Best Luxury/practical/reliable Longterm Car

[lexussed]

Hi All,

I've been browsing this site for a few weeks as part of my reseach into taking the leap from carefree adult to child burderned parent ;)

Currently have 2 girls under 4 years old and need to buy a reliable/luxury vehicle for long term use...6years+...wife and I don't like estates at all..

tested toureg, xc90 and recently an RX300SE...

Looked at X3 and X5 in the past as a previous BMW owner but really want to leave the whole image behind and in comparison too much money for what they are and don't like the styling...

Of all cars tested so far, I've never really thought I'd enjoy driving a 4x4 but ihave to say I was very impressed by the RX300SE...left with a big smile...

My question is how much of a discount can I really get from the dealers, i'd like to by one new and tempted to order one just after xmas in the hope I can get a bigger discount...

Anybody have any bad stories about the RX300se reliability or otherwise.

Thanks

[Speejo]

After 5 years and two Mercedes MLs we have just taken the plunge and gone for the RX300SE.

As a driving experience there is no comparison to the Mercedes, I still beleive the Mercedes has the style edge but its old technology and the family will remind you of this everytime you go round a corner and they roll with you. (We also have w2 girls under 4).

Personally the X5/X3 and XC90 just do not have the style, can't put my finger on it but just not for me. I think in the case of the XC90 is because it looks like a normal Volvo estate on steroids.

Can't give any feedback on reliability except for our friends (also 2 girls under 4) who have had their's for over a year and swear by it.

In terms of discount, check out www.drivethedeal.com, I believe current discount is over £2,350 off the SE, my local dealer got close to £2,000 which I lived with for the convenience. Discounts will be higher for the next 2-3 months. By November it will be 2005 model and in likelihood discounts will drop a little.

I have now sourced two replacement headrests with screens so we can watch the Tweenies on long journeys. Great screens for about £750.

Look forward to hearing other peoples views on the realiability factor.

Speejo

[T7RY B]

My RX is 4 years old and still drives like new.

Reliability is second to none. Luxury,performance and build quality go without saying.

I have owned Mercedes,BMW,and a 99 S-Type Jaguar. My last Lexus a 93 LS400 outclassed all of them and the RX is just the cherry on the cake.

My next car will definitely be the Lexus RX400.

Cheers Terry