Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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If anybody out there has drove both these cars and has an opinion, please let me know what you think.
Chrysler had stake on Mitsubishi until 2005. Mitsu was in really bad shape last year, even in Japan. Not sure they will make it.
Cost-cutting was so bad that they used the same platform for the Endeavor and for the Eclipse.
What are the minus/pluses you are observing for each?
My issue with the buick is that the interior is not as high of quality as it could of been as far as controls but it does have the nice standard wood trim around the steering wheel which is an option in the audi. The audi is great except for the small third row option (not something I need w/ only one child currently), and the fact that they don't offer a dvd dropdown for children. The audi has as high a safety rating as a volvo which is a plus. I am looking for a true luxory ride all around and I feel the buick has what it takes but at the same time, I am leaning toward the Q7 for a reason I can't pin. My husband drives the Lucerne and says he will never drive anything else, including other luxory imports, cadillac, etc. I am also only 29 and feel the buick looks a little older for me and also a little "minivanish" and I am anti-minivan! So, I don't know if I exactly answered the pro con question, I guess this is why I am having such confusion!
let me try, you don't want to drive a buick.
If your definition of luxury requires wood on the steering wheel and a dropdown dvd you might as well buy the Buick and save the difference in the money from one to the other. the enclave will have the rear 3rd row advantage and to tie it all together you can get your vehicles serviced at the same dealer making dealer realtionships better and scheduling service that much easier if you are happy with your buick dealer. my guess is buick service is going to be cheaper than audi service. go with the enclave, my guess is that it will more than serve your needs... and there is nothing minivanish about the enclave, suv yes, minivan no... what it comes down to is whether you want to pay the premium for the 4rings or save the money and get the port holes...they do the same job it's just a matter of how much you want to spend...
it really does come down to image regardless as the points would be the same whether I was responding to a man or in this case a woman. You seem a bit defensive to my point that you are the only one qualified to make your decision for you.
again, of these two choices you've nartrowed down to they function the same and offer the same amenities. it comes down to the image you want to drive around in and money you want to spend. you said you can't pin why you like the audi...simple, you like the audi image better than the buick image, you said it yourself when you offered up your age as aso part of the equation. there's nothing wrong with that you just have to realize you'll have to spend a bit more money to do that than with the buick. as I said only you can decide what suits your families needs as either of these sound like they.
do you want to be an audi driver(I would) or a buick driver(nothing wrong with that at all) as I think it would be best in your situation, only your checkbook and families needs can decide that one.
I haven't driven the Q7, so my opinion stops there. All I'll say is that the Enclave is the exception to the "Buick = old": it has fresh lines, and it looks "younger" than the rest of the lineup. I know Audi is known to attract the sportier crowd, but I think the Enclave looks darn good.
The Enclave has a nice interior, but not nearly as refined as you would find in an Audi. GM has chosen to reuse too many interior bits across the Acadia/Enclave/Outlook, and a few of them are somewhat unbecoming on something carrying a $40+ sticker.
My main gripe is the hard plastic cover for the air-bag at the center of the steering wheel.
I also think the attitude toward Buick is changing thanks to the Enclave.
It's cool again to drive a Buick. We traded in a Mercedes C-class for a Lucerne and we are going to trade in our BMW X-5 for the Enclave. More room for our kids and my wife and I are beyond trying to impress people with the Beemers, etc.
We get a lot of comments on our Lucerne and I can't wait till we get the Enclave.
"I am looking for advice on my upcoming purchase. I have been looking at both the enclave and the Q7 by audi. I am having a hard time because each of them have their pluses and minuses..
If anybody out there has drove both these cars and has an opinion, please let me know what you think."
you offer no criteria or pluses/minuses that are befuddling you as to what might inform your decision and rely on everyone to speculate to why one would be better than the other.
when pressed you offer wood on a steering wheel, a dvd, husband drives a buick, and volvo safety as hints at what might be informing a decision. you also state you are 29 and can't figure out why you like the audi over the buick.
pressed further we find you are a married woman presently with no kids driving a tahoe(for what reason, work requirement needing to haul a great amount of stuff around, tow, and or you just want to drive a tahoe)and are worried about going to small with your next purchase.
people make due with far less than any of the cars you are talking about for the one kid schlep, there are very nice wagons out there that are safe and offer better performance and mpg that could be considered to suit your needs. you have failed to mention any of that for whatever reason. you are looking at the 2 you narrowed it down to to "serve your families needs" OK. with the minimal amount of information you offered and sticking to your 2 selections it seems the buick could serve you well if you can get past whatever makes you like the audi more or even define it.
unless you explain your needs as to how to evaluate one vs another we're not left with much more than one's prettier than the other and one's less expensive than the other as most all other comparisons between the two, safety ratings, dimensions, amenities, etc. line them up closely leading you to base your opinion on...
drumroll please.....
image and style. again, there's nothing wrong with that as that's what the car companies are counting on in helping you choose theirs over someone else's.
good luck... and enjoy whatever you buy
BTW, I'd go with the Audi if you can afford it. The world will soon be crawling with Enclaves, as good as they are. If any aspects of the Enclave interior details bother you, remember that you will notice these things every time you drive it. If interior aesthetics are important on your list of purchase considerations, it is difficult to top an Audi interior.
given nothing to base an informed opinion on you are left with little more than image and style as they are both more than competant at what they do and are largely the same for the umpteenth time.
if you want a baseless public opinion poll that's fine, if you want any kind of insightful thought about your question you need to paint the picture a bit more than she has.
