2003 Lexus RX330 Sports Luxury MCU38R

The next car we tried was the Lexus RX330 Sports Luxury. This is the Japanese  answer to the luxury SUV/4wd designed to take on the BMW X5, Mercedes M class(see my later review) the Volvo XC90 and the Audi whatever it is(sorry don't know my Audis at all ).The Japanese do it better than the Germans I must say.

The outside of the car is subtle and doesn't scream "expensive car- be impressed" the same way the spinning propellor badge of a BMW or the Three Point Merc. Benz star does  but thats because the manufacturers have saved the luxury for the inside, after all it's where we, the drivers and passengers are going to be spending our time.

 The list of standard equipment in the Sports Luxury is amazing, leather seats, wood grain, sat nav, sunroof, reversing camera (sooo handy) remote boot hatch release that lifts the boot hatch, not just releasing the catch. The interior is so soothing and comfortable the first night we had it at home I went and sat in the car as it was more comfortable than the Italian leather lounge in our sitting room!(Sad? Maybe, True? definitely).The leather in the RX350 is so soft and yielding and the carpet was so thick and fluffy I took off my shoes every time I got into the car so I could squish my toes into the lush pile.. mmmm...

The Lexus drives like a particularly comfortable recliner chair would. This means there is hardly any "road feel", you are protected from all the bumps in the road and you do feel a bit disconnected from the driving but it is so comfortable and easy to drive with so many mod cons that I can forgive it. If the Lexus RX 330 was a man I would never dream of going out to dinner with him without shaving my legs and I wouldn't dare choose the wine in case I made a fool of myself. It is a very sophisticated and tastefully stylish car and you can buy Lexus brand golfing accessories and bland coloured polo shirts to go with your car if you wish! This was one of the reasons we ended up selling, after scratching the bumper a bit hauling a dishwasher into the boot (we found the dishwasher on the side of the road and do that sort of thing frequently!) and realising just how much mess our baby son (and his mother!) could make with little effort we decided to sell before we totally ruined the lovely car and lost all our money!

The other reason we sold was the fuel economy, all those safety and luxury gizmos must affect the fuel consumption- official figures are 13.2L/100km but we were rarely getting better than 14.5L/100km with careful driving. The RX 350 has official figures of 11.2L/100km with more power so that seems much more respectable and acceptable to me.

 The RX 330 has a good amount of power at 172kW @ 5600rpm but the RX  350 has 203kW @ 6200rpm so in an ideal world, on paper at least I would say that he 350 is the one to go for- it is just the same but has a DVD player evidently, thus making it even more parent friendly.

 There are many many airbags, ABS, reversing cameras and everything else you can think of to make the car safe. Having driven so many other family cars since the RX 330 I can honestly say the fuel economy is not as bad as many on the market and so much nicer to drive as well as being more stylish, comfortable, better built and more reliable than any car I can think of off the top of my head. We are going to buy another, less immaculate, more "worn in" example as soon as we have the funds. The parts are made by Toyota so easily available and reliable, (get your parts from Toyota for the Toyota equivalent, not the Lexus ones and you will do well) the tyres aren't bizarre sizes and it just feels right! Ours was nearly four years old when we bought it and still under factory warranty but nothing went wrong with it so I guess that is why they offer such great warranties (why Hyundai and Mitsubishi do is beyond me!).

Overall: Just lovely to transport the family around in, perfect for longer trips and sitting in when you are hiding from the children.

Rating:9/10

Value:8/10 They aren't cheap but don't depreciate like a German car does. 

Fuel economy:6/10 we thought it bad but there are many worse. The RX 350 is better economy wise.

Style: 8/10 Subtle on the ouside, sumptuous and tasteful on the inside.

