I am starting to look into what vehicle wife will has next. I shall be using this thread over the next month or two for ideas/advice. She likes Foresters, Mazda CX-7, Honda CR-V fo sho. So far, we have driven an '04 XT and she liked it very much. Criteria: 1. Japanese 2. Not 2wd 3. Hauls stuff 4. Mpg around 20 5. Retains value well 6. Auto 7. $350-ish a month ($15,000 out the door used or closer to $20,000 if we find 0% financing) 8. Moonroof (not a deal-breaker) 9. Must not fail at short on-ramps/merging like her current 115hp Jetta 10. STi driver husband must not hate driving it I am open to all your thoughts/ideas and will probably be coming back to this thread with more questions. Thank you all, Matt
Highlander prooly too big, Rav-4 I must look into, forgot about those. My favorite is the Forester also, just trying to be open-minded
Recreation activity vehicle! We have one [the 4banger] I wish it had the 6. The rav4 v6s haul and they get very similar gas mileage as the 4, just pay a couple thousand more.
How important is #1? Is this list in order of priorities? How big of stuff? Sheets of plywood or 6 grocery bags and a box of kitty litter? If used, how old? Does warranty matter? bigger: MDX? RX 330? smaller: Impreza 2.5i hatch?
Tribeca. They are insanely cheap right now. Gets 21 mpg depending on who is driving :roll:. 5 speed auto, nav, heated lthr, roof, dvd, we payed under 17K. it was 40K new.
^That! Mike Wray's is still for sale I think! Do it Matt!! Lmao at 3rik! Sounds like you got a great deal on the Tribeca! Did you get the little side lights that are on display at the counter for it?:hsugh:
That's not biased at all is it??? I would stick with the Subaru Family, but that's me. I've heard some not so pleasing things about the CX-7 and CX-9, mostly on the fuel economy side of things. +1 for the Tribeca too.
#1 isn't the most important thing ever, but it's somewhat directly related to #5. I just want it to still be worth something when it has 100,000mi We don't NEED to haul plywood, although it would be nice, once you get into sosmething that you can fit a 4x8 sheet in, it's usually towards the truck end of the size spectrum. We just bought a house and don't want to be AS limited as we currently are with hauling stuff with our 2 sedans She doesn't like the "wagon" look :roll: Beleive me, I have tried Sounds like a sweet deal, I know she didn't like the previous bodystyle at all, but the newer ones may be worth another look. Does Salesperson Carol still work there? I can't sell her on the wagon for some reason (she likes toasters though, lol) and it is a manual, and I can't seem to talk her out of an automatic, even though she CAN drive stick.
I was waiting for you guys to chime in Without even driving anything else, I am still pretty sure we would both be very pleased with the Forester. I just wanna weigh all of our options first. There are a lot of deals out there like 0% financing on new vehicles that could mean getting something new with a warranty for about the same per month as an '04 XT.
That's exactly what we drove already. She is pretty stubborn about wanting an auto. I told her to gas it up an on ramp and I was like meh...until I looked at the speedo :yumyum:. That 4EAT makes it feel so much different :eek3: I think that I heard that the only sweet financing deals going on with new Subarus is with the Tribeca. We really like the new Foresters though, and that is some fantastic MPG!
the auto stock is sloppy.. but everyone who does the upgrades on ANY 4eat and with some boost... hauls ok... sucky thing about the auto is I heard/read that the power split is like 90/10 F/r in 3rd and Drive... remember I htink the stock Foz XT runs around 7-8psi stock.... yes... there is a basic stg 1 reflash you can do to get closer to 11.... I cant wait to finish my stage 2 on mine and get it more like 17-19psi... then go big turbo... but meh... $$$$$ says why waste money on stupid cars unless it's for driving not look at me
+1 for the Highlander, it is smaller than you think it is, plus my GF's gets 20-24 mpg mixed and I think we got over 26 on our trip to Chicago.
That power split does not sound too fun, but I suppose she is used to FWD anyways. She would probably want to get a stg 1 tune right away (zomg I think the only auto forester ecu supported by openecu is the '05) , but that, tint, and spoiler would prolly be all Hmmm...that is on the "look into it" list now too.
thing is it isnt BAD... I mean when do you need 50/50 split at 70 on teh highways... and manually throwing down works too... dont get me wrong.. it is fun... in L or 2nd the ass kicks hard.... um... 04/05 same thing.. mine is 04.. Bills is 04.. the auto tunes arent as readily available, but a custom Bulltinkle one will work...
^ Yeah I love her car, it has a solid AWD and also if you have/will be having children its safety ratings are fairly high. Actually thats how she ended up with her Highlander, her dad is really into safety and so he picked that one.
Nope not yet, not for a while I hope. Still have to get a house and higher paying job in my field, I just got my foot in the door .... Sorry Moleness but really test drive the Highlander. Side note it'll tow your boat better
never heard it called that before.. but if it swings open that wide.... toyotas are fantastic vehicles... at least back In Australia but they always are... before flaming.. look at the STi etc.. we get the better standards back home.. damn EPA
Has anyone driven both an '04 XT AND an '06-'08 N/A Forester? Do the n/a ones seem incredibly slow in comparison?
no, they seem punchier, everyone talks about how a 2.5 makes for no lag, BS on a stock automatic FXT you are still waiting. Get her an N/A forester, she can put regular gas in it and mistreat it all she wants and it will keep coming back for more.
probably a good idea.. unless you wanna throw some minor mods on it for better performance the go an XT... but if it is JUST for her and she isnt into the whooosh fffsssst then go N/A
We will have to try the n/a one out. It will be mostly driven by her, but when we are out and aboot together, I typically drive and we would prolly be looking to use "her" car for road trips and such. She isn't heart set on the pshhh, as long as she has giddiup
there is nothing slow about a newer n/a forester, it will have power everywhere, she can put regular fuel in it, get decent fuel mileage, and it will be reliable.
True, I just need to find a black or silver one with a moonroof and maybe leather. I would have trouble with that just because i know I can find an XT for about the same $$$. <<< is addicted to turboz :yumyum:
Wife may be open to the idea of an LGT Wagon now, so we must drive one, but she is still stuck on AT At least the Leggy has a 5EAT, right? I am still pretty stuck on the turbo idea, as this may become my car in the next year or so.
they arent hard to find... depends on what you are after... I had pages and pages of them I found for sale.. but I wanted white the wife wanted auto... so I came across 3 total for sale in the country in 3weeks of looking... 2 got sold under me.. the last I flew to Florida to get... although the autos would fit Eriks opinion as they are harder to find... also go onto forester.org forums.. there are always ones for sale over there...
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f93/2005-forester-sti-conversion-so-cal-31820/ this one isnt auto but hey would be fun http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f93/2004-psm-fxt-4-eat-pittsburgh-pa-42319/ this one is an auto
First one is hot hot hot, maybe something like that for MY next Subaru :yumyum: Second one is a really nice price but prolly a bit too far away, and Wife is in love with the huge moonroof, which it does not have. We would be willing to travel to say, Chicago, for the right car/price. She has relatives there that could check it out for us also. PS- Can we be friends on the forester forums too?
Looks like she is pretty much sold on the Forester. :biggrin: Now we gotta figure out which one. We has time though
