Yeah, Porsche is coming out with Cayenne and VW is coming out with Toureg... both luxury SUV's. Looks wise Cayenne is thumbs down. From the front it looks like 911, raised up and a totally indistinguishible tail-lights. Performance-wise it is more sporty than off-roader, cz it is about 450hp.
Same story with VW's Toureg. Its basically Passat station wagon raised up a bit.
Now that the SUV thunder has gone down several notches, now these Germans are waking up and trying to enter this market. Which is strange.
MDX was pretty good (except look-wise) but I have not heard much good reports about X5 (its considered Mommy's SUV). Looks-wise, perhaps the best one, I feel, are Jeep's Grand Cherokee. They are smart SUV's. Not too bulky and not too obnoxious. MDX from the front looks like its about to go to sleep. Chunni munni eyes (front lights), sure shot designed by a Japanese, it seems.
Faisal you forgot to include some of teh Japanese ones.
the landcruiser for one, 4 runner for another, Mitsubishis new Montero/pajero/Shogun is yet one more.
as far as looks go, Dodge Durango kicks some serious butt, I drove it and loved it but dont know how good is it overall.
Dodge's Durango is horrible on fuel... much worse than most other SUVs. Plus it has some serious mechanical problems reported on car review websites. Looks-wise it is a personal choice. Personally I only liked that truck when Cameron Diaz was driving it in "There's something about Mary" :)
Toyota's Land Cruiser is again in the full size SUV range, which includes Sequoia and LX 450. I consider them too big. Unless someone is really into a lot of camping or needs all that towing power, its a waste.
Toyota's Highlander is built on Camry's chasis so its just another car raised up as an SUV-imitator. 4-Runner is too truck-like, which ain't surprising since its built on the same chasis as the Toyota's pick-up truck. Similarly Montero Sport is also truck-like. Not to be confused with Montero, which is pretty decent contender in the SUV world.
Mits Outlander is so new that the jury is still out on it.
Discovery from Rover: Word of caution. Yesterday a friend of mine told me that his mom rolled over their Discovery. To me the height-base ratio for Discovery is a bit odd, so thats always a risk. Freelander should be much more stable.
Coming to Humvies.... H1 is obscenely expensive ($100+k). You'd be better off buying them from Army's surplus rather than from GM. Its such an uncomfortable truck that unless you are very serious about the off-roading, there is no point in suffering all that. H2 is a different animal. I had heard it is built on Trail Blazer's chasis and power train, and GM is merely cashing in the Hummer name. I find it surprising cz it seems to have very decent off-road capabilities. Then again, from a creature-comfort level, H2 is miles ahead of Hummer, at half the price.
We left Isuzu from the discussion, because their unique stylying gets to people. You either love them or hate them. And since so few of them sell in US, so the verdict is probably on 'hate em'.
the biggest thing is how much offroading do you really do. because if you dont and just need a car with the towing, cargo and equipment room than there should be no issue with having an SUV that is not very offroading capable.
I have driven the montero sport and teh 4-runner and really liked them. same goes for the Pilot.
other midsize SUVs are the hyundai santa fe and the Mazda "whatchamacallit", saturn sport ute looks nice from behind but not so nice from the front with the trademark smushed in face. prolly will be popular in san francisco
as far as Isuzu goes, the Rodeo did sell quite a bit both under its badge as well as under honda passport name. The trooper was being sold under the acura badge as well.
The isuzus that you are talking about from a unique looks perspective are diff and smaller.
remember that suzuki 2 door 2 seater SUV, never quite understood that.
anyway..speaking of strange cars, anyone driven the alien space pod, AKA aztec ?
Actually I heard very good things about Saturn's SUV - VUE (surprise, surprise). Fuel economy being one, and CVT being another. CVT is a Saturn first, where instead of 5 or 6 speed automatic, the car has variable transmission so you never feel the small jerk when the vehicle upshifts or downshifts. From a layman's term, the car has thousands of gear positions, so to speak. Dunno how it will go from a maintenance POV. The front styling is horrible, yes. :)
Mazda's Tribute and Ford's Escape are same vehicles, except Tribute is smarter and better. Although Ford will probably sell 4 times more. Such is the life in these United States where Ford is the SUV king.
Pontiac's Aztek and Isuzu's Axiom are uniquely designed.
Buick's Rendezvous is also not selling terribly well, despite Tiger's best efforts. Its a cross between mini-van and SUV, a niche which Outlander is also targetting. No serious off-roading, an SUV-imitation, SUV height, and mini-van type comfort. Theoretically should work, but practically its still not working. I see more women driving Denali, Yukon and Expedition now than mini-vans.
If someone wants total luxury, is a bit of risk-taker (and has about $25k to spend on a car) here is a good deal.
For about $25k, you can get new Jetta (loaded), Passat (basically equipped), Altima (loaded), Camry (nicely equipped), Accord (decently equipped).... but none of these new ones can compete in luxury for these two. You canget them for about the same price, but you will have to do a bit of research so you don't get stuck with a lemon.
