AlternativeLUX

Route86 .. hi mate.. I'm not really here for banter about my day job. It was just a contribution. Have a good day. If you do want to show me the door I'll leave. I'm not going anywhere yet, and thanks everyone else for all the great advice.

Hi everyone, I thought I'd give you all an update. Did a test drive today on the Rx450H L Premier/Premium? Overall great car and good experience. This version has standard coils and I was happy with the ride. It's roughly the same as my Merc and a little better than the XC90 Momentum I drove. Things like the Q7 , XC90s with air suspension are more wafty. Solid material and build quality. Noise levels great, engine has a nice rumble. You get used to the CVT. Infotainment was too much to mess about with in the short time I had. Going to go for a Takumi next and see if I can tell the difference in adaptive springs. A

Didn't choose it for status. I chose because it had the Drive Assyst package and I used to do 800 miles a week for work on motorways. No other car at the time came with a similar set of technologies that worked well.

Hi SpaceWagon Dave, Spot on. That's why this choice is important. I have always bought my own car and I'm very careful on how I spend my money to make sure I get the best all round value for my money. I'm a veteran of the oily rag brigade and reliability is key for me, far too much PTSD standing by the side of the road in the rain either fixing or waiting for the AA The crashing disappointment with Merc was not just that a car with under 0K on its odo should not ave a) bits falling off and b) have a major component collapse , let's not go into all the technical faults. What was worse was that when they were told about this stuff, they wrote my complaints off as whinging and didn't do the follow up. I told them i could feel sway and uneven body control for up to a year before the suspension went bust. On top of that, when they did do the repair, they didn't record it properly, so when it went for a follow up they wanted to charge me. I also don't want to be a year down the line and be irritated by the car's things like its ride, its noise, its foibles. I don't want to be sitting in traffic , having spent my money on my car, and be looking at others scooting past thinking I should have pumped for that. Lastly, this is going to be our family car so I need it be able to purchase it and keep it for a very long time Al

That's a fair point. However, I think its important to know what you're making a decision on in term of comparison. I work in consulting, one of the things that is important to us is what we call the value proposition. That is combination of what product means financially , but also how it connects with the user. Those expectations change per user but there is enough of a commonality to consolidate a product around. Lexus are a good example of a company that concentrated hard on the value proposition, it worked on intangible qualities such as "solidity", and "Feel" when it came to luxury from its inception. In this forum you all demonstrate how important that was because you all universally talk about the depth of quality on display in a Lexus. I felt that when I sat in an Rx over the weekend. I'm asking about the ride simply because I'm aware of what ride means to me and need to have some idea that the inputs I'm feeling are going to match what I expect from the value proposition. From the conversation so far it seems everyone loves their car, so that helps

Hi Nigel, Thanks for that. To be honest that's what I 'm in a quandary about at the moment. I have the funds to sort an RX, Xc90 R-Design or a Q7 , both have air suspension. The difference between the XC90 Momentum and the R-Design in ride was marked. Not by much but it changed the body behaviour. On the other hand my Merc has air - and the air suspension went mental a few times on a brand new car. So I'm kind of torn on that question at the moment. Suspension makes a difference to me simply because my journeys involve long distance motorway busting a lot of the time and I'm used to the reasonably smooth ride on the Merc. The XC90 momentum wasn't far off my Merc, but you could tell it was was sprung. How would you describe on the RX in that respect, between the XC90 Momentum and the RX - which has the least wind noise, road noise, and Motorway poise?

Hi WipeOut (Nigel), , You seem to be in the same boat as me to be honest. I can't be dealing with unreliability. My family is young so if I can convince one MiniPerson to sit in the back on long journeys its a win. I notice the Lexus have upgraded the new RX to a better infotainment system with Android Auto support ( though it , frustratingly uses some of the screen as opposed to Apple going full screen. Which XC90 did you have? Did it have the Touring Chassis? How does the ride and handling compare? How do road and noise levels compare? Al

Thanks 08iSF, I won't get it for a weekend or longer than an hour. I've driven electic cars and hybrid before so it won't be too much of a surprise Please could you tell me what the main factors that encouraged you to buy the RX? I'm new to this, so what is a GSF?

Hi all, Thank you for the replies Would you say the ride is equal to cars with air suspension? How loud the road / wind noise? I found the XC90 very good on the noise front.

Hi there folks, So I'm thinking about dropping some money on a RX450 H L Takumi for the clan to cruise round in. I have test drive booked this week. I'm going for the L due to family expansion. I sat in one over the weekend and liked it a lot. So here are some questions for you RX loving folks that may help me refine my decision making. I'm currently driving a 2018 Merc E220 Saloon with all the Self Driving stuff. What's the ride like. My Merc is very smooth, the German cars all have air suspension and are smooth too and the XC90 was buttery. How does the RX fair? I noted that the previous models had Air Suspension as standard but the new ones got rid of it in favour some "adaptive suspension" with advanced tech though still based on coils. Does it matter? How would you describe the ride in yours. This leads to my next question - I do a lot of long distance M-way driving, how does these cars cope with our rubbish tarmac? For those of you who got an L - you're a rare breed I see from the sales figures - how do the back seats work? Are they big enough and roomy enough for regular use? If you have kids - how do you cope with car seats? How does it cope with big families Lastly , that infotainment system - bearing on mind I'm dropping in from a Dual Screen top level Mercedes system - I do have reservations about. .The 12inch screen is lovely, but it does feel like its a mid-2000 car. The Q7 has dual screens now as they've got rid of the rising screen in the dash and gone full Q8 style panels. The BMW is closest in terms of looks but has an integrated screen not one that sits out. Both of those system haven't got that mouse pad/ joystick thing. Some of the switch gear felt a bit mid 2000s as well to be honest. I'm not too bothered about it but I intend to keep this car for a long time and I don't want to be cursing the infotainment every day because I don't like it. I had an early BMW i-drive car and dear God I detested that thing Thank you all for your time, and I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting this. Yours A