What to buy, SUV?

My wife's Impala rotted to the point of being dangerous, with only 137k on it btw. So that was donated and she has been chugging along in a 04 Aveo, but with the winter season around the corner , its time to get her a SUV. I like the Equinox, she is thinking, Murano, CR-V or RAV4. I personally have no issue with any of the choices, and have gotten endorsements from friends about all our choices except the RAV4. Any and all input on any of these is appreciated. Not looking forward to the countless hours of dealership dedication this is going to entail, but it must be done !

We had a Equinox, 2012 model I believe. It was a nice vehicle. I'd look hard at one again if circumstances dictated.

Chevy will make a better deal than a Toyota dealer will, Nissan too. Toyota and Honda just don't come off their sticker price much, if any, around here.

CRV i still old as hell ones alive and chugging. A guy I used to work with had a RAV4 with well over 500k on the ticker and I can't remember ever seeing it clean except for once a year after the winter and it really wasn't rusty just wore out paint. Both don't budge on price a whole bunch but they're obviously worth it. Nissan or Chevy if you really need a deal.

It's difficult to find a good Honda dealer that comes off MSRP but they are out there. The new CRV is loaded with safety equipment if that's what she wants - adaptive cruise control, blind spot, rear camera, collision mitigation, road departure mitigation, lane keeping assist, and they it's all available on one of the lowest priced trims. Also good storage volume.

The only downside is they are mostly equipped with a 1.5L DI turbo engine mated to a CVT but it gets fairly good mpg.

Well, the RAV4 was the winner.. Stopped at a Honda dealer, I got the impression that we were suppose to jump through hoops to buy a car from them??? SEE YA ! Next in line was Toyota, spent a good 45 minutes walking the lot, kicking tires, reading window stickers ,sitting in ones that were actually open ! Finally walked inside, salesman came over when we motioned to him, no vultures at this place. told him what we wanted, took one for a ride, wife loved it.. Went through their stock, found the one, I figured a number in my head while he did his, he was 50 dollars lower per month than I figured. We pick it up tomorrow! No one moment of pressure, sales pitch, or shenanigans, straight answers to questions, and after each phase, he would ask, sound good, if so ,how would you like to proceed? Extremely happy with the experience! My wife was blood thirsty before we even left the house, she says, one stupid comment and we are out of there, I'M NOT BUYING A CAR TONIGHT ! hahahahaha
ps, yes Diseasel , I would not even think about a 1.5L with a CVT...

Sounds good.

Glad you were able to make your wife happy.
We need to replace our 08 Yukon XL. New ones at $70-$80K and we can't afford that. Wife wants something large, 4X4, good mileage. I told her make up her mind as every year since retirement I'm making less money. Right now I could easily put $3K into they Yukon with tires, struts, shocks, she wants a new seat, air is broke after having it fixed in the spring. This is something that I will go with her to a dealer but in no way am I going to steer her to buy what I think is right. Before the Yukon she had a suburban, both vehicles bought new. This time I would like to see her buy a year or two old vehicle.

This is her first new vehicle since 2003, so I let her pick what she wanted. She researched everything she was interested in, I did my own for peace of mind. I hear ya Quig, 70k for a new vehicle is a fantasy,unless I hit lotto or something. Does the Yukon have lots of miles?

I realize now to that I am on to the next phase of my life, complete hands off on vehicle maintenance, this is going to be a dealer only car, and once I move on from my DMAX, my new truck will be the same way.. hohummmm, getting old.

The Yukon has about 115K miles but on her way home from Georgia (about 840 miles) , she used 2 quarts of oil. My feeling is that she checked her oil when she first got to Georgia, added a quart on the way down, then went to her mothers in Fla, back to Georgia. So that was probably 1,000 miles. Her friends husband checked the oil in GA, said it was good (I doubt that). When she got home, there was no oil on the dipstick. This has happened before on the same trip where I added 4- yes 4 quarts of oil when the Yukon light came on and wouldn't let her drive. Just the oil concern from day 1 on that truck makes me want to sell it. Pretty soon it won't be worth anything.

WOW ! I understand a little usage, but that's excessive! Although I think its accepted in the industry 1 quart per 1,000 miles or some such nonsense?

I was at a GM dealer about a year ago and asked about oil consumption. I was told 1,000 miles/quart was normal. I called back and talked to the service manager and he said 2500 miles 1 quart is normal. I think they will tell you the earth is a cube if that's what you want to hear.
My truck, same engine, will go 6,000 miles and use a quart. When I told that to the service manager, his reaction was "wow, that ones a keeper". Doesn't give me the warm fuzzy feeling.

