Between the car or the SUV....

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Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm the dying breed ! I never like and will never buy SUV or minivan. I like sitting as low to the road as possible in a car.


I know a few folks who simply got SUV or one of those new small CUV things (CrossTreks) simply for seating position up higher.

Including my brother, mother in law, and wifes friend who flies Boeing 777 for work. They like sitting high! My parents love their 2015 Outback for high position and incredible utility. Nice compromise between higher ride and cargo space.
 
Yet another vote for an awd suv. They are quite nice. I recently drove an Equinox on a 7 hour road trip on slippery roads here in Michigan and found it to be quite likeable. Not sure how they are for long term reliability though.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm the dying breed ! I never like and will never buy SUV or minivan. I like sitting as low to the road as possible in a car.


Same here!
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I actually feel safer in a powerful small nimble car.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm the dying breed ! I never like and will never buy SUV or minivan. I like sitting as low to the road as possible in a car.

Me too. I wouldn't mind a wagon though, but sadly most mfgs don't offer a nicely equipped upscale wagon in the US.
 
I'd say get something your present car can't do. Sounds like you have utilitarian winter transportation covered. So maybe something larger and nicer?
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm the dying breed ! I never like and will never buy SUV or minivan. I like sitting as low to the road as possible in a car.

Me too. I wouldn't mind a wagon though, but sadly most mfgs don't offer a nicely equipped upscale wagon in the US.

I like wagon much better than SUV/CUV. The Audi A4 wagon is just about the perfect size for my family of 2, the styling is pretty decent and I like it better than Volvo.

The two girls are almost never go out with us anymore, may be once or twice a year we go out for dinner together.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I have an old fashioned Honda station wagon that has no pretense of being a sports utility vehicle. It has served me well for hauling stuff because of it high square cargo space. I guess the idea of a "station wagon" is old hat but many of these so called SUV's are really nothing but a station wagon. The one big advantage of a sedan is a lockable trunk that keeps stuff out of sight.


Does make a good point...I used to have a cavalier wagon, and I could put quite a bit of stuff in the back. I do miss it though....
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
This town here is crawling with Chevy Cruises. They're everywhere.


Yep, all over here as well...
 
Originally Posted By: bbhero
What's "limiting" your lifestyle about a sedan?? How many members if your family? Do you go on long road trips rather often? Do you and your family go way off the beaten path routinely to go camping?? Aka where 4 wheel drive and added height is truly needed on unpaved woodland roads. Is there a real need for a larger vehicle that's taller as well??

Im not saying that in your case what that answer is because obviously I have no idea what the answers are. I am just curious as to what the answers could be. All an SUV is at the end of the day .... A mini van or station wagon in its ultimate usage. It just looks better= which I can understand. I am not knocking that decision made by yourself or anyone else. I will say this though... Ultimately it's about appearance... No one likes to be driving a minivan or station wagon. A sedan is a FAR better option for appearances than either of those if ones family is not too big.


Funny you say that- I'm sure I could make anything work- shoot, we used my wife's Cavalier to go camping this year!
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I could make a Cruze work, could slap a roof rack on it and use it the same way... We are starting to plan a few more vacations, some close but a few will be out of state. Since becoming a cub scout, my son loves camping, so we will be doing a bit more now, but there will be no hard core off roading happening....

We're a small family of three (but looking to adopt), so in some ways a sedan would be fine. But- wife's side of family is huge...with 9 kids on her side! So for helping her side of the family out, an SUV makes sense (why I am considering both). And I have no plans for a minivan......


I understand where you are coming from..but I'm lucky that I could less about my image (professional one different story!), so I could actually see myself using it for real reasons....hauling people/stuff around...
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Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'm the dying breed ! I never like and will never buy SUV or minivan. I like sitting as low to the road as possible in a car.


Is it strange I like the feeling of both?
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If you already have two small cars for DD duties and looking for a trip car I would definitely go SUV. Anything you can't do in the sedans (large items, camping, etc...) you will be able to do in the Equinox. If you get a Cruze you haven't really gained any capability except a backup car.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR

I like wagon much better than SUV/CUV. The Audi A4 wagon is just about the perfect size for my family of 2, the styling is pretty decent and I like it better than Volvo.

The one I like is the 3-series wagon, even despite not having a dipstick tube; however, you cannot get it with a 6-cylinder engine, nor RWD, nor manual trans.
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As far as the A4, Audi does not sell the wagon version in the US anymore. They eliminated it and want to sell you the overpirced Allroad instead.
 
A Subaru Outback has utility, doesn't sit low to the ground, and gets decent gas mileage-even with AWD.

That's why they are selling a ton of them.
 
Yeah Hokiefyd that does make a lot of sense to me too. Can't imagine an 80 lb dog and kids in the back in a sedan or station wagon
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Holy cow !! That'd be a time going on for sure. Again, everyone has their needs based upon their own families. And well, I just have a lady and 2 cats. All I need for now and we are happy with it
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Hmm, I dunno. I'm just about done with a 2,000mile trip in my Tundra; we decided we wanted the extra trunk room over the Camry. Halfway through I wondered if I made a mistake:

-more road noise
-more "bounce" over every bump
-I about got into a screaming fit at the automatic transmission at one point while in traffic
-While trying to keep up with traffic on the Sawmill Parkway in NY I started questioning the wisdom of driving a wide truck through there in the dark...

But OTOH sitting up high is nice, and my wife says there was more room for her to stretch out as compared to her Camry. And the kids had more hip room in the back too, leaving space for the dog. Let alone we filled the bed to the rails so far--and still have the last bits to toss in before heading home (it has a cap/topper/camper shell, so it's essentially my overgrown station wagon).

So I guess my vote is for the larger one, if the daily driver's are smaller & fun cars.
 
Having used our Cruze for camping, it gets REALLY tight shoehorning all the stuff for a weekend of car camping into the car. Sometimes it overflows onto the trailer when we really want to get fancy. At that point it's getting ~28-29 mpg highway, which is CUV MPG territory. Backpacking is easier, but two full packs eat up the trunk. A third person would have to stick their gear in the rear seat.

I'd give the 'Nox a good hard look for family/Scouting trip car duty.
 
Originally Posted By: glock19
If you already have two small cars for DD duties and looking for a trip car I would definitely go SUV. Anything you can't do in the sedans (large items, camping, etc...) you will be able to do in the Equinox. If you get a Cruze you haven't really gained any capability except a backup car.



Good point!
 
I have learned that sedans are worthless compared to a wagon or SUV. I'm extremely satisfied with my Golf Wagon but you can't have one since its not a GM!
 
Let me first say I have a 3/4 ton 4 door long bed truck so take what I am about to say with a grain a salt because the truck seats six nicely and will tow and haul anything I need moved...
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So we had an Equinox from 07 up until we purchased the 2015 Malibu. We liked both of them. A 2007 that we put about 120,000 miles on and a the 2013 that we put 37,000 miles on. While both of the Nox's did well, they did what only what they had to. I don't feel we sat much higher and the AWD was nice but I just don't need it where we live. Bottom line is the Grand Prix and the Malibu are decently fun to drive, handle better stop better and do everything the Equinox's did with better MPG.

I suppose if you plan and picking up stuff larger than you can fit in a trunk and you don't have a truck then you need the Equinox.
 
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