SUV Opinions

I worked for a Ford dealer running a collision shop for 11 years but I really appreciate the education about Mazda/Ford relationship....

 

We looked at one of those. I miss my two door ford explorer.

 

If you think a Rav4 would be big enough, then a Ford Escape might be worth looking at. My sister got one back in 2017 and my BIL was so impressed that he got himself one in 2020 (he did keep his old, small PU truck to do dirty work).

I've driven my sister's Escape and it is a nice vehicle. Still prefer my Explorer. But if I didn't need to haul large stuff, I would certainly consider the Escape.

 

I would definitely stay away from anything with a CVT. Personally, I try and only chose the non 4 banger turbo engines as well. Too many more possibilities for problems vs a larger naturally asperated engine.

 

We had a 2016 escape prior to the explorer and while substantially cheaper it also feels like it is and we also needed room for 3 kids so we needed the explorer. Fuel Economy of the explorer is only 2-3 mpg less for a much larger and more powerful vehicle. If I were to get an escape, bronco sport or maverick it would be the hybrid with an e-cvt that can get 40 mpg. The e-cvt is the same set up Toyota uses in their hybrid vehicles. It’s 3 planetary gears that vary ratio instead of a belt and ford is getting the transmission from the same place as Toyota. If your buying small might as well get the best mileage possible.

 

That's funny you mention that. Drivving through a couple of snow squalls yesterday with 99 and the two dogs, we were both thinking that maybe....the rav4/crv is indeed not large enough!

I did have one dealer try to convince me into a honda pilot but shut him down. When we got home, I "expanded" my search to include the pilot and the highlander.

Friday, I went to 3 different dealers looking for the rav4 and crv. Found some nice ones but the more I look around at dealers and internet, the more pizzed off I get as the prices are so danged high! What is being asked for a newer used suv is only 2-4 thousand away from a brand new 0 mileage full warranted suv!

This quest just may be moved to the back burner...........

 

I spoke with a honda dealership salesman on friday and he lowered his voice and said the same thing about the turbos. It seems there is the high possibility of gasoline/oil dilution if the engine is not warmed up completely. Some of my trips are only 10 minutes.

 

Give it a little more time. Prices are starting to move some on the used side, driven by new inventory numbers are rising and sales are slowing. In places dealers are starting to deal again.

 

I am thinking that also. I got a call from a sales manager yesterday and he raised my trade in value (that I was quoted the day before) $1200 and wanted to know just what I would offer for the rav4 to close the deal. This is from one of those notorious "best price" or "one price" dealerships.

He wants to speak again on Mon. I was in a snow squall at the moment (ready to leave a parking lot) and wanting to end the call short....

 

Yeah the market is crazy for sure...I'm sure glad my last vehicle purchase was early in 2020 before things went totally nuts.
Things are starting to level off with prices though...a bit, not a ton. And some vehicle are still very high! A good example of this would be the newer Bronco my buddy just had...he buys n sells vehicles, but deals almost exclusively with dealers (wholesale) only.
He just bought a 2021 base model Bronco with 20k miles for something like $37k...the original window sticker/MSRP was a lil less than that! Now, it did have some really nice options, especially for being a "base model"...and someone had put custom aftermarket wheels on it, and 36" mud tires...which really gave it some nice eye appeal.
OK, here is the kicker...he sold it this week...at dealer only/wholesale auction...for $48k! And if you think the dealer that bought it isn't going to make money on it, you'd be wrong...heck, its probably already sold!
Just nuts! We will not be buying anything for quite some time I do believe...heck I didn't even pay market prices for vehicles before all this started!

 

And that non replacement spawned the most iconic of the fox body mustangs, just refreshing the old fox body chassis. I had 2 of those. An 87 LX 5.0 hatch and later a 92 lx 5.0 convertible. Such a simple, yet easily modified chassis that looked great. Big block v8's even fit in that compact chassis.

 

It's a horrible time to buy a used car. Probably the worst stretch of a couple years that has ever happened for used car prices. I'll just put that out there.

 

Yep. While it's getting better in some regards, it's not there yet, and it will be some time before it does. Hopefully by the end of 2023 is what I'm hearing. A lot of supply chain related, but other economy factors as well.

 

I have no idea what they are now, but I have the first gen Highlander, it is actually bigger than the four runner of the same generation. Honestly it doesn't seem like it. To me I think the for runner is bigger but oh well. I think the for runner is a better vehicle than the Highlander. It's body on frame instead of the unibody Highlander that drives more like a car than a truck like the forerunner. There probably really close in size as they were back then.

 

If I remember right Honda has a huge problem with oil dilution and their turbos. Hopefully it's fixed but I do know this was a real problem.

The other real fact about a turbo gas engine is higher pressure, higher rpms is more wear. Do most folks keep it long enough to to really matter probably not.

 

Cletus McFarland is putting a 7.3 Godzilla in a fox body to make a stick drag car. Starting out just with tuning the stock stuff then add from there

 

Had 116,000 on my 2014 3.5 ecoboost f-150 original timing set in it but that is probably it’s weakest point. Mine never used oil or had any dilution issues lots of short 15-17 mile trips. 2016 escape never had any issues with the 1.6 ecoboost but traded at 66,000 on an explorer with a 2.3 ecoboost and the 2014 f-150 got traded on a 2021 2,7 ecoboost f-150 crew cab. I change oil at 4000-5000 miles with full synthetic oil and air filter every other oil change to protect the turbos. The 2021 has 17,000 on it

 

Yes including average price of vehicles purchased up to 42k and interest rates for houses over 7%

 

The guy I mentioned earlier that wholesales vehicles told me he won't buy an older ecoboost (or any turbo, other than diesel) anymore, unless they sell it "green light" (which means it has no issues and you get something like a 3 day guarantee period where you can back out of the sale if it has problems) he got burnt on a few that cost a pile of money to repair...but its likely they were run hard n put away wet...and poor maintenance to boot...

 

Lots of dealers been doing that since the market turned upside down. If it sits 30 days and not bringing mega money it goes right to auction because other dealers are starving for inventory and will pay the money. Sad part is there soon will be lots out of business because they are losing 2000 per unit just to get rid of it. God forbid they are paying floor plan charges on it.