The tone of this thread has turned to including a comparison of the non-Acura vehicle to the Acura. I'd like to hear.

 

I took the time this morning now that we are all in self-quarantine mode, to cross shop the Volvo XC90T8 Inscription the way I have mine configured to others I could have compared it to before I purchased. These were not real vehicles of interest to me, but for these purposes let's suppose I was. I specked out three competitors and built them as I would have had I been really interested in their respective products. In essence they are loaded with very few exceptions. I selected the following and priced at MSRP only:

1.) 2020 Audi Q7 Premium Plus 55 TSFI Quattro (built to my specifications $93,340)
2.) 2020 MB GLS 450 4Matic (built to my specifications $104.465)
3.) 2020 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid Advance (built to my specifications $60.775)
Compared to: 2020 Volvo XC90T8 Inscription (built to my specifications $86,490-my MSRP)

The least expensive by far is the Acura. No question there. However, when you look at the huge step up that happens when you consider the other competitors, not just the prices they charge, but for the content and differences in driving experience, if you can afford the differential, somehow it starts to become less of a barrier. In my neighborhood there are many of the MB and Audi variants but at the moment I am the only one with both the Acura MDX Sport Hybrid and Volvo XC90T8 Hybrid vehicles. It isn't a competition nor am I passing judgement on others, just an observation. On paper the vehicles are very close to each other based on interior and exterior measurements. Some are wider, taller, heavier, fancier and such, but one thing all of the others have over the MDX from my eye is they all have more road presence. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the wheels and tires are smaller on the MDX, so it looks less hunkered down. To my eye, the analogy I think of is if I am sitting at a table and my arms are crossed, I take up less space. If I spread my arms apart as if I am saving space for someone else to sit next to me, I am looking wider to an outside observer. That may not be the best way to explain my perception, but that is what I am going with this morning. Pause for the sip of coffee. The leather quality in the MDX is very nice for sure. The dash layout is nice, but looks dated. The technology definitely looks dated in comparison to other choices currently available, even those offered by Genisis and Kia at lower price points. Amazing. However in all three of the other choices in my sample, they all seem to be of a nicer quality. Personally I have been in the Audi and of course I have the Volvo so I can speak from experience. The Volvo has a standard level of leather, and then there is the Inscription which gets you the step up leather quality. If we are only considering price in the mix, the Acura is the value leader by a mile. However when we look at a one standard of deviation up in price, then two, the value per dollar goes down while the cool and tech features go up (my perception). If you can afford comfortably the alternatives, then by all means go do it. I'm not speaking about the ultra high end like the Lamborghini Urus (wicked cool), Bentley Bentayga (I think that is hideous looking), or the RR Cullinan (what can I say). What is interesting is from a performance perspective the Volvo XC90T8 is more efficient, faster, and less expensive than the MB GLS or the Audi Q7 in the V6 engine class which is how I would have built them. We can discuss RLX Sport Hybrid alternatives too but I think the overall analysis would come out to be similiar. The RLX Sport Hybrid is a unicorn. It is quirky. It is cool. It is understated. It is sneaky fun! That is what I miss about it.

Be safe out there everyone. Take care of yourself and your neighbors.

 

Good to see that you are self-quarantining - if everyone would do that for three weeks then we'd be done with this.