vehicle suggestions for nephew's wife?

Sequoiasoon said:
Also put the future plug for a full set of at least really good All Weather tires or spare rims with true winter tires. If looking for the AWD for a "safety" aspect, the true winter will be better choice.
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I've tried (I'm running Cross Climate 2's)... kid's "tight" with money... about 18 mos ago, his truck needed tires. He got a set of used blizzaks, of marketplace, and has been running them year round.
about a year before that, while she was still in College, the escape needed tires, it's on 19" rims, and he refused to spend more than $200/tire. ended up with some Kelly edge A/S.

but, either a friend of his, or one of her cousins, works for a tire company I can't remember, some where on the east coast ( not a major brand), and will send them free Tires, and write them off as "R&D" units. her mom's wrangler was wearing a set.
 
"Tight" as in just doesn't want to spend it or just doesn't have it? They will figure it out and hopefully not in an adverse way. Been there, done that. With kid coming it gets worse quickly if not budgeted and prepared.

My oldest is 24 and getting married in 2 months. We have had MANY finance conversations of the needs, wants, likes, future plans. Wife and I are very open with money discussions with both my kids so they at least have some knowledge and know where to scrimp and wher not to. They bring their lunches to work/ grad school and cook at home mostly.

KBB on my '19 Pilot with 68000 miles is about $20k if that helps any. AWD, V6 but I would get the 9 speed tranny version not my 6 speed if I was doing it again unless it has already been replaced.
 
Sequoiasoon said:
"Tight" as in just doesn't want to spend it or just doesn't have it? They will figure it out and hopefully not in an adverse way. Been there, done that. With kid coming it gets worse quickly if not budgeted and prepared.

My oldest is 24 and getting married in 2 months. We have had MANY finance conversations of the needs, wants, likes, future plans. Wife and I are very open with money discussions with both my kids so they at least have some knowledge and know where to scrimp and wher not to. They bring their lunches to work/ grad school and cook at home mostly.

KBB on my '19 Pilot with 68000 miles is about $20k if that helps any. AWD, V6 but I would get the 9 speed tranny version not my 6 speed if I was doing it again unless it has already been replaced.
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he's cheap.
 
curious. Why no cvt? They get way better mileage. Changing the fluids every 60000 miles or so extends thier reliability. This should be done to Every! transmission, furthur, every fluid at maxumum. We had a 1998 outback Still have a 2008 outback and also have have a 2017 outback. Very reliable. The 1998 had a head gasket failure at 135000 miles. Was flawless until that. Sold. The 2008 Had a head gasket leak at 68000 miles Under warranty and again at 128,000 miles. A gasket redesign has resolved this EJ25 engine ssue. They went to a Multi Layer Steel (MLS) gasket. Most manufacturers have. The 2017 engine has had zero issues. Its the fb25 and a differant design. All the Subaru engines are a bit of a noisy design however and always have been. all of mine have the 2.5 engine. There are other engines available in differant trims and vehicles.
I do agree with gabriel9756. Its the engine not so much the head gasket. The sealing area between each cylander has a small cooling passage. Because of this the realestate between them is tiny and the gasket cannot hold things back. The new engine blocks did away with this cooling passage in favor if more meat. Even a used engine woud probably have the same issue. Unless you know the engine code of the replacement engine, you WILL be right back at the same issue. New short block Engine or vehicle. This is a known issue on some ecoboost 4 cylander units. Call ford with your vin before you do anything else. Oh I seriously doubt they will help you... Be sure you mention that you have been blogging with others about this same issue.
 
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skyactiv said:
Base Toyota Rav4 Hybrid is perfect if they can afford it new. Standard AWD. Don't confuse the ECVT for a belt driven CVT but I know earlye knows that.
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Oh the ecvt makes better sense but these are only in some hybrids. Speed changing Electric motors and stationary gear sets arrange for a variable ratio. Great. Thanks
 
Skippy722 said:
Why do you hate us? Us being the BITOG collective.
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Blame the OP, not me :D

the ones that say they "need" AWD when they don't :sneaky:
Lots of good cars that don't meet that "requirement" but check all the other boxes.

