That's weird - I had caps in the subject heading but when I posted somehow the BMW changed to bmw. Odd. And when I previewed this post the same thing happened. What's the trick?

And I should have been more clear - we can't purchase our current LX 470 - but we will probably purchase which ever car we replace it with - in 3 years when the lease is up.

Thanks again

If you're going to purchase and drive out of warranty be advised Beemers are typically outrageously expensive to repair, things like replacing a battery has been known to cost $1000. in some of their sedans.
Lexus/Toyota is synonymous with quality and being able to drive them forever with no serious repairs usually. I wouldn't be swayed by promises of better performance or what have you then again reliability and quality is of more importance to me.

Thanks for your comment. I hadn't considered out of warranty repairs. The company I work for provides us with a new car every three years so I haven't had to deal with any out of pocket repairs for 9 years. And we have only leased Toyota/Lexus vehicles - a 4 Runner, a Sequoia and this Lexus.

Your comment reminds me of my Chevy Suburban days in the 1980's when it seemed like all I ever did was pay money to the Chevy dealership. But I'll be retiring in 2 years and providing my new car isn't a lemon we will either assume the lease payments or opt for an outright purchase at that time of whatever car I get next month.

Thanks again for the opinion.

things like replacing a battery has been known to cost $1000. in some of their sedans.

Cite? I won't argue that fixing a BMW can be expensive. But a grand to replace a battery? That strains the imagination. I'd be really interested to see a link that has the whole story on that one. If there is a reference.