I've been kicking tires lately. Honda CRV with that danged CVT and danged turbo engine. Toyota RAV4 with that danged information screen monitor or whatever it's called molded into the dashboard sticking up like a flag pole. GM equinox/terrain with the turbo engine once again. I was going to drive to a couple of dealers today and have the value my civic on a trade but the weather is supposed to turn to the S word. Not good driving during transitionary weather like that. Anyway, looking for any opinions on the CRV, Rav4 and Terrain/Equinox please. Thanks
FWIW, we have a Ford Edge. It's comfortable and works for us. As it's my wife's car, it had to hold at least 2 bags of golf clubs. It does that easily.
We had a 2017 Equinox on lease I hated it. Rode nice, never had any mechanical trouble. It has lots of blind spots, you could not back up without the camera. The engine shuts down when stopped at lights/stop signs etc. When engine shuts down air conditioner shuts off. And I think long term all the start and stop is causing exessive wear. Glad it was only a lease
I'm a Toyota fan so I like any of their products. Honda makes a good one too CRV has always been a good one. I don't buy new and don't have anything new enough to compare or give advice. I do awn two Toyota SUVs , the first gen Sequoia and first gen Highlander. Both very reliable and both with about 280k on them now. My personal opinion is I would stay away from anything turbo, especially never setups. I know everything right now is going turbo to get better fuel economy.
Turbocharged engines seem to be in everything now. I think they have come a long ways but still expensive when they detonate. I don’t like CVTs, too many issues from day 1. The new generation of equinox terrain is pretty bulletproof, GMs biggest seller. Seems like a lot of companies are trying to mount the biggest flat screen TV they can on their dashes, I just looked inside a new dodge truck the other day and asked what movie was playing this week.
My work truck , a 2020 F150 has the start stop. It would bug me more if I owned it. But it has a button to push each time you start up that disables that feature. If it bothers someone enough there is fake buttons you can buy off eBay to pop in to the original spot that is like a jumper or something and permeability disables that feature.
My wife has a 2014 Terrain. Virtually no problems with 100k on it other than an emissions issue a couple years ago which was warranted for 150k miles.
There is something you can plug into the obd2 port to disable the start stop feature it can also be disabled in the pcm software. 2015-2020 Ford F-150 Autostop Eliminator
We have a 2018 Buick Enclave which we leased for 3 years and then bought it. We test drove the Terrain and Equinox and did not care for the ride. The stop start feature is not an issue for me. If the a/c is running and the thermostat is calling for more cooling, the engine will not shut off. We have had really good luck with it so far. We have only driven it about 10000 miles per year. We are both retired. We have taken it on a couple driving vacations with friends and we really like the room for people and luggage.
I think all current pick up trucks are basically SUV's so besides pricing, I'd consider one of those. More storage space, toss a cap on it and its weathertight. Well 4-6.5 feet of storage space. Plus the "back seat" which I'm sure could hold 2 sets of golf bags.
Look at the Explorer. I know it’s not on your list, but we’re very happy with ours. We’ve bought 10 Chevrolets and 8 Fords (including kids’ vehicles) so I'm not brand biased
Dave, I've had to rent cars for work on the regular. I severely dislike the CVT's. In fact the last loaded Maxima I got was awful. There's a large amount of what I describe as driveline lash. From on to off throttle, it's very clunky with lots of freeplay. I'd try to maybe rent one before taking the plunge. We really like our [older] CRV. I average 28mpg's on a consistent basis. And I'm also a Toyota fan. These 2 brands have been crazy reliable for me and all have had a low cost of ownership.
Forscan should be able to take care of that (but I'd only use it on a personal vehicle). I got forscan to get rid of that annoying honk whenever you stepped out of the running vehicle
This comment is just one I have based on working on the first gen Ford Edge. I know it's irrelevant to the newer ones because there probably different. But my mom's alternator went out on hers. Ford burries the alternator on that model. The pulleys sit so close to the frame rain that you have like 1" of clearance maybe 1.5 to get to the tensioner. The alternator remove and replace is a multi hour job. I was reading forums, the Ford dealer way they will bill the job is to recover, disconnect and recharge the AC as the lines are in the way. Your able to snake it out by them but it's close and a pain. This is the only job I have done on that car. But surely that can't be the only weird or oddly engineered thing on it. It's literally like the car guy joke...cause it's a Ford. But they do some of the weirdest things. Mid year parts swaps, three different x parts for whatever component in the same year. I say this joking but seriously. I'm not a Ford hater, I don't have one in the fleet but have had a few over the years and they were simple and reliable and just flat out ran. A car that I got rid of that had probably 250k on and my Ranger that had over 300k on when I got rid of it.
Of the ones you originally listed, skip all but the RAV4. They all have screens now. Otherwise, edge, or the maverick. I know you have a truck, but you'll be hard pressed to find something that does it all like the maverick does. Could go with the escape or the bronco sport too. Maverick, escape and bronco sport all on essentially the same chassis.
