This is another guest article by my friend DVM who has been writing about his journey picking a Lexus SUV after his Highlander Hybrid got totaled recently.
Of course the Porsches, BMWs, Audis, Mercedes & even the Acuras are great vehicles. However german cars are high maintenance machines, with expensive parts. Mercedes has a very bad reputation and I have often seen them on the side of the freeway or being towed. I like the Acura cars, but not the SUVs. Anyway, having a Camry & Highlander Hybrid for so long, we were not going with non-hybrid vehicles.
All I knew at the beginning was that it had to be a Lexus SUV because they are quiet. This means that I could enjoy the quiet during a drive, and listen to music at lower volumes.
The thing to remember is that the UX is between a Camry and a RAV4 in size. I thought my wife would like it — because she wanted a Subaru initially; but switched preferences once she learned about the maintenance issues, expensive services which a friend of mine had noticed (he still drives a Subaru). So, for someone who was targeting the Subaru Crosstrek, the UX is perfect. As it turned out she liked the UX better than the NX, as I thought although she initially thought she wanted a RAV4.
The Venza is a luxury RAV4, and the NX is a luxury Venza. All of them are of the same size. That is what you got to know about the NX.
The Highlander and RX are of the same size. This was not in our list of cars, not just because it was very expensive, but because I had tired of driving the Highlander which is large I agree, but felt like driving a bus. For one person, commuting, it made no sense, and it definitely was NOT a fun drive. Also considering that my wife was not comfortable with the Highlander ever, the RX was out of the question.
It really left us with the UX Hybrid and NX Hybrid as the two options. They are expensive cars, unless like me you have saved $10K which then makes them approachable at $26K and $32K.
We had to test drive the cars, and you can learn about our great experience here:
