New Car Advice and Recommendations

[87112]

Damm we have a ton of rich people on perb. These cars are 30k to 50-60k. How much do you guys be making to afford to live in expensive Vancovuer and poon and drive such expensive cars?
is everyone up there making 100k per year?
I drive a 1.6 liter Hyundai Accent and its more than enough to get me from here to there and haul some stuff.

 

[maximus]

Have you test driven the small audi suv with the 4cylinder turbo,i hear good gas mileage but dont know if there reliable in the long run.

 

[johnsmit]

I will weigh in on this thread..
My new job. .been transportating car from dealer trades and auction for the last 4 month.
The job allows me to drive any number of different make and models.
And allows me to get a feel of what good and not so good. Also I drive a number of model years..Most or 2014. and 2015. .but all there are makes and models from early 200
This allows me to see how they have stood up though the years and miles. .
Of course most. vehical stand up well up go 100k.and if they did have mechanical prob.
they have been fixed befor I get them.

I have not been especially looking at a small SUV .but they deffinetly make up over half the of the vehicals that I transport.

First off I will say that most car .and SUVs built by Asia car manufacturer .do not have enough leg room for the driver. let alone rear passevers. .and there seats are not adjustable enough to make them a comfortable drive.

I am 6 ft 2 and for any tall person I can only say . go amedical made models.
they at least build for bigger people

My prefrance. has been ford cars and truck .. first because I fit in them...and then because the controls are all logical places..and good functionality.
For SUVs I like the Edge..really nice interior..and runs great with a 6.
I also like the new explorer. .looks a bit like a Rover..Edge does too.
They both have gone for that soft feel services. . which is hell of alot better then the hard plastic that Ford had over done in most cars..and it was a cheap plastic compared to other makes.
One problem. is the Edge and Explorer are priced high when loaded...and you what the loaded ones..With leather seats and all the adjustment. ..An fully adjustable seat is what makes a car drivable

Most of the other Small SUVs with 4 really don't have power to spare..Neither fo the car..Some of those .mazda. .Hondas. .Kias. .hyundi. .toyota. and nissan. ...Really are running hard to do 90 and 100 km..and don't like doing 120 k..
You need a 6 cylinder to know that you can do the job.

 

[Five-Guns-West]

wow FGW, to say you are thorough is a complete understatement. thanks for sharing your insight, the next time ill be buying with a different perspective. I knew how much i wanted to spend and started looking at all small suv's that fit. I felt for 28k +tax i got a cool looking, reliable,great mileage, SUPER fun to drive, AWD vehicle that is by no means perfect but suited what i was looking for compared to the other makes. I hope it serves me well for the 4 to 5 years Ill own it. As for the road noise issue, utilizing the decent sound system I usually drive with my music loud enough to eliminate most outside noise.

Thanks for your comment. The CX5 is a good and probably very reliable car, and for the 4 to 5 years you plan to own it, will serve you well. Most Mazdas hold up well in that time period and possibly longer. However, I feel a number of other cars in its class hold up better. For the money, it's a good choice but there are better choices - but that's just my opinion which I got from really looking at things in detail for months. In fact, I visited Mazda twice at two different dealerships because I think first impressions no matter how detailed need to be reviewed again to confirm my earlier findings. I did this with most other brands too, except with Honda because the CRV was such a total stinker it wasn't looking at twice. In fact, my test drive of the CRV was aborted 5 minutes onto the highway in Port Moody because it was that bad. The salesman was totally surprised - the CRV is an easy sale but I think it's because all the housewives and pussy whipped husbands out there who buy these things never bother to be critical or give anything else a real look.

 

[Five-Guns-West]

I would never choose a lower end model (Rogue) and buy the fully loaded model. For me if I wanted to stick to a Nissan product I would take a base model Pathfinder or Murano instead.
For one thing you get more size (room), power (would never buy a 4 cylinder unless it was turbo charged) and safety (heavier and larger cars fair better in collisions).
Lastly you get little of your fully loaded vehicle back when trading it in. I tried dumping my one year old car a few years ago and told the salesman it has leather, heated seats, 6 disc changer etc, he says I don't care it's considered a SE model. That SE model also comes with cloth seats with little to no options.