The Quest Begins...The Mercedes-Benz E230T Classic W210 1996-97

Back in 2005 I met my much adored car mad husband- he had owned over 100 cars when we met. I didn't drive. I was a nervous driver whose lessons had made little or no difference to the fact I had panic attacks nearly every time I got behind the wheel. I am no longer this person and now we own a car hire business and I have driven more cars now than most people have in their lifetimes, I have had my full licence for nearly one year now so I hope I can bring unique perspective to the cars I review.  I find most car reviews useless, they simply don't tell me what I want to know as a mother getting from A to B and back again with a minimum of fuss (from me- the children behave like posessed baboons in the car). I have also found that most reviewers want to be cleverer than Jeremy Clarkson and often they are not which leads to rather prolix writeups in which the messages are totally lost on me..

 I only review used cars. I don't buy new cars so I am not interested in what a paid reviewer who has spent a couple of hours in a press car has to say. I want to know what the owner of an older model experiences day to day, what the fuel economy is REALLY like (official figures rarely match up with reality) and what bizarre or expensive problems could arise. 

  Review sites are good but what is a great ride to someone could be horrendous for the next person so I thought it would be good to have a site where one person reviews...

I haven't been able to find just what I want so I guess I am just going to have to do it myself like everything else around here! (Except the chores my husband does- kudos to him on convincing the sons that washing up and laundry are "men's jobs").

When my long suffering husband and I met we knew we would get married and have a family almost immediately (six months after meeting we were married, six months after that our first son was born) so it was clear his small collection of cars didn't have anything suitable... The Porsche Boxster although scarily smart and airtight only had two seats, as did the Beautiful blue BMW Z3 roadster and the lovely white unassuming but very useful Ford Falcon XR6 ute.... sigh.

So we started our quest for the ultimate family car and quickly secured ourselves the relatively rare Mercedes-Benz E230T Classic 7 seater station wagon/ Estate.

 These cars look the part- they have lovely round double headlights (made of plastic and need repolishing every six months...) the ubiquitous three point star, a smattering of woodgrain inside and the resilient MBtex seat upholstery which is almost but not quite leather but very easy to clean. They should look the part, they retailed at AUD$96,900 new and have been plummetting in value at a truly breathtaking rate ever since

 There are two extra seats in the boot for midgets or children who like to face the wrong way but I wouldn't really call it a 7 seater, not by today's standards anyway. I wouldn't want to use the two "dicky seats" every day personally.

The car is solid, at 2140kg (yes- over two tonnes) the 4 cylinder engine is what I would call barely adequate but it does feel safe, even if you couldn't get out of the way of the traffic you would probably survive a smack to any side. The power is just too sluggish to enjoy driving it. 110KW @ 5400 rpm is just that bit too underpowered and it is slow to get off at the traffic lights. This would be a nightmare for school runs! The accelerator really needs you to stomp on it to get off but the lights may have changed by the time the power kicks in, seriously. This kind of accelerator feel seems to be a Mercedes-Benz trait but it is heightened by the small motor/large car combination.The power doesn't kick in at all until the bottom of the pedal which is pretty frustrating, no room for subtle power increases, if you try to be subtle it will be perpetually "off the boil" and the gears of the auto box won't kick down.THe first third of the pedal movement does absolutely nothing. Safety in a smash and the Mercedes "prestige" would be the top points of this car but considering the age of it now I really think that saving some pennies and buying a Ford Falcon wagon (AUD$3500 for a great one of the same Vintage as our old Merc.) would give you more driving pleasure. You could even get some dicky seats installed. 

We never had anything go wrong with our Wagon (and we drove it for a record 18mths!) but we do know the airconditioning had been replaced before we bought it- they all go wrong and a decent second hand Mercedes Benz compressor is worth a small fortune if you can find one! The replacement aircon was just like the orginal- rather substandard.

Overall: Reliable, safe and sturdy but underpowered, sluggish and boring to drive-too expensive for what it is.

Rating:6/10

Value:3/10 Buy an EL Falcon, or a Commodore if you are Holden type of 
 person

Fuel economy:7/10 surprisingly good considering the weight of the car

Style: 6/10 rather austere- like a robot tried to make a luxurious car rather than a person- Teutonic and plain.