For those who know a little about SUVs (esp Stateside)

[Kamal]

Re: For those who know a little about SUVs (esp Stateside)

my heart is stuck on the MDX too, great value for money especially if you get a Certified Pre-Owned under 20K miles, but the wife thinks its too big so we're cute-ute shopping

[Dhar_2]

Re: For those who know a little about SUVs (esp Stateside)

for you kamal i would recommend the X6

[88Mariner]

Re: For those who know a little about SUVs (esp Stateside)

my heart is stuck on the MDX too, great value for money especially if you get a Certified Pre-Owned under 20K miles, but the wife thinks its too big so we're cute-ute shopping

Do it! The newer ones look really good. Particularly in black. Cute-ute's are for girls who are still in high school. Don't do it.

[Kamal]

Re: For those who know a little about SUVs (esp Stateside)

so we ended up picking this one up on Saturday and I will admit, looks apart, I am beyond impressed with the way this thing handles / moves / performs. First off, forget hearing the engine, you'll be hard pressed to hear the damn starter go off in the cabin. Other than serious restriction from using the Phone (via the system), Nav and surfing your MP3 burnt CDs when the car is moving, the nav system is rather impressive. My uncle has a 2005 S500 Benz and it doesn't even detect the lane we live on (just shows the car flying through empty space on the nav) but the Lexus Nav (while 2 years newer) was nearly as accurate as my Garmin (with 2009 maps).

Certified = peace of mind. Plus its a 2007 with 18,000 miles on the odometer. Cant believe how I impressed I was with this purchase. We drove through this past weekend's incredible snow storm that swept nearly all of the North East (drove back in this baby from Chicago to MD) and not ONCE did I feel the car was going to slip.

[DreamGirlie]

Re: For those who know a little about SUVs (esp Stateside)

Thats def a sweet looking car! If you dont me asking...did you get a good price? I always wonder what benefits there are to getting a used with low mileage, is it just price?

[Kamal]

Re: For those who know a little about SUVs (esp Stateside)

yes I did get a good price but at a price. The car has 18,000 miles on it and is nearly fully loaded (the NADA value on the car is over 37K) but I got it for $31,800 (dealer was asking $32,999). It's Certified Pre-Owned too so I get 3 years bumper-to-bumper coverage or upto 100,000 miles (whichever is sooner).

When I was searching this model, I couldn't find a another car that was this loaded and within the same price range. I knew for a fact that it was too good to be true and expected to find a few blemishes on there (also seeing that the car was previously owned in Brooklyn only enhanced my doubts about the "sweet deal").

She has tiny scratches here and there and the push-to-open cup-holders in the rear seats weren't working well (apparently seemed as though soda was dropped on them and was jamming the button). Though they got that fixed pretty quick though. Also one of the rear tires has a rather large scrape (curb rash) but the wheels are aligned and didn't seem to affect the ride as we drove her back from Chicago to MD. So I'll probably just buy a new RIM next year.

As for new vs. used, I am a big proponent of buying used cars, especially if they are Japanese Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) cars and are within a year or 2 of their original sale date with under 20K miles. From what I understand, if a car has been in a wreck, the company offering the CPO will not certify it because they now have to stand behind their warranty of a damaged product. I know both BMW and Lexus will not do it. Also good to obtain a CarFax report side by side so you not only see if the vehicle has been in a wreck, you also see the service history (if there is one) and that only adds to the confidence of your purchase. Importantly enough, be sure you see where the car was originally owned. If it was owned in the burbs, you're sure to get a car with fewer knicks and cuts as compared to one owned in a big city.

But perhaps the biggest advantage of buying pre-owned is the value for money. You can get so much more car for your money and don't have to pay the premium price. This car brand new is over $46K so I am happy with the price I paid.