New Vehicle Purchase in small-town Montana

Buy the Ford locally. Bet there are not a lot of ToyOndas running around town you will brand yourself as a newcomer.
Nah, there are plenty of Toyota's, Subaru's etc. in small town Montana. You'll definitely see a higher ratio of domestics to imports than you would see on the coastal states, but there are lots of imports being driven there.
 
One issue with buying new and not having a local dealer is the all to common recalls. Some are super simple but become a real pain if it’s a 200 mile round trip. I would not buy new without a local dealer….
 
Ford in 2023 had abysmal reliability across the board and 2024 is probably going to be the same.
Dodge was well above Ford in general but their product offerings are a decade behind.

You cannot go wrong with anything Toyota or Honda. Subaru are OK but expect higher maintenance costs down the road due to the extra AWD bits.
Congrats and good luck in the search.
 
Was in a similar situation, nearest city with all the dealerships was 65 miles away.
The only time I went back to the dealer was for recalls, and they always gave us a loaner for the day, when I said we lived out of town. Wasn’t an issue for us.
 
Buy whatever you want. Odds are good you won’t have too much trouble in warranty. If it’s bad enough they can come get it. Once out of warranty you can always find a local Independant mechanic if you’re not DIY.
 
My wife and I love our Wrangler Sahara 4xe. My commute is a 24 mile round trip and in colder weather the IC motor might run for 3 miles. Where I live I need an SUV with true off-road capability. YMMV.
 
If you’re going Ford I’d look at the Bronco Sport or Maverick. That’s about the only non truck Ford vehicles my former coworkers from dealerships say they’d buy.

Idk what’s changed since I left but Ford’s hybrids were really good then. Every Ford is probably going to have a Sync system issue at some point. I would not expect CDJR vehicles to be any better though. On our 22 Pacifica the infotainment system will randomly reboot and its operation is just silly in general.

Toyota combats this by using 10 year old technology. The system in the wife’s 19 Prius was about equivalent to a Sync 1 system(Ford is on Sync 3 now). Never bothered me but she complained about its lack of functionality.
 
I suggest buy what you can get serviced and warranted locally.
I work at a Jeep store.
If it was my money, I would buy a 2022 or older Jeep Grand Cherokee - the WK2.
Awesome 4WD capability and a solid SUV.
Speaking of solid, I know the person that got in this crash. He was home from the hospital 3 hours after the crash and bought another Grand Cherokee 6 months later. Suffered a severe concussion, but still with us.
His Grand Cherokee. And what he hit.
170323_tc_brief_crash-1.jpg
170323_tc_brief_crash-2.jpg
 
You spend your money how and where you want. That being said, I'd go down to the two local dealers and see what they have and what they could do for me. Personally, I'd buy a Ford from the local guy, if if was priced anywhere close to what the far away dealers have.

I grew up in Montana and my dad was the local Dodge and IH dealer. I spent many evening and weekends out assisting our customers, especially in the winter months. Jump starts, pulling them out of drifts, whatever. All at no charge. My dad lived and died by repeat business. He had to keep his customers happy or they would go up the street to the other guy, and there was a finite pool of customers.

Plus, I think it's good to spend your money in the local area if you can. The Ford dealer will sponsor the little team or a float in the parade. The dealer in the big city won't care.

Good luck.
 
Edge, Escape, Explorer, Expedition (or Lincoln equivalents) or Durango or Hornet are OP's only local crossover choices...(unless i forgot something)

as I don't want to start 2024 ranting like a grumpy old man, I'll stay positive and say that I like the exterior and interior looks of the Lincoln Nautilus.

that said, OP wanted to keep his new car as long as possible.
 
I would say buy the car you want. If its a close toss up, then sure by local. But don't use that as your primary decision maker.

If your keeping it a long time, you will need to find an indy mechanic anyway - if your not DIY.

Odds are good you won't need much warranty. I never have. If it gets that bad, they can tow it there.

How far in time is 100 miles. My dealer is almost an hour away, if there is any traffic.
 
Service does better when you purchase locally, but if they suck, then thats their competence level you will get, even as a customer who purchased brand new from their sales side.

Buying, well lets just say the more dealers, the better purchasing power you have as a customer.

Exceptions of course exist to the above.
 
🍿waiting for the import only crowd to come out in force. Y’all are leaving one of your own hanging! He’s having to agree with himself here.
 
I really like my 2023 Escape ST-Line AWD. I really liked my Impreza. I'd check dealerrater.com before making a final decision. Good luck with the move and the car choosing.
 
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