crappieperchhunter Posted March 18, 2014 Report Posted March 18, 2014 My wife has this notion that sitting a bit higher up is safer for some reason... (not that a few inches make a difference) And the Foresters sit a bit low for her.. It's all in her head. I'm afraid she has a point and insurance companies agree with her. Last year I traded in a 2002 VW Golf for my 2013 Sante Fe. If you asked me I would say the 2002 VW is a more solid better built car. My insurance dropped nearly $150 a year. I thought they had made a mistake and questioned it. They said it was because a higher built car was considered more safe. Never in a million years would I have thought a brand new car would be cheaper to insure then an 11 year old one.
crappieperchhunter Posted March 18, 2014 Report Posted March 18, 2014 Sorry I messed up the quote thing on my response
pike slayer Posted March 18, 2014 Report Posted March 18, 2014 last year i for a 2008 jeep liberty for $10,000 and i loved it! Its a little tank that it feels like it can go anywhere. It looks wayyy better then the summer mom looking rav4.The only downer is the fuel mileage sucks
lookinforwalleye Posted March 19, 2014 Report Posted March 19, 2014 Subaru...confidence in motion. NAW...we are summoning you and your wife to the other side, If you really do the research you will find SUBARU will appear at the top of the class for safety, dependability and value based on functionality. Put a good pair of winter boots on it and your wife will be able to drive with confidence in the worst winter conditions...hopefully she'll let ya take for a rip on the weekends,,,just sayin' My wife would need a tank to drive with " confidence in winter conditions"!!!!
Sharkbait22 Posted March 19, 2014 Report Posted March 19, 2014 Quote "I'm in the market for something bigger now. Been looking for weeks, and still undecided. So much new stuff that's not really "Proven". I don't know what way to go. " Ditto. I'm due next year and there is nothing out there I'm interested in getting my hands on. If I had to decide tomorrow it would likely be a Taco. For now I'll keep my so so good Escape going. I really wish they would downsize the Toyota's to their 2003 size and drop in a diesel. Much of my fishing is long distance and walk wade or canoe but sometimes the roads are rough and snowy.
BillM Posted March 19, 2014 Report Posted March 19, 2014 Quote "I'm in the market for something bigger now. Been looking for weeks, and still undecided. So much new stuff that's not really "Proven". I don't know what way to go. " Ditto. I'm due next year and there is nothing out there I'm interested in getting my hands on. If I had to decide tomorrow it would likely be a Taco. For now I'll keep my so so good Escape going. I really wish they would downsize the Toyota's to their 2003 size and drop in a diesel. Much of my fishing is long distance and walk wade or canoe but sometimes the roads are rough and snowy. GMC Canyon in 2015 will have a 2.8 Duramax.
moxie Posted March 19, 2014 Report Posted March 19, 2014 GMC Canyon in 2015 will have a 2.8 Duramax. hehehe. Thats exactly where that thing belongs Bill. At the bottom of a canyon.
NAW Posted March 19, 2014 Author Report Posted March 19, 2014 My wife would need a tank to drive with " confidence in winter conditions"!!!! My wife has come a long way since we meet 10 years ago. Her current vehicle is an Ford Escape XLT.. She has taken backroads home this winter a few times because all the highways where closed due to weather. She's a real trooper that way. Quote "I'm in the market for something bigger now. Been looking for weeks, and still undecided. So much new stuff that's not really "Proven". I don't know what way to go. " Ditto. I'm due next year and there is nothing out there I'm interested in getting my hands on. If I had to decide tomorrow it would likely be a Taco. For now I'll keep my so so good Escape going. I really wish they would downsize the Toyota's to their 2003 size and drop in a diesel. Much of my fishing is long distance and walk wade or canoe but sometimes the roads are rough and snowy. I am going to get a truck eventually, in the next 5 years.. And a taco is high on my list (6 speed manual). But I really really like the new Silverado / Sierra. I think they look sharp. GMC Canyon in 2015 will have a 2.8 Duramax. I was going to ask about the Canyon. 4 door, lots of room. Enough clearance. Likely decent for towing... But my wife is hell bent against a truck for her daily driver. hehehe. Thats exactly where that thing belongs Bill. At the bottom of a canyon. That's what I thought people would say when I asked about the Canyon!!!
BillM Posted March 19, 2014 Report Posted March 19, 2014 hehehe. Thats exactly where that thing belongs Bill. At the bottom of a canyon. I'm not to sure what this means but in that segment find something better, lol.
lookinforwalleye Posted March 19, 2014 Report Posted March 19, 2014 My son is on his second Canyon and he loves it...trouble free so far!!!
