Whats the Best Small SUV

[FATCAT]

What have you folks experienced or know of the small SUV market? Who makes a good reliable AWD or 4WD SUV ... reliability wise and mpg wise.



Saturn Vue?

Rav4?

Escape/Tribute?

Forester?

Nissan ... . ?



My buddy here at work is in the market and does'nt want to spend too much (low 20s), but also get something with 20mpg+.



Seems that a lot of the small SUV's get horrible gas milage.

 

[slo-ryde]

Co-Worker has the Subaru Forrester and loves it. He's getting 22-24 mpg average. I don't think it's ever been in the shop, except for scheduled maintenance.

 

[Ram4Sam]

Honda CRV

Be sure and look at the Honda CRV. The fit and finish of the Hondas are second to none. My wife has one and it fits the desires of your friend. They can be had for less than 20 grand and get great mileage. (our's gets 23-25 mpg) and never breaks. If he can stand the styling, look at the Element, it's built on the same platform as the CRV.



Sam

 

[mazdarotary]

I will have to second the vote for a Subaru Forrester. While I don't own one yet my wife ,and I have been looking at them recently after going out in one of our friends Suby. I can't get over the room this small car has,as well as the great road gripping abilities.



Now if you can't tell by my screen name I love Mazda's,and we own a few right now so one would think I would say get a Mazda,but the only vehicle they have in the segment is the Tribute which I have heard is a nice car/truck,but it isn't a true mazda in that is is a rebadged ford.



I don't think you can go wrong with a Forrester or for that matter any of the subarus because they all have AWD,and you seem to get alot for your money IMHO. I am not sure of mileage on the subys but I would bet they are not bad. Heck they even have a turbo charged version of the forrester,but I bet they are pretty pricey. Good luck



Chris

 

[TowPro]

My wife puts around 20K miles a year on her ride.



We had a 2000 Honda CRV LX (loaded). It was nice. Only problem we had was the rear diff fluid had to be changed around 20K to stop a noise while turning, but thats part of maintaince on them. One other thing, the Honda with an auto can be towed behind a motorhome.



The Honda was also pretty low on power. In 2001 they stepped up the power somewhat, but its still a 4cyl. We used to get around mid 20's MPG with it. One thing I also recall was road noise, there is no noise insulation in the thing.



Then we bought her a 2002 Ford Excape Limited. Much more power, almost to much . When I drive it the MPG is around 17, my wife gets around 21 or so but I notice she also has a heavy foot on the back roads. Much quieter inside. More amercian feel. Hell I think it can even tow 3500 lbs. The wife loves the Ford much more then the CRV, but she was happy with it also.



One thing else, Both are Fwd, then AWD when needed. In the Honda you could feel the transission from fwd to 4wd, and it had a pull in the steering wheel from axle torque when spinning the front. With the Ford, you can never feel the 4wd come on, its a seemless transission. Even works in reverse without a problem.





So far around 35K miles with no problems with the ford, but I got a great deal on a Ford 6 year, 100,000 mile ($400) so I guess if it does brake, it will be ok.



One thing I noticed, every other page in the maintaince section of the owners manual is for a diesel excape. Funny, I never saw that option on the showroom floor!

 

[Iwant1]

I think the Jeep Liberty should also be considered. I have driven a relatives Liberty about 1k miles, and was very impressed. It has a nice ride, handles well, has plenty of power(yet we got 19. 5 mpg in mixed driving) and is amazingly quiet. Plus its a Jeep

I have seen these things a the Jeep Jamboree and these little guys are actually very capable off-road as well.

 

[skobylenski]

My mom had 3 CRV's as lease vehicles for work, starting with the first year they came out. The originals were very underpowered, and none of them were all that comfortable for long distance driving. Honda makes good products, though. Just my $0. 02.

 

[lgibson]

I second the little Jeep. They sould be coming out with the diesel option soon.

 

[TPCDrafting]

I know several people that drive Vue's. None have had any major problems. We've had 3 Saturn cars, the first two we traded in at around 140k miles with very few problems and excellent reliability. The older two were the smaller sedan and coupe with 4 cylinder engines. We ran them very hard and they never failed us. We now have the L200 V6 auto, around 50k miles and not one problem yet. Similar motor and transmission they put in the Vue. It runs very well and quite fast. Get's 30+ on the highway. On the whole I'd say Saturns are reliable and the dealers were pleasant to deal with. A good friend just bought a Vue about 3 months ago. He went through an auto broker. They took very good care of him, all he had to do was tell them exactly what he was looking for, sign the papers and drive away. No hastle whatsoever. I'm definately looking into this route from now on.

 

[Iwant1]

Originally posted by lgibson

I second the little Jeep. They sould be coming out with the diesel option soon.

I believe 04. 5 I thought about getting one of these for the wife.

 

[FATCAT]

I will pass along everyones comments to my buddy here at work. We were looking at Edmunds.com and it seemed that the Honda CRV was well rated. The main thing is keeping the price down and reliability. He has on kid in college and two more ready to go so he is just about lucky to drive anthing other than a bicycle.

 

[fest3er]

IMHO, the Dodge RAM with a Cummins is the best small SUV. Get a four door, short bed with a topper. A 2WD should easily reach 20MPG; a 4WD should be reasonably close.

Of course, your idea of small *could* differ from mine.

Fest3er

 

[Dieselnut59]

I would wait on that Diesel Jeep Liberty. Two reasons: It is a Jeep and the Diesel engine.

Volkswagon is supposed to come out with a diesel SUV also. I say it is a long overdue venture and will dramaticly help the image of the SUV market when they get better fuel economy with their diesel engine than cars with gassers.

 

[XcumminsX]

VW is coming out with a V10 turbo diesel that puts out 300 hp and 500 ft lbs. . IN THE LITTLE TOUREQ... Probably around 55000 dollars but... That is cool. .



For moneys sake... id wait for the liberty diesel. DC is good at picking the right diesels to use so im sure theyll pick a nice one



Nick

 

[nickleinonen]

i kinda like that honda element thing...

 

[hammersley]

Can'e Beat the Subaru.....

You can't beat the Subaru Forrester! We have an 03, and had an 02 - but we wanted the side air bags - so traded with 4500 miles on an 03. The resale is fantastic - and the repairs are hard to beat - In Fact here's a photo of the transmission Filter - just like a Big Bad Allison... ...

 

[Duluth Diesel]

My mom has an 04 Forester, and my dad has a 2000 Nissan Xterra. Both great little SUVs. If you want a real frame and want it to tow a boat or small camper, get the Xterra. But man that little Forester really impressed me. As far as deep snow and winter road abilities, the Subaru's AWD is much more intelligent than the Xterra's open-diff (2000 models) part-time system. My mom drove her "Roo" through 3 feet of powder up a steep driveway and made it with very little spinning. I sat there in my Ram just dumbfounded. The VW Toureg diesel is interesting, but for over 50 grand, you could get two Foresters.

 

[mcoleman]

Buick has a new rig out that looks like an Envoy but has the 5. 3 liter engine in it that sounds neat. Even saw a prototype with the 6. 0 345hp engine in it on the net.