How the heck do you justify "the Lexus just sucks?"
Anyway, I kinda skimmed through the entire thread, looks like NFS4 has been answering everyone.
My family was just recently in a similar situation. Both my QX4 and my uncles are going back to the dealership in late January (leased), so we started looking for a replacement. My father wanted my uncle and I to get the same vehicle again, so I started looking during my winter break. At first my uncle wanted a car, than an SUV, and ultimately since one of his associates had an X5, he told me he wanted to get an X5. Not judging him or anything, but it looked as though he wanted the X5 just for the looks and the name. Looks great I must say, but I can't justify paying that much for the brand name and looks. And considering how so many owners have had trouble with the reliability, I was hesitant to pay that much for a vehicle that would be in the shop for half the time. So I looked around, and ultimately decided to bring up the MDX.
I've always been a fan of Acura, and the MDX was a decent SUV, heck it placed pretty high in many reviews and comparisons. I had a hard time convincing my uncle to spring for the MDX because he hated the looks, but you just can't pass up a deal like that. So after convincing him, I started calling up some dealerships and to my dismay there was still a six month wait for the damn thing! I knew this was happening after it was released, but I figured Acura had at least ramped up production by now. Anyway, we then went back and took a look at the X5, called up some dealerships and it was around a 2 month wait.
As of now, my uncle is calling up some previous dealerships he has dealt with. So far, he found one in stock, a white one with the nav and sport package. Until he finds another unit, I can't say we'll be going with the MDX, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
So why did we choose and MDX, and not the RX300, the ML, X5 or any others I can't seem to think of now? My friend has an RX300, I hate the looks, I hate the interior, and my uncle agreed. It has been very reliable though, and performs like a beast compared to the ML and QX4. Moving on to the ML, my brother drives an ML, and the early production problems had us worried. We figured, one ML in the household was good enough. But the Mercedes dealership experience has been pretty amazing, even though we did get a crappy Camry or Corolla as a loaner for all those times we had to take it in for service. The X5 was just way too small and expensive for what you got, especially with what seems to be a high amount of initial production problems.
Face it, the MDX is a bargain! Take a look, if you can wait long for it.