Hayburner going. Need sug. for a smaller SUV

[tmacc]

The Subaru salesman said that he owned a Durango and was comiserating w/ me about the Expedition's milage. He said he got 12 mpg w/ a tailwind. (Not that he would lie or anything, but he brought it up. ) That's worse than the Expedition. With gas in our area having gone up $. 15 a gallon in the last 2 weeks, I'm looking for something in the 20's at least. We're still looking. If I could just get the wife out there to drive something, anything would be a start.
Thaks again.

 

[JyRO]

tmacc - I'm tellin' ya man, if there's a car company out there that you don't have to worry about the 1st year of a vehicle, it is Toyota. I work at Toyota Technical Center as a design engineer. You have never seen any group of people more anal about 100% quality from the 1st car off the line to the last. I've had to have seats built, that have a slight quality tweak to them, JUST IN CASE A CUSTOMER EVER MADE A COMPLAINT! There has never been a complaint regarding this and the seats are just sitting on a shelf waiting. Now that's anal, and Toyota does stuff like that every d@mn day.

I've got a 4Runner (that's getting in the mid-20's to and from work (city/hwy), but its a manual and I'm a patient driver) and that truck is an absolute pleasure to drive. I'll take it before the big ram, unless I have to haul, tow, or the wife's gone in the 4Runner. And I have a 1990 Celica (that was a first year (for that body style)) that has 172,000+ miles and still drives quiet and good, with good power and gets 36+ mpg. The point is, I think you'd be unbelievably surprised with a first year Highlander. If you haven't driven one, I highly suggest you talk the missus into seeing one and driving it, and just see what you think.

Also, the new Rav4's look much better, and they get good fuel mileage. But, in the previous model, they used a high revving little weaney motor. Too loud on the interstate, I don't know if that changed for the new vehicle or not.

- JyRO

 

[tmacc]

JyRO,
I happened to be near a Toyota dealer today and stopped in to look at the Highlander. I never got past the sticker. They were in the 29-34K range and no deals were to be had. The saleman said that they had just recently gotten enough in to eliminate the $4k up charge that they were charging on top of the sticker. At that price, one would be better off w/ a Lexus RX300. No? I did notice that there were half a dozen saleman standing around bsing w/ no customers, while the Subaru dealer next door was hoppin'. HMMMMMM I'm sure they are great vehicles, but it's more than I'm willing to pay.
So far, I'm leaning towards the Passat w/ the Outback a real close second, but since the wife will have final say, we know what that's worth.
BCFAST, I'm w/ you on the V40. The car I drove had 700 miles and had those annoying plastic squeaks in the interior that a Ford takes thousands of miles to develope. But my M-I-L is lobbying hard for my wife to get one. Probably to justify her purchase of one... . Did I say that?... . Hope the wife doesn't read this.
Thanks again everbody.

[This message has been edited by tmacc (edited 04-21-2001). ]

[This message has been edited by tmacc (edited 04-22-2001). ]

 

[tmacc]

JyRO. I'll take a look at the Highlander tomorrow. The Volvo dealer also carries Toyota. My wife is a pretty patient driver also. How many people do you know that got 72k out of the orignal tire on a full size SUV and they still had a safe amount of tread on them. And that's w/ towing a horse trailer twice a week. I still like the Passat the best as far as road feel and ride. I was surprised that the V40 Volvo rode kind of rough for a car, but it gets slightly high mileage than the Passat. If we start looking at suvs again, We'll probably look at Troopers too. The saga continues.
Thanks,
Tom

 

[jsimpson]

Subaru

 

[tmacc]

Man, will wonders never cease. The wife and I actually agree on something. I'm very proud of myself for not using any arm twisting or manipulation of any sort. Really. She finally drove a Passat and liked it the best. She also drove a Outback and thought that it was pretty good too. Said she could live with either one. I have to say that I have heard not one bad thing about Subarus in general. We prefer the Passat, but wagons are hard to come by at the moment and Subaru has some deals going. Well see. BTW I want to thank everbody for their input on this. It has been a great help. I'll let you know what we wind up with.
Later,
Tom

 

[JyRO]

tmacc - I can't blame you for the sticker shock. I don't necessarily see the end result (sticker price) of these vehicles. If the RX-300 is in the same price range as the Highlander, I'd certainly be eyeballing the Lexus. Although, along with the steep sticker comes the Toyota pursuit of quality.

As far as the Passat/Outback/Volvo(s), they're all good cars. For the 2000 N. A. I. Auto Show, I was real impressed with the Volvo wagons.

I don't know how the 4Runner and Highlander's sticker price compare (I'd say they're similar), but I bought my 2000 for $21k. If I stay here at Toyota Technical Center for much longer, the next vehicle I'll get (for me) will be an Avalon. Leather bucket seat Avalons RULE (as far as 4 door sedans go).

Good luck with your vehicle investigation. Especially if your wife is like mine, she'll see the same vehicle today that she liked yesterday and say, "uggg, I don't like that. " I can't even argue with her cause she never makes logical sense to me.

- JyRO