BrownEyes
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2005
- Messages
- 294
I've been driving Volvos for 16+ years (since my oldest child was born), and can probably say that I've driven every Volvo model from the boxy 240 up to and including the latest Volvo SUV (the XC90) which I've had since 2003.
Long story short: My oldest son (age 16 1/2) is a great kid, A+ student, very clean-cut and focused with nice friends, etc. Next week, he takes his road test. We want him to drive a nice safe car - - we've seen all too often the tragedies that can occur when teenagers drive unsafe vehicles that don't perform well in crash tests.
Coincidentally, the lease on my Volvo XC90 is up soon. I LOVE my XC90, but (due to my frequent treks back and forth to visit my daughter in boarding school in Massachusetts), the car now has more than 70K miles on it. Soooo ... instead of turning the XC90 back in at the end of the lease and paying big-time for the excess mileage, my husband and I are thinking of buying the car for my oldest son at the end of the lease-term. If you know anything about Volvos they are extremely safe cars and will last well beyond 70K+ miles ...
ANYWAY ... this afternoon being a quasi-holiday, my husband and I went car-shopping. Since we're intimately familiar with all of the Volvos, we focused on the following other car dealers: Lexus, BMW and Cadillac. (My husband already drives a Cadillac Escalade and for years he's been suggesting that I consider one but up until the '07 models came out recently I've always felt that the Escalade was WAY too big for me ... especially since I'm not even 5' tall on a good day ... but I digress ... )
I test-drove the Lexus RX350 (i.e., the newest model - - my husband called it a "jellybean"); the Lexus GX470, the BMW X3 (5 speed manual version), and the '07 Cadillac Escalade (which has some great new features including a heated steering wheel, heated washer fluid and heated/air conditioned seats to name a few - - we live in a very cold, snowy climate so these can be important ... ).
The Cadillac dealer was close to closing when I spotted the Cadillac SRX which is Cadillac's cross-over wagon. I'm going back tomorrow a.m. to test-drive the SRX - - which has some of the same nifty features as the Escalade and which I think is better-suited for me size-wise ...
SOooo ... I know many PS'ers drive either or both Lexus SUV models and absolutely love them, but I'm curious whether any of you own or are otherwise familiar with the Cadillac SRX and if so, how it compares to the mid-size SUV's mentioned above.
Here's what's important to me in some semblance of order:
*safety and performance in crash-tests
*handling, maneuverability and gas efficiency
*winter road handling since we live in the snow-capital of the Northeast
*interior must be quiet, and it must have a GREAT sound system, 'cause my performing arts-major daughter and I take a lot of road trips to her school and to NYC, and we love to listen to great music along the way
*ample rear cargo space for those trips back and forth to boarding school, NYC and summer camp with my 3 kids!
Any input would be greatly appreciated! Happy Easter weekend to all who celebrate!
BrownEyes
Long story short: My oldest son (age 16 1/2) is a great kid, A+ student, very clean-cut and focused with nice friends, etc. Next week, he takes his road test. We want him to drive a nice safe car - - we've seen all too often the tragedies that can occur when teenagers drive unsafe vehicles that don't perform well in crash tests.
Coincidentally, the lease on my Volvo XC90 is up soon. I LOVE my XC90, but (due to my frequent treks back and forth to visit my daughter in boarding school in Massachusetts), the car now has more than 70K miles on it. Soooo ... instead of turning the XC90 back in at the end of the lease and paying big-time for the excess mileage, my husband and I are thinking of buying the car for my oldest son at the end of the lease-term. If you know anything about Volvos they are extremely safe cars and will last well beyond 70K+ miles ...
ANYWAY ... this afternoon being a quasi-holiday, my husband and I went car-shopping. Since we're intimately familiar with all of the Volvos, we focused on the following other car dealers: Lexus, BMW and Cadillac. (My husband already drives a Cadillac Escalade and for years he's been suggesting that I consider one but up until the '07 models came out recently I've always felt that the Escalade was WAY too big for me ... especially since I'm not even 5' tall on a good day ... but I digress ... )
I test-drove the Lexus RX350 (i.e., the newest model - - my husband called it a "jellybean"); the Lexus GX470, the BMW X3 (5 speed manual version), and the '07 Cadillac Escalade (which has some great new features including a heated steering wheel, heated washer fluid and heated/air conditioned seats to name a few - - we live in a very cold, snowy climate so these can be important ... ).
The Cadillac dealer was close to closing when I spotted the Cadillac SRX which is Cadillac's cross-over wagon. I'm going back tomorrow a.m. to test-drive the SRX - - which has some of the same nifty features as the Escalade and which I think is better-suited for me size-wise ...
SOooo ... I know many PS'ers drive either or both Lexus SUV models and absolutely love them, but I'm curious whether any of you own or are otherwise familiar with the Cadillac SRX and if so, how it compares to the mid-size SUV's mentioned above.
Here's what's important to me in some semblance of order:
*safety and performance in crash-tests
*handling, maneuverability and gas efficiency
*winter road handling since we live in the snow-capital of the Northeast
*interior must be quiet, and it must have a GREAT sound system, 'cause my performing arts-major daughter and I take a lot of road trips to her school and to NYC, and we love to listen to great music along the way
*ample rear cargo space for those trips back and forth to boarding school, NYC and summer camp with my 3 kids!
Any input would be greatly appreciated! Happy Easter weekend to all who celebrate!
BrownEyes
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