Need advice on buying a used (almost new) small SUV (Budget-under 20K)

[jackmccullough]

My wife and I have owned a lot of Subarus, and that's what I would recommend. A friend of mine had a CRV and when I rode in it it seemed kind of tinny.

Drive both the Forester and the Outback, or even the regular wagon if they still make it. Some people like one, some like the other. The Forester is a little taller but not quite as long, the OUtback is the reverse. When my wife had a Forester she loved it, but I found the front seats not quite supportive enough (not enough thigh support), so I would try for an Outback.

In our experience Subarus are very reliable. You don't say where you live, but they'll probably take you anywhere you need to go in winter (with good snow tires, of course).

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by freshjiv

^Yea, its just nice to finally be able to start crossing cars off the list. Since CR-Vs cost more used, thats a good thing we have ruled it out! We are going to try a Subaru Forester and Outback next weekend.

If you buy a used Subaru, make sure that you have a warranty for it. But the warranty on the motor should cover five years. Just keep that in mind because the late boxer engine used by Subaru, while it's a great motor, the semi-open and open deck blocks suffer from head gasket problems. Subaru is real good at taking care of the problem, specially if under the warranty, but you should be aware of this problem.

I traded my 2009 Forester for a 2010 Totota Rav 4. The Forester had a manual transmission, something that my wife and I always prefer, while the Rav 4 has not. The first reason why I bought the Forester was because it was the best deal for the money when compared to a $24K Rav 4 or Honda CRV. I paid $19K for the Forester after a couple of rebates. The second reason was so my wife would drive a new and reliable vehicle. However, my wife didn't want to drive it because she didn't feel comfortable in it as follows (she is 5'7" tall, slim, and in excellent shape):

a. The front passenger seat is very low and close to the floor, so seated there visibility is not that good. To make matters worst, the seat has no lumbar support and it was killing her back on long rides. While the driver's seat can be raised and lowered at will, it does not support your back very well (just like the other seat in front). When seated on the driver's seat, she felt uncomfortable, and didn't like that the car felt like it was very wide. She was afraid to drive it in/out of the garage because she could not predict how close the fenders were to the garage's door and walls In 2 years she only drove it once around the block. That's it. She also din't like the lack of visibility or perhaps the blind spots by the right side of the vehicle.
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Gas mileage was not that great when driving in the city, but real good on the highway. The 4-cyl. motor has 170HP or so, but I found that when passing slower automobiles on the road I had to make sure that I had a clear road a long way ahead because it's not that fast for passing, unless you downshift to 4th and press the gas pedal to the metal.

Unless you are very tall, you won't have a lot of visibility out the right window (while driving it). So pay attention if you try to merge to the right unaware that a small automobile's bumper, or one with a low front or hood, has already gotten besides your second row door. I almost hit another car this way soon after I drove the Forester out of the dealer's lot

Other than that the Forester rides like a large automobile, has an outstanding traction control, and can be driven fast and long on the road (if your back can take it).
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The 6-cylinder motor of the Rav 4 I traded the forester has over 260HP, with a 5-speed automatic transmission that has an over-drive. You can pass anything with on the road, and it will do it quite fast. The traction control is similar to Subaru's, if not better. Like the Forester it has hill assist (the brakes will prevent to car from moving for a second or two if you stop on a hill). It also has a another feature you can activate if moving slowly on an extremely steep hill (hill incline). The auto transmission can be downshifted to 4th, 3rd, 2nd, or L so that the motor can provide engine braking. The L is used for sort of "crawling" off road. The AWD is not full time 4x4. The computer is dependent on well traction and speed to send or reduce power to the wheels in front or back. If you press the gas to the metal, the computer will send power to all the wheels, but more to the back than the front. You can also lock all the wheels if you like (if you are stuck in the snow, for example), and once you reach 25MPH the computer unlocks the wheels and goes into normal mode.

I can tell when the transmission shifts just when looking at the tachometer. It's that smooth. Up to around 65MPH the tachometer stays under 2,000 RPM. Combined mileage is similar to the Forester (20 to 21MPG), which is not bad since it has a much powerful motor. Like the Forester, it does a lot better on fuel on the highway.

[freshjiv]

^Awesome post, thanks. So would you say the Rav4 is better than the Forester/Outback in general for reliability? Thats my main concern.

Also, do you/anyone know much about the 2009/2010 Kia Sportage? I just realized how economical the car is, you can still build a brand new one (2010 model year) and get it with options for under 20K out the door. How does the Kia Sportage compare to the Rav4 and CRV and other small SUVs in the last few years? Would you go with one or no? I am just interested to find out as much as possible.

[freshjiv]

We test drove the Subaru Forester yesterday, we liked it, definitely better than the Honda CR-V, but we both still like the Rav-4 the most by a good margin. Having that tire on the outside makes for SO MUCH more space for storage and such. The Rav-4 is still the one to beat. We still are going to check out a Kia Sportage and Sorrento, Hyundai Tucson and Sante Fe, Ford Escape, the Toyota Highlander, and the Honda Pilot (just to see how much bigger it is with the 3rd row seating). That will pretty much cover everything we want to look at before pulling the trigger, but the Rav-4 seems hard to beat right now.

[freshjiv]

Well we ended up getting a 2008 Honda Pilot with 39,000 miles. We got an unbelievable deal. We opted for the Pilot over the Rav4 just b/c of it having so much more space, the 3rd row seating, and just how well it handled for a full size SUV. I got it through private party sell on Craigslist. It was 1 owner, financed through the local Honda dealership, and he had paid $34,000 for it back in 2008, I negotiated him down from his asking price of $19,900 to $17,400! Most all dealerships have similar 2008 Pilots for about 22K or so. Add to the fact I didn't have to pay dealer fees either, and I probably saved over $5,000 from what i would have paid at a dealer. We did the pre-purchase inspection at the Honda place Monday, everything was great, signed and paid for the car Tuesday, and its now sitting in our garage chillin (with his plates on until we get the title released from Honda Financial). All around, I am glad to be done, and moreso, to have gotten such a badass deal on the best SUV in its class. We plan on driving it for atleast the next 10 years.