Picking an SUV

[n8emr]

The little rav4 gets 20/25 mpg The larger Chevy Tahoe gets 15/20. Heck a suburban is 15/19.

At $4/gal and 13k miles/year Thats $2080 to $2600 in fuel cost for the rav , and $2600 to $3500 for the tahoe in fuel cost. So to squeeze into a little car your talking $520 to $900 savings/year or $43 to $75/month.

 

[SAR923]

With the seats up, I have a space 29" long by 48" wide (38" at the wheelwells), more than enough for 5 or 6 big pieces of luggage or a weeks worth of groceries. I've never run out of space on a trip with the wife and two teenage daughters and they can load up a car pretty good. I think you'll be surprised when you see how much space it has. It's also got rack and pinion steering and handles way better than any SUV I've owned.

What about with the back seats up? since I won't need to move only passengers or only cargo but both, the most we can get in the Rav 4 is like 2 large suitcases and 2 backpacks plus 4 adults.

I'll probably check one anyways.

 

[Zaratsu]

Dont let the low sales #s for the Isuzu sway you. They are the same thing as a Chevy except for the badge and options (protip: Isuzu actually designed the thing for GM, not the other way around )

Isuzu has been moving to light-industrial truck sales rather than consumer vehicles for the past 15 years now in the US. In many parts of the world, Isuzu is a dominant consumer truck player. Any Chevy dealer can fix them and have parts.



my suggestion: Go get a toyota. 4Runners are wonderful. And if you are looking at the girly patriot, then why not consider a Rav4? Maybe even a Honda Pilot at that point?

I think the Patriot is more in the CR-V / Rav4 class rather than a real "SUV" right?

 

[Zaratsu]

The little rav4 gets 20/25 mpg The larger Chevy Tahoe gets 15/20. Heck a suburban is 15/19.

At $4/gal and 13k miles/year Thats $2080 to $2600 in fuel cost for the rav , and $2600 to $3500 for the tahoe in fuel cost. So to squeeze into a little car your talking $520 to $900 savings/year or $43 to $75/month.

hah, dont forget that you can get that little Rav4 with a 268hp V6. They haul ass with that thing. A cute-ute running mid-14s?

 

[N467RX]

I've never run out of space on a trip with the wife and two teenage daughters and they can load up a car pretty good. I think you'll be surprised when you see how much space it has.

Ok, now I'm surprised, if they can't fill the trunk, then it's huge.

 

[Zaratsu]

My Camaro (96 with a 3.8L V6) gets 35 miles per gallon on the interstate with very minimal modifications. when I start putting serious mods on there I'll be pushing 40 or maybe more. even 35mpg is better than most import 4 bangers actually get in reality and parts are much easier and cheaper to find plus the way GM lays their engines out it's much easier by a long shot to do work on. and I don't have to work on it much either. very very reliable motor that's very efficient and very powerful for a V6 (i've outrun V8 mustangs and even the Z28s get close to 30mpg). so don't lump all "American" vehicles into the same catagory and for your information I've seen plenty of imports that don't get great gas mileage, very hard to work on, and not as reliable. Parts are also more expensive. That's my two cents. yeah my camaro is going to be tricky for my install but it's worth it for the ease to work on and the efficiency and ease to get parts.

hhahahaha. I am one of the biggest critics of GM out there, but I gotta hand it to them. the C5 vettes were getting 28-30mpg highway, the huge buick park aves could do 32mpg hwy with the 3800 v6, and your right, that motor in a 5spd camaro is really a low-tech prius. Its shaped like a bullet, is less than 4ft high, and has T A L L gearing and revs LOW like a barritone. These efficiancies were all totally by accident too! When these cars were new, gas was closer to $1/gal than it was to $2/gal. If I had to drive a ton of miles every day, and I was paying the gas bill, then I would probably pick up a 5 year old buick with a 3.8.

 

[N467RX]

Dont let the low sales #s for the Isuzu sway you. They are the same thing as a Chevy except for the badge and options (protip: Isuzu actually designed the thing for GM, not the other way around )

Isuzu has been moving to light-industrial truck sales rather than consumer vehicles for the past 15 years now in the US. In many parts of the world, Isuzu is a dominant consumer truck player. Any Chevy dealer can fix them and have parts.

my suggestion: Go get a toyota. 4Runners are wonderful. And if you are looking at the girly patriot, then why not consider a Rav4? Maybe even a Honda Pilot at that point?

I think the Patriot is more in the CR-V / Rav4 class rather than a real "SUV" right?

I know that the Canyon/Colorado was engineered mostly by Isuzu, but I didn't know about the Trailblazer. I've read pretty good comments about the Ascender, specially that it's price is somewhat lower than the TB/Envoy (and now it's even lower because they want to get rid of their stocks).

I love 4Runners, but I can't get a new one for less than like $30k (with 4WD), and my dad (who is the one paying for it) doesn't want me to get a used one. Same thing with the Pilot (besides, I don't like the way the new Pilot looks).

At this point I'm also considering the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Kia Sorento and the Pontiac Torrent/ Chevy Equinox, since I can get them in 4WD for less than $25k.

 

[Zaratsu]

I know that the Canyon/Colorado was engineered mostly by Isuzu, but I didn't know about the Trailblazer. I've read pretty good comments about the Ascender, specially that it's price is somewhat lower than the TB/Envoy (and now it's even lower because they want to get rid of their stocks).

I love 4Runners, but I can't get a new one for less than like $30k (with 4WD), and my dad (who is the one paying for it) doesn't want me to get a used one. Same thing with the Pilot (besides, I don't like the way the new Pilot looks).

At this point I'm also considering the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Kia Sorento and the Pontiac Torrent/ Chevy Equinox, since I can get them in 4WD for less than $25k.

I've known maybe 6 people who are or were long-term owners of the Santa Fe and they have nothing but great things to say about them. Another outside shot, but how about a Subie Forrester? They are bigger than you think!

What about Certified pre-owned? i'd take a CPO 4 runner over almost anything NEW in that class.

 

[N467RX]

I might check the new Forester, I'm not a huge fan of the older one (looks like a wagon), how good is Subaru?

The Santa Fe seems to be the one on the top now, since the dealer doesn't have a new 4WD Ascender, and apparently there aren't that many Patriots available.

About CPO's, my dad still doesn't like the idea of something that is not fresh from factory in the US, since he thinks that a lot of people just beat their cars up and then sell them cheap "Saving 4-5k isn't worth if the car will give a lot of trouble later", that's exactly what he said, "They might not give a full warranty on that, and if they say that something is not guaranteed is bad". I'm not even challenging him on that, I have learned after almost 18 years.

 

[Rochound2003]

Subarus are some of the best made cars out there. My parents have a 2001 Forester (the first style) and with 120K miles of driving around western NY (including jeep trails and creek beds) it still drives better and tighter than many new cars. It is unstoppable in the snow and is still rust free(hard to find a 7 year old white vehicle in wny that doesn't show rust). My mom wants a new one but can't justify the cost with how well the old one runs.

 

[GBFD10]

I just bought a 2008 TrailBlazer and absolutly love it... Had it just over a month - no problems at all - decent gas mileage as far as midsized SUV's go... The only issue I've had is finding a place for raidos/scanners/etc...

 

[N467RX]

I've scratched the TB/Ascender from the list, since the dealer told me that the only new ones that they have (Ascender) are 2WD, and the new TB's are priced higher than the budget.

 

[N467RX]

What about the CR-V? I'm also considering it now, since it doesn't seem to be as overpriced as it is down here, plus, it has a nicely designed interior.