I had a a few good experiences buying an acura mdx for a few folks who asked. It wasn’t even a fair comparison. Dealers in L.A. were much cheaper.
As it stands the best time to have bought an MDX was last year when gas prices were high, the recession just kicked in, and Acura had way too much inventory. For the price one paid in 2008 at the end of the year clearance for one with a Tech package, you can’t even buy one currently at the 2009 clearance without the tech package (production was cut, gas prices fell, so demand crept back up)….That said, you can do everything over email and phone calls. Most LA dealers will meet each other’s prices, which will be considerably lower than dealers here in SD. The Mission Viejo dealer for instance is 45 mins away. You could go as far as Santa Monica and Torrance.
Given your choices you indicated (Toyota, Honda, Lexus)…I would pick the Mdx,Toyota Highlander, Lexus RX, Honda Pilot in that order.
The thing I don’t like about Lexus/Toyota is that both like to nickel and dime you on every single option. MDX and Pilot are sold in only 3-4 trim levels, and most come pretty well equip.
Toyota/Lexus prices small options one at a time, BUT most of the cars already come with preselected options (in some cases things you don’t want like heated seats in CA). You end up paying for stuff you don’t want, and doing the math, the Lexus may very well end up much more than a MDX.
I’m not a big fan of the Pilot’s styling, and folks I know had problems with the Pilot’ (hence the bottom of the list). MDXes so far have been troublefree. Plus the MDX/Pilot seats 7, while the Toyota highlander/Lexus RX seat only 5.
Given the choices between the Highlander and the RX, I’d take the Highlander because it’s cheaper, and the styling is pretty slick too imho. Essentially the Highlander and RX share platforms so it’s almost the same car.
The pluses for the RX is that it’s a brand new model year (2010 looks different from 09). The MDX has been in the current model year for about 2 years already (expect another 2-3 more years)..
Preowned SUV’s have taken a hit pretty hard, so if you don’t mind a preowned one from private sales, you could save a bundle. (Buying certified used from a dealer, you won’t save that much). The prior year Lexus RX in particular takes a huge depreciation hit due to the new 2010 model.
Unfortunately none of the SUV’s mentioned above have a gross weight over which you could write it off as a truck used for a business expense (gross weight must be over 6350lbs)…All fall under the category of a passenger vehicle, which you can still deduct but not quite as generous deductions compared to vehciles classified as “trucks”.
The only SUV that meets that category in your brand selection is the LX 570 and possibly the GX470, neither of which you would be happy with the price nor the driving dynamics if you are looking for a crossover style CUV. For additional info on this loophole, read about Section 179 depreciation… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_179_depreciation_deduction
(Personally, you’re doing the rest of us an environmental favor by not purchasing one of these behemoth unless you really need to…:))
If you are willing to explore outside of the aforementioned brands, I have heard good things about the Mazda CX7 and CX9 and the Ford Edge.
BMW X5 and Audi Q7 aren’t reliable, and the Audi Q5 just came out (reliability unknown, but I have my inclinations one what it would be 🙂 )…
