Camden

We purchased an E320 this summer and my wife now wants to replace our 2nd car with an SUV. She loves the looks of the GX. We went for a test drive her only "buts" were the rear door (minor) and the interior controls which, as you'd expect, are different than the E. She just wishes the GX had the setup inside of the E. I keep telling her that she'll get used to it. Does anyone have a MB as well as a GX?

Thanks. I can't wait to get it, looks like it'll be a great suv.

Tony

I went from a E430 to BMW 540i to Acura MDX to GX470 and the button layout for controls on the japanese cars are far more intuitive to use than the German cars. She will get used to them and will love them better then her E-class. Tell her not to worry she will love the GX.

bscottj

I agree with Tony 100%. The user interface experience in the Japanese cars is much more natural (intuitive) than the German cars. It is easy to learn the GX470, and once you have learned it, the German cars will seem overly complicated and fussy. I've owned several imports as well as domestics, looked at nearly every brand, driven them, (European, North American, Asian), the Japanese cars are unbeatable in terms of ergonomics and ease of use (not to mention they have the market cornered in terms of reliability).

Rx900

i've never tried German before, but from the interior i've seen, it's easier to learn the controls of a new Lexus than a German car. my opinion!

Camden

Thanks for the replies. I'll do my best to get her to look at your responses. I sort figured the same, that she'll get used to everything fairly easily.

(The test drive was a lil' funny b/c there were so many things that were standard on the GX that were options on the MB). But overall she loved the GX.

jdh62

I have a 2003 Mercedes E320 and my wife has a 2004 GX-470 brought in January. My wife loves her car, but I was kind of disappointed in the interior as I expected more from a Lexus. My previous cars have been Japanese, so I expected a lot. I thought the GX-330 interior was much nicer.

I also expected a better and more intuitive interface on the controls in the Lexus as opposed to the benz, but surprisingly (at least to me), I like the benz better. That restriction on doing anything on the Nav if you're driving above a certain speed is very annoying. There are no such restriction on the E, and I find the COMAND display in the speedometer to be very useful and miss it when driving the wife's SUV. I'm also disappointed with the Lexus Nav map display as upcoming side street names are not displayed (I don't know if there are any options to turn it on). I was also a little disappointed with the Mark Levinson sound system as I expected a lot more from a high-end name brand. I know I will probably get flamed for this, but I actually like my HK system in benz better.

Those annoyances aside, the GX-470 is a beautiful SUV and the missus likes it.

Camden

We're trying to get a finalized price at this moment.

What NAV-speed-restriction?

jdh62

There are some restrictions to user input on the Nav when you drive the GX-470 above a certain speed (probably 10~15 mph). This means that you have to stop the vehicle when you want to input a new destination.

Camden

Thanks for the info. We agreed on the GX470. The dealer had to locate one from someplace else as they didn't have our color preference in their stock.