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I'm finally going to be getting a new car, and after I finished panicing about going back to a car payment... :eek: I narrowed it down to these 4. Does anyone have any experience/knowledge, good or bad with any of them.
Honda CRV
Toyota RAV4
Kia Sportage
Hyndai Tucson
My neighbor just wrecked her KIA... she walked away alive but her car was a mess.. I guess thats why they say KIA stands for "Killed In Action" :o
Anyway I've always been partial to Pontiac,s Chevrolets and Toyotas (my dream car is a Toyota Supra :D :D :D) and of those three you have a Toyota listed so I say go for it :)
Sorry I can't give you any advice on any of those models. But we have a Dodge Durango and really like it (except for the gas milage of course:o) and we also have a Plymouth Grand Voyager (for the doggies!).
Good luck on car hunting, I know what a pain in the behind it can be. All I can say is test drive and do some research and see which one fits you best!
Oh I LOVE Durangos! Not the newer ones, they are sooo ugly. But my parents have a 2001 and its AWESOME! Gas mileage isn't TOO bad, my uncles gets even worse though, like 14mpg! His has a problem though. On average my parents actually gets pretty high for an SUV, around 20 or so :)
SUVs though are very prone to flipping because they're top heavy. That's why I prefer cars because the wider wheelbase and not as tall! :)
I have heard bad things about Kias in general too. My friend had one when we were in college and she was in an accident (she was fine) bur her car was really bad.
I'd read some reveiws on them somewhere on the net first.
I don't what your looking for or what not but the Rav4's are nice, they drive nice, handle nice but are not very roomy at all. I don't know how well they hold up in crashes.
I've had a few friends who had the CRV's (about 5-7 years ago when they first came out) they weren't happy with them, noone of them have that vehicle anymore. I think they didn't handle well in the snow and had some mechanical problems. I don;t know what they are like now-a-days.
I've also known someone who crashed a Kia Sportage, the people were injured (nothing real serious though) and the vehicle was totaled! The other car (a chevy something) had hardly any damage.
I am going to reiterate what the others have said about the Sportage. I know someone who was rear-ended at red light. His Sportage was totalled, but he was not hurt. I have also heard that CRV's don't handle as well as some others.
YIKS :eek: The Kia doesn't sound like the best option. I've checked the Rav4 and CRV with my insurance, but not the Kia, I'm thinking now I should....I've read reviews on the RAV4 and CRV both are good. The tucson isn't getting as good a review, but the Kia seemed to be. anna_66 I agree I really like the Durango, but the gas would probably cost more than the car payment for me. I drive 35 mi to work 1 way and live in San Diego which basically translates into a huge gas bill even on my civic. The problem is I'm tired of trying to fit 4 big dogs into the back seat of my civic then when I have people in that same seat apologizing for all the dog hair. I think it's the pups goal in life to knock whatever sheet I put down off, so they can sit on the seats :o, which is why I'm aiming for a small SUV where I can put the back seats down.
What about a Jimmy then lol
Can I add one to your list?
I drive a Mitsubishi Outlander. It's similar in price to those you mentioned. I've had mine for 2 years now with no problems whatsoever. Mitsubishi is fantastic on backing their cars. It's considered a compact SUV and I think is pretty roomy. Both me and the hubby are on the fluffier side of the weight spectrum and have driven cross country in it very comforably luggage, coolers and all.
My 2 cents.
Good luck on which ever you buy!
I can totally understand that. OK you probably don't want a van, but I've heard good things about the Honda vans...good resale value, good gas milage and they go forever! But if your wanting something like the CRV I do remember a couple people on a mastiff board I belong to having a one and seem to really like them.Quote:
Originally Posted by pnance
My dad has CR-V. He hasn't had a problem with it so far...it's actually in great shape. I believe it's a 2003 or 2004. We take the dogs sometimes in it, it's very roomy. I live in FL so I'm not sure about the handling in the snow...but I don't really like driving it because it feels a little top heavy. Well, I drive a Toyota Corolla so I guess it would feel different...but it's a pretty nice car.
My mom had an older CR-V, we just ended up trading it in because it started giving her problems, rattling noises and such. I don't suggest older than a 2003. I don't know much about the rest of the cars.
Thanks everyone for the input. I've never consider the outlander, for some reason I thought they fell into the larger SUV catagory? :confused: Thanks for the link, I'll check those out. I didn't considered the vans for the same reason, I thought they might be on the big side for what I'd be comfortable with. I'm planning to do some test drives this weekend, which I'm both dreading and looking forward to. If I could test the cars without some of the sales people I'd be much happier. No offense to anyone who sells cars I've just had some really pushy ones before who drive me nuts. ;)
Jeeps! We had a Gran Cherokee for 8 years and never had a problem with it. And now we have a Liberty.IMO,Jeeps are one of the best SUVS out there.
Out of your list,i would get the Toyota or Honda.
just curious......
I see everyone saying NO to Kia's - which is cool, I used to have a sportage and hated it because I felt "lame" in it in high school when everyone else had "cool" cars....but did you notice the pattern?
Every Kia that was in an accident might have been totaled, but the people came out of it fine or with little injuries. That says something for their safety rating I would say. It is great on gas mileage, has a really good warranty, and the NEW model looks pretty cute.
That said, I would probably go with the Honda (excellent resell value and good reliability) or the Kia (good pricing and safety rating + warranty....bad resell value though)
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
I don't consider oil changes, new tires, new brakes, etc as "repair" items. They are regular maintenance items in my opinion.
I think you're going to get tons of different opinions when you ask a question like this, just like you have! Everyone has had a bad experience with one manufacturer or another. I have never owned a car that was not made in the US. Never purposely avoided the foreign made cars, just never found one that captured my interest the way the American made ones did. Of course with gas costing more these days, I may change my mind, having driven pretty big, gas guzzlers for many years now (dog and kid hauling cars).
I wish you lots of luck with your decision. You know, whatever makes you the most comfortable, driving, expense wise, insurance wise, etc, is what you should get! I also like to look at the warranty situation, especially when buying a brand new car. Good luck and have fun! :)
I have a 1997 Rav 4. When I go back to work, I'm getting another. I love it. It's just big enough for me. It is 4 cylinder so sometimes the pickup isn't great, but I've never had a single problem with it. I feel safe in it, it has lots of room for my needs (the back trunk part is Logan's). . I was considering an Element, because they're square and ugly but in a cute way. I wanted to be different, but I'm so happy with my Rav that I'm sticking to it. I heard the same stories about Kia and Hundai. I had a '68 Mustang which I loved, but I couldn't always drive it in the huge snow storms we had. Man! it sure was a Beaute!
i agree w/karen on all points regarding the honda crv......mine is a 2001.....i have never had any kind of problem w/it.....i just love it! :o