So a few years ago, my mom gave me her 2005 RX330. It's always been garage kept and still looks new. It's got 95k miles on it and until now has never had a problem. I recently noticed the steering wheel was making a funny noise and turns out I've got a power steering leak...it needs a new rack and pinion, a $1,000 fix.
I told my parents about it and my dad made me an unexpected offer. My parents are retiring and going from 4 vehicles to 2. He said if I didn't want to shell out the money for the repair, he would trade his car for mine: a 2013 Toyota Avalon, and he would sell my RX. So the Avalon is 8 years newer than the RX. However, it has 83k miles already from weekly out-of-state business commutes. But aside from the high mileage, it's in great shape and never had any problems. I'm really torn. Both are very sharp looking cars, both black on black. I've always loved my Lexus and at first couldn't imagine parting with it. But last weekend I drove the Avalon quite a bit and have to admit it definitely is more fun to drive. It also obviously has updated technology. But it's not quite as comfortable as the RX. Does the added status of the Lexus being a luxury car compared to the Toyota kind of become moot given it's 10 years old? The fact they're both roughly the same mileage is what's really throwing me for a loop. I'm trying to figure out 7-10 years from now which car would have been the smartest choice. And i'm really stumped. I would appreciate any advice. Which car would you choose and why?
