Finally saw them all in person. I saw Volvo XC60 few weeks ago in their special preview event.

XC60: Didn't expect anything from Volvo, but this is very nice looking SUV. My wife who never liked Volvo before really impressed too. Very clean lines outside and excellent design execution inside. The two-tone leather looks gorgeous and made with one of the best material combo I've seen. Lots of other design details too. If this car drives as well as it looks, I'm sold.

RX350: Better than current model on the outside. Not too crazy about their new interior though, but at least it looks better than photos. Very roomy inside, especially in the back. New 19" wheels are nice. Deal-breaker: Lexus doesn't offer HID headlight in my region (San Jose, CA), not even as a option. WTF? A mid $40k luxury SUV that doesn't offer HID?!

Q5: Not impressed. Q5 looks much small in person and looks kind of chubby too. Almost reminded me of VW Tiguan. Typical Audi interior and material, which means it's high quality but at the same, too predictable. Bottom line is that this car doesn't look like a mid to high $40k SUV, more like a mid $30k to me.

All are just my opinion of course. Right now I'm leaning toward to XC60....never imagined that I would buy a Volvo.

I haven't seen the XC60 in person yet, but did see the GLK last week in Fargo and liked that look. I don't like pictures of the new Lexus.

I need a diesel, so right now none are in my scope, if I decide to go that way.

I "kind of" drove XC60 in the dealer parking lot to check out their "City Safety" feature, which the car automatically stops in full by itself if it's about to hit something in front. Pretty cool stuff and it's a standard equipment. I know most of you'll never need it...but hey who know? Anyway, in a very short drive, XC60 feels REALLY solid and I can't wait to do full test driving soon when my ordered car gets here in March.

I only drove RX350 AWD in full test driving. Very nice ride as expected from Lexus. Also pleasantly surprised how well it handles, especially with the optional 19" wheel pkg which is a bargain at $640. If I have to choose a car to drive across USA, RX is my choice at any day. And it still gets 24 mpg in Hwy for AWD version? Wow.

But as I said, this "non-HID" decision by Lexus is a real deal-breaker for me. I just saw their new TV commercial last night of new RX350 that was showing off their new adaptive HID headlights....but I can't even get it here (in this Silicon Valley)?! I told the Lexus sales staff that they really should talk to their HQ to fire whoever made that stupid decision.

The two Q5s just arrived and not yet available for test drive when I got there. But to be honest, I was so disappointed with the Q5 and didn't really want to drive one even if I could. I don't know... maybe I was expecting too much from Q5. I'll check it out again next time. Maybe the full test drive will change my mind. And that S-line 20" wheel look SO STUPID in person. Why can't Audi just offer us the same S-line wheels from Europe? I'm sick of we Americans getting the "special" treatment.

I had two Audis before and Q5 had been top of choice for my wife's next car...until I saw XC60 in person. I'm not trying to put down Q5 and I know well this is a wrong site to do so. But for those who are seriously considering Q5, you should REALLY check out XC60. Gee..I almost sound like a Volvo sales guy. But believe me, XC60 is one of those cars that look WAY BETTER in person.

I think they are pretty same. Both Q5 and XC60 have very similar dimensions on the outside and inside. But XC60 being ~2 inch taller, I liked the driving position and overall comfort in XC60 better than Q5. XC60's two-tone seats are truly amazing in both look and comfort. Audi also has pretty cool two-tone seats in other models, but they don't offer it on Q5...why, I don't know.

XC60 also offers FREE full 3 years maintenance program while Q5 doesn't. This is easy few hundreds $$ saving in overall.

XC60 has lowest gas mileage among the 3 cars. According Volvo, this is because XC60 has more mass due to using may redundant safety structure and XC60 has full-time AWD. For example, even AWD RX350 is basically a front-drive car that only send power to rear wheel temporary under certain slippery condition, which explains its good gas mileage. To me, having 1 or 2 less numbers in MPG is not a big deal.

According to lexus.com at least it's an option on the AWD in CA:

Navigation Package with Additional Options:

Additional Options:
- Premium Package
- Bi-Xenon High-Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps with Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS) and intelligent highbeam headlamps
...