I gave up the 535D. The guy taking over the lease will be grabbing it in a week or so. As an aside, leasing was definitely a winner decision here. I only paid taxes for the payments I made and I lost nothing moving the car on to it's next "owner". I actually grew to really like the car (more on that in a moment) but we're getting priced out of the LA housing market really quickly, my wife almost never drives and we can save a ton by having one car versus two.
I've got two trains of thought right now. Option 1: Keep the FX35 and buy a cheap car for myself to putz around in and do the majority of my business driving. I can pick up a convertible 335 or 328 for 15kish and I can handle repairs on that car myself. I'm really leaning towards option number 2 though.
Option 2: Have a single car for the family.
The problem here is the FX35 doesn't quite cut the mustard as a full time car for the family because I drive a lot and it gets pretty abysmal city mileage, about 12 mpg real world considering how I drive and how it needs to be driven to be fast at all. You really need to wind it out. It's bad enough that I would consider not taking certain trips and I don't want to live that life. The efficiency of the 535D is intoxicating. It's $40 for 400+ miles in that or $90+ for 280ish miles in the FX35. I drive enough that that adds up fast. I considered keeping the 535D and ditching the Infiniti but the 535 doesn't car seat very well. Speaking of which, the FX35 doesn't car seat very well either but I was able to accept that since I drove my car 99% of the time. If I'm driving the FX35 every day I'd need to remove my 4 year old's car seat to be comfortable driving. That will grow old quickly. So here's where I'm at. Toss me your suggestions:
2011+ Toureg TDI
Good gas mileage, Audi-ish interior, nice looking and relatively cheap (under 30k). I don't hate these. They don't have the brand cache but whatever.
2014+ Grand Cherokee Overland Diesel
A buddy of mine turned me on to these. Again great gas mileage but apparently the Grand Cherokee's suffer from a myriad of quality issues and the diesel is even worse than the gas models. This one is on the cusp of being cut.
2012+ BMW X5D (diesel)
I like the X5 plus I can get most of the options I have in the 5 in the X5. Heads up display is something I've grown accustom to and would love to keep.
2016 XC90 T8 Hybrid
I REALLLY like this. It uses a supercharged and turbo 4 cylinder engine for the front wheels and an 80hp electric motor for the rear wheels. You can drive it as a hybrid, as an all electric or for when you want to go fast: a combination of both powertrains to give you 400hp and 472 lb/ ft of torque. This is a winner for me and it's as fast to 60 as the 535D. The downside here is that it's new and it's a lot more than any of the used cars I'd be looking at but it would be a nice single vehicle to have.
And no Mike K list is complete without: Tesla Model S
My wife is totally sold on this one too. Oddly enough, as much as I'd like to, I'm not sure I'm sold on it as our only car. We go to Phoenix a lot and would have to time trips around supercharger stations. I'm 90% certain we'd be fine but don't want to buy it and then find out we wouldn't be.
And lastly: 2015 BMW 740d or 740Ld
The 535D really is the perfect car for me right now but it's not the perfect car for our family. But a year ago my wife's car (and our family car) was the A8L and it was an awesome fit other than being a wretched turd. It was great for road trips, it car seated amazingly because it was a limo and it handled like a car and got decent gas mileage. A 740D is basically a bigger 5 series. Options could be identical to my 5 series if I chose and all the space problems would be solved.
Thoughts on my choices? Any suggestions? I'm open to big cars or SUVs, preferably something German, Swedish or perhaps higher end Japanese. It would need to be quick and get very good gas mileage, close to 30mpg on the highway or more. What have you got guys?
I've got two trains of thought right now. Option 1: Keep the FX35 and buy a cheap car for myself to putz around in and do the majority of my business driving. I can pick up a convertible 335 or 328 for 15kish and I can handle repairs on that car myself. I'm really leaning towards option number 2 though.
Option 2: Have a single car for the family.
The problem here is the FX35 doesn't quite cut the mustard as a full time car for the family because I drive a lot and it gets pretty abysmal city mileage, about 12 mpg real world considering how I drive and how it needs to be driven to be fast at all. You really need to wind it out. It's bad enough that I would consider not taking certain trips and I don't want to live that life. The efficiency of the 535D is intoxicating. It's $40 for 400+ miles in that or $90+ for 280ish miles in the FX35. I drive enough that that adds up fast. I considered keeping the 535D and ditching the Infiniti but the 535 doesn't car seat very well. Speaking of which, the FX35 doesn't car seat very well either but I was able to accept that since I drove my car 99% of the time. If I'm driving the FX35 every day I'd need to remove my 4 year old's car seat to be comfortable driving. That will grow old quickly. So here's where I'm at. Toss me your suggestions:
2011+ Toureg TDI
Good gas mileage, Audi-ish interior, nice looking and relatively cheap (under 30k). I don't hate these. They don't have the brand cache but whatever.
2014+ Grand Cherokee Overland Diesel
A buddy of mine turned me on to these. Again great gas mileage but apparently the Grand Cherokee's suffer from a myriad of quality issues and the diesel is even worse than the gas models. This one is on the cusp of being cut.
2012+ BMW X5D (diesel)
I like the X5 plus I can get most of the options I have in the 5 in the X5. Heads up display is something I've grown accustom to and would love to keep.
2016 XC90 T8 Hybrid
I REALLLY like this. It uses a supercharged and turbo 4 cylinder engine for the front wheels and an 80hp electric motor for the rear wheels. You can drive it as a hybrid, as an all electric or for when you want to go fast: a combination of both powertrains to give you 400hp and 472 lb/ ft of torque. This is a winner for me and it's as fast to 60 as the 535D. The downside here is that it's new and it's a lot more than any of the used cars I'd be looking at but it would be a nice single vehicle to have.
And no Mike K list is complete without: Tesla Model S
My wife is totally sold on this one too. Oddly enough, as much as I'd like to, I'm not sure I'm sold on it as our only car. We go to Phoenix a lot and would have to time trips around supercharger stations. I'm 90% certain we'd be fine but don't want to buy it and then find out we wouldn't be.
And lastly: 2015 BMW 740d or 740Ld
The 535D really is the perfect car for me right now but it's not the perfect car for our family. But a year ago my wife's car (and our family car) was the A8L and it was an awesome fit other than being a wretched turd. It was great for road trips, it car seated amazingly because it was a limo and it handled like a car and got decent gas mileage. A 740D is basically a bigger 5 series. Options could be identical to my 5 series if I chose and all the space problems would be solved.
Thoughts on my choices? Any suggestions? I'm open to big cars or SUVs, preferably something German, Swedish or perhaps higher end Japanese. It would need to be quick and get very good gas mileage, close to 30mpg on the highway or more. What have you got guys?