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Proposed Budget: As close to $30k as possible, willing to maybe go as high as $50k New or Used: Preference for New, as I like to maximize life of vehicle and drive until they almost can’t drive any further. Not opposed to used for the right car, just keep in mind this is meant to be a “forever-ish” car. Body Style: CUV or SUV How will you be using the car?: This will be our dedicated “family hauler.” Wife and I currently have one kid and two dogs, with ideally one more child in the future. Grandparents also currently live with us. We would be using this mostly for carting the immediate family, but occasionally grand parents, or an aunt, or a horde of child’s friends would be along for the ride. From that perspective, a third row may be preferable, but we have not ruled out a two-row CUV and just taking two cars in those “EVERYONE is going out” scenarios. Those situations don’t currently happen often, so it may not be a big deal. Ideally, this would also be used for in-state/weekend road trips that just my wife and kid(s) would be going on. What aspects are most important to you? 1. Reliability - this is replacing a Hyundai with “engine may erupt in flames at any time” issues. 2. Fuel economy - strongly considering hybrid. 3. Space - hoping for a vehicle that comfortably fits two rear-facing car seats (both of our current vehicles require the seat in front to move up slightly to accommodate the car seat) and eventually can comfortably cart around two kids all the way into their teen years. 4. Features - largely not too concerned with getting the top trim of any vehicle, but there are a handful of features I would for sure want, such as heated seats, Apple CarPlay, all the safety bells and whistles, etc. features I absolutely do not want or need include sunroof, built-in satnav, WiFi, gigantic touchscreen infotainment. 5. It has to “look cool.”I don’t really care about this too much, but my wife cares a lot. That being said, despite the objective utilitarian superiority, she absolutely will refuse a minivan, so please refrain from suggesting one. It is a battle I cannot win. Also, since it’s important, I live in the US. I have a strong preference for Toyota or Mazda due to known reliability. I am not opposed to Honda, but I haven’t really followed any of their development over the last ten years or so… they’re currently a bit of a blind spot if the thread happens to have good insights. Some cars we have already looked at and consider to be in contention: - Mazda CX-5: worried this may be too small, especially during the car seat phase - RAV4 Hybrid: currently seems like a decent option, but I really dislike that Toyota requires the most expensive options package to get the safety bells and whistles. It also seems like I am forced to spend more and get a moonroof if I want heated seats. - Grand Highlander Hybrid: This seems like a decent compromise if we get the lowest trim, but that seems to be one of the hottest selling cars right now. There is no inventory for a GH Hybrid that costs less than $55k. Cars we have ruled out: - 4Runner: abysmal MPG. - Mazda CX-x0 series cars: platform is too new for my liking. I prefer cars with established generation history. EDIT: I would also actually strongly consider an ev if there is a good one that fits my needs! I think my wife is (understandably) anti-Tesla, so a Model Y is out of the question though. Gin_Rummy fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Apr 2, 2024 |
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Apr 2, 2024 17:45
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 22:11 |
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Is the 2024 RAV4 a first run model? Or are you referring specifically to the Prime? I generally agree that the benefits of the Prime are not worth the price. It basically would just end up saving gas while running errands and could not get either myself or my wife to work on one charge alone. knox_harrington posted:Used Panamera Sport Turismo e-hybrid This is the one. /thread Gin_Rummy fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Apr 2, 2024 |
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Apr 2, 2024 18:33
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ethanol posted:I mean there is heavy pointing 2025 will be a full redesign for rav4, so if you wait a year it's going to be a first year model across the board. I personally didn't like the new design direction of the tacoma.. I like how the rav4 looks now and it's a pretty well proven design with a fair amount of worked out bugs.. so I decided 2024 was the way to go for me as its very late model. Oh, gotcha, I understand what you mean. Yes absolutely agreed, I would be getting either a ‘24 model or (if extremely lucky) an unsold ‘23 at perhaps a bargain price. EDIT: How do you feel about the softex seating? We know for sure we do not want fabric, and everything I’ve read implies the softex is much more durable and easier to maintain than real leather. I’ve only ever had leather seats in my cars though, so I only have hearsay to go off of there. Gin_Rummy fucked around with this message at 18:45 on Apr 2, 2024 |
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Apr 2, 2024 18:41
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IOwnCalculus posted:I'm a bit perplexed at "maybe considering a three row SUV" but the ones you've listed as prime candidates are all the second-smallest or smallest two-row crossovers their respective companies make. The CRV/CX5/RAV4 aren't cramped by any means but I also wouldn't call the back seat "roomy" in any of them. Four adults will put you in fairly close quarters. You'll definitely take a fuel economy hit but if rear seat and road trip comfort are priorities, I'd also be looking at the Highlander as already mentioned, or the Honda Passport/Pilot. The primary passengers will be my wife and kid(s), especially on road trips. The two-row CUVs would seemingly be “just fine” for that kind of use. The three-row SUVs would be more out of convenience and covering every possible future scenario. I agree Grand Highlander would probably be the better vehicle with respect to space, but ultimately its space I’m not 100% sure we need beyond some “edge case” scenarios. EDIT: I say Grand Highlander because the base-level Highlander didn’t seem to offer what I wanted… it seemed to make more financial sense to look at the Grand Highlander LE (starting ~$43) rather than a top trim Highlander (starting ~$45k). What does Toyota offer that is in-between Highlander size and RAV4? Gin_Rummy fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Apr 2, 2024 |
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Apr 2, 2024 18:56
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ethanol posted:if gas mileage is your game going with the bigger suv's with luxury room doesn't play along. To be fair, the hybrid SUVs (which we would almost certainly get if we went Toyota) seem more than good enough on MPG. The car we are replacing did somewhere in the high 20s and my Mazda usually gets about 30. The hybrid Grand Highlander seems to do about the same or more.
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Apr 2, 2024 19:09
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Yep! If the manufacturer pricing is to believed, it starts at just a few grand more than a RAV4 XSE too (one RAV4 in our area that we like is priced ~$41.5k, vs Grand Highlander Hybrid XLE starting at $45k), with most of the features I’m wanting already coming standard. So it appears that I would be getting a lot kore of what I want for just a small up charge. The trick here though is that no one has inventory on the lower trim Grand Highlanders, and I have no idea what pricing will actually look like once it’s on a lot with dealership bullshit thrown in.
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Apr 2, 2024 19:37
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 22:11 |
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And yet another reason why I’m not totally sold on a three-row SUV either. Interior space is nice and all, but I already hate driving my dad’s Tacoma because of the size. Our old CUV was a Santa Fe sport which is much closer to a RAV4 and more in line with what I am comfortable in.
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Apr 2, 2024 20:53
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