by "bobbe17" (rob-runte)
Published 02/10/2017 at 10:30
by "bobbe17" (rob-runte)
Published 02/10/2017 at 10:30
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STARS: 1
My dad called me last night and as often is the case when car people are asked for their opinions, they went a completely different direction. They’re trading in the X3 for a 328xi.
The thinking being that they don’t need a tow vehicle until April to get the boat from storage, and for that they could rent a truck for a day since they won’t put it in the lake until May/June. I pointed out they could rent a shore-station and pier and they’d only need a tow vehicle four times a year. The car choice still doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m looking forward to driving it at some point. Also I’m pretty sure my company’s oil cooler is mounted right on top of the engine in plain view so that’s cool.
As a payment for your opinions, here is a picture of their two dogs and my dog trying to get my attention
So first a brief summary of current state. My parents are late 50s/ early 60s and empty nesters. My mom drives a 2007 BMW X3 with 170k miles, my dad a 2008 Mercedes C280 with 180k miles, and they also have my brother’s 2002 Mercedes C230 Kompressor while he’s in college.
They’re looking to replace 1-3 vehicles and are having troubles deciding how to shuffle things around. The main factor in wanting new cars is that the X3 has some suspension issue that they’re sick of chasing around. The constraints are the following and their needs can be all met in one vehicle or spread throughout the fleet:
-Need one vehicle to tow a 17.5 ft boat a mile to and from the lake.
-Need a vehicle to take three trips a week to the dog park with two dogs (one of which is an 80 lb. lab/bull-in-a-china-shop).
-Willing to spend about $18k after trade in values.
-They’ve become a bit of car snobs so they like higher quality vehicles. Both interior appearance and ride/driving quality would need to be at the level of the German vehicles they’re accustomed to.
-My dad has aged out of being willing to work on cars himself so they’re looking ideally at something CPO or with an existing warranty.
So what does Oppo advise? Keep the X3 for towing and get a wagon for dogs? Just replace the X3 with another SUV? Replace all 3 vehicles with Miatas?
"boredalways" (boredalway666)
02/09/2017 at 10:01, STARS: 0
Would an Acura MDX meet their needs?
Honda reliability, should be able to tow between 3500 - 5000 pounds, should be easier for them to get in an out.
If they didn’t have to tow: Subaru Forrester.
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
02/09/2017 at 10:06, STARS: 0
Lexus GX470/460 or Toyota 4Runner. Would be perfect.
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/09/2017 at 10:16, STARS: 0
Hmm, would probably get the job done, but I’m not sure if it’d meet their standards. I know they looked at these 8 or so years ago when they got the X3 but I’m not sure what their full thoughts were. Seems like they want to be wowed by something which may not happen at their price point.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
02/09/2017 at 10:16, STARS: 0
I had the same thought.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
02/09/2017 at 10:17, STARS: 0
Might be a bit truckier then they want/need.
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/09/2017 at 10:23, STARS: 0
Your name and suggestion seem to check out.
The Lexus may be a bit overkill with the V8 but would probably meet their standards for quality. Looks like you either have to go old or high mileage to get to their price point though.
4Runners around $20k all have over 100k miles on them and probably wouldn’t meet their visual standards.
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/09/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 0
Indeed.
"boredalways" (boredalway666)
02/09/2017 at 10:25, STARS: 0
I forgot to mention that since dad doesn’t want to wrench, go for a DeMuro Special.
There’s a slim chance you can find a ML350 at their price point, I guess.
"My X-type is too a real Jaguar" (TomSlick)
02/09/2017 at 10:37, STARS: 0
Porsche Cayenne with a Carmax Warranty.
https://www.carmax.com/car/14092340
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/09/2017 at 10:38, STARS: 1
I haven’t had time to read Doug’s articles so the DeMuro way slipped my mind. To CarMax I go!
"boredalways" (boredalway666)
02/09/2017 at 10:44, STARS: 0
You might be able to squeeze out an Audi Q5 as well.
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/09/2017 at 11:43, STARS: 0
That’s getting up into their budget and at that point starts to open up other CPO options elsewhere. They drove the Cayenne when they were shopping for the X3 8ish years ago and thought it was too harsh. That was coming out of a Yukon so their tastes may have changed since then though.