Honda's CVT is awesome, so if AWD is still "needed" that would be a good choice even though it has a CVT. It has no turbo, no DI, decent ground clearance, good fuel economy, and yes, AWD

The AWD also hurts fuel economy.

WAIT! I just remembered about the Matrix/Vibe AWD! The Vibe was made until 2010, while the Matrix made it until 2014. There was AWD available on it, no turbo, no CVT either :D

The 03-06 AWD will get better mpg than the 09+ gen duie to having a smaller engine (1.8L vs 2.4L)

The Suzuki Aerio SX from 03-07 ish was available with AWD and no CVT. Unfortunately, the SX4 that replaced it has a CVT.

earlyre said:
I've tried (I'm running Cross Climate 2's)... kid's "tight" with money... about 18 mos ago, his truck needed tires. He got a set of used blizzaks, of marketplace, and has been running them year round.
about a year before that, while she was still in College, the escape needed tires, it's on 19" rims, and he refused to spend more than $200/tire. ended up with some Kelly edge A/S.

but, either a friend of his, or one of her cousins, works for a tire company I can't remember, some where on the east coast ( not a major brand), and will send them free Tires, and write them off as "R&D" units. her mom's wrangler was wearing a set.
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there are less-expensive all-weather tires out there, depending on the size. Nokian has the Nordman Solstice 4 which is the old WRG4, and if you're really lucky, you can get Milestar all-weather tires, and if even Milestar is too expensive, there are AW tires from Prinx, Fortune, and Armstrong too :unsure:

But of course, you can't beat free tires :D
 
Sequoiasoon said:
What about a Hybrid? Something like a CRV Hybrid, Rav4 Hybrid? '22 RX350 with a 6 cyl.?

Honda Pilot for 3 row and more room, Honda Passport for 2 row. V6, I think 9 Speed transmission, The Trailsport versions have real skid plates, recovery points and more clearance.
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Our 2016 Pilot Touring AWD with a 9-speed would probably be able to beat 25 mpg with that commute. Not by a lot. But with VCM and the high gearing of the 9-speed, it is not too bad on the highway.

I would rather have a more efficient vehicle that much commuting, though.

The Escape sounds like it actually meets the needs pretty well.

Having sliding doors (minivan) is great for kids...
 
brages said:
Our 2016 Pilot Touring AWD with a 9-speed would probably be able to beat 25 mpg with that commute. Not by a lot. But with VCM and the high gearing of the 9-speed, it is not too bad on the highway.

I would rather have a more efficient vehicle that much commuting, though.

The Escape sounds like it actually meets the needs pretty well.

Having sliding doors (minivan) is great for kids...
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his only real issue with the escape, is the well known design flaw in the '16+ Ecoboost 4 cyl that can/will eventually lead to cracks in the bores, leading to coolant intrusion and burning, the only fix for which is a new engine ($$$) that may/may not ( though highly likely) have the same issue down the road.

my dad has a 2015 escape, with the 2.0 EB, but his is just old enough to have a first generation engine made in Spain, not the 2nd gen engines made in Cleveland that have the issues.
the only problems Dad's Escape has had are with the Capless fuel filler, and it's well documented Evap code issues. ( which he's had a part replaced once already, but it's popping up again...
 
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slacktide_bitog said:
Blame the OP, not me :D

the ones that say they "need" AWD when they don't :sneaky:
Lots of good cars that don't meet that "requirement" but check all the other boxes.

Honda's CVT is awesome, so if AWD is still "needed" that would be a good choice even though it has a CVT. It has no turbo, no DI, decent ground clearance, good fuel economy, and yes, AWD

The AWD also hurts fuel economy.

WAIT! I just remembered about the Matrix/Vibe AWD! The Vibe was made until 2010, while the Matrix made it until 2014. There was AWD available on it, no turbo, no CVT either :D

The 03-06 AWD will get better mpg than the 09+ gen duie to having a smaller engine (1.8L vs 2.4L)

The Suzuki Aerio SX from 03-07 ish was available with AWD and no CVT. Unfortunately, the SX4 that replaced it has a CVT.
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The SX4 was/is a solid vehicle. I think OP’s nephew can try and find a pre 2010 SX4 with the 4 spd slush box.

