Every time I test drove a CRV, my legs fell asleep because the seats are too short and don't get close to supporting my legs. I also liked my model Rav with the spare on the back and the extra square footage.
Looking for Compact SUV Advice
- Thread starter Dr Tinear
- Start date
Harvestor
Addicted Member
Why don't you consider the Buick Encore I've had four of them... They are German engineered by the OPEL division of General Motors in Germany..
In much of Europe there are the
OPEL MOKKA or VAUXHALL MOKKA ... Yep they're made in Korea.. but these are awesome vehicles extremely quiet ride with the Quiet Tuned suspension technology quiet glass that the Chevy Trax does not have...
The Buick interior is superior to the Chevy Trax..
While Drafting behind my in-laws fifth wheel going up north over 400 miles one way... We had an actual mileage per gallon reading at fill up of 57 miles per gallon...
On the way back home we did not draft but we stayed at or just below the speed limit by about 5 miles an hour and got 40 miles per gallon..
Our average all the time mileage at home is between 32 and 38 miles per gallon..
These cars are rated at 33 Highway... Two wheel drive Front..
They use the same 1.4 liter motor in the Chevrolet Cruise and Chevrolet Sonic..
In the United States they are now offering a 153 horsepower 1.4 l as compared to 138 horsepower I have both and I like both the little bit extra horsepower is nice on the highway but in my opinion not necessary I can get almost the exact same gas mileage with either motor but on average about 1 mile per gallon less with a hundred and fifty-three horsepower version...
I helped a friend of mine buy a Chevy Trax and it was the premium LTZ version while very nice it wasn't quite as quiet as the Buick but he totaled his and the Testament to the great engineering only had a slight burn on his hand from the airbag here's a picture of it
Five star crash rating..
Anyway I can't say enough good about it..
I also love the GMC Terrain and Chevy Equinox they're considerably bigger and have Motors that get good gas mileage..
Just a suggestion but I had to share I love driving the Buick Encore it is very easy to maneuver and has better ride quality then the GMC Terrain or Chevrolet Equinox even though this is a smaller vehicle..
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you are deep in the rust belt, and the chevy/gmc models you mentioned will be severely compromised in the rear, behind bumper, under cargo, where the tire and any suspension levelling stuff will be. avoid at all costs.
rav previous gen would not be a bad choice - the one pre 2012 where the spare is in the hatch...
rav previous gen would not be a bad choice - the one pre 2012 where the spare is in the hatch...
I wondered about the budget. I bought a 14 LaCrosse and love it. When I sell the Rav, I will get the Enclave or comparable GMC model just to save a few bucks. The Envision is nice but too small.
ickyfrog
Active Member
Maybe reconsider and get a used Honda CRV. Yes they sell for a premium.
I have a 14 year old CRV with 140K miles, will not give it up because it is so reliable.
Rated #1 here: https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/used/compact-suvs-1
I have a 14 year old CRV with 140K miles, will not give it up because it is so reliable.
Rated #1 here: https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/used/compact-suvs-1
My wife has a Dodge Caliber with the same CVT in it that Nissan uses. We read up on it and most say that if you service the CVT at 50K instead of the recommended 60K the failure rate goes down substantially. We had her's serviced by a Dodge dealer at 50K and she's at about 68K now and all still works perfectly. The CVT is a bit annoying in the mountains though as it tends to keep the engine revving a bit high, and its not very conducive to downshifting for saving the brakes while going downhill. For those who live in non-mountainous areas though, I think this would be a very good tranny as it really keeps the motor in the power band has thus far been very reliable - which has not been my overall experience with Chrysler vehicles.
Nope. NHTSA says:
- Acura (Honda)
- Audi (VW)
- BMW
- Cadillac (GM)
- Chevrolet (GM)
- Chrysler
- Daimler Trucks North America (Sterling Bullet)
- Daimler Vans USA LLC (Sprinter)
- Dodge/Ram (Chrysler)
- Ferrari
- Fisker (Karma)
- Ford
- GMC (GM)
- Honda
- Infiniti (Nissan)
- Jaguar
- Jeep (Chrysler)
- Land Rover (Jaguar Land Rover)
- Lexus (Toyota)
- Lincoln (Ford)
- Mazda
- McLaren
- Mercedes-Benz
- Mercury (Ford)
- Mitsubishi
- Nissan
- Pontiac (GM)
- Saab (GM)
- Saturn (GM)
- Scion (Toyota)
- Subaru
- Tesla
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/takata-recall-spotlight
I see Jeep, ford, GM, and Mazda on there. Buy the "shrapnel generator" with their badge on it instead.
I did. That's why he's not taking over my 2014 Ford Fusion. He said that a compact SUV offered the best combination of decent fuel economy, space for two or three people, and room to carry the stuff that he'll need to transport while he's in vet school. (That includes his ball python and its terrarium, his false map turtle and its aquarium, and his cat.) I ran the top choices past him and he said that they all looked good. He'll be coming with me on the dealer visits and doing the test drives; this way I can be sure that he's getting something he likes rather than settling for something that he'll tolerate until he can trade it in.