"Audistein" (Audistein)
02/09/2017 at 12:54, STARS: 0
If the C280 is running well there’s no reason to replace it. Trade value will be very low. Maybe you could replace it with a top trim Passat/CC or Lexus ES if necessary.
As for the C230 K, you can sell that when your brother graduates and gets his own car I guess or he can get it as a gift (or buy it from your parents).
If the BMW is having issues, that’s the one to replace. The X3 is probably going to have a trade in value of under $5,000 so I would say that you have a $22k budget to work with.
Get an Acura MDX, Acura RDX, or Lexus RX. RDX is probably the only one you can find CPO around that price. Find a CPO RDX AWD for a decent price and test drive that. It can only tow 1,500 lbs though and I don’t know how much your boat and trailer weigh.
As for another BMW, you might be able to get a CPO BMW X1 for under $25k. It should be able to tow but you should check on that.
Maybe even a Honda Pilot or Subaru Outback will satisfy if they’re a higher trim level. You might be able to find a 2014 CPO Outback 2.5i Limited or Touring trim. That should be able to tow your boat.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
02/10/2017 at 10:42, STARS: 0
I’m a fan of saying “If you got that many miles out of it, keep it!” Seriously, I suspect they’ve already encountered most of the problems with those cars, so from a financial perspective, keep ‘em. Also, be careful renting a truck and towing. Every single truck rental I’ve ever looked at specifically prohibits towing, most likely because so many people want to use them exactly how your parents would :D
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
02/10/2017 at 10:50, STARS: 0
Solid choice. I like the color combo too.
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/10/2017 at 11:05, STARS: 0
I’ve never dug too deep into truck rentals, but I’m also sure they could find someone to bribe with some beer to use their truck for an hour 4 times a year.
The main issue with the X3 is the steering would wander, get corrected, then go back to wandering pretty soon after. Sounds like it also had some pretty intense bump steer. There are also clunks from the rear so basically it would need a full suspension refresh.
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/10/2017 at 11:07, STARS: 1
Looks very good clean but I’ve learned the lesson to never get a white car because it’ll only be clean for a short period of time.
"PWRandSPD" (Pwrandspd)
02/10/2017 at 11:25, STARS: 0
Not sure about the weight of the boat, but with a tow hitch, the Merc can tow 2,000 lbs with a Class 1 hitch, and 5k-6k distributed with a Class 3. I don’t know what their trade/trades are worth, but it might be able to fit the budget. That and added CarMax Warranty, live the DeMuro life.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
02/10/2017 at 11:30, STARS: 0
Their choice makes sense. More people should realize they don’t tow things that often so they don’t need to have their daily driver choice based on towing.
My parents have a house on the Chesapeake Bay and a couple of boats: a little 14 foot mini sailboat and a 21 foot power boat. My dad drives a Saab 9-3 convertible and my mom has an Acura MDX that they bought before they got the house & boats.
The sailboat has a little trailer that the MDX can pull out of the water.
When it’s time to store the power boat, my dad motors it over to a marina that puts it up for the winter, and my mom drives over to the marina and picks him up.
No tow vehicle needed.
Here in Wisconsin, there are people who have big 25+ foot power boats that they keep at their not-on-the-water houses and they put in a lake or something on many weekends, and those folks need a tow vehicle.
"bobbe17" (rob-runte)
02/10/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 0
The Wisconsin situation is where my parents fit in. They live very close to Rock Lake (only 20ish miles east of you depending on where around Madison you are) so they would take the 5 minute drive to launch the boat 10 or so times a year. The launch is down a pretty massive hill though so something small may struggle to tow it up. I have no idea how much renting a shore station to put the boat on would cost but the amount saved in fuel from dailying an sedan instead of an SUV may pay for it.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
02/10/2017 at 13:06, STARS: 0
A 17.5 ft boat isn’t that hard to tow. Most midsize crossovers could probably hack it, but your typical “Nissan Murano or equivalent” at Enterprise isn’t likely to have a tow hitch on it. So they’d probably have to rent a pickup or full size truck based SUV with a factory hitch, and they’d probably have to go to the east side of Madison to pick up said vehicle.
"pjhusa" (pjhuskinja)
02/16/2017 at 22:35, STARS: 0
Good car. Actually, great car (I might be slightly biased).
"Amoore100" (amoore100)
02/27/2017 at 20:34, STARS: 0
Google tells me a new X3 tows 35oo lbs. You know what sedan can do that?