I agree with everything you say, however price to feature comparison was a factor in my decision. Feature-for-feature the Rogue had them all to the Pathfinder and Murano. It was not missing anything these other cars had, all evolved on proven platforms, and I did choose the fully loaded Rogue in the end. What was unattractive about the Pathfinder and Murano, even though they are excellent and very attractive vehicles, was that they were substantially more expensive than the Rogue. For the substantial difference, you got a few cubic feet more room and about 200 to 400 lbs more mass in both the Pathfinder and Murano. The question is, is it worth it to me? Did I need the spare room, and would I be significantly less safe in the Rogue due to the mass? What about fuel consumption savings on a lighter vehicle? These are all factors weighed against the extra expense. In the end, I thought the Rogue was just the superior deal of them all.

 

[Five-Guns-West]

Have you test driven the small audi suv with the 4cylinder turbo,i hear good gas mileage but dont know if there reliable in the long run.

Actually I also own an Audi S4. When it went in for service I got the Q5 as a loaner overnight. I drove it all evening and returned it late the next day. It was tight, fast, quiet, the materials were top notch, and the roar of the engine was gorgeous (yet suitably muted). But I would never buy another Audi except to lease it. They are just too costly to maintain.

 

[Five-Guns-West]

I will weigh in on this thread..
My new job. .been transportating car from dealer trades and auction for the last 4 month.
The job allows me to drive any number of different make and models.
And allows me to get a feel of what good and not so good. Also I drive a number of model years..Most or 2014. and 2015. .but all there are makes and models from early 200
This allows me to see how they have stood up though the years and miles. .
Of course most. vehical stand up well up go 100k.and if they did have mechanical prob.
they have been fixed befor I get them.

I have not been especially poking at a small SUV .but they deffinetly make over half the of the vehicals that I transport.

First off I will say that most car .and SUVs built by Asia car manufacturer .do not have enough leg room for the driver. let alone rear passevers. .and there seats are not adjustable enough to make them a comfortable drive.

I am 6 ft 2 and for any tall person I can only say . go amedical made models.
they at least build for bigger people.

My prefrance. has been ford cars and truck .. first because I fit in them...and then because the controls are all logical places..and good functionality.
For SUVs I like the Edge..really nice interior..and runs great with a 6.
I also like the new explorer. .looks a bit like a Rover..Edge does too.
They both have gone for that soft feel services. . which is hell of alot better then the hard plastic that Ford had over done in most cars..and it was a cheap plastic compared to other makes.
One problem. is the Edge and Explorer are priced high when loaded...and you what the loaded ones..With leather seats and all the adjustment. ..An fully adjustable seat is what makes a car drivable

Most of the other Small SUVs with 4 really don't have power to spare..Neither fo the car..Some of those .mazda. .Hondas. .Kias. .hyundi. .toyota. and nissan. ...Really are running hard to do 90 and 100 km..and don't like doing 120 k..
You need a 6 cylinder to know that you can do the job.

Unfortunately I did not try the Ford Edge. This seemed like a good upscale SUV and knowing Ford, they would have probably deeply discounted the car (like up to 30%) if you were hard-nosed enough. The other SUV's I did not try were the GMC Terrain or any of the Jeeps. Of these ones, the Terrain seemed to be the most promising.

 

[tokugawa]

For the time being I am now leaning towards the VW Tiguan simply for the following reasons: engine power, classy interior and the attraction of going European.

Note: I don't mind spending a little extra if it means piece of mind. The only issue I have with the Tiguan is cargo space. Compared to its rivals, the space is considerably less. I am now debating whether or not the pros outweigh the cons here. Or do I need to up my budget a bit more in order to get power, quality interior, cargo space and European?

 

[Five-Guns-West]

For the time being I am now leaning towards the VW Tiguan simply for the following reasons: engine power, classy interior and the attraction of going European.

Note: I don't mind spending a little extra if it means piece of mind. The only issue I have with the Tiguan is cargo space. Compared to its rivals, the space is considerably less. I am now debating whether or not the pros outweigh the cons here. Or do I need to up my budget a bit more in order to get power, quality interior, cargo space and European?

