Daily appliance suggestions? Lexus RX350, Mazda CX5, X5 w/ 3.0 N52, ??

I am currently in the market for an SUV appliance and I'm not sure what to look at. I am trying to find something for $8-11k that is reliable, safe and low maintenance costs. I will just be using it for daily driving for work and kids around town, maybe do so light towing with a jetski. I don't really care about mileage as long as it is reliable hence why I am evaluating the Lexus RX350. 

Here are a few of the cars I was thinking...

2010-2012 Lexux RX350
2012-2015 Mazda CX5
Mazda CX9
2008-2011 BMW X5 3.0
Audi Q5 
Volvo XC90

Pro's and con's of these or suggestion for different suv? There was a thread a couple weeks ago about how great the RX's are so I am somewhat leaning in that direction but I am not a fan of the looks.

If looking at Lexus RX, consider Toyota Highlander since it is the same car will less nicer leather.   Also the Toyota Venza which is also on the same general chassis.   

I've heard nothing bad about the CX-5. Everyone that has one seems to love it.

CX-5 is the answer here, unless you care want quick but somehow not very exciting acceleration. In that case, go Lexus. I don’t think you can go wrong with either. That 3.5 V6 is unreal in terms of low maintenance.

A good friend just shelled out $2700 replacing 4 injectors in his X5. It's been a litany of broken parts since he bought it and now that the warranty is over he gets to foot the bill. There is no way I'd be buying a used German SUV without a warranty. 

Personally, I'd be looking at a GMT900 Tahoe/Yukon. $8k-$10k will buy you a nice one with a lot of miles left in it. That or stick to the Japanese offerings.  

In that price range you should put the GX470 on your radar too. They're basically V8 4Runners with better everything and they are getting cheap.

Toyman01 said:

A good friend just shelled out $2700 replacing 4 injectors in his X5. It's been a litany of broken parts since he bought it and now that the warranty is over he gets to foot the bill. There is no way I'd be buying a used German SUV without a warranty. 

Personally, I'd be looking at a GMT900 Tahoe/Yukon. $8k-$10k will buy you a nice one with a lot of miles left in it. That or stick to the Japanese offerings.  

 

As someone who owns a modern BMW turbo (not SUV), I fully endorse this message.

I currently own a 2006 530xi wagon w/ the N52. 

To be honest, it's a pretty damn decent engine so far. Bought it at around 135k and it's currently right above 170k.

The thing just keeps on going, even with what little money I've put in to it. The only "major" worry would be the electric water pump and that's it.

If you want the X5, I'd stick to the i6. The v8 is the one that's known for expensive issues, no matter how well it's taken care of.

EDIT: With all of that, in terms of reliability and maintenance, I'd still go Japanese or American.

We have an RX350 and a GX460 in the household, I love the Lexus SUVs for their reliability and practicality. The RX has been in the fleet for over 4 years and has only required basic maintenance, now approaching 100k. I did just replace the front and rear struts for the hood and hatch, and upgraded the interior lights to LED, but it has been extremely reliable. I've only had the GX for about 6 months so far, but outside of one transmission issue it seems to be similar Lexus reliability in a bigger package.

As said above you might consider the higher trims of the Highlander and 4Runner, sometimes they are cheaper, sometimes more expensive.

No experience with Mazda's to compare

In reply to CobraSpdRH :

What year GX do you have and what was the one transmission issue?

I was checking GX's out and most higher mileage ones seem to be in the $16k+ range.

Saab 9-7X

Solid straight-6 motor, decent interior, pretty good ride balance

In reply to jonnyd330 :

The GX is a 2010 that I found at a local Maserati/Alfa dealership with ~128k miles, one owner for just under $17k. Shortly after getting it home it threw a few codes, dealer wouldn't really play ball so I took it to my local indy mechanic and he had his transmission guy replace the entire valve body. Apparently there was a bushing in the trans that was wearing and the material was clogging up one or more valves, so I essentially had to spend about $3k but ended up with a like-new transmission. My indy guy (former Lexus tech) said he sees it sometimes on the LS's, but very rarely on the GX's for what it's worth.

In reply to CobraSpdRH :

Did you get the GX from the dealership off Gandy? I noticed you are in Clearwater on your profile. 

My rx was bulletproof. Handled pretty damn well too. Good car. 

So I found a 2014 Toyota Highlander V6 with over 175k miles, should I be worried about that many miles? It doesn't have any service records but the carfax shows a lot of service events.

jonnyd330 said:

In reply to CobraSpdRH :

Did you get the GX from the dealership off Gandy? I noticed you are in Clearwater on your profile. 

 

Yup, that was the one!

FWIW I know you can actually access dealer service records for any Lexus, not sure if it works the same for Toyotas. All you have to do is create an account and then type in the VIN and it will show you the entire dealer service history for any Lexus. I even saw that my GX's PO lost the antenna backing out of her garage and they replaced it under warranty.

jonnyd330 said:

So I found a 2014 Toyota Highlander V6 with over 175k miles, should I be worried about that many miles? It doesn't have any service records but the carfax shows a lot of service events.

Will you be putting on the miles where you need to be mindful that this time next year that 175k will have grown to 200+k and 225k the following year or are you more the type who it will take 3 years for 175k to grow to 200k?  

In reply to John Welsh :

I typically do somewhere around 10k miles a year but that is because we have 3 cars to choose from. The reason for this new car is my wife is expecting our first kid and so I need a more kid-friendly vehicle which will lead to driving this one more often meaning around 15k a year. 

I see a car as tires, brakes, engine and trans.  At that high of miles you could have a $500 - $1k failure in any one of them.  

Pre-purchase, it is easy to be critical of brakes and tires.  Do the tires look like they can go another 30k miles (2 years) without needing replacement?  If not, adjust purchase price to reflect.  

Brake pad thickness?  

Engine and trans are harder to assess other than by the condition they are driving at currently.