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SUV choices

got an original 98 ford 4x4 daily driver ..hummin @ ~ 500k +
 
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I'd be leery of Subaru for a number of reasons.

1) They are a minnow in a sea of great choices. Like Mitsubishi (just barely hanging on) and Suzuki, you just never know if one day they are going to pack it up and call it a day for Canada dealerships.

2) Then you are stuck for parts, maintenance, lousy resale value. If you go on long trips and need service, Subaru experts and dealers are few and far.

3) Sure, the Forester is a decent vehicle, but so are a lot of other vehicles in its class.

4) the rest of the Subaru line up leaves much to be desired. Whens the last time you heard somebody rave about their Legacy or vanilla Impreza?
 
I'd be leery of Subaru for a number of reasons.

1) They are a minnow in a sea of great choices. Like Mitsubishi (just barely hanging on) and Suzuki, you just never know if one day they are going to pack it up and call it a day for Canada dealerships.

2) Then you are stuck for parts, maintenance, lousy resale value. If you go on long trips and need service, Subaru experts and dealers are few and far.

3) Sure, the Forester is a decent vehicle, but so are a lot of other vehicles in its class.

4) the rest of the Subaru line up leaves much to be desired. Whens the last time you heard somebody rant about their Legacy or vanilla Impreza?
LOL

Never change Sunny. You're awesome.

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I'd be leery of Subaru for a number of reasons.

1) They are a minnow in a sea of great choices. Like Mitsubishi (just barely hanging on) and Suzuki, you just never know if one day they are going to pack it up and call it a day for Canada dealerships.

2) Then you are stuck for parts, maintenance, lousy resale value. If you go on long trips and need service, Subaru experts and dealers are few and far.

3) Sure, the Forester is a decent vehicle, but so are a lot of other vehicles in its class.

4) the rest of the Subaru line up leaves much to be desired. Whens the last time you heard somebody rave about their Legacy or vanilla Impreza?

sounds like harleys vs whatever
 
My SUV recommends premium fuel but the ecu will adjust for 87. I get worse mileage when using the 87 to the extent that the saving at the pump equals the loss in mileage. That's hwy driving. I just use premium.
 
My sister has a Ford Escape 1.6 Ecoboost, which has been good.
My wife likes her 2010 Escape, but damn it's starting to rust like a bloody Honda!

sent from my Purple LGG4 on the GTAM app
 
Thanks...the write ups I've read say you can use regular and mention the horsepower drop but nothing else. Was the work on older Subarus?

2011 (?) with a 2.5 non-turbo SOHC would be the newest I've done, roughly.
 
My SUV recommends premium fuel but the ecu will adjust for 87. I get worse mileage when using the 87 to the extent that the saving at the pump equals the loss in mileage. That's hwy driving. I just use premium.

This
 
I went through this a bit more than a year ago. Many of the choices mentioned were are my short list as well. Ended up with the Nissan Pathfinder - it just checked all the boxes. I selected the Platinum package and I love all the features (could have done without the DVD package). Cooled leather seats make a huge difference and the sunroof plus panoramic roof is just really nice to have! The electronics package is easy to use with good voice prompts and the NAV has not let me down.

The cargo space is really spacious and overall comfort is really great. Dealer was willing to meet my numbers which closed the sale.

Fuel mileage is impressive for a large 6 cylinder SUV. Compared to my past vehicles, I am getting 100 - 150 km more per tank. With mix of hwy and city I easily get 575 - 600 km per tank and high 600's with hwy driving. You can certainly do better on mileage.

I am already eyeballing the Mazda CX9 for the next purchase. 5 year unlimited kilometer warantee is a big deal to me. I didn't go with the CX9 last time as the Pathfinder offered more for less money.
 
I went through this a bit more than a year ago. Many of the choices mentioned were are my short list as well. Ended up with the Nissan Pathfinder - it just checked all the boxes. I selected the Platinum package and I love all the features (could have done without the DVD package). Cooled leather seats make a huge difference and the sunroof plus panoramic roof is just really nice to have! The electronics package is easy to use with good voice prompts and the NAV has not let me down.

The cargo space is really spacious and overall comfort is really great. Dealer was willing to meet my numbers which closed the sale.

Fuel mileage is impressive for a large 6 cylinder SUV. Compared to my past vehicles, I am getting 100 - 150 km more per tank. With mix of hwy and city I easily get 575 - 600 km per tank and high 600's with hwy driving. You can certainly do better on mileage.

I am already eyeballing the Mazda CX9 for the next purchase. 5 year unlimited kilometer warantee is a big deal to me. I didn't go with the CX9 last time as the Pathfinder offered more for less money.
Pathfinder and QX are notorious for transmission problems, there was a class action lawsuit. I looked briefly at the Infinity but that sealed the deal. Also it's a garbage CVT regardless, so even when it's not broken it still sucks.
 
Cooled leather seats would be nice but I haven't seen that on any vehicle in my price range. Pretty much looking at the higher trim levels of the larger compact SUVs like the Forester CX5 CRV and RAV4 now. The luxury brands like Lexus, Acura etc are out my price range. I could get a RAV4 hybrid but reviews say you don't get too much advantage over a gas CRV. Haven't looked at Nissan as I'm not wildly keen on the dealer here.
 
My parents have a santa fe XL and a friend has a santa fe sport. Both say it is one of the best vehicles they have ever owned. My wife has a 2006 santa fe and it has been a decent vehicle. I wouldn't hesitate to look at hyundai again when it is time to throw that one out.

