Which car to get - Land Rover LR3 vs. MDX vs. Ford Explorer?

Originally Posted by CommercialDoc

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What about Audi Q7? Anyone have any experience with it?
A buddy of mine has one. I've driven and been a passenger in it many times. It's nice. Huge, too.

Originally Posted by CommercialDoc

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What about Audi Q7? Anyone have any experience with it?

My friend who has it says the brakes are terrible and he's constantly dropping money into it...

Originally Posted by whusurdadi

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My friend who has it says the brakes are terrible and he's constantly dropping money into it...

Audi brakes are crap, need to get them upgraded almost immediately. my wife likes the Q7 so we will probably look at it, I'm not a huge fan of the body style.

Is the Q7 the bigger SUV? If so, I remember looking at it on the Audi site and thinking it was way underpowered.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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Is the Q7 the bigger SUV? If so, I remember looking at it on the Audi site and thinking it was way underpowered.
The Q7 is the larger one. It comes with 3.6 V6 and 4.2 V8. The V8 does 0-60 in about 7 seconds and felt OK for such a large SUV when I test drove one a couple of years ago. Haven't drove the 3.6 version. Most Audi dealerships are trying to push the fully loaded 3.6 Premium versions now and you don't see many 4.2s on the street. The smaller Audi SUV is the Q5, which Mrs. Dmax is in love with . It's powered by a 3.2 V6 and does 0-60 in the high 6 second range.

The Q5 is on my wishlist for when we actually need a practical car (no kids yet).

Originally Posted by Dmax

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The Q7 is the larger one. It comes with 3.6 V6 and 4.2 V8. The V8 does 0-60 in about 7 seconds and felt OK for such a large SUV when I test drove one a couple of years ago.
Haven't drove the 3.6 version. Most Audi dealerships are trying to push the fully loaded 3.6 Premium versions now and you don't see many 4.2s on the street.

The smaller Audi SUV is the Q5, which Mrs. Dmax is in love with

. It's powered by a 3.2 V6 and does 0-60 in the high 6 second range.

Ah yeah, that's it. The leasing program on the 4.2 was crappy.

Mrs. Piob's lease is up in the fall. While she's happy with the ML, she has the Q5 on her "to test drive" list, along with the FX50, and the RRS. I hate to tell her, but the RRS is probably not on my "to pay for" list.

Originally Posted by whusurdadi

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ye, the Land Rover's out...I looked at the 4runner and it's kind of blah...if I'm spending $30 grand I'd like to enjoy driving it....maybe I'm crazy...

And if I get a Benz I think my bubbie will disown me

Well I would advise against the Explorer. It looks dated and while Ford has improved alot in the last while, I think the current-gen Explorer is a remnant from the bad Ford days. Or maybe it's just the stigma.

If you're looking for a car-like ride and can get over the thousands of moms who drive them you can consider the Highlander. If you want an SUV that is pretty exciting and moderately reliable (but not very useful) you can take a look at the Infiniti EX's. It's basically a G35 SUV. If it's just utility you want then the 4Runner is hands down what you need. It's just too bad they don't make the V8 anymore otherwise I'd try to convince you that it can be an exciting ride.

Originally Posted by chrisjustinparr

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Well I would advise against the Explorer. It looks dated and while Ford has improved alot in the last while, I think the current-gen Explorer is a remnant from the bad Ford days. Or maybe it's just the stigma.


There's actually a new Explorer on the horizon for 2011, from the photo's I saw, it had a lot of the Edge's design cues.

Originally Posted by edmorel

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Do not, Do not, Do not, Do Not, Do Not, Do Not, Do not,Do not, Do not, Do not, Do Not, Do Not, Do Not, Do not get a Land Rover. Currently awaiting the death of my 3rd Rover. Using it as a station car, engine is shot and will die shortly. That was the least of the problems I've had with them. I like the Explorer and MDX, also look at the Mazda CX9, very good reviews and crash test ratings, good price also, should be cheaper than the others for a more recent model. I am in the same boat and was going to get a Cayenne, but really need the third row of seats so looking at 3 row SUV's.

The Land Rover service manager must be compellingly hot that you bought 3 LR. That reminds me of the bear hunter joke.

Originally Posted by von Rothbart

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The Land Rover service manager must be compellingly hot that you bought 3 LR. That reminds me of the bear hunter joke.

