I just got a 2003 Ford Escape a few months ago and love it! It's the perfect size plus gets about 18 miles a gallon.
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I just got a 2003 Ford Escape a few months ago and love it! It's the perfect size plus gets about 18 miles a gallon.
Mustang, say no more ;).
I drive a Hyundai Santa Fe, which is basically the big brother of the Tuscon. i have heard very good reports on the Tuscon, and I think that Hyundais are very good value for money.
My suggestion would be to look at the safety ratings for all the cars on your list, and see which one had the best crash test results. For example my Santy was rated as the safest small SUV in 2004, so I feel pretty safe driving it. IMHO is a car is TOTALLED in an accident and all the occupants walk away, then the crumple zones and safety features have done their job - I dont feel it is an indication of a bad car.
Also be aware of mileage - my Santy has a 3.5 L engine and I only average 12 MPG.
That's a very good point, but in my neighbor's accident it wasn't even so bad that the car SHOULD NOT have been totalled. Now if she rolled the car a few times or hit an oncoming car at 60mph, maybe, but she just swerved off the road into a small ditch!!Quote:
Originally Posted by shutterbug0303
We have a 2003 Honda CRV. It has been through two New England winters, and last year especially was very snowy. It handles excellently in the snow. We got the 4-wheel drive model (it come both ways) because we live on a steep hill, and our driveway is also a steep hill off the street. There were several times last winter when neighbors were unable to drive their cars up the hill, or had great difficulty, and the CRV had no problem at all.
The CRV is considered a "Small SUV" and does very well on gas mileage - we get about 26 miles per gallon. It has a slightly wider wheelbase than some SUVs, which helps with stability, and I have not often felt buffeted in the wind like I did driving my bosses' old Ford Explorer.
As a "small SUV," it has plenty of room in the interior for carrying things like furniture, or, say, a bunny hutch, which is a second reason we got it. When we bought Miss Hoppy's hutch 9 years ago, we had to call my Dad (who has a pick-up truck) from the Petco parking lot - it just would NOT fit in our car. The CRV also handles like a car, not a truck, and is quite comfortable to ride in!
I heard Hundai's and Kia are made by the same group and aren't very good. (duno if this is true...my mom's friend had a hundai, and it was crap)
The other 2 sound good though
My mom had a cavalier which we did just that. The car was written off, and I didn't even think it was that bad. Cav's are good cars, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessika
cloverfdx - 100% agree :D I'm absolutely in love with the new mustangs and if I could have 2 cars 1 fun, 1 for everyday I'd get one in a heartbeat, one can dream can't they..... :rolleyes:
I test drove this weekend and right now looks like the CR-V and of all things the Toyota matrix are the front runners. Both have good ratings, good resale (toyota vs. honda) and are roomy inside. Matrix gets really good gas mileage, is a little lower in price, but was a little weak on power, CR-V much better power wise, and ok on gas mileage, but slightly more expensive. So basically I'm still stuck trying to decide....why can't this be easy. :confused:
I'd have to vote for a Toyota.
I had a Cavalier that was a piece of junk. Then an Olds, a Mercury, a Honda and then a couple of Toyotas, all used older models. Only the Toyotas ran and ran and ran and ran. They gave me good mileage and didn't need repairs every other week.
When I finally moved up to a vehicle that was "only" three years old, I picked a Toyota Extra cab pick up. That was 7 years ago. I haven't done ANY repairs since I bought it and I still get over 20 miles to the gallon in town.
My daughter liked her Corolla so much, she bought a used Toyota pick up just like mine two years ago. She hasn't had to do any service on it either.
I'd love to get a Highlander or Rav IV so the dogs have a little more room.
Good luck with the search!
I agree with mruffruff. I had a toyota alltrac wagon (which is what the matrix is supposed to represent) and that thing just kept on going and still is!!!!
That car was the best, it plowed through everything & I never had to use the 4wheel drive in it!
That same car has 600,000 on it right now, all original, still running excellent!!!!!
If it wasn't so rusty I'd buy it back! Really!
I had a Toyota Rav 4. My mom has it now and it's around 9 yrs old, with 90,000 miles on it. The only thing that's had to be fixed on it was replacing a battery. Toyotas are hard to beat in the reliability category.
The only 2 issues I had with it were, too small for the Collies and the seats could be more comfortable. My Jeep seats seem luxurious in comparison.
Par...
I'm sure with a nine year old car you've had to replace more than jsut the battery.. lol. At that age you've HAVE to replace wear-and-tear parts like, belts, spark plugs, etc. :P
My mom has a Toyota Camry and has had so many problems with it. She's forever at the mechanic with some difficulty or another.
jessika writes:
Actually nope. The battery's the only engine thing that's needed to be replaced. My mom replaced the tires at 60,000 miles, but I don't consider that repair work. She did mention the brakes are finally needing to be done, but getting 90,000 miles out of them, is pretty good I would think.Quote:
I'm sure with a nine year old car you've had to replace more than jsut the battery.. lol. At that age you've HAVE to replace wear-and-tear parts like, belts, spark plugs, etc. :P
That's actually really unsafe that you haven't done any routine maintenance on the car in nine years. Wow. Brakes should be changed at least once every one or two years depending on driving.. have you never had your oil changed either? That's really bad on your car! :(Quote:
Originally Posted by ParNone
Oh and the battery has nothing to do with the engine :P