SUV choices

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jc100 said:
My main priority right now is visibility, my wife is worried about power lift gates and handling 2 dogs. We'd actually prefer a manual liftgate but then you're usually at the bottom of the trim level and lose a lot of other toys.
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As much as I expected power lift gates to be a terrible idea requiring much expensive maintenance, nobody I know has ever had to service theirs. Meanwhile everyone I know has had to replace gas shocks that lift the gate. Maybe they aren't old enough yet.

Hyundai opens just by standing near it, that's convenient when your hands are full. It takes its sweet time though, I would love to reduce the delay.
 
GreyGhost said:
As much as I expected power lift gates to be a terrible idea requiring much expensive maintenance, nobody I know has ever had to service theirs. Meanwhile everyone I know has had to replace gas shocks that lift the gate. Maybe they aren't old enough yet.

Hyundai opens just by standing near it, that's convenient when your hands are full. It takes its sweet time though, I would love to reduce the delay.
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Thats the problem, my dogs have huge prey drive. When they are in the back of the SUV I want the rear hatch closed immediately.
 
Ventilated seats, both heated and cooled along with the power lift gate are two features that I am very pleased that I have.


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DemonPig said:
You can open and close power liftgates manually, it just requires a bit more effort.
Certain cars allow you to disable them as well.
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The XL sounds so angry when you pull it shut (habit). I would hope that the linear actuators are designed to deal with this well, but only time would tell if it tore them up.
 
DemonPig said:
You can open and close power liftgates manually, it just requires a bit more effort.
Certain cars allow you to disable them as well.
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GreyGhost said:
The XL sounds so angry when you pull it shut (habit). I would hope that the linear actuators are designed to deal with this well, but only time would tell if it tore them up.
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I was under the impression that closing them manually will damage them. Not sure why.

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Joe Bass said:
I was under the impression that closing them manually will damage them. Not sure why.

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. You're not the only one. I wasn't sure either. I closed the one on the CRV in the Honda showroom manually and it really didn't seem to like it.
 
SunnY S said:
so what did you end up getting?
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Nothing yet...plus just read about the new Tiguan set to arrive in August. That has increased cargo space apparently so would be interesting too. This is a slow process. Big purchase, no need to rush.
 
Test drove the 2.5 naturally aspirated Subaru Forester limited today. Quite a nice truck, refined ride over rough pavement. Slightly jerky response if you floor it that I didn't like as much. Cabin was OK inside and visibility was amazing. The only thing was it didn't leave me feeling as though it was amazing. Maybe that's the focus segment for this SUV though...competent but not amazing. Maybe the turbo will be better.

Also had a look at a jeep Cherokee limited which was very nice inside. Didn't drive it but the JD Power reliability ratings have me concerned about this truck. They do have a few of last years cars back as ex daily rentals though with 20k on them for about $8-10k off which is enticing.
 
What about the H6 Outback? It is borderline SUV and certainly larger than many of them with more cargo capacity.

I wouldn't recommend H4 because if you think that Forester is jerky with that engine, you won't like how Outback feels.
Mainly why I bought the Golf wagon instead of a Subaru even though I am a big fan of their cars (and the amazing visibility). I would've gotten the H6 myself but it was outside my price range of $30,000 all in.

Jeep seems to have went for style over function. (Which is nothing really new for them)
 
Still not considering any domestics?

That's a shame, as it sounds like the Ford Edge would be perfect for you. Decent on gas, and its bigger inside than it looks. I have a close friend who's on his 3rd (as a work vehicle), and has all the bells & whistles. Not a huge SUV, but def. more room than the smaller SUV's
 
Or the Escape (my sister has one and it has been good), or Chevrolet Equinox or Trax (if the Equinox is too big) or Traverse (if the Equinox is too small) or the Jeep Cherokee or 2018 Compass (which is a full redesign and an enormous improvement over the old one). Test drive any of these.
 
Never mind the Trax, the equivalent Buick Encore is $23,500 with crazy equipment levels. Wish I needed one!
 
Kri$han said:
Still not considering any domestics?

That's a shame, as it sounds like the Ford Edge would be perfect for you. Decent on gas, and its bigger inside than it looks. I have a close friend who's on his 3rd (as a work vehicle), and has all the bells & whistles. Not a huge SUV, but def. more room than the smaller SUV's
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Domestics? Is there a Canadian company making cars now??
 
No, but Magna, Linamar, Martinrea and countless smaller companies supply parts. After this coffee break i'm visiting another one, and after that I'm going to another one. The Equinox is built in Ingersoll. Toyota builds lots of vehicles in Cambridge and Woodstock including RAV4.
 
*That* is a tough question. There is no simple "country of origin" any more. Vehicles from all manufacturers are built from parts sourced all over the world, and the same suppliers supply many different brands. (A company that specializes in building oil pumps, builds oil pumps for everything. A company that specializes in building door latches, builds latches for everything. A company that specializes in making windows, makes windows for everything. And so on.)

So what it means is that it's largely unfair to discriminate against any particular brand because of who the manufacturer is or where the final assembly plant is. It also means that some brands are coasting on prior reputation that might not necessarily still be deserved.

People make a fuss over the JD Power IQS ratings. The difference between the best 10% and worst 10% is between an average of approximately one "thing gone wrong" per vehicle and approximately two "things gone wrong" per vehicle. Big. Freaking. Deal. And a "thing gone wrong" nowadays is frequently "The infotainment won't pair with my phone" or some such thing, as opposed to "The engine grenaded".

Historically I've owned vehicles that keyboard warriors love to hate. Historically VW (and I put >400,000 km on two of them), currently FiatChrysler. And I will grant that the Fiat has had its two things go wrong (in a year and 40,000 km, as opposed to the first three months of the IQS). Someone at the assembly plant forgot to tighten a bolt in the left power window regulator; it fell out a week after I took delivery. And ... a week ago, the outside air temperature sensor or circuit started acting up intermittently (this morning the instrument cluster was displaying -6 C outside temperature for a couple minutes until it sorted itself out). The nuisance is that this shuts the A/C down because the automatic climate control thinks it's below freezing outside, so there is no need to run the A/C. I know from the internet forums what's wrong ... the plug for the sensor (which is in the right-side outside mirror) needs to be unplugged, cleaned, and plugged back in again. For the moment, I'm fixing this by driving with the top down (cabrio) ...
 
It's not a tough question.

'Domestic' in North America means US nameplates. 'Import' means everything else.
 
What makes that somewhat of an unfair assessment is that a Toyota Camry or a Honda Civic (except hatch) is substantially a US/Canada-built vehicle but a Buick Envision is made in China. The Honda Civic hatchback final assembly is in Swindon, UK. Chevy Cruze sedan final assembly is Lordstown OH but the hatchback comes from Mexico.
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