nalpak

Hi All - I'm currently looking to step up from a 2010 RXh to a 2014 GX. I'm hoping to get the luxury package but before I shell out the extra dough required for that, I was hoping some of you could chime in on if it's worth searching for and spending more on the luxury version. I'm in the mountains of western NC several times a year but don't do any real off-roading, though a lot of the roads I travel on are dirt or gravel. I mainly want the Mark Levinson sound system, LED fog lights, power 3rd row seat, and semi-aniline leather upgrades which you can only get on the Luxury version. I'd really like to stay under $40k and finding a luxury in that range is proving tough. I did come across a dealer a few hundred miles away from me with a white on ecru luxury, only 40k miles, asking $45k, and have them down to $43k most recently. I could also stay more local and get a base version with closer to 50k miles for $38k. All help and opinions are appreciated!

GoHuskers

LED fogs is included with the Premium grade but since you WANT ML you have to get the Lux grade.

So, 10k miles Less and Lux grade (assuming same year)..for $7000.. that is a TOUGH pill to swallow.

The leather and power 3rd row don't make that big of a deal. Premium leather is real leather and it is as good (I have a '15 Premium and my sister has '16 Luxury so I know the different)

ML vs Premium upgrade audio - big different. ML all the way unless all you listen to is AM/FM/Sat radios

Rear Airbag vs. CoilOver - Airbag is nice but costly to repair (average life expectancy is about 80-100k miles)

baboya96

do you plan to keep you vehicle for a long time? If not, can you recoup most of your $7k premium when you sell it later? I doubt it. Luxury model certainly has more desirable options but I personally couldn't justify its ADD over Premium model.

Oldmanb777

I don't think the ML sound system is very good. To my ears, it sounds great at low volumes, but turn it up and quickly it becomes distorted. Again to my ears, it isn't as good as the old Infinity system in our 20 yr old other car. If the GX wasn't so quiet inside, it would be pretty poor. And We tend to converse while driving,, so we don't turn up the volume much, but still find it lacking. So I would not want to pay for that sound system again.

Acrad

Do you notice a difference on different audio inputs? Does an old school CD sound better?

IIRC...it even supports that obscure DVD-A...

I guess that would be the ultimate test.

I'm fairly content with it...but I usually utilize streaming from Pandora.