Been thinking about a new car

[extropic]

I haven't even looked at buying a car/truck in many years (read ignorant) . I've enjoyed reading all of this thread. Very informative.

 

[Inferno]

Around these parts, if you're driving a Subaru, you're sending a message.

I have 4 cars. My newest one is 23 years old. My 2 oldest ones are both over 50. The other one turns 30 right about now. It's birthday was the first week of March, if I remember right.

 

[David2011]

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...


View attachment 480439

That actually is the extended cab model. I have a 2000 F-150 4x4 with the extended cab and useful 6-1/2 foot narrow bed. Agree 100% about the 4 door trucks and 4'-5' beds. They're trucks in name only.

 

[David2011]

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.

We bought our third RAV4 in 2022. It's a hybrid but does not have to be charged with external electricity. My wife had a '97 RAV4 when we met and she got a new one in 2007. We put about 150,000 trouble free miles on it. The power, fuel economy and comfort of the 2022 are great. The climate control and sound system are excellent as well. We haven't tested it in bad conditions living in the sub-tropics but the car is AWD. My daily driver is a 2005 Honda Accord Coupe with the 3.0 liter V-6 (factory hot rod). The RAV4 isn't quite as strong running as the Accord but it's impressive for a 2.0 liter engine. The turbocharger and electric motor both play a part in the overall power, of course. Since we bought it the gas mileage has averaged right at 43 mpg, mostly in town and freeway driving and on road trips it's gone up a few mpg. The one thing I do not like about the RAV4 is the lane departure assist. We drive one freeway that is under construction for miles and has had lots of lane configuration changes. The lane departure assist can't tell the real lane from old lines in the roadway. Fortunately, there's a button on the steering wheel to turn it off in those conditions. The car feels very solid, handles well for an SUV and it's pretty quiet. On good roads it's very quiet. Yesterday I got caught in a traffic snarl on a 4-5 lane bridge over the Houston Ship Channel that was necked down to one lane. For most of the 40 minute delay it stayed on batteries with the engine only coming on once to recharge. I would not want to own a pure electric vehicle.

 

[Steve-F]

Another Toyota fan..1985 Land Cruiser FJ60 ,1985 SR5 4x4 long bed truck, 1997 4 Runner 4x4 and a 2004 Rav 4, have had the first 2 for over 20 years and probably will the other 2

 

[Downunder Bob]

About 14 years ago we bought 2 new rav 4, for wife and I. We sold one in 2018 to get a full size 4x4 Isuzu MUX wagon, great car for towing the caravan. Back to the Rav4's, great car, comfortable, good fuel economy, easy to drive, the Allwheel drive is excelent in sand and light mud, but of course is not a true 4x4. The second Rav which we still have has done well over 100,000Km. Regular servicing, fuel and tyers have been the only expense.

 

[projectnut]

Since you're a Ford guy I'm surprised you're not looking at some of their products. If room and comfort are big on your list, I would suggest a Ford Expedition or a Lincoln Navigator. The standard sizes have just enough room and towing capacity for the wife and I, but if you need more room you can go to the MAX editions.

They have all the bells and whistles you could ask for. They ride great for a "truck" and get decent mileage for their size. If you like the go faster mobile, you can always get the 440 hp engine in the Expedition or Navigator. We're on our 3rd Expedition. We started with a 1999 to replace a 1995 Bronco. Then we went to a 2010 model, and currently have a 2020 model. We have a little over 50,000 miles on the latest one. It has 4wd and the trailer towing package. Both come in handy considering where we live and what we do. We regularly tow a trailer capable with an 8,000 capacity and have a place a little farther north that is on what I believe to be the last road plowed in the state. We go there every other weekend regardless of the weather.

My wife has a 2018 Lincoln MKZ. She likes the car and was considering another one. Unfortunately, the only non- SUV Ford makes today is the Mustang. Hopefully they'll start making some sedans again in the near future. As for Subaru's they're not on our list. Several of our friends have had them over the years, and as mentioned earlier they weren't reliable. The biggest problems were cranking, but not starting in cold weather, and dead batteries.

 

[Boswell]

First Toyota was a late '60s Corolla bought used with 130,000 miles in '79. Figured it was good for a few months. We finally traded it in on a small Toyota truck years later with 290K miles and very little maintenance. Been 100% Toyota since. I grew up Ford and at one point my parents bought a Ford Granada. The contrast between the two extremes was quite noteworthy.

 

[RickB]

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.

Our 2019 Ascent lease had some of those issues but were quickly addressed.
Our current 2022 Ascent lease has been great. It's the only Subaru with a 5000# hitch rating.

My wife is 6ft & has problems getting in/out of cars. The Subarus are the only vehicle we found that were comfortable getting in and out. The doors seem a bit wider or placed in a better position relative to the seats. Seat height relative to the door position also makes the difference. The 2018 Honda Pilot we bought only lasted 7 months due to the door issue making it more difficult/painful to get in/out.

The Subaru EyeSight can be annoying. Flock of birds flying up off the side of the road @ 60 mph can cause the EyeSight collision software to engage. Cruise control will not work if EyeSight is out of service. Dirt, bugs, windshield crack in front of the camera(s) can cause annoying behavior. It's tendency is to keep the car a bit left of lane center instead of a bit right of lane center or not work at all if the lane strips have disappeared.

 

[mmcmdl]

Guess I can't interest anyone for a 93 2D 4WD K1500 Blazer or a 94 Suburban here ? More of my yard art . For outright comfort , the Suburban was great . We slept in it for years up at the property before I hauled the camper up . The only issue we ever had with it was ............................everything . The K5 Blazer made a couple trips cross country when newer and Myrtle Beach yearly until my son clipped a deer . It actually still runs and is my next project .