so far have been getting the Voice Commands to work (I just need to learn the right language) and the radio/XM presets to work - THOUGHT we had set them last night but this morning they were not there (and it was the same driver) so I guess on both counts it is RTFM (some more).

The last leg of our trip on Saturday en route to our second home near Yosemite is shown below in a shot I took on a Porsche outing about two years ago (I highlighted the road for clarity).



This is known among the motorcycle crowd as "Little Dragon" . This is looking north on Hwy 49 about 12 miles north of Mariposa. Over the distant ridge is Jamestown and Sonora - about 40 miles away. Great smooth surfaces with some of the best twisties around - particularly that hairpin at the bottom of the photo - there is one spot in that turn where the horizontal separation from the other side of the turn couldn't be more then 10' but the vertical is 60' or more. Ye Haa!!!

 

Here is a Google Map of the best part of the route - zoom in for a close look.