Have you ever owned a VW or other European car before?

Almost all European cars suffer from overly complex engineering. Take for example the VW beetle. A close friend of mine owned a year 2000 one. The trunk handle is a turn-twist latch thing that would fold and unfold. After 4 years it broke. It was replaced with a new one, broke again in 6 months. After 2 years owning it, she moved from an apartment in central Burnaby with underground parking to a house with an uncovered driveway in upper Coquitlam. She discovered that after a heavy rainfall the car footwells would fill up with water. After many times to VW, each time doing some unspecified thing (she never bothered to figure out what), it turned out that there was a serious flaw in design of the gutters that would plug up with moss and leaves. There was no fix for the issue except to go to the dealer every month to clear it out.

Then there's the BMW 330i I owned and after 4 years (when the warranty ran out) the driver's side window regulator broke. $800 to replace. Brakes needed replacement, $1600 (I also owned a Toyota Camry that had the brakes+rotors done at $600). The latch for the glove box broke too, after the warranty. It was not a simple hinge on a spring like the Camry, but a black box with jacknife tabs that sprung out at a sexy pace. That cost $400 to replace. A sensor for a drivetrain component went, which threw engine codes for possible drivetrain alignment problems. The service tech said the sensor had to be replaced even if not faulty in order to determine if it is truly a drivetrain problem or the sensor. So we replaced the sensor at $1000 to find out it was only a faulty sensor. Now I have an Audi S4 and I just did my drive chains - which unlike most sensible cars, is not at the front of the engine. This means for this car it is an engine-out job. That added 30 hours of work to the cost of the chains and replacement. Total cost of that was just over $6000. If it had been at the front of the engine, it would've been about $2500.

If you're going to buy European, be prepared for things to break because that's how they've designed it in order to maximize profitability. You should lease if you're buying new and sell when warranty period is over if you don't like to spend money on repairing cars and you're accustomed to cars that have the reliability of a home appliance like Asian cars do.

 

[tokugawa]

Have you ever owned a VW or other European car before?

Almost all European cars suffer from overly complex engineering. Take for example the VW beetle. A close friend of mine owned a year 2000 one. The trunk handle is a turn-twist latch thing that would fold and unfold. After 4 years it broke. It was replaced with a new one, broke again in 6 months. After 2 years owning it, she moved from an apartment in central Burnaby with underground parking to a house with an uncovered driveway in upper Coquitlam. She discovered that after a heavy rainfall the car footwells would fill up with water. After many times to VW, each time doing some unspecified thing (she never bothered to figure out what), it turned out that there was a serious flaw in design of the gutters that would plug up with moss and leaves. There was no fix for the issue except to go to the dealer every month to clear it out.

Then there's the BMW 330i I owned and after 4 years (when the warranty ran out) the driver's side window regulator broke. $800 to replace. Brakes needed replacement, $1600 (I also owned a Toyota Camry that had the brakes+rotors done at $600). The latch for the glove box broke too, after the warranty. It was not a simple hinge on a spring like the Camry, but a black box with jacknife tabs that sprung out at a sexy pace. That cost $400 to replace. A sensor for a drivetrain component went, which threw engine codes for possible drivetrain alignment problems. The service tech said the sensor had to be replaced even if not faulty in order to determine if it is truly a drivetrain problem or the sensor. So we replaced the sensor at $1000 to find out it was only a faulty sensor. Now I have an Audi S4 and I just did my drive chains - which unlike most sensible cars, is not at the front of the engine. This means for this car it is an engine-out job. That added 30 hours of work to the cost of the chains and replacement. Total cost of that was just over $6000. If it had been at the front of the engine, it would've been about $2500.

If you're going to buy European, be prepared for things to break because that's how they've designed it in order to maximize profitability. You should lease if you're buying new and sell when warranty period is over if you don't like to spend money on repairing cars and you're accustomed to cars that have the reliability of a home appliance like Asian cars do.

No I have never owned a European vehicle. I have only ever owned Japanese; Honda Civic and Subaru Forester.

Now it's experiences like yours that scares the hell out of me in owning a European car. However, that does not change the allure of driving and owning a European vehicle. Would getting an Acura RDX be a better option? It's Japanese (Honda) but also more high end. Would this be a safer choice to avoid a maintenance nightmare?

