I am looking to buy a luxury SUV, as the family's 2nd car (2 young kids). Will be used just to take kids to swimming classes and occasional trips to Canberra/Wollongong/Hunter Vally etc.
I am considering between Audi Q5 2.0TDI (Diesel) Vs Lexus Rx270, (preferably a Demo model)
I test drove both the cars and enjoyed both of them equally, I am not a car enthusiast and don't appreciate much the subtle differences of driving one vs the other. Both cars will meet my needs. I would generally keep the car for around 8-10 years.
My question is, over the long run, which car would be more value for money and economical to run?
The points that I have on my mind are:
- Base Cost: Q5 is a bit more expensive then RX270
- Service Cost: Audi are generally more expensive then Lexus
- Milage: Q5 is 6.1L/ 100 KM of Diesel Vs Rx270 at 9.4L/100 Km of petrol
- Registration/Insurance Costs: I don't know if there are much difference in Insurance / CTP costs of these cars?
- Both car can be financed at around the same costs,
Any help on these lines of any other point that I haven't considered would be really helpful. My time frame to get the car is 6-8 weeks,
PS: I posted the same on whrilpool and got some good pointers, leaning more towards Lexus, also suggested to look at Volvo CX60, which I will look at.
So any experience with Volvo's please share and enlighten.
regards
Whirlpool and here?
Don't buy the Lexus, it is fwd for a start, so it has a significant deficit to the Audi. Dynamically it is slower, uses more fuel, it is not as safe (FWD vs AWD, passive safety), does not handle as well. Subjectively it is uglier. Lexus are essentially luxury cars for people who know nothing about cars, they are Toyota's with leather seats (I doubt either of these cars have leather seats actually, I know the Audi has plastic seats with the 2 litre engines). Lexus was originally created as a way to sell expensive Toyotas in America. It didn't even exist in Japan until recently. Rumour has it that Lexus is an acronym for Luxury Exports to the United States. I think that says it all.
As suggested in whirlpool, you might want to consider the XC60, but it is not the amazing machine it is made out to be. The suspension is too firm, but the recent updates this year have addressed the biggest problem, the rubbish gearbox. I haven't samples the new 4 cylinder D5 engine, but the old 5 cylinder was pretty average, much worse than the equivalent Mercedes or Audi engine.
If I was looking in this price range, I would consider the Range Rover Evoque, it is a much newer and more respected car than any other options. I think however, for this money you can't look past the Jeep Grand Cherokee. It is a bigger car, but it is much better than any other options mentioned. It shares a chassis with the ML and GL mercedes, which cost over twice as much. It has a range of strong engines, even the 3.6 V6 is a decent engine, and with the 8 speed can return around 8L/100km on the freeway. It is luxurious and reasonably well built, and certainly much more capable than the Q5 or LX. Much better value for money. In most other markets, the Grand Cherokee is significantly more expensive than both the LX or the Q5, we just get lucky here with Chrysler/Fiat pricing, especially compared with so called 'luxury' brands, whose sole purpose in Australia is to rip off consumers.