FrankTheRabbit Posted March 21, 2014 Report Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) Coming off of a company lease on a 2011 Rav4 base w/AWD. Racked up 87,000km from Nov 2011 and it's been a great vehicle for all seasons, especially during winter. Not bad on gas...I got about 9.0-9.7L/100km on highway driving and would get around 11-12L/100km city driving. No major problems, but regular maintenance was done at the dealership. Some of my favorite features were the front windshield defroster, sliding & reclining rear seats, and being able to drop the rear seats for extra storage from the back. Some things I didn't like were the seats (they are OK, but got tired tushes on long distance drives), the audio system, and the swinging rear latch.For the new vehicle, we narrowed it down to three 2014 choices: Forester, Tiguan, and Rav4.Tiguan was small, but had a comfy ride and required premium fuel. Great features for the Trendline w/4Motion. Heated front seats, fog lights, good rear seating space even with the front seats fully extended.Forester was great all around. Quiet and confident drive. Lots of features with the 2.5i Convenience pkg. Has a ground clearance of 8.7", which is higher than the Rav4 (6.3") and Tiguan (6.9"). Their asymmetrical AWD system is legendary, great fuel economy with their CVT (slightly better than the 2014 Rav4), and huge trunk space 2115L with seats folded down. A nice feature to have is their Xmode, which also includes hill descent control with their CVT transmission.Rav4 was a nice surprise. Compared to the 2011, it drove more like a car. The ride comfort was noticeably improved and cabin noise was also reduced. Highway driving can yield over 600km per tank, which is improved over our current model. Lots of features as well and their sound system has been much improved over our current Rav4.We have narrowed it down to the Rav4 and Forester. It's difficult to ignore the reliability and service of Toyota, but the ride height of the Forester and its solid AWD might be the deciding factors for us. Edited March 21, 2014 by FrankTheRabbit
NAW Posted March 21, 2014 Author Report Posted March 21, 2014 Thanks for the write up! Those are some good details, I appreciate it! I was at the toyota dealership today looking at some. they also have a used forester there which I am going to test drive.
BillM Posted March 21, 2014 Report Posted March 21, 2014 CVT would kill it for me on the Subaru, those transmissions take any fun out of low HP motors.
FrankTheRabbit Posted March 21, 2014 Report Posted March 21, 2014 Anytime NAW. There's so many little details that I'm leaving out between all three vehicles. I felt all three vehicles had excellent visibility all around. I've had a 2009 Dodge Journey and that had terrible blind spots, so I'm basing my experience on that vehicle. One other interesting little thing I found on the 2014 Forester. There are these side panels, at the bottom of the doors, that flare out and run to the bottom of the chassis. The idea behind them is so any kind of mud/dirt/snow/rain/etc will run down and drip away from the frame so you won't get your pants dirty. I thought that was a small, but clever feature. Let us know what you think of your test drive…maybe I missed out on some things too.
FrankTheRabbit Posted March 21, 2014 Report Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) CVT would kill it for me on the Subaru, those transmissions take any fun out of low HP motors. Don't have any prior experience with this current CVT, but from what I've heard, they're kinda sloppy or feels like a rubber band? I think it has been redesigned from the previous model and it does provide better fuel economy compared to their manual transmission counterpart. Not perfect by any means, but at least there is a benefit in that regard. The 2.5L NA puts out 170hp and their 2.0L turbo puts out 250hp (has a modified CVT to handle the increased torque demands). On our test drive (the 2.5L version), it seemed fine. Granted, it was just a regular road & highway test, with short bursts on the accelerator. So anything beyond that, I wouldn't know how good or bad it is. Edited March 21, 2014 by FrankTheRabbit
Big Cliff Posted March 21, 2014 Report Posted March 21, 2014 Just a little thing and doesn't make much difference in the operation of the car but: A couple of years agoI was doing some sales/marketing work for a coffee supplier. I had talked to quite a few car dealerships as part of our program. Most of them were interested in providing coffee and tea for their waiting rooms but the Subaru dealer in Peterborough insisted right off the bat that he wanted the best for his customers because they deserved it! We talked for a while about what system would supply the quality and variety he wanted for his customers and he decided on a single serve system. His cost per cup was almost tripple what most of the dealerships wanted but as he explained: They buy the best, they deserve the best! That statement alone made me think that If I could afford it my next car would be a Subaru. For a variety of reasons I did opt for a Nissan but I really wish I hadn't!
NAW Posted June 11, 2014 Author Report Posted June 11, 2014 Happy wife..... Happy life!!!! We text drove almost everything under the sun. Finally found this guy up in collingwood. Bought it last night! Over budget and behind schedule... But such is life! Thanks to all the people who contributed to this post!!!
lew Posted June 11, 2014 Report Posted June 11, 2014 You'll be in her good books for a long time now Nick LOL
lookinforwalleye Posted June 11, 2014 Report Posted June 11, 2014 Happy wife..... Happy life!!!! We text drove almost everything under the sun. Finally found this guy up in collingwood. Bought it last night! Over budget and behind schedule... But such is life! Thanks to all the people who contributed to this post!!! Congrats on the new wheels...and good luck with that happy wife thing!!!
NAW Posted June 12, 2014 Author Report Posted June 12, 2014 Congrats on the new wheels...and good luck with that happy wife thing!!! It's a pipe dream really.. But well worth a shot!
DRIFTER_016 Posted June 12, 2014 Report Posted June 12, 2014 Here's a Subaru warning for you. One of my employees had two of them that they bought at the same time. An SUV for the wife and a WRX for him. There is no dealer here so all of their oil changes and other maintenance was done by one of the other dealers in town. They made the mistake of not keeping every receipt for said maintenance. Unfortunately both vehicles had engine issues not sure what the issue with his was but hers had a defective timing belt that broke well within the warranty period. Because they didn't have service receipts Subaru Canada denied warranty on both vehicles. They instantly traded in both vehicles on new ones that were not Subaru and vow to never ever purchase another and tell everyone contemplating it not to.
NAW Posted June 12, 2014 Author Report Posted June 12, 2014 I talked to lots of my Subaru friends. And I had to be careful with the info they gave me.. Because to half of my Subaru friends... Changing an engine is not a big deal.. In fact, I think they get some sort of joy out of it......
Rod Caster Posted June 12, 2014 Report Posted June 12, 2014 If that RAV is anything like my Corolla, it'll be trouble free for years! Good buy.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now