He was rather average looking

I just started driving not that long ago, when I moved to the burbs. First "car" was a '99 Expedition. No problems whatsoever, car actually probablyy saved my life in a pretty bad accident I had. Lease expired, purchased a LR Discovery. Loved everything about it (except when we drove it home from the dealer, "check engine" light came on. After that, no problems for about 2 years. Wife needed a car, leased a '04 LR Freelander. Now the Discovery starts going to ****. Get it fixed while still under warranty, figure I cut my losses so I go to the dealer to trade it in. Get suckered (of my own accord) into trading up to a low mileage RR. I was starry eyed. 1 year later, RR is in service more than it is in my driveway. Wife's Freelander has engined swapped for new one at 42K miles. RR is now basically a monthly service appt. Eventually, trade it in for an Audi A6. Wife's Freelander, on second engine and 112,000 miles, is basically a parts car as it can only be driven for about 10 minutes before the engine overheats. We purchased it off the lease, have probably doubled it's cost in service and repairs. Now looking for an SUV.

Originally Posted by edmorel

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He was rather average looking

I just started driving not that long ago, when I moved to the burbs. First "car" was a '99 Expedition. No problems whatsoever, car actually probablyy saved my life in a pretty bad accident I had. Lease expired, purchased a LR Discovery. Loved everything about it (except when we drove it home from the dealer, "check engine" light came on. After that, no problems for about 2 years. Wife needed a car, leased a '04 LR Freelander. Now the Discovery starts going to ****. Get it fixed while still under warranty, figure I cut my losses so I go to the dealer to trade it in. Get suckered (of my own accord) into trading up to a low mileage RR. I was starry eyed. 1 year later, RR is in service more than it is in my driveway. Wife's Freelander has engined swapped for new one at 42K miles. RR is now basically a monthly service appt. Eventually, trade it in for an Audi A6. Wife's Freelander, on second engine and 112,000 miles, is basically a parts car as it can only be driven for about 10 minutes before the engine overheats. We purchased it off the lease, have probably doubled it's cost in service and repairs. Now looking for an SUV.
Wow this sounds awful. A few years back I was seriously considering a RR but after lurking for a few months on a RR forum, I heard to many tales of woe similar to yours. I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on an RR. They are nice looking though.

Originally Posted by edmorel

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He was rather average looking

I just started driving not that long ago, when I moved to the burbs. First "car" was a '99 Expedition. No problems whatsoever, car actually probablyy saved my life in a pretty bad accident I had. Lease expired, purchased a LR Discovery. Loved everything about it (except when we drove it home from the dealer, "check engine" light came on. After that, no problems for about 2 years. Wife needed a car, leased a '04 LR Freelander. Now the Discovery starts going to ****. Get it fixed while still under warranty, figure I cut my losses so I go to the dealer to trade it in. Get suckered (of my own accord) into trading up to a low mileage RR. I was starry eyed. 1 year later, RR is in service more than it is in my driveway. Wife's Freelander has engined swapped for new one at 42K miles. RR is now basically a monthly service appt. Eventually, trade it in for an Audi A6. Wife's Freelander, on second engine and 112,000 miles, is basically a parts car as it can only be driven for about 10 minutes before the engine overheats. We purchased it off the lease, have probably doubled it's cost in service and repairs. Now looking for an SUV.

A6 thoughts? Drivetrain? Daddys got a 2.7T that is ******* marsupialed fun to drive. Don't really know too much about the newer engine options though.

How about some other alternatives?

1) Toyota Highlander
2) Toyota Sequoia
3) Nissan Pathfinder
4) Buick Enclave
5) Ford Flex

Originally Posted by edmorel

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Eventually, trade it in for an Audi A6.
Hey Ed, did you figure out the vibration issue? I'm wondering if it was the wheel or the tires...

Originally Posted by matt22616

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A6 thoughts? Drivetrain? Daddys got a 2.7T that is ******* marsupialed fun to drive. Don't really know too much about the newer engine options though.
The new supercharged 3.0 V6 (I don't know why they have to call it "3.0T") is supposed to be very good. Car and Driver mag is a fan. The quattro drive train is also extremely solid though I have no experience with their auto transmissions. Audi has been running a pretty decent lease on the '10 A6 3.0T Premium Plus (midrange trim) including navigation for about $660/month ($600 month, plus $2425 down, 39 month, 10k year) for the past several month. Too bad there is no manual transmission option. Sorry about the threak derailment.