All this talk of snow and such makes me extremely grateful to live in San Diego. The worst we see is some heavy rain a couple times a year. Aside from that it's light showers and some gloom (which I actually prefer compared to 80* and sunny outside kind of days). I'm in a RWD vehicle year round and wouldn't have it any other way. Good luck Weather!

 

What's snow?

It was like 85 in LA. A bit chilly at the office with A/C blasting on for the entire day.

I wonder how my Hankook RS3 tires will do in the snow. Hmm..

 

Weather, if you pick Vancouver Island, well, Vancouver is just a ferry boat ride away. If you wintered in the southern U.S. and returned to Canada (the Maritimes) for the summer, the U.S. immigration people are OK with that. Permanent residence is another story. We "summer" in southern Ontario now that we're retired, so best of both worlds.

As to leasing and long-term ownership, our view is that after owning 28 vehicles of various conditions over the years, we feel we "need" and "deserve" a new car every three years. Life is short so by golly we're going to have some fun with new cars from here on out. This is our first lease, the TLX, and so far so good. Aside from the brutal 8-spd DCT.

 

I bought my TL used with ~30k on it... my previous car i had bought new and was always so anal about dings or any imperfections... The TL was in great shape and is still in excellent shape about to top 100k miles, and while i keep it clean, i don't worry about little imperfections, rock chips. etc... Also nice i was able to pay it off within a year and not have a payment.. Win win in my book..

I'm 50% convinced i will drive for 150-200k miles, 50% convinced i'll upgrade after i upgrade my wifes SUV in a couple years...

 

We haven't purchased a brand new car in about a decade. Makes no sense. Let some other sucker take the appreciation hit. I'll buy the car when it's ~1-2 years old, get the same if not better warranty coverage, and save a lot of money.

 

My wife's next car will be a 1 year old with less than 10k miles for sure. She's finally cool with it when I explained how much $ we can save by doing that. It's a lot of $ when purchasing a car that's ^$55-60K.

 

Pretty similar here. Last new car purchase was my 04 TL. All the others since have been CPO or private party purchases.

 

Precisely!! CPO all the way. My last BMW had 19K on it; bought it for $42,500 ($69K sticker the year prior); remainder of factory warranty (parts/labor 3 years) plus 2 more years warranty up to 100K. Just turned 150K on it a few weeks ago.

 

Exactly what we did. My wife's MB was optioned around $62k or so when new. Got it one year later for ~$42k OTD with ~17k miles on it. Can't beat that.

My wife's B7 A4 was purchased new, but only b/c she had never bought a new car... and she earned that one. The FJ was purchased new b/c that was under the business at the time, but everything else since then has been a CPO or private purchase. That money saved is better of in my pocket for other things

 

^^^
Private purchase all the way. My jeep cost me $1000 2 years ago, I've put $500 into it in repairs. The cost of ownership is dropping daily and I have no worries of it getting a ding or a scratch.

 

..and for any of you wish you could see what we go through around here with the copious amount of snow:

Digging out is hard to do - - CBC News

 

i live in Saint John NB where about are you at? I feel your pain man, its just plain nasty in the maritimes

 

Weather.... like you we have not had a mortgage payment in 5 years, it is just my wife and me and we have three good incomes. I'm saving/investing for retirement so I don't want to spend a lot on a new car. But my strategy is to stick to a budget for a new car (in this case $40K) and keep my cars for a long time. Her car was close to 9 years old when she bough the Mini, mine is close to 9 years; I haven't had a car payment in 6 years. So I still get the new car itch, and I tend to want the latest thing. But sometimes I think to myself that I can trade in the TSX, take my checkbook and drive off the lot with a fully loaded Civic and not see another car payment for another 8-9 years. But I'd probably be unhappy for 8-9 years. I'll probably end up with a TLX Advance or maybe an RDX Advance, but since I want to keep the car for 8 years I'm waiting on those dang TLX transmission issues. Or go with the tried and tested RDX power train and enjoy an SUV for a change.

I'm glad I no longer live in the snow belt, that that stuff up there is worse than I've ever seen. Where I live now it is oppressive in the summer and we worry about hurricanes (we've boarded up and evacuated twice in 10 years). Wait til spring and your outlook will look up.

 

^^ I think if I bought a luxury vehicle, I would also now keep it for longer but that darn new car itch is pretty hard to fight. I agree that if you buy and keep for 7-8 years, then you are ahead of the game for sure. At the moment, I have 3 vehicles so I want to reduce that a little but I love cars, its a passion and as treblig has once said, you only live once - So I don't want to fully deprive myself.

As far as the glitches with the TLX, I agree it is worrisome. I think the RDX is a great CUV and the MMC brought some major improvement except for the horrendous wheels and the unresolved rear shock noise. I honestly feel that if you never had an SUV and always enjoyed sports sedan, you will not necessarily enjoy the RDX and may regret. Since you are not in a super rush for a new cars, I would wait for the 2016 TLX as I believe you will be happier in the long run.

 

Since we have both an RDX and TLX, I'd say don't diss the RDX too much for sedan owners who have never owned an SUV. For normal "competitve" freeway driving and for long sweeping curves through the hills, the RDX is confidence-inspiring and from the driver's perspective, very sure-footed. We drive into the center of Toronto during the summer, and it's a master at "guerrilla traffic warfare". Throw in AWD and decent winter tires and it should handle most weather the Maritime provinces could throw at it.

 

^^ *lol* We need more than winter tires out here....we need a divine intervention!