Bambam wrote:

Well, the RAV4 was the winner.. Stopped at a Honda dealer, I got the impression that we were suppose to jump through hoops to buy a car from them??? SEE YA ! Next in line was Toyota, spent a good 45 minutes walking the lot, kicking tires, reading window stickers ,sitting in ones that were actually open ! Finally walked inside, salesman came over when we motioned to him, no vultures at this place. told him what we wanted, took one for a ride, wife loved it.. Went through their stock, found the one, I figured a number in my head while he did his, he was 50 dollars lower per month than I figured. We pick it up tomorrow!  No one moment of pressure, sales pitch, or shenanigans, straight answers to questions, and after each phase, he would ask, sound good, if so ,how would you like to proceed? Extremely happy with the experience! My wife was blood  thirsty before we even left the house, she says, one stupid comment and we are out of there, I'M NOT BUYING A CAR TONIGHT ! hahahahaha
ps, yes Diseasel , I would not even think about a 1.5L with a CVT...

My mom had the same experience at the dealer she got her maxima at. They gave her a great deal on the tahoe trade in, and a good price on the maxima with a great service package. Their shop is great and honest. She had a slight vibration only discovered with my sister's driving(her fin is pretty heavy on the pedal ) and it all checked out being balanced etc, but they gave her two new tires. They didn't have a loaner and had a few places to go while they were waiting for the new tires so they took her where she needed to be. It's hard to find them but good dealers are around,

TheQuig wrote:

I was at a GM dealer about a year ago and asked about oil consumption. I was told 1,000 miles/quart was normal. I called back and talked to the service manager and he said 2500 miles 1 quart is normal. I think they will tell you the earth is a cube if that's what you want to hear.
My truck, same engine, will go 6,000 miles and use a quart. When I told that to the service manager, his reaction was "wow, that ones a keeper". Doesn't give me the warm fuzzy feeling.

Our old 5.3 used to use about 3/4-1qt every 3-5k. Acceptable to me is 1-1.3qts/3k being that medium-heavy trucks use 1gal/15k.

Our Expedition uses about 1qt per 5k. Not too bad and I don't complain.

And you are absolutely right, new vehicle prices all around have become insane. After 2 years they lose 40% of their value so it really doesn't make sense to buy one. I don't plan to ever buy new, just doesn't make sense. Well unless we are talking a high end sports car but that's not likely to happen.

Also, you should write the dealership a letter stating how great it was to be treated like grown adults and not pressured and run off by the usual dealership treatment.

In the works !

Other SUV ideas...

Mazda is planning to introduce a 2018 CX-5 2.2L diesel and possibly with a manual transmission. Suppose to get ~40mpg with 173hp and 310ftlb. If only there was more storage space.

Really, a diesel stick !!! My wife would absolutely love that !!!!!!!!

On the truck I just bought, the one dealer that had it wouldn't meet my price. So I sent over a copy of the window sticker to my local dealer and told them what it would take.

They called back within the hour to schedule when I could come do the trade.

Turns out, they did a dealer swap on the exact truck the other dealer wouldn't budge on.
Got a better price on it, more money for my trade in and they threw in a LineX spray in too. 3yrs of oil changes too.

I spent maybe 15 minutes total at the dealer. Some dealers still play the same tired ass old game, but some have evolved with the times.

Today we traded in the 2008 Yukon XL for a lease on a 2017 Acadia Limited. The dealership gave us $10K on the Yukon, but there were a lot of things needing replacement. Tires, front end work, struts, shocks, window and door power switches, and a few other things like the 3rd row seat not wanting to go back into the hold downs. Payments are at $300 a month. The Acadia has 2 different models in 2017 and has eliminated the model we bought in 2018. I like this model better, more room, still has 3 rows of seats. In 3 years we will either lease again of buy. The problem in 3 years is that the $10K credit for the Yukon will not be there so payments will be more. 3 years to decide.
We bought the Yukon the same day 9 years ago. The Saturday before Labor Day and right before the first day of school.

Beautiful congrats Rich.

Thanks Evan. Although I'm not a sunroof fan, this one has two, only the front one opens. It also has a heads up display on the windshield. I haven't driven it yet but my wife said it's not a powerful as her Yukon. Yukon 5.3, Acadia 3.6. She can live with it, she doesn't feel the need to jump out of the starting gate at traffic lights or drive 85mph on the highways.

We were checking the Acadia too. They are nice, not too big, not too small. I think the Caddy equivalent XT5 has the 8 speed transmission.

Nice ride Rich !

Thanks guys.
The 2018 Acadia (there will be only one model) will be shorter, more narrow and be 500lbs lighter. The engine will be larger which is good as the 3.6L in our Acadia Limited could use a little more HP. It works for us but more power and less weigh means it will still get better gas mileage. The new Acadia felt just a little tight, but I could live with it as we seldom travel with all 5 family members now. The newer model also has more tech equipment than past models.

Very nice! When we bought the Expedition my wife really liked the Acadia's. We nearly got one beacsue of the safety they designed into them but I steered her toward the Ford SUVs. She of course decided to buy the biggest one possible.

If we had more money, there is no doubt my wife would have gone with a Yukon/Suburban.

Its massive overkill for us. I wish we had gotten an Explorer or similar but my wife really wanted the 3rd row seating and all the space after driving one. I wanted it originally because it could tow a boat but then realized after buying it I cant afford a boat.