975 miles: Mirage or LS 460L...

[7milesout]

Hi All,

I have an uncle that's passed, one of the super-greats. Brother-in-Law to my father and those two were best friends. I will be attending his funeral at 485 miles from home. It's a nice couple low-traffic interstates down to near Baton Rouge.

Just wanted to know what you all would do. Roll down there in the Mighty Mirage ... or take my Lexus and suffer a ~$57 premium to do so? That ~$57 premium would almost cover my hotel stay. I can't make up my mind if I'm going to stay at The Hole You're Inn or the Fleabag Inn. In reality, I'll stay in a frugal hotel too, all I will need to do is sleep, I don't need to sleep fancy.

I'm leaning toward the Mirage because I'm frugal. And also, these relatives of mine are, well ... po' white trash. I love'em, but that's just the way they choose to live. And it would almost be like I'm rubbing it in their faces (it = my ability & willingness to actually pay my bills, versus their ability to avoid pay anything in order to not have to get a job ... to each their own) if I came high rollin' up in there in my Lexus, it's that flashy.

Just curious what the crowd here would do...

[Mark]

If it's just myself, I would be taking the Mirage without question. I own a Mirage for trips like that. Plus, you have one of the fancy ones with cruise control. I did 954 miles last Saturday without cruise control. It's times like that where I miss it. Any 2019+ Mirage will have cruise control. I wasn't going to take my Forester because of cruise control, however.

I am off to mow a couple lawns for friends (10-12 miles from my home). I have my rider, push mower, and gas trimmer on my small 4' x 8' trailer. My Forester comes out for those tasks.

I took my friend & her 84 year old mom to a nearby town to pick up her Mom's new car (used one actually). It was about a 40 minute drive one way yesterday. I took my Forester for that trip, because I knew her mom would be more comfortable.

If it's just me traveling somewhere, I'm using the Mirage (unless it's nasty winter weather). Then again, I never owned a fancy Lexus. Thus, I am comparing a Mirage to a Forester. I'm sure the Lexus would be nice to travel with. So I wouldn't fault you for considering it.

My Mirage is nearing 71,000 miles. I look at that as 71,000 miles not racked up on my Forester, because that's the vehicle I really don't want to replace any time soon even though it's already 11 years old.

[7milesout]

Mark - We think a lot alike. The main thing I will miss about not driving the Lexus is the Mark-Levinson sound system. The car rides quiet & smooth and the ML sounds so friggin nice, it'll make you cry. But I'm leaning toward the Mirage for the reasons you mentioned. I got a chuckle out of, "the fancy ones" comment. Mine is the Poverty Edition ($11.4k). But you're right, cruise control is amazing and I wouldn't have bought it without it.

And, I just did an oil & filter change, so it is ready to BLAZE the interstates...

[inuvik]

Hi All,

I have an uncle that's passed, one of the super-greats. Brother-in-Law to my father and those two were best friends. I will be attending his funeral at 485 miles from home. It's a nice couple low-traffic interstates down to near Baton Rouge.

Just wanted to know what you all would do. Roll down there in the Mighty Mirage ... or take my Lexus and suffer a ~$57 premium to do so? That ~$57 premium would almost cover my hotel stay. I can't make up my mind if I'm going to stay at The Hole You're Inn or the Fleabag Inn. In reality, I'll stay in a frugal hotel too, all I will need to do is sleep, I don't need to sleep fancy.

I'm leaning toward the Mirage because I'm frugal. And also, these relatives of mine are, well ... po' white trash. I love'em, but that's just the way they choose to live. And it would almost be like I'm rubbing it in their faces (it = my ability & willingness to actually pay my bills, versus their ability to avoid pay anything in order to not have to get a job ... to each their own) if I came high rollin' up in there in my Lexus, it's that flashy.

Just curious what the crowd here would do...

Mirage for sure. That's more than $50 saved on Dino juice that you could redirect to investing in hookers & booze.

[Mark]

Mirage for sure. That's more than $50 saved on Dino juice that you could redirect to investing in hookers & booze.

That's something Dirk or Fummins would say! Are those two influencing us? Lord help us!!!

[Dodge Aries K]

The main thing I will miss about not driving the Lexus is the Mark-Levinson sound system. The car rides quiet & smooth and the ML sounds so friggin nice, it'll make you cry.

Sometimes great audio on a boring drive makes a huge difference. I miss my Outlander GT mostly for the Rockford Fosgate audio system it had. The Sienna that replaced it has the JBL audio but it's not as good.

[Fummins]

My condolences.

I say you do you. If driving a Lexus is gonna be a financial burden or inconvenience in any way then I guess you're probably taking the puddle jumper. The only enjoyment I get out of driving my car longer distances is the fact that I'm saving some money on fuel over the truck or the wifes Kia trash-can-mobile.
Otherwise, I don't like driving the thing very much, it gets blown around, the stereo sucks, and the armrest is invisible.

I went to my grandmothers funeral last month 4hrs north west of here. I contemplated taking my Mirage up there with my two kids then heading home either the next or same day. Then hoping in the truck and dragging our camper out 4 hrs south west of here. I ended up taking the truck, I didn't have to dink around with hotels(the closest one was an hr away in a crap town anyways) or dealing with my relatives. Nobody cares what I drive anyways, most of them drive financed F150's, Silverado's except for one douchebag cousin drives a 15 year old Bmw Suv trying to look like a baller.... Not sure where I'm going with this.

[7milesout]

Mirage for sure. That's more than $50 saved on Dino juice that you could redirect to investing in hookers & booze.

Holy cow! I hadn't even thought of that. You're right! $50 goes a long way on discount hookers and The Beast!

[7milesout]

except for one douchebag cousin drives a 15 year old Bmw Suv trying to look like a baller.... Not sure where I'm going with this.

Carry on. I like where you're going. I have to believe if I show up in my Lexus I'm going to be the one that will be PERCEIVED as being a douche trying to look like a baller. At least in this crowd. Last time I was there, these people were Jerry Springer show participants to a T. I still love'em though. I'm only a couple of paid bills away from being the same...

[Christopher_B]

I also agree that stereo sound makes a big difference to me on longer trips. Early Thursday morning the wife and I are heading to Syracuse in the Mirage. I imagine around 1,700 miles round trip. I installed the Rockford system and Rockford door speakers at just under 5,000 miles. I think it sounds the way a good factory system should sound. Although on this trip we will most likely be listening to audio books. it seems to be our thing now after we discovered all the free downable books we can get through our local library _ mostly Stephen King books thus far.

If it were me, I would probably also elect to keep the miles off the Lexus but I could see where the factory Mirage system could be a deal breaker. I do remember having trouble hearing it at full volume at 75 mph before the Rockford upgrade.