Looking for a new commuter vehicle that will also serve as a family vehicle. I currently drive a 2004 Nissan Titan but due to a new job with a 30 mile drive in bad rush hour traffic I've decided to look for either a new or used vehicle that will at least be good on gas and still give me the option to carry my family (and dog) in comfort. I have a 3 year old son with another on the way.
Anyhow, I found a used 2006 RX400h at my local Lexus dealer that I like a lot. It has 69K miles, is a FWD, and is loaded with the Mark Levinson audio and Navi. They are asking $25K but got them down to $24K and they are giving me fair trade-in value for my truck ($7K). The RX has a few door dings on the side trim that they touched up. I did notice some minor hail damage on the roof along with a 2 inch scratch (also on roof). They have also touched up a few area in the interior where the dash and door coverings are (leather or maybe just plastic??). Not real obvious, but it's there nonetheless. I did register on the Lexus owners site with the VIN number and it appears as though the service schedule was adhered to well.
Now to the driving bit...Not sure if there is just a learning curve or not, but noticed when test driving it that initially it is a bit sluggish off the line. So I start feeding in throttle and it takes a second and more pressure on the gas pedal before it starts moving, albeit slowly...then suddenly it will start exhilerating normally. Additionally, when braking there is almost an on/off type feel...similiar to a surging feel. Is all of this normal and I'm just not used to driving a hybrid? Also what do you all think of the pricing of this vehicle. It seems to be well below blue book (retail) but again the condition isn't perfect (just good).
I am thinking about buying but want some reassurances that I'm not making a mistake. If I do move forward with a purchase, I will insist on hail damage being repaired along with the scratch on the roof.
Thoughts?