People I know that have owned Nissans a) had bad dealer experiences so they swore off the brand and b) said they are amazingly thirsty for no good reason.
 
My '89 Nissan just sucked. Even worse, 20 years later I noticed they were using the exact same sucky parts on their newest models. They're not good value, they're just cheap.
 
Almost 1 year ago today I picked up a 2016 Forester XT (Turbo with the 2.0) I got the full tech package as well as I love toys.
I run 91 in it all the time as that is what it recommends. I've been in and out of the Forester forums and people run 87 and say the car is lazy and fuel economy goes down. I can't comment on this personally.
Warm weather highway i'm getting 8L / 100km. Cold weather highway 10+L/100km. She's a bit of a pig in the cold.
My version has the "new" 8 speed CVT with the shift paddles. It shifts very smoothly. It has 3 different driving modes, I(intelligent) S(sport) and S#(super sport?). I drive in I mode because I drive like a grandpa. When I do put it into S# and punch it the thing really flies.
Some of the onboard tech is amazing. I LOVE the adaptive cruise control as well as the lane departure warnings. It also has the emergency braking system where it'll brake for you if it feels you're not paying attention.
The audio / navi system for 2016 is better then the previous models but they say has been much improved in the 2017. The sound system is pretty great as well.
There is a tonne of room when the seats are down.
The sunroom is huge and awesome. It lets so much light in.
I looked at all the CSUVs in this class and it was between the Forester and the CRV. My wife's drives an 08 Impreza and I used to drive a 2000 Accord coupe 5spd. I fell in love with the Subaru brand as a result of the Impreza and how incredibly well it handles in the wet and in the snow. The only thing slowing the Impreza down is how low it is to the ground so we had to be careful plowing through snowbanks. The Forester solves that problem.

Our primary use for the vehicle, other than it being my daily driver is to haul my wife and I and our 2 kids up to the cottage regularly. We can load it up without a problem and I can still see out the back window.
I also installed a trailer hitch and I use it to haul whatever. The tow rating is <1500 lbs but that's not an issue.

Since I drove my Accord for 16 years I thought it would have been a hard adjustment to move to a new vehicle. It wasn't because I bought the right car for me. If I wrote off this Forester I would go back to the dealership and buy another one in a heartbeat.

PM me if you have specific questions. Good luck.
 
Almost 1 year ago today I picked up a 2016 Forester XT (Turbo with the 2.0) I got the full tech package as well as I love toys.
I run 91 in it all the time as that is what it recommends. I've been in and out of the Forester forums and people run 87 and say the car is lazy and fuel economy goes down. I can't comment on this personally.
Warm weather highway i'm getting 8L / 100km. Cold weather highway 10+L/100km. She's a bit of a pig in the cold.
My version has the "new" 8 speed CVT with the shift paddles. It shifts very smoothly. It has 3 different driving modes, I(intelligent) S(sport) and S#(super sport?). I drive in I mode because I drive like a grandpa. When I do put it into S# and punch it the thing really flies.
Some of the onboard tech is amazing. I LOVE the adaptive cruise control as well as the lane departure warnings. It also has the emergency braking system where it'll brake for you if it feels you're not paying attention.
The audio / navi system for 2016 is better then the previous models but they say has been much improved in the 2017. The sound system is pretty great as well.
There is a tonne of room when the seats are down.
The sunroom is huge and awesome. It lets so much light in.
I looked at all the CSUVs in this class and it was between the Forester and the CRV. My wife's drives an 08 Impreza and I used to drive a 2000 Accord coupe 5spd. I fell in love with the Subaru brand as a result of the Impreza and how incredibly well it handles in the wet and in the snow. The only thing slowing the Impreza down is how low it is to the ground so we had to be careful plowing through snowbanks. The Forester solves that problem.

Our primary use for the vehicle, other than it being my daily driver is to haul my wife and I and our 2 kids up to the cottage regularly. We can load it up without a problem and I can still see out the back window.
I also installed a trailer hitch and I use it to haul whatever. The tow rating is <1500 lbs but that's not an issue.

Since I drove my Accord for 16 years I thought it would have been a hard adjustment to move to a new vehicle. It wasn't because I bought the right car for me. If I wrote off this Forester I would go back to the dealership and buy another one in a heartbeat.

PM me if you have specific questions. Good luck.

Thanks for the write up. So no problems with the CVT being jerky? I read a few reviews that talked about jerky on/off accelerator behaviour. That was a review on the non-turbo but I think a few mentioned the turbo was the same. I love the visibility out of the Forester, so far it's unmatched but I'm going to look at the RAV 4 and CRV this afternoon. Need to start taking these for test drives.

My only hesitation about the Hyundai is resale value. You get a lot of car for your money with the Santa Fe Sport.
 
My '89 Nissan just sucked. Even worse, 20 years later I noticed they were using the exact same sucky parts on their newest models. They're not good value, they're just cheap.

My current Nissan is visibly rusting in front of my eyes. When I bought it from the dealer it was as an approved Nissan inspected Lease buy-back. I was told "it would be good as new". It had a ding in the side and bald tires. I had a lovely discussion with them about returning my deposit and me walking away. I got free new tires added grudgingly. Left a bad taste in my mouth but I needed the car and had been waiting for ages for it. No more Nissans for me.
 

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