S60 vs G35 vs Acura TL 3.2

Fellow listers,

Some advice please:

In the universe of choices for a medium sized luxury sedan, our decision has become more complex, after looking at and test driving a G35 sedan yesterday. It's a pretty tempting car, snazzy on the styling and interior appointments, fast as hell (over 90 mph on the test drive), good handling and roomy.

However, the other two cars, the S60 and the Acura TL are equally tempting. So far, the advantages of the S60 are proven reliability and longevity (my '96 850 has over 274,000 miles on it with NO major problems - essentially the same engine as the S60 non-turbo), good handling, utility, nice dash and interior layout and size, good resale value, classical and pleasing styling and safety features.

The Acura does everything right, but does not have the Volvo's or the Infiniti's dash layout, has unknown (to me) reliability, but just about everything else is just fine.

The Infiniti sure has some panache to it - so much snazz that you almost feel guilty about it.

Price is a consideration, but it's still a tough choice and I don't want emotion to leak into this decision.

Given your collective experiences, what are your views?

Thanks....

PS. We do NOT want to use premium grade fuel.

Reply to
pkallis
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All three of those care recommend premium. It's bad for an engine designed to run on premium to run regular, if the sensor dies to adjust the timing you can really mess up the motor if it starts knocking.

I like the Volvo the best, the Acura is really nice too, and probably less money to maintain.

Reply to
Rob Guenther

We have the S60 N/A - premium (91 octane or above) is recommended, and makes a noticable difference on performance especially and mileage compared to regular. Complaints with the S60 - this car shrunk down to a compact compared to the midsized S70. That combined with the styling (i.e. aero sloping) of the back has made the rear seat area a very bad design if you need any functionality out of it. I have had

850 as loaners twice - although the S60 is more nimble, you will be disappointed in the size compared to your current 850. I.e., the utility of the S60 is less. As far as resale, we are looking to get rid of the S60, but are completely shocked at how awful resale is - that is why we have been dragging our feet some. Would suggest seriously considering your other 2 choices.
Reply to
Steve S

All published reports (CR, etc.) put Acura very high on the reliability scale, so I would not worry about that.

All three are good vehicles. Buy the one you like the best!

John

Reply to
John Horner

How important is back seat room? I found the S60 especially small in the back seat as compared to our 850.

Volvo seemed to shrink the interior 1/2 size in going from the 850 to the S60 and they also really shrunk the engine compartment. As someone who does my own work, the tight fit of the S60 engine compartment bothers me.

John

Reply to
John Horner

That's the major problem with the car. The back seat is terribly small, I'd rather have the car less pretty on the outside and functional on the inside. I also don't like that Volvo has abandoned tight turning circles. The old 240s had very tight turning circles, the 700/900s were also tight and only slightly larger, the front drive 850s/s70s increased it about a foot, still acceptable. However, the front drivers have horribly wide turning circles. Maybe it is time to dump transverse engines, if that's what is accounting for these horrid turning circles.

Volvo needs to get back to making cars functional inside. The pretty exteriors are nice, but shouldn't compromised the cars as much as they do. I'm unimpressed with the starkness of the new s40s and some of the downscale materials inside, however its back seat is larger than the s60 (but seats are nowhere near as plush and comfortable). I want better visibility from Volvo, a back seat in all the midsized cars at least as large as the v70 (which isn't that great). The s80s back seat space is superb. It also has better visibility. The oldest car in the Volvo line is the most comfortable. However, the SUV, the xc90 is also superb inside, with good visibility and a simple interior that works and feels premium.

Ben

Reply to
Benjamin Smith

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