Been thinking about a new car

[Janderso]

My wants a Subaru Outback with all the goodies. Talk about sticker shock.
I said, well, we could sell the trailer. You could have heard a pin drop. Then she exploded.
When things settled down she says, you could always sell some of your shop stuff…..you could have heard a pin drop

Seriously, she has a 2015 Lincoln MKC. It gets lousy fuel economy and it’s too small with our growing grandkids.
I think we’re gonna go with a Toyota Rav 4 or a Honda CRV.
I’m a Ford guy but hey, there are lots of choices these days.

 

[matthewsx]

Subaru's are safe and hold their value. Look into one that's a year old if you don't want to pay full boat.

Get her what she wants, your health is worth it

John

BTW, My wife got a 2014 Forester back in 2016. We're also a Ford family with both my training since HS auto shop and her dad being a career Ford engineer. I keep looking for the right Ford to bring into our stable, the daughter loves the new Mach-E but we're probably keeping our current cars for a few years yet. The Subaru will probably live forever, sold my mom's '94 Outback a few years ago and the new owner was super happy to get it.

 

[Reddinr]

One data point on Subarus. We just went through 3 years of pain with our Subaru Ascent, 2019. A number of issues including dead, undersized battery $1??, coil springs they forgot to debur and which cut through the rubber grommets $800, replaced CVT transmission under recall (finally after lots of trips to the shop), rear gate that would open on its own (which killed the battery). Strange software choices Eg. If you open the rear hatch, the battery gets 4.6 Amps pulled continuously for several hours. Always carried jumper cables camping.

Maybe they have their game back together now but our experience was not good. Now that it is "fixed" it is running fine. Always liked the car when it worked well.

 

[GeneT45]

I've been a Toyota guy for a long time and still recommend the brand in general. That said, I'm not sure the RAV4 (which is my current daily driver) is the right ticket if you want more seating room than the Lincoln. Also, the RAV4 has a pretty cheap interior (maybe better on newer models, mine is 2016). The Subaru might be a better bet - probably no more than a Highlander, but yeah, everything is stupid expensive right now...

GsT

 

[Pevehouse]

I've been a Toyota guy for a long time and still recommend the brand in general. That said, I'm not sure the RAV4 (which is my current daily driver) is the right ticket if you want more seating room than the Lincoln. Also, the RAV4 has a pretty cheap interior (maybe better on newer models, mine is 2016). The Subaru might be a better bet - probably no more than a Highlander, but yeah, everything is stupid expensive right now...

GsT

Thank you,lol. Toyota is the way to go. I’m actually an Automotive technician so I see these cars on a daily basis. Nothing bad to say about Subaru but they are not in the class with a Toyota. Toyotas last forever

 

[B2]

As long as you have started this thread, let me ask ....

I have a 2008 F150 which I purchased in 2011. It has an 8 foot bed and has two doors plus the little ~10-12" rear doors for putting a few things behind the drivers and passenger seats. The second doors only opens after the main door is opened. Not enough room for a person so it does not qualify as an extended cab, but I can put a lot of my hand tools in there and they are out of sight. this area probably only adds about 6" to the overall length of the truck. It has only ~45K miles on it, but starting to get some rust, mostly from sitting around and from the previous owner. I like this truck style and I would actually like to buy a new similar truck. I want an 8 foot bed without one of those big fancy extended cabs. However, I cannot find any model from any brand that looks like my truck. They seem to have quit making them long ago as they could make more money on the fancy "sort of a truck". What good is a 4 or 5 foot bed anyway. -- I know you can get an 8 foot bed with an extended cab but the vehicle is so long you can hardly park it anywhere. There are also bottom end 8 foot bed work trucks without this extra storage space.

Does any body know of a brand/model that looks sort of like my 2008? It looks like this...

 

[wachuko]

I got my daughter, and my son, RAV4 SE AWD… only thing I added was factory tow hitch and wiring.



It is just for our peace of mind… Great on mileage, reliable… and they come with all safety features.

I told them that if they ever want to change them, they can park them in front of my house and buy whatever they want with their money…pretty sure they have a good car for the next 6-8 years…

 

[mmcmdl]

Jeff , a couple years back I bought 2 Honda CRV's . Both of my sons have Toyota 4 runners . When he moved to Canada they wanted $7500 to import the 4 runner . I bought the 4 runner and gave him my Ford Escape which cost nothing to import being it was older . I sold one of the CRX's to Carmax and the wife now drives the 4 runner . I still have my 08 2 door Civic that still runs like a top and of course the F250 deisel . When I'm ready , my next vehicle will be a dark blue Forrester . I see nothing but Subarus up north in New York as well as Canada . I started out looking with the Outback but the Forrester would better suit my needs . As far as the CRVs , they're turbo charged now which I'm not a fan of . They also ride rough and loud , but we have never had any issues with them . My 2 Toyota Tacomas were great also , no complaints .

 

[Aaron_W]

I have a 2014 Subaru Forester. I really like the car, and the performance in the rain and snow is not hype, I've driven a lot of 4x4 vehicles and Subaru does have some sort of special sauce in their AWD system. It is easily the most confident sure footed in bad weather vehicle I've driven, and very solid on dry pavement.

I was on a road trip this past fall, and must have hit a piece of angle iron or something. Whatever it was took a big chunk out of a rear tire, instant flat. Terrible noise, but it took me a minute to figure out it was coming from my car which remained rock solid, no vibration, and continued to track perfectly. If the low air light hadn't come on it might have taken me longer to figure out what the issue was.

That said it is an AWD system for bad weather, they really are not off roaders. Dirt and gravel roads sure, but they are not designed as rugged trail vehicles.

Not all positive though, although Toyota owns a chunk of Subaru they do not have the almost boring reliability of a Toyota. I think part is they are complex cars, with the AWD and boxer engine. They are also targeted towards a buyer who wants a sportier car, so they have a lot more geegaws as standard equipment.
Another part is Subaru is really a pretty small company with a small lineup, so when they fumble something in the design (like the head gasket issue late 90s to early 2010s) it tends to impact most of their cars making the issue seem worse than if it were one of the major companies and just one or two of their models were impacted.

There is a youtube mechanic Mr Subaru who does a lot of videos on Subarus (duh ). He says the biggest problem with Subaru is Subaru owners. He says the cars are well built, but they admittedly require more attention than some brands. A lot of Subaru owners are young so skimp on maintenance and are prone to cutting corners when they make modifications. Then they get online to bash the cars, which gives the impression they are less reliable than they are.

I'm kind of mixed on the thought of my next car. I have been very happy with our Forester. I have taken it in for all of its scheduled maintenance on time, but it has required more repairs than I'm used to having mostly owned Toyotas. By no means an unreliable car, and probably better than most, but Toyotas just go, and go and go with little more than fuel and oil changes.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

I have a 2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that I bought new which I like and My wife had a 2009 Dodge Charger which we bought new and she totaled it a few months ago. She wanted a Jeep, pretty much the same as mine and I found it, a 2018 JK Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 64K miles in nice shape..... paid 29000 drive out.... car prices, New and Used, are stupid now.