Best used car for first time driver? Lexus RX vs Lexus LS

Lexus is certainly reliable so good choice there. The LS will be hard to park as it is so long but the RX May have hard suspensions making your long ride quality worse. It is hard to comment especially since I have never Owned one myself (my uncle has one though).

I've been driving an RX for the last five years now. Good noise cancellation, decent mileage (I would personally avoid Hybrids, because if your battery needs to be replaced, that can become costly if you're in it for the long term), good design and nice height you would not otherwise get in an LS. Supposedly, the newer RX also has even better turn radius than the older versions, which I drove.

I cannot speak to the LS, since I personally have never driven one, but I am a huge fan of Lexus vehicles. Super reliable overall, great quality, and aesthetic design.

I think in terms of first-time drivers, it would depend what you have been comfortable driving so far. My parents taught me driving in the RX, so I have had my share of experience in larger SUV/crossovers. Either way, I think you'll get used to it one way or another. However, if you like occasionally transporting or taking items out for travel, perhaps the RX would be more suitable. I also like being in a slightly raised vehicle when driving on the road -- get a feeling of safety and not being the smallest on the road.

Model 3

I had a Lexus RX for a few years and liked it a lot. It rides smooth and doesn’t feel big and bulky like some other SUVs, so I never felt like I was going to accidentally bump into things and never had trouble parking it.

The LS is super nice but honestly I’ve always viewed it as an old person’s car... If you really want a full size luxury sedan I think the Tesla Model S is hands down the best choice. If an electric car isn’t your thing then look at the Audi A8 or BMW 7 Series. They’re all roughly the same size as the LS but a little more, shall we say, generationally appropriate.

I've always thought the RX looks like a women's car, but I Googled the new one and it looks pretty sweet. I'd go with a sedan personally -- ES for a nice ride, GS for something sporty, and LS for luxury. Keep in mind these are likely longer than the RX (may be slightly tougher to park) and sit lower to the ground, but should have better acceleration and be more fun to drive.

Can't go wrong with any of them tbh.

Hello, thank you all for the responses. I forgot to say that I am a first time driver with really minimal experience as well. Additionally, I would not be buying the new versions but I am looking to buy something that is 3-4 years old with under 50,000 miles on it.

It is your first car and you're a new driver. You are inevitably going to scratch it, ding it, wreck it, etc. Suggest buying something quite cheap for your first car. Nothing wrong with a used Honda Civic and then in a few years getting a car you actually like.

Me and all my friends drive, we've all wrecked at least one or two cars, they're honestly a waste of money unless 30-40k is 'pocket cash' for you.

Another thing maybe worth considering is that the RX does pretty well on gas and I believe can run on regular, with the LS you will need 93 octane and I imagine its V8 will do worse on mileage.

My wife has the RX. I have an Infiniti which is a brand that gets slept on. Both are great cars.

I'd reccomend a new Tesla Model 3 or Tesla Model Y because autopilot is really a godsend in traffic. Furthermore, you'll save alot of money because electric is far cheaper than gas and maintenance is minimal.

Mazda cx5

My daughter was in a similar position: got her license much later than most kids, hardly ever drove, and then found herself needing to drive several miles a day into the heart of downtown Houston for her post-graduation job.

She "inherited" a fairly old sedan that's on the borderline between mid-sized and compact. Eventually, I'd like her to get something a bit bigger and newer for improved accident avoidance and--especially--crash protection, but she seems to appreciate the good visibility (important for urban streets) and good maneuverability offered by a smaller vehicle. The latter is particularly important if you'll be negotiating parking garages (which my daughter has to do both at work and in her apartment complex); if you drive something too big for your comfort zone, you'll end up with lots of dings and scratches.

One advantage of the RX over the LS would be the increased ride height; this can be disconcerting if you aren't used to it, but you'll find that Texas roads have a high percentage of SUVs and pickups, and choosing a SUV over a sedan can make it easier for you to get a better view of what's happening on the road around you. Heavy rain can also be a problem in Texas (esp. Houston), so the increased ground clearance of an SUV can also give you a safety edge in minor street flooding.

My advice would be to forget the Lexus for now and instead get a fairly late model compact SUV--something like a Honda CRV, Mazda CX-5, Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, etc. Choose something that you can see well out of, and choose something new and high-end enough that it has useful saftey equipment like automatic emergency braking and blind-spot warning. (The latter is particularly useful in urban driving.) Your new ride is likely to get dinged, so I would not advise starting out with a luxury compact SUV, like an Audi Q5 or a BMW X3, even if you can afford it. In a couple of years, you'll feel much more confident driving, and you'll have a much better idea of what sort of vehicle you want to sink a substantial amount of money into. Good luck!

Might want to look into a Mercedes E-Class too. Similar comfort / ride quality to Lexus and pretty reliable too. Plus it's a little bit smaller than the LS so it's easier to park / maneuver.

EDIT: Since you suggest that I buy a cheaper car, I was thinking that the best car for $10K or so would be a VW Phaeton. Still very luxurious and safe and I suppose reliable. You can truly get them that cheap now that they are c. 12 years old and with 90,000 miles. The original price adjusted for inflation was $110,000. What do you think?

To those suggesting a Honda Civic or similar so that I do not lose too much value as I inevitably scratch it being a first time driver. Unfortunately, I cannot buy something like that as I still need a car of some prestige and status given that I will often drive to places for business. That is why I thought of the Phaeton. I welcome any suggestion for a used, reliable car which is cheap but yet prestigious.

There's a reason old luxury cars are cheap-- they're a gamble. They might work great for another 100k miles or you might get hit with a $5k repair bill tomorrow when you need to replace your timing chain because the guides are made out of jelly beans or something dumb like that (looking at you old M5s). You get the idea. Focus on buying something a few years old that's just coming off lease so the majority of the depreciation has already occurred yet it's still new enough that you are not likely to incur any substantial surprise repair bills.

IMO, if you want something that has "prestige" to it just buy a 3 series. They depreciate quickly and there's 520928609234 of them under the sun (lot of inventory in the used market). The styling doesn't change aggressively so most people can't tell a 2015 from a 2019 and so on. Most independent mechanics are familiar with them (so you can avoid a dealership) and parts are plentiful and cheap. It's prestigious enough where you don't have to explain or justify it to anyone (it's a BMW, few people look past that). I never was a fan of Lexus, Infiniti or Acuras just because i felt like I was basically buying a Toyota, Honda or Nissan that had some wood trim on the dashboard and cost $20k more...never saw the point really.