We live in the city and have a parking spot. But we really stay inside of the city for the most part so street parking is an issue. We currently have a very small four door sedan, and there are times with 2 kids that we have another person that we would like to add to our car and a third cannot fit in between the two car seats in the back of our car. Would love to hear from people who own these cars and what the maintenance is on these, including general such as oil changes. Thanks!
Hi C.,
We have th MDX and love it. The 3rd row seating comes in very handy and there is a lot of "trunk" space. My sister has the x5 which is great but no 3rd row and trunk space is ltd. We keep it in good shape so maintenance is minimal. Good luck!!
I love love love my MDX and I am so surprised at the cost of servicing it, not bad! About what it cost to service my Toyota Sienna (basically cheap, about $70 every 5,000 miles at the dealer.) Of course that's just regular maintenance, I'm still under 20,000 miles so I'm not sure what's to come.
Years ago I had a Volvo wagon that I loved but service was ridiculous. Same goes for my husband's BMW which he refuses to get rid of, SO expensive for even the minor repairs :(
I imagine the Land Rover will also be a high cost/maintenance vehicle but I'm just guessing.
Acura--hands down. I have a TL and absolutely love it! Acuras (Honda) are super reliable and have a great maintenance record.
BMWs are maintenance nightmares (our buddy used to own a BMW repair shop and he said he wouldn't buy one). We have friends who own an X5 and they're looking to sell it (they have 2 kids) because it spends so much time in the shop and it's a minimum $200 everytime it ends up in the shop.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the Land Rover--but that's only my personal preference.
ETA: Our friends with the X5 just got the brakes done... $2,200!!!! INSANE
We had an Acura MDX for about a year, and I LOVED it...until we needed someone to sit in the 3rd row. Ours was a 2007 and it was VERY tough for an adult to get back there, and once seated there is very little leg room. In the 1 yr we had it we had no mechanical issues, and we always buy the dealer's pre-paid oil change packages.
We sold it and got a Mazda 5, which was MUCH better as far as reaching the 3rd row. We now have a VW Routan.
Acura MDX! We love ours. The maintenance is not expensive and rather "on schedule" with what you'd expect. I have friends who have had a BMW and they said the oil changes alone are a rip off. As far as a Land Rover, never explored that as a choice simply due to the price tag.
Cars depreciate SO FAST that we never spend a ton on cars. We even bought our gently MDX used and couldn't be happier.
There are so many people that have sold, have cars repo'd or turned in leases I'd highly suggest checking out a gently used car. You can usually get an extended warranty on them which covers most everything. It really is a much better "investment" than buying new.
And we can easily fit our family into it with the "third row" in the back. I LOVE having a "truck" in addition to our Honda Odyssey. And it's much nicer/upscale than other SUVs we've had before.
I never checked out the Acura, but the LR3, even though it is fun to drive and looks cool, it is awful on gas mileage and I have always been told to lease because it is very expensive to repair. I think they are great cars if you live in rough terrain, but for city driving it's really a wasted expense for all of those fun "off-roading" safety features. My husband and I have had several BMW's. We love them. They are very well made cars and the service is excellent. I leased two of them, so maintenance was always free. We did own several others, but didn't find the maintenance to be much more expensive than any other vehicle these days. However, I drove two X3's and got rid of my last one for exactly the reason you are describing. I didn't choose an X5 because I wanted 3rd row seating. I currently drive a gently used 2008 Tahoe. I love it! Just test drive them all and see which one you like the best! Good luck!
A.
My GF has an MDX and loves it....
These cars would be too small for me - so I wouldn't own one....however, when my kids are gone and it's just hubby and I? I can see myself owning an MDX
I vote for the Acura. We have the RDX, which is a slightly smaller version of the MDX. We love it! Dealing with an Acura dealer is bliss, too. No hard-sell, very classy. Nothing but great things to say about our dealer and friends with Acuras say the same thing about theirs. Maintenance cost has been no big deal ... same as with our Honda Odyssey. Very low-maintenance vehicle, too.
We had the Land Rover and I LOVED the size. A third person could sit between the two car seats and it also had a little 3rd row that would pop up from the back. It wasn't super comfortable for a very long drive but good enough if needed around town. I loved the car so much but maintenance was expensive and the gas mileage was outrageous! 12 mpg. It was SO expensive to fill it up. That is the reason I now have the BMW X5 deisel. It is smaller - people can fit between the two car seats but not super comfortable - there is no back seat. I miss the LRs size but the gas mileage is unbelievable. Averages about 22 mpg. As much as 30 on the highway.
We have the maintenance plan on it so we don't pay for anything except tires.
I have an Acura MDX and absolutely love it! It is, for us, the perfect family vehicle. Although I have never driven the X5, we have had our BMW 325xi for over 10 years, and it has only been in the shop twice in that entire time. I think BMW's products are excellent as well. Good luck with your decision - all good choices!
The Acura MDX is the same vehicle as my Honda Pilot (same manufacturer). I would highly recommend it. I love my Pilot and have a friend with an MDX and we have no problems with our vehicles. And I have 170,000 miles on mine.
My husband is a car guy and the only one of these three he would buy is the Acura. Although I do love the LR3 and the X5, he wouldn't let me buy one because of the maintenance issues and price!
