New to me car options

[Brocklee]

My current car is on it's last leg and I just got a promotion so it's time for a new car. we're looking at a bunch of different options, and don't have anything specific in mind. right now my top pics are the lexus is350, bmw 535i, and the Nissan Titan. I'm just curious what everyone else would get, and if you recommend a car that you have owned in the past what were the downsides. The limits are 2007 and newer, must have 4 doors, and a max of $18,000. Let's here what you guys recommend for my next car.

[85Edinger]

What do you have, and what's wrong with it?
What do you want in your next car?

[Halgar]

Have you tried this thread?

I'm a truck guy, so I'd go with the Titan or similar from another manufacturer. Not all vehicles are created equal, so I'd really recommend choosing a particular type of vehicle, then try out what each manufacturer has. Back when I bought my current GMC, I was trying to downsize so I tried the Toyota Tacoma and Tundra, both literally had identical cab space/leg room. I'm only 6' tall, but had no leg room in either truck. Went down the street to the GMC dealer and the Sierra was far more comfortable, had more options, and was only a few thousand more than the Toyotas. I prefer GMC anyway, so it wasn't a hard choice.

[85Edinger]

You might want to consider a Volkswagen. My dad drives a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. It's comfortable, fun to drive, and gets 50 mpg on the highway in good weather. The chassis tuning is absolutely brilliant. The interior materials and quality are very nice. The touchscreen stereo is intuitive and simple. Reliability just isn't the greatest because the engine, fuel system, and exhaust system are so complex to meet emissions standards, but that's true of most modern diesel passenger cars.

[RedScampi]

Reliability just isn't the greatest because the engine, fuel system, and exhaust system are so complex to meet emissions standards, but that's true of most modern diesel passenger cars.

I have a good friend who just unloaded his 2010 VW TDI because of the above issues. All the cool features in the world isn't worth a tinker's damn if you can't just jump in and go and know your going to get there.
I strongly suggest doing some critical thinking about what you want to be able to accomplish with your car, then pick out a few that seem to meet your budget and needs, then do some research on each of them to find their weak points and strong points. Looking at your list tells me you haven't really decided what you need in a car yet. The Lexus is going to be refined, reliable, but soft and less performance oriented, the BMW is a taut performer with a stiff ride and good reliability but higher maintenance costs. The Titan is likely a good truck...but it's a truck and it will cost more in terms of gas.
We ended up getting a new Mazda6. For the money I don't think it can be beat. We also bought it through Costco and eliminated almost all of the dealership hassle and got a $200 voucher for goodies to boot.

Sorry for the long winded reply...but you did ask!

[Coelacanth]

I think the considered options--two luxury-end cars and a truck--indicate that more thought has to be put into exactly what the needs are. You don't go to a dealership asking to test drive a BMW, and a truck, then compare them. It's apples to oranges. Evaluate your needs and what you require a new vehicle for. Do you enjoy a soft, cushy, floating-on-air luxury ride? Do you like brisk performance? Do you need a truck to haul stuff, move furniture, or go off-roading? Do you need something to drive several people or children around? Do you want economy and fuel efficiency?

Until you spend some time thinking about what YOUR needs are, all you're gonna get is people's opinions on what worked for THEIR needs.

By the way...a few years ago it was time to sell my 1998 Dakota Sport and get something like a small, relatively inexpensive SUV. Even if I had kids, I'd never buy a minivan, so anything van-like was ruled out. I needed something that I could load my drums into if I ever joined a band and did some gigging, so a truck wouldn't suffice. I also hated people always asking to either borrow my truck or me, to help them haul THEIR crap around.

I also can't stand a vehicle that doesn't perform well, or can't safely & quickly pass a slow driving rig on the highway, so that ruled out almost all 4-cylinder and weak 6-cylinder vehicles, like the older Ford Escape. I like a stiffer, more stable ride with more road feel, so no cushy air-mattresses. I had a price-point well under 20K so that ruled out most Asian SUVs in the 2006 - 2009 age range. I wanted something with some warranty left, that the previous or original owner took most of the depreciation hit (new cars just aren't worth the loss of depreciation, IMHO). I wanted something that accelerated better than most cars, and had decent gas mileage. After evaluating all these needs, and doing several weeks of research, there were not many vehicles left that met all my criteria. Two of them were the Chevy Equinox Sport and Pontiac Torrent GXP. Unlike the lower-end models of these cars, they came with a hot 3.6L 264 hp motor, sport-tuned suspension, dual exhaust, 6-speed overdrive, and were pretty well-equipped as they were the high-end versions of the regular Equinox & Torrent. So, now that I had an idea what few vehicles met all my needs, I was able to focus on Auto Trader/Kijiji searches, price comparisons, and actually looking at possibilities.

The point of all that was to show what you ought to do in terms of research and looking at your needs before asking what kind of car to buy. It's a big investment so it's worth your time.

[Quartermilecrazy]

If you have any BMW related questions feel free to shoot me a PM or even ask on here, I will keep an eye on this thread. I am a BMW technician.

[85Edinger]

[quote="Coelacanth"]Two of them were the Chevy Equinox Sport and Pontiac Torrent GXP. Unlike the lower-end models of these cars, they came with a hot 3.6L 264 hp motor, sport-tuned suspension, dual exhaust, 6-speed overdrive, and were pretty well-equipped as they were the high-end versions of the regular Equinox & Torrent./quote]
I had never heard of those models before, I didn't realize you could get the Equinox with such a hot motor. What a sleeper!

[Brocklee]

Yea, I'm pretty open to look most anything. I would like something that has 300+ hp in it. I like the sportier luxury cars but I'm not opposed to a truck either. We have an atv to haul around and it would be nice not to hitch up a trailer to the SUV every time we go out as we only have one. Now for my job a do have a fair amount of onsite work with customers which is why I'm also leaning more towards a luxury car as well, but again I would like to get a good feel for the market before I set my heart on anything.

[kaiser]

I've been in the car business for a very long time. The result...I'm very opinionated about them.
So won't recommend anything, but I'll advise you to stay away from anything built by Nissan. Hands down the worst cars in an accident. The cheapest of cheap metal and other building materials. I've just seen too many of them cut in half, ripped in two, in collisions other cars/trucks handle much better.

[RC104ever]

I work in the car biz and get asked all the time what I think about product 'x'. Here's what I suggest:

Prioritize the most important features and 'must haves' in a car for YOU.

Is it safety?
Reliability?
Fuel economy?
Luxury features?

Once you've decided on your top list of things, then prioritize the vehicles you are interested in looking at.

Now test drive them ALL on the same day. Don't let the salesman talk you into anything just do what you want and go where you want.

Having said that, for my family when we set out to look at a new car (family car) we decided after a year of shopping (I'm very OCD about looking at every possibility), we bought another Honda Odyssey. (Even though I work for VW / Audi, lol).

[Brocklee]

I ended up getting a bmw 550i, and so far it's been amazingly fun! It
Also has almost every option available for 2007. I would have liked to get one a few years newer but I got a good deal on this and it's low mileage too.

[Oozzee]

is the 550i the V10 or is it still a V8,
great cars unfortunately cost an absolute fortune in Australia with the Luxury Car sales Tax
It will tick all the boxes that you are after
nice Buy

[Brocklee]

is the 550i the V10 or is it still a V8,
great cars unfortunately cost an absolute fortune in Australia with the Luxury Car sales Tax
It will tick all the boxes that you are after
nice Buy

It's the 4.8l v8. A v10 would have been neat but this v8 still puts out decent power 360 hp 360 tq

[Oozzee]

when are you guys going to join the rest of the world with the Metric Syatem
Associated did it with the B5