Basically for my next car, I want something a little more upscale than what I have been accustomed to. It's like eating food. I have my fair share of fast food (Mcdonalds, etc) and mid range dining (Keg, Earls, Cactus, etc). It's time for something a little better.

 

[Five-Guns-West]

No I have never owned a European vehicle. I have only ever owned Japanese; Honda Civic and Subaru Forester.

Now it's experiences like yours that scares the hell out of me in owning a European car. However, that does not change the allure of driving and owning a European vehicle. Would getting an Acura RDX be a better option? It's Japanese (Honda) but also more high end. Would this be a safer choice to avoid a maintenance nightmare?

Basically for my next car, I want something a little more upscale than what I have been accustomed to. It's like eating food. I have my fair share of fast food (Mcdonalds, etc) and mid range dining (Keg, Earls, Cactus, etc). It's time for something a little better.

I think that high end Asian cars are close to closing the gap in terms of performance and handling to German cars. Some even look really great and have good performance and handling. Despite their high cost of maintenance and unreliability, I am still drawn to German cars. Why? Because there's just something about them that the Asian cars can't seem to match. Nevertheless, Lexus and Infiniti top models are very attractive to me.

Did you know that one of the presidents of Kia is Peter Schreyer, who was poached as designer for Audi? Now if only Kia would produce a car with the performance and handling of Audi, but they're coming close with their top model. The future for Asian cars is only looking better though the appeal of German cars has not loosened their market share.

Even the domestics are getting in on the game. The latest Buick models are Opels made in Germany, and the 3 different models I drove certainly felt very German.

 

[bcneil]

Does the Forester came in STI trim in Canada?
I have an older STI, and still love it, never had a problem. Plenty of power but bad on gas.

 

[IluvBackrubs]

Does the Forester came in STI trim in Canada?
I have an older STI, and still love it, never had a problem. Plenty of power but bad on gas.

Don't think north america ever got the STi version of the Forester, unless it was a JDM import. The Turbo 4 comes with the XT trim. I miss the days when you could get the Forester XT with the 6MT.

 

[IluvBackrubs]

No I have never owned a European vehicle. I have only ever owned Japanese; Honda Civic and Subaru Forester.

Now it's experiences like yours that scares the hell out of me in owning a European car. However, that does not change the allure of driving and owning a European vehicle. Would getting an Acura RDX be a better option? It's Japanese (Honda) but also more high end. Would this be a safer choice to avoid a maintenance nightmare?

Basically for my next car, I want something a little more upscale than what I have been accustomed to. It's like eating food. I have my fair share of fast food (Mcdonalds, etc) and mid range dining (Keg, Earls, Cactus, etc). It's time for something a little better.

IMHO, the real "soul" of a European car (in most cases, we mean German), is exactly that. In a "car". SUVs sacrifice a lot of the driving dynamics due to its weight and height (unless you're talking about a Porsche Cayenne/Macan, but that's a different ballgame). The typical German SUV is not going to offer much more than the others in terms of the driving feel. The X3 that I had as a loaner drove like a beached whale compared to my sedan, and I'm not going to start on the other X1 loaner.

If you want a German for the perceived badge; the Tiguan, which is essentially a jacked up Golf, may not be your best bet. The word spartan comes to mind at that level for the Euro cars. Unfortunately you'll need to fork out a lot more if you want the real German "luxury"; especially if space is a concern.

Which brings us to the RDX. While it shares some of its platform with the CRV, much like the Lexus NX shares the RAV4's platform; I think Honda/Acura did a pretty good job in separating the two. There's a good reason the RDX is popping up everywhere -- great value for a semi luxury SUV, and while it's not the best in anything (in typical Honda fashion), it does everything real well. Pity it doesn't have the panorama roof.

Best thing to do is to go for an extended test drive of the vehicles. For all you know, at that price range, you might find your current Forester to drive better than some of them. I know I was pretty impressed with my friend's old Legacy wagon.

