Honda, Toyota, or Lexus?

Forget all that crap and just get a BMW 5-series.

Feh... I've had three of them. The 95 and 98 540, I liked. The 01 530 was a piece of crap. Constant problems with the computer and electrical system. Glad it was a lease and I could get rid of it after 36 months.

With the possible exception of cornering, the Acura TL is a much better car and about $15,000 less.

Funny, I went through the exact same drill last year when replacing my '00 Avalon...

I didn't like the new Avalon (so much plastic and shiny stuff on them looked like they were designed by a 20-something engineer on drugs), same reaction to the Solara convertible, just couldn't get comfortable in the Camry seats, liked the Acura TL but damned if I'll put premium gas in one of those beasts and the price was higher than I wanted to spend on my ride--- so I ended up getting an Accord V6 EX-L--- by default really. Kinda settled for it when I bought it.

But after driving it for several months, I've really come to like and appreciate this car. It handles great ("corners like it's on rails"), has plenty of power, is fun to drive, the shape of the seats exactly match the shape of my ass, didn't care about the sunroof and XM radio-- but have come to really enjoy them, has had zero assembly defects--- and I just got back from a 650 mile trip and got 33.4 MPG!!

A German car?

Better he should just buy a GM car and keep the money somewhat in this country. He gets the same build quality, anyway.

Yeah. They're the best at making cars. Simple as that.

Oh, but buying a Toyota or Honda is just fine, eh? Did you not know that those are Japanese-owned car companies? You think the money stays here in this country when you buy a Toyota or a Honda?

The build quality is NOT the same either, by the way.

Hardly.

IMO, the 2008 Avalon comes out better than the Honda. Big surprise is that it's gas mileage is up in the 26-28 mpg range. MLD

>

HIghway? City? With a 6 or a 4?

V6 and around the city. On a 3000 mi trip averaged 27/28 and at times did between 30/31. On the trip just about all highway and anywhere between

75-80 mph

Mercedes used to be one of the most reliable cars on the road (we're talking 30 years ago now.) Now it is one of the least reliable. VW/Audi are just about as bad. Compared to them the BMW is stellar, but really not in the same league as Honda or Toyota.

BMWs are fun to drive, but you pay a lot for it when you buy it and as you go down the road.

This is very true. I was looking at a used 2005 325i and being used to Hondas/Hyundai's and how reliable they have been, I was shocked to see some common issues that the 325's all had.

1) Transmissions failing at under 100k miles and BMW doing nothing about it.(This was the dealbreaker) 2) Thermostats failing at 60k and then again at 80k 3) Balljoints failing at 80k 4) VANOS problems (BMW's Variable Timing) 5) Radiator expansion tank

And the list went on and on...If I wanted a car that had all of these problems I would get a Ford. The Germans tried following the Japanese way of doing things and they have failed miserably.

BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota have factories in the US and employ US citizens and pay US taxes.

This is what I usually get with my V6 Accord ('04).

Right. You're as clueless as the other dumbass.

Why is he clueless?

Are you saying that these companies do not manufacture within US borders and they do not employ American citizens?

Probably because I'm right.

Believe the 3 series is assembled in Pretoria, South Africa and shipped to the States. The engines and transmissions are made in Germany.

No.

What I was referring to was the blanket-statement that "the money stays here in the US" when buying one of these cars. Perhaps *some* of it does, but not all. In fact that was never the point of the original discussion at all.