Test driving some SUV’s – Lexus RX350, Volvo XC60, Infinity QX50

Introduction

I had written about my SUV test drives last week.  Well, on Saturday, we continued test driving more compact SUV’s.  Cars on the slate – Lexus RX350 (just to see how big it would be), Volvo XC60, Infinity QX50, BMW X3, Audi Q3/Q5, and a Hyundai Tucson (just because a buddy “really loved it.’)  I was even going to check out some Subarus too since reader Ken loved them and wanted me to compare them to the other cars.

 

2013 Lexus RX350 $38K

A FB friend recommended this model since he had a 2012 and was missing the blind spot sensors.  He told me Lexus added it for the 2013 model.  I saw a used 2013 fully loaded one for $35K in the middle of the week, but by the time we got there on Saturday, it was gone already.  Even the NX200T that we test drove last week had a SOLD sticker on it.  This dealership is seriously a ‘volume dealership.’  Anyway, it didn’t matter since we were just test driving the car for its feel and not ready to buy.

Quick info – the 2016 model’s interior was updated very nicely.  Once we stepped in the 2013 model, it was a bit of a let down, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker for me to MUST HAVE the 2016 interior.  The interior was definitely a lot roomier than the NX200T; there was no denying that fact.  My wife drove the car and after 5 minutes, we both came to the conclusion that the car was just too big for us.  We did like the blind spot monitors and at one point, a pedestrian walked in front of the car and the front sensor went off.  If we were in the market for a bigger SUV, then this car would have been nice.  Thus, we preferred the smaller NX200T.

 

 

2016 Volvo XC60 Fully Loaded $52K+ MSRP

We stopped by Volvo next since a couple of readers raved about their Volvo.  I had heard of Volvo before, but to be honest, that’s not really a top of mind brand.  I even had to ask the salesman what Volvo was known for, and he mentioned that it was built like a tank.  The coolest feature of the Volvo that I liked was that it had the automatic stop if a pedestrian or anything was in front of you.  That was the main reason why we stopped in.

A quick background on Volvo that the salesman shared with me.  First, Ford bought Volvo.  Then took all their technology.  Never put any money into the brand.  Then let the brand sort of bankrupt.  Then sold it to a Chinese company.  Anyhow, the Chinese then put money into redesigning the new 2016 XC-90.

We went and test drove the fully loaded 2016 T-6 AWD Premium which had an MSRP of about $52K (ridiculous price if you ask me.)  The first thing we tested was letting the car drift to a parked car.  The sensor never went off even though I felt we were waaay too close.  We tried this 2 different times and the sensor never went off.  I don’t know what triggers it, but we clearly weren’t doing it right.  We weren’t comfortable testing it in real traffic at that point, so it was a big fail.

Interior wise, while some may say it looks better than an RDX, I have to disagree.  Here is a picture of the interior:

I think the wood panel is nice, but you can see the LCD is pretty small.  How useful looking is all those buttons in the middle panel?  It looks like a telephone keypad!  And I’m not sure why I need a silhouette of a sitting guy there.  My biggest complaint was how plain the passenger side dash looks.  Heck, my Hyundai has a nicer looking passenger side.  I just couldn’t get over it.  And for a ridiculous $52K, they can’t be selling too many of these.  And look at how plain looking the exterior is.  Sorry, that looks as sexy as dad bod.

Now with that said, once we were done, we took a look at the XC-90.  Here is the interior of that:

Now that to me is GORGEOUS.  The iPad size screen… also lets you change the interior’s light colors.  The passenger’s side looks much nicer.  It has 3 rows of seats.  Looked roomier than an MDX.  This car won the 2016 NA Truck of the Year award and Motor Trend’s 2016 SUV of the year award and you can see why.  I asked the rep when the XC-60 would be updated, but he wasn’t sure.  He said the S90 would be next up to the get redesign.  If you were in the market for an MDX or X5 sized car, you should seriously consider the Volvo XC-90.  If you want the smaller XC-60, I’d wait a year or two for the updated interior.

 

 

2016 Infinity QX50 Fully Loaded $45K MSRP

So I only considered Infiniti due to ONE Facebook friend who told me to go check them out.  The feature that stood out the most to me was the 360 degree camera view.  My wife loved that feature in the Rav4.  It also had all front and back sensors as well as the blind spots, adaptive cruise control, automatic collision stop (like in the Volvo.)  We had initially found on their web site a used 2015 model with 2K miles on it [for $39K] and that’s what we test drove.  I don’t think anything changed between the 2015 and 2016 models.

Here’s a snapshot of the interior to give you a comparison between the Volvo.

I don’t want to bash on the Volvo guys too hard, but c’mon, I think most people would agree that the Infiniti interior looks much nicer than the Volvo’s.  This is what happens when you have zero engineering r&d money.

The 2015 model we test drove was the 2nd to the top package; it didn’t have the Technology package that included the adaptive cruise control, collision stop, and lane assistance.  Anyway, the first thing we tested was the front sensor by drifting to another parked Infiniti car (hey, the salesman told us to do it.)  We got pretty close to the car before the sensor finally went off.  At this point, I wondered if we didn’t get close enough in the Volvo.  I just remember the Lexus NX200T giving us a pretty early warning.  I guess that’s something that differs with every manufacturer – how early the warning system goes off.  The blind spot sensor worked as well although I prefer it being on the actual mirror like in the Lexus (easier to see in my opinion versus being in the interior.)

We tested the 360 degree camera view trying to park in a spot so tight that we wouldn’t have even been able to open our doors.  My wife only went a quarter of the way in before she felt too uncomfortable and bailed.  She would have never parked there in “real life” anyway… hopefully not.  After the test drive was done, she actually said she liked it more than the Lexus NX200T.  And that’s the last car I test drove on Saturday…. stay tuned tomorrow.