SUV suggestions?

Cheese · 03-04-2007, 09:55 PM

alright, i got an internship this summer, and if you saw my post in the 'what do you drive' thread, obviously my current car isnt exactly daily driver always runs type of car. if i just left it alone it'd be fine, but with me racing it on the side, it's not the most reliable and there's no telling when/if i'll wreck on track. during school it's fine since i can take the bus everywhere and can fix the car on the side, but that can't really happen if i'm working.

right now i'm leaning more towards SUVs since getting another small car seems pointless when i already have one and it'd be nice to have something to tow my pos around to track events. looking for something under 10k that is reliable. i'd also like it to have some off-road capability since if i'm going to have an suv i dont want to be like everyone else and just drive it on the roads. i'm thinking i'll drive the crx most of the time, but when it's really hot out or it's out of commission i'd take the suv.

after looking at consumer reports, auto trader, and msn auto all day i think i've narrowed things down to a late 90s toyota 4runner sr5, late 90s nissan pathfinder, '00/'01 nissan exterra, and late 90s/early 00s ford explorer. out of those i'm inclined to go with the toyota from what i've read and i kinda like the styling of that more. they all get roughly the same mpg, same towing, exterra is smallest, the rest are basically same size, 4runner appears the be the best off-road and most reliable. explorer is probably my last choice, just not sure i can trust it. 4runner is the most expensive for the year, then pathfinder, xterra, and explorer's are the cheapest.

anyway, i know some of you guys are into the suv thing so what are ya'lls opinion of things? any cars i may be missing in this class at my price range?

LoPo · 03-04-2007, 10:21 PM

Out of those, get the yota, hands down. Out of the remaining three, I would put the Xterra in second and then the Pathy.

The ford shouldn't be on your list.... if we're talking about reliability.

Congrats on the internship.

{OF}Blong · 03-04-2007, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoPo

Out of those, get the yota, hands down. Out of the remaining three, I would put the Xterra in second and then the Pathy.

The ford shouldn't be on your list.... if we're talking about reliability.

Congrats on the internship.

im sorry but reliablity of ford is better than you think. I know a few on here that will tell you that every make/model/type of vehicle is "unreliable". Smiley has had a ford and chevy when I was around (im sure he has had more but chevy and ford is all I can remember lol) and his ranger was a perty darn good vehicle from what I remember. My last Ford Taurus had 150k miles on it (102k put on by me) and all I had to replace on it (besides the normal items like brake pads) was an egr valve and sensor and a new thermostat. Now I consider that pretty reliable considering you dont need either of those for your vehicle to run and keep running. then again the taurus I had before that went through 3 transmissions before I got rid of it but that had around 250k miles on it when I got rid of that. I mean my Oldsmobille has had more problems then my last taurus did but those have all been covered under warranty (which I have like 4 months left lol).

Cheese why suv and not a truck? Just curious as last I knew they both were poor on gas mileage lol

. I know smiley has (well ok Mrs Smiley) has an Explorer but I have no idea what kind of problems, if any, they have had with it. I am just pointing out experiences I have personally seen/have and not going on hard facts because well im not a vehicle person

. I also have no idea if someone should believe consumer reports or not because I dont know what/how they base their data/tests on. guess ill have to google consumer reports and find that out

.

*edit I should say that the one person I know who has a Dodge has had lots of problems with them.

LoPo · 03-05-2007, 12:21 AM

sometimes I ask myself "why does blong post" then I see post count and I know why.

Cheese asked about a Ford Exploder..... not your dads F150 or his chevy or the oldsmobile or the details about your Taurus.

My dad owned 3 ford exploders...beginning in 91 when they first came out, not many problems, none the less, he did have problems. My buddy has a 96 yota 4 runner sr5 has just under 250k on it and no major work. Xterra got SUV of the year in 2000, I would recommend that over a Ford Exploder ANY day of the week. Please let me know when the Ford Exploder won anything but the rollover the year award. Family SUV of the year doesn't count for a young 20 something year old male.

mmk?

{OF}Blong · 03-05-2007, 01:33 AM

roll over of the year yeah ok whatver you said Ford shouldnt be on the list and thus I took it you mean every ford. The reason ford is rollover of the year is because more people owned fords at one point. I see xterra/toyotas what have you all stuck on the side of the road all the time because people dont know how to drive in the snow. Same with being rolled over. "Hey I have 4 wheel drive so I can drive 90mph down the highway in a blizzard". As for family vehicle thats why I asked about the suv part rather than say a truck. It doesnt sound to me like cheese has a family to deal with atm but hey I could be wrong.

I realize cheese asked about a ford explorer but you bashed Ford so I stated otherwise. I also mentioned that smiley has an explorer but I dont know if and what they may have had wrong with it. You cant say just ford has problems on his list when it is obvious every single one of those mentioned has problems. You may get lucky and not have one with problems or you may get lucky and have one with many problems. The fact your father has had 3 of them tells me he liked them at one point for some reason so they must have done good by him if he kept buying them.

{OF}Malicious Assault · 03-05-2007, 07:28 AM

Cheese, if you are buying a used vehicle you should be more concerned about what the previous owner did to it or didn't do to it. You are going to find a million arguments about which one is the best. You need to decide which YOU like and find one that is mechanically sound and has not been abused. All makes and models have their problems and if I spent some time looking I would be able to post bad things about them all. I am partial to US auto makers, that is because I have family that works for GM. But that is me. Buy what you like and make sure you look for those hidden problems that can cause mre trouble than they are worth.

Cheese · 03-05-2007, 08:02 AM

lol, somehow i knew this would turn into a ford bashing. i have nothing against fords, my parents have had nothing but ford cars since we sold our 80s MANUAL dodge caravan after 11 years. our '92 escort station wagon we had till dec 05 and it had 220k when we sold it, over 250k now with the new owner. lasted two new drivers learning manual and my brother wrecked it twice, still going strong and not any oil leaks (more than i can say about the crx). IF they're taken care of they will last a while.

that's true about any car, but toyotas/hondas seem to last forever even if they're neglected a bit. i've bought a couple used cars in the past, my dad's a mechanical engineer and i'm not clueless either on what to look for. since i'm dealing with used cars, i'm just not sure i could trust the ford. if it was new or close to new that'd be different. also right now i'm just on a 'fact finding mission', not looking to buy yet since i havnt officially accepted the job offer. but i'm on spring break right now and i need something to do, lol

i'm test driving one of each of those either today or tomorrow. but right now the 4runner is in the lead for me, not only reliability wise, but looks and off-roadability. we'll see how it drives, but i can only imagine that all of these will feel amazing to me after being beaten to death by the crx with it's stiff racing suspension.

Soul · 03-05-2007, 08:08 AM

I can ditto lopo, I know people that have FE's and had nothing but problems, and on the flip people that I know with 4-runner have a ton of miles and little problems.

go with a toyota.

{OF}MillerTime · 03-05-2007, 08:28 AM

my fav, other than gas mileage....

http://www.bmacoal.com/opencms/expor...ucklaunch.html

Smiley · 03-05-2007, 11:25 AM

Our '97 Exploder has over 190k with very little mechanical problems. But it is a soccer mom vehicle and offroad not so hot.

I'd recommend a Toyota or Nissan for a young guy like Cheese, but put it up on a hoist and look for mud in the frame or other offroad damage before buying.

And Lopo, I don't have a F150 . . . silly.