New car

[Larry$]

The '21 Outback had 140K miles on it.
I recommended wife look at Honda or Toyota. Dealer stocks of small SUVs are really low!
Honda dealer had a CRV that had been customer ordered but no down payment and the customer hadn't returned calls so it was put into inventory.
I didn't want a hybrid. Dealer had lots of those. Dealer didn't want the Outback.
Wife went for a CR-V gasoline powered one. Strange, they only offer them with a 1.5 liter turbocharged engine. I'd rather not have the turbo.
The Honda has a roomier interior, better seating, and a major improvement over the Outback - the radio & heating-AC controls are knobs, not touch screen. The Honda is much quieter and rides better. Gave the Outback to daughter who's Prius had failed due to (very expensive) electrical problems.

 

[mmcmdl]

I bought 2 CRVs in one month for myself and wife . Both non-turbos . Had no issues with either other than we lost both of them . One got traded in when I bought the 4 Runner . One went to my daughter . The daughters just came home from an oil change . I usually do all changes here but didnt feel like taking all the plastic crap off this time . I have 0W-20 oil and filter here if you need it ! Gas mileage isn't that bad but back seat sitting over a long haul isn't the best . All wheel drive is nice but still can get funky in snow . I would buy one again if not for the turbo on them now . I had a turbo go up on a Mazda CX5 , expensive fix .

 

[brino]

Similar feelings here....

My son recently bought a used 2018 Honda CRV. His first vehicle!
I went with him on test drive and found I liked it more than the wife's current 2015 Subaru Forester, good layout, roomier, quieter.

The one downside I see is how often they are stolen, likely because they are easy to steal.
Damn key-less anything ............ chucks and vehicles!
The CRV is always near the top of the "top 10 most stolen" list.

Brian

 

[mmcmdl]

The CRV is always near the top of the "top 10 most stolen" list.

Brian . While up in Canada this year I found out the highest % of car stolen was the Dodge Hellcat ! It has a 21% chance of being stolen . I know the CRV was also on that list . I can afford a CRV but only a third of a Hellcat . I really can't say anything bad about the CRVs other than the bottom plastic cowling which I'm sure all cars have these days . My beater is a 2008 Honda Civic 2 door I bought new for the son when he went away to college . I friggin love it , like driving a go cart . Cant beat the MPG , handles great , light so brakes and tires don't wear over time . Not very good for tool storage but the Suburbans and truck are for that . The bill for the oil change and tire rotation today was $90 . My oil and filter alone were $30 .

 

[dkemppai]

We just bought a '25 outback. I wouldn't qualify it as a perfect car, but it's AWD (for our snow), gets 31mpg daily driving, and NO Turbo. It was the least of all the evils... We don't have any other dealers near by, and even the outback was 1-1/2 hour drive to the dealer. I do hate the huge touch screen crap in these modern cars. If you can hold off a year, apparently the heater controls are going back to buttons.

It drives nice, but the freeking "Big Brother Is Watching" electronics is really irritating. We have crappy roads, and you have to spend a lot of time on the yellow or white lines to avoid potholes big enough to blow your tires. Every single time you do that, you get yellow flashing dots on the windshield and annoying beeps no way to turn that off. Stupid a$$#D morons pushing this 'safety' stuff that makes me want to test the airbags out against a brick wall.

I don't think anyone makes a good vehicle anymore. Even my '22 F-150 with the 5.0 V-8 is idling rough (16K miles), and is starting to shift hard. It's under warranty, so will go in to get checked out soon. The '08 F-150 didn't have any work done in 14 years. My sister is driving it now. But at least I can turn off and leave off the lane monitoring stuff on the truck...

 

[Larry$]

The one downside I see is how often they are stolen, likely because they are easy to steal.
Damn key-less anything ............ chucks and vehicles!

Yes, I've seen how to hack the keyless locks. Very easy. The Honda lets you remotely start the car and engage the AC so it's pre-cooled when you get in! Is that really necessary? Way too many electronic gizmos. I suspect all the newer cars have lane & distance keeping along with automatic braking. Full self driving is coming. Will probably be better than some of the drivers I see.