UDel

I disagree, the new GS is the car that felt small with poor head room, the 5 series did not feel any bigger then the RL and its interior was extremely plain and uninspired and had a bunch of cheap plastic and the buttons and switches felt cheap and the 5 series is alot more expensive the RL. I thought the previous 5 series interior was much better and looked and felt more expensive, the RL has the nicest highest quality interior to me of all the mid size luxury cars, the M35/45 interior was the only one that seemed bigger then the RL as well as the other cars in its class. I do see alot of RLs on the road know so maybe they are selling a little better.

As for the recall, I see nothing wrong and they are doing the right thing by addressing a possible problem before it happens. Many car companies will just ignore it to save the money and press and then let their owners fork the bill once its out of warranty. Maybe Lexus will eventually address the ball joint design defect with the 2nd Gen GS before someone is seriously injured or killed instead of ignoring and making the owners fork the bill if anything happens. It would also be nice if they addressed the power door lock actuators defect too but maybe I am asking too much. They have known about these problems for quite a while

LexFather

If I scanned the CAR review(s) on the Honda Legend last month (our RL) you might go nuts. They found it competent but blasted it all around. I didn't even post the article as the Honda guys would go nuts. I'll post a link to the initial review of the car.

Depreciation in Europe is even worse than here, new owners are taking 50% hits in 2 years.

Legend? Quite an appropriate name. I don’t think I’ve seen one in the metal since 1989

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/...-/?&R=EPI-4298

So who’s going to buy it over a 5-series?

No one, Honda admits rather candidly. The very American styling makes no real statement and the big H on the beaky grille still doesn’t cut it in those circles. Fact is it looks too much like an Accord-class car. But people impressed by technology rather than status, people moving up from Volvos and Saabs, they’re the ones on the Honda hit list.

mavericck

I'm guessing you've never sat in an Audi A6.

UDel

Yes I sat in the new Audi A6 a few months ago at an auto show and was kind of dissapointed with it. The buttons made a cheap annoying sounding loud click every time you pushed them and did not feel as nice as Acura or Lexus ***** or switches. The leather was not really smooth or soft either and did not feel as nice as Lexus/Acura leather. I really do like the look of Audi interiors especially the A8 but the A6 did not impress me that much, I was expecting alot before I sat in it and had only briefly been in one before so maybe I was expecting to be really impressed and one of the reasons the interior did not really impress me too much.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I can see that. The RL, while I too actually think it is a great car and under rated and under appreciated, is not a car the Europeans would enjoy.

Personally though, I'd definitely buy it over a 530i. Not the new twin turbo engine 535i though. However, hopefully the RL will be redesigned soon as it is coming up on its 4th production year already. I mean, the RL was already out in 2004, so it is kind of getting old already. In today's market, anything out longer than 5 years without any major change/improvement is really stretching it.

mavericck

Meh, I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Interestingly enough, I found the exact opposite to be true on all your points. I guess I'm also justified by the automotive press as well, because Audi interiors are usually considered the benchmark by most of the automotive industry.

LexFather

I find the A6 interior superior to the RL and I really wasn't impressed or blown away by the RL interior (contrary to MMarshall). In the same CAR mag that I posted about the RL, this is what they said about the GS interior.

Oh yes. The GS450h is magnificently made. The cabin, like the exterior, might not be particularly thrilling to look at but it is constructed with a precision to shame its rivals and the ergonomics are pretty much beyond reproach. The touch-screen controlling most of the cabin functions is the star turn, making a very complex car very easy to use and making you wonder why Audi and BMW persist with i-Drive style rotary controllers