Nope. NHTSA says:
- Acura (Honda)
- Audi (VW)
- BMW
- Cadillac (GM)
- Chevrolet (GM)
- Chrysler
- Daimler Trucks North America (Sterling Bullet)
- Daimler Vans USA LLC (Sprinter)
- Dodge/Ram (Chrysler)
- Ferrari
- Fisker (Karma)
- Ford
- GMC (GM)
- Honda
- Infiniti (Nissan)
- Jaguar
- Jeep (Chrysler)
- Land Rover (Jaguar Land Rover)
- Lexus (Toyota)
- Lincoln (Ford)
- Mazda
- McLaren
- Mercedes-Benz
- Mercury (Ford)
- Mitsubishi
- Nissan
- Pontiac (GM)
- Saab (GM)
- Saturn (GM)
- Scion (Toyota)
- Subaru
- Tesla
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/takata-recall-spotlight
I see Jeep, ford, GM, and Mazda on there. Buy the "shrapnel generator" with their badge on it instead.
There are other Web sites that provide detail on which years and which vehicle lines used Takata air bags. It's hard to avoid them at Honda, which installed them in 11.4 million Hondas and Acuras including the 2002-2011 CR-V compact SUV. Ford and GM used them on relatively few vehicle lines, none of them compact SUVs, and the only Jeep covered by the Takata recall is the Wrangler. I try to do my homework when I shop for a vehicle, and the Internet can be a huge help in this.
beat_truck
Addicted Member
My aunt leased a new Rav4 every 3 years. I drove all of them regularly and wasn't a huge fan in general.
The '01 and '04 were OK but didn't have much power. I liked the size and shape the best, though.
The '07 and '10 were bigger overall, but the interior in the driver's area was terribly confining.
My Geo Metro and Ford Aspire had WAY more room for the driver. Unrelated, but he '07 also had traction control that could not be turned off, which ironically made the vehicle nearly useless in low traction situations. It once made it nearly impossible for me to get it out of 2-3 inches of snow on nearly level ground, even with brand new tires and AWD. The '10 had switches to turn the nanny BS off, and switch to lock the center differential.The '13 was the last she had before she died, and it was the best of the bunch. Even with the 4cyl, it had a good amount of power, and a transmission that behaved much better than the previous two. It also had better interior with much more room for the driver. It had the best sounding stereo, too.
beat_truck
Addicted Member
My brother had a Jeep Patriot, which I believe was built on the same platform as the Caliber. It was a complete POS and was pretty much ready for the crusher at less than 70k. He didn't mistreat it either. He just drove it to work, and was constantly polishing that turd.
The CVT started acting up at around 40k. The dealer claimed that there was nothing wrong with it, despite it suddenly going up to 6k RPMs and accelerating poorly while at wide open throttle. The CVT went out completely at around 60k. The dealer told him too bad, so sad, even though he bought the extended warranty.
Most of the front suspension components had worn out and were replaced in that time, too. And, on top of all that, by the time it was 5 or 6 years old, the body was already starting to rot out.
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It's sad that a partnership with Fiat actually *improved* the quality of Chrysler products. I'm pretty fond of the Renegade and the 9 speed transmission they developed for that platform is a real peach now that they've sorted out the programming.
he is looking for used, kona is new
jcamero
Who are you people anyway?
Those airbags are in Ford's also. Mine were replaced. A stretch but what about a mini-van? May sound odd, but cargo capacity is huge, easy for elderly to get into, and out of too. Very practical. Maybe not "hip", but try getting 4 adults in a Ford Mustang.
I don't understand the Takata hesitation... You can simply drive to the closest dealer and have it replaced. We had to do my wife's Civic and it was easy and free. Seems like an odd reason to disqualify a perfectly good car.
olson_jr
Lunatic Member
@Dr Tinear
You are a good dad! I remember you buying a pair of Grado SR-60s from me for your son.
Big step up from the cans to a car!
Good luck with whatever you guys go with and congratulations to your son.
You are a good dad! I remember you buying a pair of Grado SR-60s from me for your son.
Big step up from the cans to a car!
Good luck with whatever you guys go with and congratulations to your son.
My brother had a Jeep Patriot, which I believe was built on the same platform as the Caliber. It was a complete POS and was pretty much ready for the crusher at less than 70k. He didn't mistreat it either. He just drove it to work, and was constantly polishing that turd.
The CVT started acting up at around 40k. The dealer claimed that there was nothing wrong with it, despite it suddenly going up to 6k RPMs and accelerating poorly while at wide open throttle. The CVT went out completely at around 60k. The dealer told him too bad, so sad, even though he bought the extended warranty.
The Jeep Patriot was originally on my list until I asked a Fiat Chrysler engineer for his opinion of it. After hearing what he had to say, I took it off my shopping list.
My middle son has a Mazda6, which was part of the Takata air bag recall. There was a delay of more than a year between the first recall letter and the notification that recall parts were available. As if that weren't bad enough, the first wave of repair parts covered the passenger air bag only, so my son got to drive around for several more months with a Takata fragmentation grenade (driver air bag) aimed at his face and had to make a second trip to the dealer when the driver bag was finally available.
I don't see that as being an ongoing issue, there was definitely a crunch to get enough replacements to dealers to deal with it in the initial panic, but it's been a couple years now.
It's not as if getting a car with the Takata bag is going to put any significant money into Takata's account at this point, considering the replacement is free.