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Test Drove 6 Vehicles - Narrowed down to CR-V and Equinox
Searching for an SUV, over the past three weekends my wife and I test
drove several models. We haven't come to a final decision yet and would appreciate some input. We want a new small to medium sized SUV below 25k (us dollars) (below 23k is preferable). My wife and I drive aggressively, plus where we live, highways have short on-ramps so acceleration is a must. Safety ratings must be five stars, it must have a usable back seat and it needs to have a mechanical rating. We've narrowed our choices down to the CR-V, Chevy Equinox and the Liberty as a 3rd option. We ruled out testing the Toyota Rav 4 because the interior looked too small. I've included a summary of our experiences for each. We tested only automatic models that came in under 23k. Honda CR-V - Impressive acceleration for a four cylinder engine. Why is that? - Good mechanical and safety reviews - Fully functional back seat that folds down nicely - the cargo door swings sideways making it problem when parked two feet from another car. This makes it useless 90% of time. This is necessary since the spare is on the back, but there's cargo space under the back compartment that's the same shape and almost the size of a spare tire. - cloth interior looks cheap. Mitsubishi Outlander - Good acceleration for a four cylinder engine but not as good as the CRV. This bumped the CR-V up on our list. - Back door hinges upward (the proper way) - Interior is rather boring for the price-range model we looked at. Chevrolet Equinox (my wife likes this vehicle above the others) - 6 cylinder engine. Best acceleration of what we've tested. - Fully functional back seat that folds - First-run model so there's no history to research. Yes, it's build on all existing parts, but still. - Seems rather big to me for some reason. Maybe psychologically when I think "Chevy", I think "big" - Seemed like a lot of vehicle for its price - Instead of a curtain to cover anything in the back, there's a plastic shelf. This is a nice thing. But it's not quite big enough to fully obscure anything back there. No big deal though. Subaru Forester (vanilla four cylinder model) - Tight cockpit. - Bad acceleration - Expensive to add a decent engine - We didn't feel it was worth the price Hyundai Santa Fe - A friend of mine had access to some research that made us consider this - Weak acceleration on the six cylinder (non V6) model. Much less then the four cylinder CR-V - tight cockpit. My arm was pinned against the door. Jeep Liberty - One of my favorites - Good acceleration (tested 6 cyl model) - I like overall aesthetics - The backseat is useless. It doesn't adjust for comfort and there's no leg room. We'd go with the CR-V in an instant if it had six cylinders. The fact that it has four concerns us. Any advice is appreciated. ~ Avery |
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Avery > wrote:
> Searching for an SUV, over the past three weekends my wife and I test > drove several models. We haven't come to a final decision yet and > would appreciate some input. We want a new small to medium sized SUV I don't know what it is about the "SUV" that has you in that market. What about the Ford Escape, or the new Ford Freestyle? (The Freestyle might be out of the price range). I just ordered an Escape Hybrid, but that's out of the price range. > We've narrowed our choices down to the CR-V, Chevy Equinox and the > Liberty as a 3rd option. I'd go for the Chevy in that group. The CR-V isn't really in that group except by pricing, is it? Watch out for the type of 4wd/awd. The Liberty comes with several different styles, and only the most expensive is comparable to the CR-V. http://automobiles.honda.com/models/...ModelName=CR-V has a "comparison" in the top right, where you can select several models for a multiple comparison. --- Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 |
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wrote in message >...
> > I don't know what it is about the "SUV" that has you in that market. > What about the Ford Escape, or the new Ford Freestyle? (The Freestyle > might be out of the price range). > > I just ordered an Escape Hybrid, but that's out of the price range. > The Escape has a rating of 2 out of 5 for mechanical quality at J.D. Power. :-( http://kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.jd?kb...M9M20&&&&jdpay The Freestyle is out of our price range. > > I'd go for the Chevy in that group. The CR-V isn't really in that group > except by pricing, is it? Watch out for the type of 4wd/awd. The Liberty > comes with several different styles, and only the most expensive is > comparable to the CR-V. > > http://automobiles.honda.com/models/...ModelName=CR-V > has a "comparison" in the top right, where you can select several models > for a multiple comparison. > |
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I was where you are a few weeks ago. Here is what I thought of my
possibles. Saturn VUE V6 - the engine is a 3.5L Honda built engine (250 hp) - 2004 model has a $3000 rebate which the Tallahassee Saturn rose to $3750 which puts the FWD model under $20k with the option of 17" alloy wheels. - more standard feature than most vehicles out there, including safety - very impressive power, not as agile as the Ford Escape. Has the feel of a larger vehicle Honda CR-V - it was ok, unimpressive power, pricey Honda Element - "different" look, not sure if I would like that look a year from now. Better prices than the CR-V and essentially the same vehicle. Ford Escape V6 - avoid the 4 cyl... WAY too under-powered - the V6 had lots of power - agile handling Chevy Equinox - I didn't even drive it after driving the VUE as the VUE has 250 hp and the Equinox has 185 hp, less standard features (including safety features) plus it is about $2k more than the VUE before options I skipped the Jeeps all together as they are not very impressive with gas mileage. I suggest taking 30 mins and going for a spin in a Escape V6 and a VUE V6. I wouldn't worry so much about car ratings, though they are worth looking into. I had a '95 Neon that only had one trip to the dealer for warranty work (broken O2 sensor) and they were (and probably