1998 BMW 740iL (BMW's top of the line luxury)
[thumb=A]740iL1998.JPG[/thumb]
or
1993-1995 Mercedes 500 SEL or S320 - S500
[thumb=A]500sel.JPG[/thumb]
If fuel economy is dear to your heart, then go for a new one, but if you want a luxury car, where you feel the king of the world, then think about these two. :)
With 7-series and S-class, anything less than 100k miles is technically "hardly run", cz these engines are built to go 500k plus in miles. Unless, ofcourse something goes seriously wrong (bad luck). :)
Nice choices faisal bhai...but id personally also put the Lexus LS400 on the list. Its cheap (used) and very dependable...and also very classy.well not as classy as the s class...but its good.
[thumb=A]i-1_B_L.JPG[/thumb]
If i ever go for a SUV im goin straight out...THE EXCURSION.
[thumb=A]excursion.JPG[/thumb]
Its one though machine!
Excursion does 11 mpg, and Ford has decided to discontinue it. Its horrible. They wanted it to compete with Suburban. Why not go for Suburban directly, or Yukon XL or Yukon Denali? Poor design by Ford. Expedition is still doing very well, after Explorer, ofcourse.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Excursion does 11 mpg, and Ford has decided to discontinue it. Its horrible. They wanted it to compete with Suburban. Why not go for Suburban directly, or Yukon XL or Yukon Denali? Poor design by Ford. Expedition is still doing very well, after Explorer, ofcourse.
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i still like it...so what if it aint a good seller like the suburban...ford sure makes better looking cars than gm.btw i was talking about buying used. :)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by hskhan: *
oh yes...wat u think of the lexus?
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In my mind, Lexus is not a competition for Merc or BMW... its honest competition is Acura and Infinity. Especially for LS 430, the competition is 3.5RL and Q45. In sales numbers LS 430 wins hands down, though for high-tech gadgetary, I think Q45 is the leader. The exterior styling for these two is fairly dramatic in 2003.
The GS line of Lexus is fairly nice, but I just don't get their tail lights. Then again its a personal choice.
Their ES is quite bland, and I think of it as merely a more luxurious version of Camry. With the new ES, they have tried to change this, but in fact have now squeezed out the Avalon, which just doesn't have any place left between Camry and ES.
The SUV line of Lexus is fairly successful with RX 300 and LX 450. While the compact RX 300 is the market leader in its class, the LX 450 does not feel ashamed to be a blantant twin of Toyota's immensly successful Land Cruiser. Personally I find its styling horribly out-dated and bland.
The only Lexus which really inspires me is their new SC 430. I am not a big sports car fan, but that car really sets the heart racing. Though I still feel it is hugely over-priced with a $75k price tag.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *The only Lexus which really inspires me is their new SC 430. I am not a big sports car fan, but that car really sets the heart racing. Though I still feel it is hugely over-priced with a $75k price tag.
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Naah i dont like that...all the new models are ugly esp the ES
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
Faisal not comp for BMW or Merc in terms of image or in terms of performance? I think you can get a great bang for the buck for some of those cars.
speaking of the cars which give you a great bang for the buck, anyone ever driven the Subaru WRX. some machine
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driven in...not a. yes it was smooth and powerful ride but i didnt like the interior though.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
Faisal not comp for BMW or Merc in terms of image or in terms of performance? I think you can get a great bang for the buck for some of those cars.
[/QUOTE]
I think that those who buy Mercedes, know all too well, that it is expensive, and if they want they can get the same luxuries at a lower price. But they still buy Merc, because it carries an image. It is hard, nay impossible, to get the same image for any other brand, except maybe to go even higher, like Bentley or Rolls. So, those who fork out a 100 grand on an S-Class will not be satisfied with an LS 430. C-class buyers, perhaps.
As far as BMW is concerned, it offers a unique mix of performance and luxury.. more performance then luxury. Model to model, its true competition is Audi. The buyers of BMW are totally different, for the most part than the owners of Merc, except at the level of 7-series and S-class. BMW owners want a performance car and are willing to dish out $40k for a compact car (330Ci). They won't be happy in a C-class. AMG, perhaps, but that goes way up in price range.
*I think that those who buy Mercedes, know all too well, that it is expensive, and if they want they can get the same luxuries at a lower price. But they still buy Merc, because it carries an image. It is hard, nay impossible, to get the same image for any other brand, except maybe to go even higher, like Bentley or Rolls. So, those who fork out a 100 grand on an S-Class will not be satisfied with an LS 430. C-class buyers, perhaps. *
C class may be happy with something else, maybe E-Class buyers as well. when you are talking S-class that is a whole different buyer. a C-class buyer is not the same as an S-Class buyer.
*As far as BMW is concerned, it offers a unique mix of performance and luxury.. more performance then luxury. Model to model, its true competition is Audi. The buyers of BMW are totally different, for the most part than the owners of Merc, except at the level of 7-series and S-class. BMW owners want a performance car and are willing to dish out $40k for a compact car (330Ci). *
yes but when you look at 318 or even the 325 there are cars that are competing on the level of performance as well as luxury. if you are talking the M3, Z4 etc then you have a point but looking at something like a run of the mill 3 series you can get the same performance and luxury in other cars. They best thing these companies have going for them is image :)
a comparison of 33xi with the infiniti g35 will give you some interesting performance data.
again read my original point, bang for the buck. If money was not an issue and i was a luxury fiend I would go for Bentley, or if performance was what i wanted, Ferrari or even Aston would be much better.
) inside me made me get this (or was it money? 
)