Considering a new car
- Thread starter windeye
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gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Ive heard the same argument for large vehicles by those who don’t have kids but are PLANNING on having multiple children some day. Some day might be at the end of your current purchases effective life. It would make more sense to buy a mid-sized vehicle and then upgrade to something larger and safer IF the need arises.
Now, I get it. If you want a large vehicle because it makes you feel safer (or whatever the reason may be) it’s up to you. It’s just annoying when people make up needs that don’t exist yet or may never manifest. Unlike some here, I don’t judge those who buy vehicles for whatever their own reasons are, even if it’s 0.001% use case. It’s none of my business. Just don’t go around and misrepresent the why.
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The OP has not given us nearly enough info to make much, if any, good guess as to what’s best for him. Thus far he essentially only mentioned summer vacations and kids in College. Are you loading up all of their stuff to bring home and take them back to school every single holiday, just picking them and their duffel up or neither? Do you plan to use the extra space often or will it only be used when the family is in town?
From what you’ve shared so far, it sounds like a mid-sized vehicle would be fine. Rent a van once a year for vacations and a truck if you need that once or so a year.
Why didn’t it work out too well? I’m 6‘ and have made due in smaller without complaint. With that said, I’ve never been in a late-model RAV4. i also don’t have any physical problems that would cause me pain.
Edit: added some clarifications above
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Because it's tiny and cramped inside for anyone over 5'8. My wife is 5'6-5'7 and her knees touch the back of the front seat when it's all the way back. At 6'2, my knees in the passenger seat were almost touching the dash.
No thx jeffs.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Fair enough. I figured it would at least have as much room in the front as my Forester. Our back is pretty spacious, too.
Plenty room for two in the back of a Forester. Very limo-like back there.
My wife is selling her brand new Outback She hates the HVAC contols on the touch screen. The system was flaking out the other day when she was trying to run the defroster. I told her it may need a software update.
But the engine didnt break in well. Its horrendously noisy. It was fine the first week then bam! toast.
I have n isea what to get her. Maybe a Mitsu outlander sport or a Chevy Equinox - about the only thing available. The new chevy 1.5T looks like a strong engine approximating L82 3100 v6 power.
Maybe Ill look for a Crosstrek stick base with manual HVAC. Don't like the new platform though. and she says the headrest are intrusive. Oy Vey iz mir!
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I was very interested in the Legacy XT or Outback XT being my new car several years from now, but the tablet-like screen completely ruins it for me!
That sucks that it's so noisy, too. My Legacy with the FB25 is dead silent unless you're revving it out. Above 4K it sounds like every other 4-banger.
I'm not a fan of the new Crosstrek either. I'm also miffed that the 2.5L is only offered in the Sport and Limited trims, and is NOT available with an MT. I'm not saying I'd buy a Crosstrek, but it will be on the list as my replacement car and the 2.slow just doesn't cut it for me. I test drove an Impreza sport with the MT and the lack of power really got to me. It felt good around town, but was too anemic trying to catch up to traffic. I'm also tired of Subaru's notchy shifters. My '06 WRX was OK, but my '08 STI and the test-driven Impreza sport just weren't very good compared to something like a VW or Honda.
I'm not sure what to recommend anyone these days, because I'm so far removed from the new car scene. I mean, I keep an eye on threads like this, but I mostly know Subaru. With that said, there are so many options in the CUV category that I feel like my wife would be like a kid in a candy shop. I'm also getting to the point where I don't want or need AWD in both of our vehices. When it snows bad, she stays home. I can take her Forester. Another point of fact is that my previous '08 Civic LX with snow tires did better than 90% of the cars on the road in light-to-moderate snow, ice and slush.
Sorry for going OT, OP.
The 2019 Outback still had separate climate control buttons, and it seems the new Ascent also kept the 2019 Outback interior with separate climate control buttons. To me the Ascent was nearly identical to driving and interior feel to my Outback atleast at low throttle. Half throttle and up was pretty quick and I can't see needing more power than that in an SUV. It was sort of weird accelerating hard off the line as the CVT, torque converter lockup, and turbo spool are all changing at once, but once over 25mph, its heading to triple digits fast enough and snapping off fake shifts crisply and rapidly. It's no minivan for interior space but the 3rd row is useable by shorter adults atleast. To me the turbo and CVT seem like a bit too much complication as I'm not towing enough to need the power.
We took our last vacation with adult children December 2019. Not because we don't love our children, but because we wish to keep loving our children.
And that was a "we all fly to San Diego for Christmas" trip.
We did the "rent an minivan and drive to..." trip in 2015 when they were still in High School and College. That should have been ample warning.
Sometimes, leaving the nest is what preserves the relationships. They want to have their autonomy, and I'm not about to deny it to them
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We took our last vacation with adult children December 2019. Not because we don't love our children, but because we wish to keep loving our children.
And that was a "we all fly to San Diego for Christmas" trip.
We did the "rent an minivan and drive to..." trip in 2015 when they were still in High School and College. That should have been ample warning.
Sometimes, leaving the nest is what preserves the relationships. They want to have their autonomy, and I'm not about to deny it to them
Yup, to each their own, and there are different paths to arriving at the same destination.
I really liked my minivans Ford Windstar then later Chrysler. We actually went to look at new cars and got back in the minivan and said this is quieter, nicer, and more comfortable than what we just test drove. I don’t know about the Sienna really being slow with the extra hybrid, but in spite of the styling that would be my choice. But not to carry 4x8 sheets like the Chrysler could do with the hatch closed. The new Chrysler with the stow n go second row is really nice. They may have dumped the feature, not sure. Best feature around in a minivan was the stow n go.
I can’t seem to find any three-row motorcycles online
Just need to be creative...
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Yes … have seen them used as a hearse too …
Buy the Sienna if you care about MPG, buy the Carnival if you care more about a strong, good sounding engine. Non-minivans will just give you less space and less convenience.
If your rich buy an escalade or something but the value and real day to day performance of any of the 4 vans out now is unbeatable by the popular SUVs.
If your rich buy an escalade or something but the value and real day to day performance of any of the 4 vans out now is unbeatable by the popular SUVs.
The Chrysler Hybrid minivan checks the boxes for room and versatility if that’s what he wants
Fiat/Chrysler minivans seem to be drive it and forget it appliances
Ford has a strange mini van in the lineup as well but my experiences with Ford are worse than Dodge in terms of vanlike objects but it fits a certain size/aesthetic
RAV4 might work but I find the things more irritating to use than a traditional minivan or even Prius V
Certain years of RAV4 have major problems so he will need to tread lightly
KIA for being a cheap discount car maker is normally bloody expensive and hard to get long term reliability info, parts can be hit and miss as well
personally I would avoid Kia unless you get a big discount.
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The CX-9 3rd row is exceptionally tiny at 29.7". Pretty much only the Highlander has a smaller 3rd row out of the bigger CUVs at 27.7". I think the Tiguan and Sorento are smaller than the CX-9 too but that's it.
Are you saying 29.7” (2.5’) across? I had no idea these third rows could be so small.
Thats probably a legroom measurement but yeah most 3 rows are small until you get to the full size class or mini van. Even our Carnival i wish was a lot bigger.
What, no. Pitch between the seats.
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