We did have an RDX (2013) before so I can appreciate its virtue but the high centre of gravity compared to the TLX would be somewhat noticeable. Don't get me wrong, for the category, the RDX is a GREAT vehicle....It is just that they are in two distinct segment and not sure if one would enjoy leaving a sport sedan for an SUV/CUV. If you can have one of each, then thats fine as you have the best of both world but if I was down to ONE vehicle only, I couldn't leave with it being a CUV....but that is just me though.

 

you said you have 3 cars. Don't know if you mentioned it, is one a winter beater?

That's what I do here in Southern Ontario. The wife has an SUV which she likes driving all year. She's short so she likes being high up for once I guess. Then I have a beater and my summer car.

I also would never buy a brand new car. I guess it depends on your financial situation, but I can't imagine paying 40k for a car. I've never paid more than 20 and that includes a 3rd party warranty. But I've stuck with pretty reliable brands that have better longevity. I guess if I had no kids and no mortgage then it would be different.

 

What's with the Chevette in your avatar, weather?

 

Really only one new car appeals to me right now and that's the Mazda 6. If I can upgrade jobs, I'll probably grab one before the current generation ends production in a couple years. I'll also probably wind up getting a "beater" SUV at some point in the next five years just for runs to Home Depot and thrashing around in the snow. You know...something I can leave in a parking lot and not care if it gets dinged.

My 2012 Elantra is paid for, gets good mileage and requires very little in the way of routine maintenance, one thing newer cars are good for. It's coming up on needing a transmission fluid change ($300) and rear brakes ($120 or so) but other than that it's needed nothing more than oil and filter changes although I did just put new tires on it. Also Hyundai is still paying me for their MPG snafu so I'm getting around $70 a year back from them.

 

^^lady I bought my TL from bought a new mazda 6 (white) I have NEVER liked mazdas at all but man is that ever a nice car.

 

I drove one last year and was sold immediately. I just can't justify purchasing a new car right now, though and the auto show was torture....they had my Grand Touring in Soul Red.

2016 Mazda 6 Grand Touring by deloreanman14, on Flickr

2016 Mazda 6 Grand Touring by deloreanman14, on Flickr

2016 Mazda 6 Grand Touring by deloreanman14, on Flickr

2016 Mazda 6 Grand Touring by deloreanman14, on Flickr

 

This thread makes me happy to live in FL...even if I am surrounded by crazies!

 

You guys know you can be cheap and still have a fun car right? Don't sell your soul for a Camry

 

I would not call a RDX confidence inspiring. the RDX while quick, is NOTICABLY top heavy and the softer suspension makes body roll pretty noticeable...

 

I sat in one at the Car show in Jan and I was surprised that I liked it. The way they engineered the fold down rear seats was impressive. And they seem to sell at a pretty good discount. I've never owned a Mazda though and hadn't really considered it.

 

The Mazda6 is a really great car in that segment and not popular for some unknown reasons...

 

...the sad part is we have both!!


GNUTS....Yes, we have a winter car - A little Hyundai Accent that is 3 years old and has had ZERO issues with it. A little bullet so far but yeah, my former TL and our ILX has never seen a drop of rain/flake of snow. If I get a new toy this spring, the same would apply.

 

All of the above. But it is very predictable, with secure-feeling steering, and sure-footed just the same. IMHO a very good balance. It's not a sports sedan, just a very competent CUV, enjoyable to drive, whereas a lot of cars, like the Malibu I just rented, are not. For comparison, I owned 28 vehicles over the years, some awesome handlers, some pigs - my previous two were a TSX and now a TLX, definitely great handlers. There's no downside to parking the key for the TLX for a while and picking up the RDX key.

 

I think it takes some time to get used to the ride height of a good handling SUV before you feel confident in them. With higher weight and a higher center of gravity they still feel tippy if your used to a low to the ground good handling sedan. When I worked for porsche I had the same learning phase with the cayenne. At roughly 6000 lbs you feel the weight and ride height but after a while you realize that it handles better than most cars if you push it.

 

I completely agree with this statement. Yes, premium vehicle from luxury brands are definitely a notch above lower priced vehicles. However, the value you can get these days is far more impressive in a lower priced vehicle. I personally cross shopped my fully loaded Kia Optima SX with more expensive Acura TSX (no TLX yet), Infinity G37x, Lexus IS350 AWD. I would have loved to get a GS350 AWD or better yet an Audi A7, but those were certainly out of my price range. At the end of day, I've been driving the optima for 2 years now and I'm thoroughly satisfied.

I've got a panoramic roof in my Kia.

My Kia has a turbo-4 that puts out 275 HP. It is noticeably quicker than my 2004 TL was.

I have built in touchscreen nav that works quite well. It's a slicker nicer unit than the one I had in my 04 TL considered one of the best on the market at the time. (Which it should be since it's 8 years newer.)

I have heated and cooled leather seats (cheap leather, but leather nonetheless).

The Kia takes regular unleaded gas and gets reasonable gas mileage (32mpg on highway trips, mid 20s around town.)[/QUOTE]

I also have an excellent sound system, a sporty suspension that handles quite well, a nice looking vehicle, etc.

I'm not pointing these things out to say that the Kia is the absolute best car out there. When shopping there were lots of similarly priced competitors with similar features: Mazda 6, Ford Fusion, Nissan Altima, Honda Accord and others. All of these cars when fully loaded offer what the luxury brands offer at a lower price.