I am ready to buy a 2017 Lexus RX350. I do not want to invest this amount of money unless I hear some positive reviews.
Thank you!!
A car is NEVER an “investment”! Lexus has the best repair record of all luxury cars; in other words you are likely to spend much less in upkeep than owning a Land Rover (the worst), Mercedes, BMW, or even Acura.
Having said that, you can equal reliability at much less cost in a Toyota RAV4, which sell for just over half the price.
In some very rare instances it can be. If you bought one the 2005-2006 Ford GT’s at MSRP, you could flip the car for close to double what you paid for it immediately after driving it off the lot.
@FoDaddy Yes thanks for those rare instances. Not that any Ford was a great daily driver form a cost point of view.
Is this car new or used?
There was the Model T, The Falcon, the 4 cylinder Ranger, and a few others that were notoriously frugal to keep on the road.
It’s based on the Camry and assuming you’re getting the standard 3.5L V6 model, there’s nothing terribly exotic about it, so running/repair costs should be below that of the European competition. Should be a reliable car.
Expect to spend $8900 on maintenance and repairs over the next 5 years. If you buy a BMW X3, that 5 year cost would be $11,100. Expect to spend $6500 over the same period for a Toyota RAV4. Most of the difference in cost between the two Toyota products is maintenance, not repairs. That’s the extra cost of buying a luxury SUV. The source is the Edmunds True Cost To Own. Your costs will probably be different, but this data is good for comparison purposes.
I wouldn’t use the Rav4 as a comparison. The equivalent Toyota would be the Highlander. Maintenance costs between those two are identical. Both built on same platform and virtually identical drivetrain.
The Falcon was easy on gas, period. This car was almost as bio-degradable as the 1957 Chrysler products. The bottom of the trunk, which rusted through quickly, was also these cars gas tank top. For the short time these cars were on the road (5 year life expectancy in the rust belt) they were reasonably reliable.
My brother in law in Montreal, Canada completely used one up in 5.5 years.
The Ranger was a joint Mazda design, and not too bad, but could not hold a candle to Toyota and Mazda small trucks of the time.
The only Ford product I could recommend from a long term ownership point of view is the F-150, now that the Crown Victoria is gone.
The estimate for M&R is $5900 for a 2017 AWD 2017 Highlander over the next 5 years. Even better than the RAV4!
In 1976, I bought a 1960 Falcon that had truly been a “grandma car”. After grandma died, her son-in-law just wanted to get rid of it, so I was able to get this car–with only 17k on the odometer–for a very low price. I had my mechanic give it a thorough going-over, and the only problem that he found was that the brake fluid was diluted with an incredible amount of water. After he flushed it and put in new fluid, I had no problem with the brakes for the 3 years that I owned it.
Yes, one needed a calendar instead of a stopwatch in order to time its acceleration, but it was definitely economical and it was truly easy to work on. It looked like hell because the paint was completely chalked, but there were no rust problems (probably Granny never drove it in the winter…) and it was actually very reliable.
I junked it when the fiber timing gear disintegrated, and–of course–I regret that decision in hindsight, but back then it was just 19 year old econobox with negligible value and with no collector following.
I don’t know where you’re getting your estimates from…but my wife and I own a Lexus and a Toyota. I do all maintenance, but if I had to have it done…I’d take it to the same dealer - Ira Toyota/Lexus. Maintenance schedule and cost for Toyota and Lexus is EXACTLY the same, done in the same garage by the same mechanics. Labor-rate is also EXACTLY THE SAME. So maintenance cost is the same.
@MikeiNH
These figures are pure fiction and are published by an automotive “Consulting Firm”. They take the cost of the 4 year Repair “insurance” and assume that all cars have these breakdowns. Many posters here swallow this nonsense and believe it to be true. The AAA used to publish annual repair and maintenance expenses by make and model. Those figure were actual costs incurred by those owners surveyed.
By comparison, our 2007!! Toyota Corolla has incurred only $2682 worth of maintenance and repairs (including 4 new tires) since bought new in February of 2007! And I don’t do any of the work these days! The only actual repairs were front brakes at $422 and a serpentine belt at $46.
However, the comparison is useful since it shows luxury cars and European models costing more to keep on the road.
That’s called the average. Some have fewer, some have more. Anyway, that’s a small part of the quoted cost for a new or nearly new car. I use that and the much larger maintenance cost estimates as a comparison tool when considering car purchases.
Be sure you like it before you sign on the dotted line. If you maintain it properly it’s going to be with you for a very long time.
It’s not an investment. But a very long lasting vehicle. The question really is whether what it has to offer in rind, comfort, and other attributes is worth the cost to you as an individual. Only you can determine that.
I’m reminded of a Camry review in a magazine written years ago by an auto reviewer. His comment was that the Camry was so good that you’d get so bored driving it that you’d scream… but it was so quiet that nobody would hear you!