still) rated VERY POOR. Get the vehicle that excites you the most! Best of luck! -keith tallahassee, fl "Avery" > wrote in message om... > Searching for an SUV, over the past three weekends my wife and I test > drove several models. We haven't come to a final decision yet and > would appreciate some input. We want a new small to medium sized SUV > below 25k (us dollars) (below 23k is preferable). My wife and I drive > aggressively, plus where we live, highways have short on-ramps so > acceleration is a must. Safety ratings must be five stars, it must > have a usable back seat and it needs to have a mechanical rating. > We've narrowed our choices down to the CR-V, Chevy Equinox and the > Liberty as a 3rd option. We ruled out testing the Toyota Rav 4 because > the interior looked too small. > > I've included a summary of our experiences for each. We tested only > automatic models that came in under 23k. > > Honda CR-V > - Impressive acceleration for a four cylinder engine. Why is that? > - Good mechanical and safety reviews > - Fully functional back seat that folds down nicely > - the cargo door swings sideways making it problem when parked two > feet from another car. This makes it useless 90% of time. This is > necessary since the spare is on the back, but there's cargo space > under the back compartment that's the same shape and almost the size > of a spare tire. > - cloth interior looks cheap. > > Mitsubishi Outlander > - Good acceleration for a four cylinder engine but not as good as the > CRV. This bumped the CR-V up on our list. > - Back door hinges upward (the proper way) > - Interior is rather boring for the price-range model we looked at. > > Chevrolet Equinox (my wife likes this vehicle above the others) > - 6 cylinder engine. Best acceleration of what we've tested. > - Fully functional back seat that folds > - First-run model so there's no history to research. Yes, it's build > on all existing parts, but still. > - Seems rather big to me for some reason. Maybe psychologically when I > think "Chevy", I think "big" > - Seemed like a lot of vehicle for its price > - Instead of a curtain to cover anything in the back, there's a > plastic shelf. This is a nice thing. But it's not quite big enough to > fully obscure anything back there. No big deal though. > > Subaru Forester (vanilla four cylinder model) > - Tight cockpit. > - Bad acceleration > - Expensive to add a decent engine > - We didn't feel it was worth the price > > Hyundai Santa Fe > - A friend of mine had access to some research that made us consider > this > - Weak acceleration on the six cylinder (non V6) model. Much less then > the four cylinder CR-V > - tight cockpit. My arm was pinned against the door. > > Jeep Liberty > - One of my favorites > - Good acceleration (tested 6 cyl model) > - I like overall aesthetics > - The backseat is useless. It doesn't adjust for comfort and there's > no leg room. > > We'd go with the CR-V in an instant if it had six cylinders. The fact > that it has four concerns us. > > Any advice is appreciated. > ~ Avery |
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Avery > wrote:
> The Escape has a rating of 2 out of 5 for mechanical quality at J.D. > Power. :-( Having been a member of the crack J.D.Power survey population, I have less than no regard for the results they tabulate. It is absolute crap. The questions are phrased the way the sponsors want them phrased. The mantra associated with each brand continues unabated, fueled by J.D.Power results. --- Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 |
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"Keith J" > wrote in message >...
> I was where you are a few weeks ago. Here is what I thought of my > possibles. > > Saturn VUE V6 > - the engine is a 3.5L Honda built engine (250 hp) > - 2004 model has a $3000 rebate which the Tallahassee Saturn rose to $3750 > which puts the FWD model under $20k with the option of 17" alloy wheels. > - more standard feature than most vehicles out there, including safety > - very impressive power, not as agile as the Ford Escape. Has the feel of a > larger vehicle Caveat: When I say "aggressive" I don't mean insane, we like to get to the speed reasonably quickly. :-) We considered the Vue, but we drive a Saturn now and it's falling apart (1995 L2). There have been problems for years that the mechanics have never been able to fix. There's something wrong with the automatic gear shifting. We took it to Saturn and they replaced some chip to fix the problem, but only temporarily. Then small things like a rattle under the dash, windows suddenly fog up in the rain or cold (imagine dealing with that on a wet, snowy highway) and as a result we ALWAYS drive with the AC on, not enough windshield wiper speeds, there's a leak in the door that has never been properly fixed, and wind noise. I've had parts replaced more often on this car then any other car I've owned and it only has 75k miles. We have no confidence in their repair department. Aside from their failing to fix the ratting dash and the leaking door, we had an over-heating problem during the summer. The first time the mechanic charged us $300 to replace the water pump. That wasn't what was wrong. They gave it back to us without testing it. The next day they replaced another part for more money. When I picked up the car it still overheated AND the temperature gauge stopped working! This day they never called to tell me it was ready. Probably because they didn't want me to rip another hole in them. When I called them the repair shop had already closed. I had to deal with a very kind salesman who waited an extra hour after closing for my wife to pick it up. The third time they got it right with a replaced fan, but it was still $500 later. Now the over heating problem has started again. That Saturn repair shop we dealt with has since closed. So I can't negotiate based on their poor job the first THREE times. So Instead of taking it to a dealer, renting a car for the day and possibly paying for new parts that weren't replaced the first time, we've decided to get something else -- but not a Saturn. The I'm sure things have changed with them, but the stigma is still there and we wanted something else. |
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