The Vibe/Matrix, especially the Gen1 had issues with rear subframes rotting out. The Gen 2 and maybe the Gen 1 weren’t quite as reliable with their AWD bits. GenVibe has plenty of threads on rear differentials being problematic.
 
earlyre said:
She (24) does Cardiac ultrasound
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slacktide_bitog said:
the ones that say they "need" AWD when they don't
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I wanted to be on the anti-AWD bandwagon in this case but I'm not clear what her job is--if she is on call she might "need" to make it into office regardless of weather. I recall my MIL, when she was an x-ray tech, during one storm or two, the hospital talked about sending someone out to get her (mind you, she lived a mile away, it wasn't that far--but she is not a snow driver and these were big storms).

If she "needs" AWD and modest clearance then she also needs snow tires, IMNSHO. Snows are really needed on non-AWD but not really any less important on the much fabled AWD's.

Having the larger boot of a CUV might be good too, with kids, although we managed two kids with a sedan. More space is better space, but it's not always "needed". But sure is nice, no doubt about that!
 
I dont understand the mentality...They have known provable engine issues. Ford shoud just make a policy that all these engines get replaced free. Do they have any idea what good will that will bring? They would probably have a customer for life. What would this engine cost them to replace? you know what im say Actual cost parts and labor?1200? all in. So what they are telling you is your not worth 1200.00 to fix a 100% failure rate flaw they they know about and created. They dont care if you ever purchase a ford again or if you tell your freinds and family about it... What! Come on just fix your mistakes. Isnt that what we have all learned through life? Own up to your mistakes and try to do better? I have had issues with ford as well.
Good will =Cheap Advertizing
 
CKN said:
Why does this piece of garbage keep being brought up on here?
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because it's the newest crossover SUV with AWD (and third row available), no CVT (it even had a 4-speed auto in 2020!), no DI, no turbo. When it was new, it was the cheapest 7-passenger vehicle you could buy brand new. It's relatively simple by modern car standards, and Chrysler has lots of defenders on here :sneaky:

supton said:
I wanted to be on the anti-AWD bandwagon in this case but I'm not clear what her job is--if she is on call she might "need" to make it into office regardless of weather. I recall my MIL, when she was an x-ray tech, during one storm or two, the hospital talked about sending someone out to get her (mind you, she lived a mile away, it wasn't that far--but she is not a snow driver and these were big storms).

If she "needs" AWD and modest clearance then she also needs snow tires, IMNSHO. Snows are really needed on non-AWD but not really any less important on the much fabled AWD's.

Having the larger boot of a CUV might be good too, with kids, although we managed two kids with a sedan. More space is better space, but it's not always "needed". But sure is nice, no doubt about that!
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Nokian WRG5 or Nordman Solstice 4 at the minimum, then. These are more winter-biased even for all-weather tires. And maybe get a set of chains or socks to carry in the car, too.

If manual transmission is OK, the non-turbo Forester was available with manual through 2018. EPA mpg is 22 city/28 highway, so it meets the stated fuel economy requirement.

If automatic required, there's the 2011-13 Forester. It has the new FB engine, but the old 4-speed automatic. However, it might not be capable of 25 mpg like you want.

jsean said:
The SX4 was/is a solid vehicle. I think OP’s nephew can try and find a pre 2010 SX4 with the 4 spd slush box.

The Vibe/Matrix, especially the Gen1 had issues with rear subframes rotting out. The Gen 2 and maybe the Gen 1 weren’t quite as reliable with their AWD bits. GenVibe has plenty of threads on rear differentials being problematic.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that! I thought the SX4 had been CVT from the very beginning. If a non-CVT SX4 is available, that is a good choice.

Sure, the Matrix/Vibe AWD is vestigial, but it meets the OP's requirements on paper. The Pontiac is even an American nameplate. Rust, of course, has to be evaluated individually be each individual example. It can't be as bad as Mazda :D
 
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