I have not looked at the cx-9 or others you spoke of, my husband likes the cx-9 a lot, looks wise, but I have not test drove one yet. There are not a lot of import dealers near my area.
I have just spent the morning driving the enclave and while it is very nice, I did not like the blind spots in the rear windows and the dvd dropdown caused a huge blindspot as well. I did however like the nav w/ the touchscreen and the backup camera was very nice as well. Those are options I would not have in the audi because of the additional cost. I am actually looking at a previously owned audi with low miles, I wouldn't pay that price for a brand new one. I did enjoy the q7 a little more, from what I remember, it has been a month since I test drove it. But on the buick defense the warranty is better and that is something too consider as well. The Q7 offers more towing capacity and as a person with a boat (that is the reason for the tahoe, not looks) it offers an extra 1k lbs of towing.
So, thanks again, and let me know how your wife enjoys the cx-9!!
When you start to compare a used Q7 to a new Enclave, then you're right in that the price can be pretty similar, but then it becomes hard to compare, at least on price, but I'm sure there's a "used vs new" forum out their discussing all of this.
You are right. It is just that Audis have some of the nicest interiors in the auto industry, if not the best ones. The "compromise" in terms of interior execution is really marginal compared to the price tag difference. The Enclave's interior is a mixed bag though, with some very interesting details (the metal/wood trims against beige leather looked rich) and some downright upsetting ones (like the same hard-plastic materials seen atop the dashes and air-bag covers in the Outlook and Acadia) .
The CX-9 interior is more harmonious as it did not undergo the spotty "enrichment" treatment to look more upscale. In fact, my wife said she preferred the Outlook than the Enclave for that same reason.
In its price class, the CX-9 interior is very well executed, with double-stitched leather all around and smooth rolling knobs rounded by thin chrome rings. You have to pay $6-10K more for a German SUV to find a better interior or scale down quite a bit on cargo space for a VC.
There is actually a nice dealer-installed factory-backed dual-DVD system that can goes into the backrests of the 1st row. Ask your Buick dealer for a brochure (the best looking brochure I have ever seen, not to mention the largest) and you can see what it looks like.
I have not asked for pricing, but it should be in the $2K range. People in 3rd don't get to see it though.
Another nice thing in the Enclave, in terms of entertainment, is that you can also watch the movies in the nav screen when the car is parked. Not sure that same feature is available if you go with the headrests DVD system, probably not.
One day I was stopped at a light on my way home from work and I noticed that there was a pickup stopped behind me. He seemed pretty far away and I thought to myself "gee, I wonder why he is stopped that far away from me?" Looked in the side mirror and there was a Miata behind me and I could not see it out the back window.
The car is good on gas for such a large vehicle. I get about 17 mpg around town and 25 or so on the highway at 75 mph. That should be a vast improvement over the Tahoe.
I also recommend the second row captain chairs because it is difficult for small children (and my Saturn salesperson) to operate the sliding chair. We have a carseat in the second row and our other kids just scoot through the gap in the middle with no problems.
That is an interesting point, although I would not count on the cheaper sensor option for the same reason. In the Enclave, the sensor is actually paired with a three-light gizmo stuck to the ceiling right above the 3rd row. The first light comes out at 10ft, the second at 5ft and the third is accompanied by a persistent beep when the object is closer than 2ft.
With a DVD screen deployed, you are going to have a hard time seeing those lights.
I don't see the point about the invisible Miata being a problem though, as the Outlook high ground clearance should be sufficient to drive over the Miata without a scratch (for the Outlook, at least).
Another interesting thing is that I had to readjust how I set the side mirrors to avoid blind-spots. I was always taught to put the rear handle in the lower corner of the mirror closest to you. (lower right for driver-side and lower left for passenger-side) That gives you pretty good blind-spot coverage. With the Outlook, I put the rear handle in the middle of the side of the mirror closest to me. This gives you pretty good coverage and the mirrors are pretty large so you can see a lot.
5500lb rating seems to be a pretty solid reason to like the Q7 over the lambda in you particular case, unless that's not enough capacity of course...
http://www.autoweb.com/content/research/searchresults/index.cfm/action/SelectTri- - m/make_vch/Audi/model_vch/Q7/virsection/summary
now it's "I don't need much more than that"...
then why have tow ratings... seems a bit of a moving target enjoy whatever you decide on and tow safely...
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LATH02109082007-1.htm
maybe it seems to be me, i just don't get why you should want the right tool to do the job...