I knew nothing about the Genesis until this thread and went to the Hyundai web site. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw there is a Hyundai Equus that has a base sticker price of $58K!!!! I've never heard of or seen one of these on the road before!
I have an 08 Altima S myself. The drive is pretty smooth IMO, although I've had some problems in the 10 months I've owned it. I think the window motors might already be dying, could be the window regulators, not sure. Also the lights behind the clock and radio panels are slowly fading. Not a good sign considering it's an 08. But in fairness, Nissan does offer a top notch warranty, something my car is still under. I also heard nothing but good things about the new Kia's, and the Forte Coupe are pretty nice looking cars.
Genesis looks like a Benz from afar same way C300 looks like a Bentley from afar Infiniti is a good entry level 'luxury' car I would recommend checking out some of the many 'long-term' tests that various car blogs are doing... for example, I very much enjoy InsideLine's(Edmunds) long term test blog. They're currently testing a very expensive M56 among other vehicles. http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/
1) G37's, Genesis, TL's, CTS, ES's, etc. aren't true "luxury" cars. They're entry level luxury. In other words, luxury for those who can barely afford it. :grin: 2) If you can get a 3rd gen Acura TL, get one. They're damn near bulletproof. I have a 2004 with over 170,000 miles and the only major out-of-pocket unscheduled repair I had to do was 2 new engine mounts at 120,000 miles. 3) I can't stand the Genesis interior. That center console looks like some kind of giant serving tray or something. And then the outside looks so damn generic. You look at the grille and they don't/didn't even bother to put an emblem on it. Early-run Genesis have had interior quality issues from what I read a year or two ago. 4) Make sure you can afford to the repairs on whatever you buy. Many people buy "luxury" sedans and freak out when repair costs come around. Of the ones you posted, and without researching much, I'd take the Infiniti.
Also keep in mind that JD Power's VDS survey is for 3 year old cars. So the 2011 survey covers cars 2008 model-year cars.
Nissan reliability and quality started dropping a few years ago when they were in financial trouble and started coming out with a completely re-designed model every other week it seemed.
They just came out with it. They come "free" with an iPad for an owner's manual. LOL. Buy a $60k car and get a "free" iPad. Woo! They really are pretty nice looking cars, though. I believe when you need to have repairs done, they come pick it up and drop it off or something, which is pretty cool. I saw one parked in our parking lot the other day. It's basically a rip-off of the Lexus LS design.
Instead of the entry-level cars you posted, instead buy a used Audi A8 (D3 chassis), A6 (C6 chassis), or BMW 5 series (E60 chassis) for $25k.
So he can spend a bunch of money in repairs? They are all nice cars but they are all unreliable after 50K miles and all cost a lot to fix.
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Just purchased this yesterday We had a 2005 Pathfinder and sold it to purchase this....still trying to get used to the interior room, a bit tight. We got the AWD and this *****er is fast.
I would like to add as well, does anyone know of a really good independent mechanic that you'll recommend? Want to test drive a car to have a mechanic take a look at the car before purchasing.
