I own two of them. Yes, head gaskets. But not a difficult job. A good shop can usually dothe galleys and timingand water pump for about 1500
Downside of the Mazda is the timing belt vs. chain the Honda and Toyota have. 90K replacement, not cheap either.
Wifes '13 CRV has been a good vehicle. Pushing 140K now, no major issues. It is underpowered for the mountains, but holds it's own if you run it to 4K rpm. Never noticed a hollow sound when closing doors, unless a window is cracked/down- then it rattles. We drove the Toy, Honda, Mazda, Subaru's when we were shopping. Came down to the Toy and Honda, and Honda had a better deal at the time. The Rav4 would have been just as good.
I've not replaced a timing belt on a Mazda, but if they are like the yota models with a timing belts, they would be easy. Remove the water pump that needs to be replaced anyway at that mileage, and change the belt and tensioner. So simple and easy on our V8 4runner with a timing belt.
Honestly, the Mazda was the most fun to drive. The timing belt and the salesman were what turned me off. It seemed like a good car, I see a lot of them on the road.
I hate timing belts. The 4runner was an exception, but quite a great vehicle. It's my wife's 3rd 4runner. She's had basically zero issues with them, and the one we have now she's kept for the greatest amount of time and miles. When she replaces this 4runner, she'll probably go in a fully different direction because new 4runners lack V8 options ( or power of one in a boosted v6) , and still use the same 5 spd auto and oldass v6.
It is very disappointing Toyota didnt just put the new 3.5 V6 they're using in the Tacomas in the 4Runner...cant for the life of me understand why they didnt do that, woulda been an easy swap and a decent upgrade. That new 3.5 has higher horsepower/torque numbers AND gets better MPG. Maybe they just have a warehouse full of the old 4.0l V6 to get rid of first...? The drivetrain in the current 4Runner is wicked dated, but we still love ours. My wife drives it on country backroads almost exclusively and its such a perfect platform for that. She loves it and thats all I care about...hoping to hold on to that until the doors rot off. It's a 2016 we bought about 18 months ago and she just hit 8000 miles so at that rate it'll hopefully be 20 years!
Our current one is a 04 with the 4.7 V8. It does what few other vehicles can. That's why they still sell with that 4.0 and a 5 spd auto, as antiquated as it is. The body on frame, and rwd based rear solid axle is about the only one left, except for the Wrangler. Those wranglers are nowhere near as reliable as the 'Runner. It looks like Ford is going to rejoin that party, with maybe a couple entries....
The crv is pretty much the base model; the rav4 is the xle version. Neither have a trailer hitch which is OK....don't want to have t work them harder than intended, ya know? Just trying to nail down a price with the rav4 for now. I don't mind the subarau line, but have shyed away from them due to the reliability (gasket probs) of them. Seems of the three I've looked at, they all had that listed as a plus...."new head gasket"......
If you go subaru, try for a 2013 or newer. I was never a fan, ride seems "floaty", front seats too small etc etc. Wife wanted one, mechanic said engine redesign after 13 went with timing chain instead of belt. 3 years and 70k miles later, except for tires (it eats tires) been problem free. She loves it!! I like awd and great ground clearance. No snow removal til daylight.. She will get out!! Gas mileage decent 25 to 30 mpg on and.
bobdog2o02 they didn't last 8k miles.. BFG studded lasted 2 winters.. Now new hakka 7 winters Continentals 70k warranty need replaced this summer with less than 30k
You have an alignment issue.... Who is doing the alignment work. The Conti extreme / General Alti-Arctic combo on her car is going on year 4 and 80K negligible wear to both.
Most OEM tires suck. Be it on bikes, cars, or trucks. The OEM's have ways of making tires that for their price requirements, regardless of the difference in performance. On bikes, the difference is very profound. Cars, you just run them until they are done, then go a different direction when you need new ones. Good luck with the negotiations on the RAV4 yooperdave . Going with the loaded choice is a good one, plus you've had good experience with yotas.
