Small SUV's

[firefighterST]

I drive an 02 RAV4 bulletproof little buggy.  I'm a fire chief and use my RAV4 to respond with it has full lights and siren.  Gets 25 mpg highway couldn't ask for better just my $.02


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[Sport-Touring]

[MidLifeMike]

I drive an 02 RAV4 bulletproof little buggy.  I'm a fire chief and use my RAV4 to respond with it has full lights and siren.  Gets 25 mpg highway couldn't ask for better just my $.02


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I am checking out used RAV/4's right now (2006 ~ 2010) instead of a life sentence financing a new compact sedan. The cargo and the AWD are appealing. The drop in MPG, not so much.
If you couldn't have a RAV/4, what would you be looking at?

Is it correct that RAV/4's AWD works in reverse and in the Honda CR-V it doesn't?

[Baz]

So test drove many small SUV's.

The Rav 4 was typically Toyota. Built well but really 0 fun to drive. (And I am a Toyota fan & presently own one) Not horrible, just not fun.

Looked at the new Cherokee's but stupidly expensive (a trailhawk model runs you up against a Starter Grande Cherokee).  Either way out of her budget.

The Mazda Cx-5 was marvelous. Really well appointed, fun to drive. Competitive in price with most. About 34 K for the middle of the road model.

Then the largest surprise happened. We drove a Kia Sportage. Amazingly enough this thing comes well appointed, even in their base model. Very fun to drive with the base 2.4 liter engine, and I cant imagine how their turbo version performs which places it in the same quarter mile times with some of the old muscle cars. So like most people here I said what about re-sales values, quality, long term reliability? Believe it or not most reviews give this vehicle 4-5 stars and when you google looking for upset Kia owners you find very few complaints anywhere. I have approached a few owners in parking lots and everyone so far loves this thing. Comparing it with the Mazda, it comes in around 8 k less. (We are giving this thing serious consideration) Amazing enough, Kia has been building Mitsubishi Engines and Transmissions for many years and Mitsubishi does much metal work for Kia.

Also drove a 2016 Kia Sorento whish was amazingly well appointed for the dollar and is available with a 2.4 liter, 2.0 Turbo and a 3.3 Liter V-6 (Drove the V-6 version) Absolutely loved the thing but it's larger size took away some of the fun factor from the Sportage (which is basically the same platform only shorter & considerably lighter). Still is a vehicle I could put on my possibility list. Competes with the Mazda Cx-5 and is a couple of grand less even with the V-6.

I understand that Kia recently poached a whole bunch of Toyota Engineers that brought with them Toyota's quality control procedures. A lawsuit happened and Kia had to return the obtained quality manuals and promised not to look at them  

This is why they went from a very lousy car company to winning awards in only 10 years. I was seriously impressed with how far Kia has come from the "pony" years. Oh, and it is actually "American Made" with a 10 year warranty. (I would be very interested to hear of any STN Kia owners comments)

Drove a Chevrolet Equinox and well it is getting long in the tooth. The base engine here is pretty weak also. Very heavy vehicle. A friend of mine has one and while it has treated him well, like I said it falls short for what is out there. Pricing seems to be pretty good here and probably quite negotiable from sticker prices. I think I would wait for a re-design from GM on these. Not bad but can you say 1990?

Also drove the Mitsubishi Outlander. Base 2.4 cylinder with CVT. Not a bad vehicle at all, and their CVT is livable as it mimics the shifting of a 6 speed automatic. It was ok, but very vanilla. Pricing was quite good here but not the value that Kia brings. Warranty equals that of Kia (10 Years) You can also get this with a V-6 with 6 speed auto which would make it a pretty nice ride.

The Ford Escape was stupidly Expensive when comparably equipped. Did not drive this one.

Still have the Honda on the to do list.

Hyundai is basically a Kia so did not drive any there.

Still may drive the VW Tiguan however one faces the VW transmission nightmares with their dual clutch automatics.  These are also insanely expensive when you add on a few accessories (at least they are here)

[Blue is Best]

Sounds like you are making this your retirement job!

But it's for the daughter so..............

[NotDeadYet]

I have a friend trying to convince me to buy his mint condition very low mileage 2008 Kia Sorento for my wife.  He has had it since new and has only put 20,000 miles on it.  It's a fully loaded model with the larger engine.  I haven't driven it yet but I have done lots of research.  Like you I was surprised, they seem to be a pretty well regarded vehicle.  I may have to pay him a visit to check it out.  Unfortunately he lives almost 6 hours away from me and it's not even interesting country.  He's  a rich farmer and he's got new car fever.  He says the Kia is a lot of car for the money and has always been pretty proud of it during the years he's owned it.  

[R Doug]

Excellent follow up.  For some reason, I'm not that surprised to read what you have to say about the Kia.  They're darn good looking vehicles, that's for sure.

Regarding the Tiguan, I don't believe it comes with VW's dual clutch manual/auto box.  It comes with Tiptronic, not DSG.  Tiptronic is a regular auto with a torque converter lockout feature which allows you to "manually" changes gears.  The DSG gearbox is a hydraulically controlled manual gearbox which uses two clutches and, by default, is in "automatic" mode as the computer controls the sifts of the hydraulic clutches.  

[caasland]

THE PROFIT always goes back to the generator of the item.

Hey, MLM, you are correct, I did not listen to a $%^&*( word Baz said. I READ EVERYTHING HE WROTE.

Hey, this is just like the ST.N from 2005! Nostalgia is kicking in ....

[birdrunner]

Consider a Subaru.

The dealer was great when I asked for a test drive (see Andre  )

It was pretty nice.

[Baz]

I have a friend trying to convince me to buy his mint condition very low mileage 2008 Kia Sorento for my wife.  He has had it since new and has only put 20,000 miles on it.  It's a fully loaded model with the larger engine.  I haven't driven it yet but I have done lots of research.  Like you I was surprised, they seem to be a pretty well regarded vehicle.  I may have to pay him a visit to check it out.  Unfortunately he lives almost 6 hours away from me and it's not even interesting country.  He's  a rich farmer and he's got new car fever.  He says the Kia is a lot of car for the money and has always been pretty proud of it during the years he's owned it.  

Seriously, I would have never looked at one on my own but once I drove one, and was able to compare it to the big brands, I was amazingly surprised. Their base models are usually equal to the others middle road models an are a few Grande less.

My ex co-worker owned an early model Sportage which treated them very well. They bought a used Ford Escape and will be trading it in for a new Sorento. I have a few friends that purchased Hyundai's and all of them have had trouble free experiences.

[Baz]

Hey, this is just like the ST.N from 2005! Nostalgia is kicking in ....

Is that Shaw?

[Blue is Best]

Hey, this is just like the ST.N from 2005! Nostalgia is kicking in ....

Naw, I wasn't around back then. I think I started lurking around 2008 or 09. I just like to pick on Caasland! Not really.