 

[johnsmit]

It Strang how some of the new models ..are not as good as there prediseors
sometimes they have it right and then go and change it

I person lyrics liked the interior of the f150 for from 2004 to 2007. they were clean looking and easy to keep clean. and the they made a new dash that was so cluttered and full of ledges and nukes. it very hard to clean.
Now the 5L v 8. was an improvement and the 6 speed transmission allso the suspension. .The f150 just hug the road the faster you go.

 

[Five-Guns-West]

IMHO, the real "soul" of a European car (in most cases, we mean German), is exactly that. In a "car". SUVs sacrifice a lot of the driving dynamics due to its weight and height (unless you're talking about a Porsche Cayenne/Macan, but that's a different ballgame). The typical German SUV is not going to offer much more than the others in terms of the driving feel. The X3 that I had as a loaner drove like a beached whale compared to my sedan, and I'm not going to start on the other X1 loaner.

If you want a German for the perceived badge; the Tiguan, which is essentially a jacked up Golf, may not be your best bet. The word spartan comes to mind at that level for the Euro cars. Unfortunately you'll need to fork out a lot more if you want the real German "luxury"; especially if space is a concern.

Which brings us to the RDX. While it shares some of its platform with the CRV, much like the Lexus NX shares the RAV4's platform; I think Honda/Acura did a pretty good job in separating the two. There's a good reason the RDX is popping up everywhere -- great value for a semi luxury SUV, and while it's not the best in anything (in typical Honda fashion), it does everything real well. Pity it doesn't have the panorama roof.

Best thing to do is to go for an extended test drive of the vehicles. For all you know, at that price range, you might find your current Forester to drive better than some of them. I know I was pretty impressed with my friend's old Legacy wagon.

I'm pretty impressed with the old Subarus, but not very impressed with most of the newer ones. I feel that for a lot of fit and finish and interior materials, they've been left behind. Also, they're noisier than before in the bottom and midrange models.

Funny how you say the Tiguan is essentially like a jacked up Golf - if only! The Golf is an excellent car that is highly reliable and evolved over decades. I've driven both the Mk 6 and Mk 7 models extensively, and the Tiguan is nothing like it. The Tiguan is really more like a jacked up 1st model new Beetle.

I don't know anything about the RDX and that's because I've shyed away from it as I don't like Acura styling - too many Japanese Gundam cues for my taste (except for the RL, which looks very European). For semi luxury SUV, I'd go with the Infiniti Q50 or Q60 - they're right up there with the German models in terms of luxury in my opinion.

 

[IluvBackrubs]

I'm pretty impressed with the old Subarus, but not very impressed with most of the newer ones. I feel that for a lot of fit and finish and interior materials, they've been left behind. Also, they're noisier than before in the bottom and midrange models.

Funny how you say the Tiguan is essentially like a jacked up Golf - if only! The Golf is an excellent car that is highly reliable and evolved over decades. I've driven both the Mk 6 and Mk 7 models extensively, and the Tiguan is nothing like it. The Tiguan is really more like a jacked up 1st model new Beetle.

I don't know anything about the RDX and that's because I've shyed away from it as I don't like Acura styling - too many Japanese Gundam cues for my taste (except for the RL, which looks very European). For semi luxury SUV, I'd go with the Infiniti Q50 or Q60 - they're right up there with the German models in terms of luxury in my opinion.

I found subaru to have lost its way in the mid 2000's, but then interior ergonomics and quality have never been their strong suite. With parent Toyota exerting more of an influence recently (notice the similarities between the '15 legacy and the camry interior), they might be slowly on the incline again. I found the new outback's interior to be a drastic improvement over the older cars. Yes, the forester feels a bit dated inside, but it is still Impreza-based after all.

The current Tiguan shares the same A5 platform as the Mk6 Golf, so technically should feel closer to the previous gen Golf. However, I shall defer to your experience as I haven't spent much time behind the wheels of either.

I'm not sure if I can recommend the Infiniti QX50 given tokugawa's concern with space. The back seat and cargo room is much much smaller than even the Tiguan. The fact it's based on the G37 / Q50 should help with the driveability. At least infiniti has also improved their interiors from the old questionable days. My last experience with the FX made me wonder where all the size went since it felt claustrophobic inside, and the QX50 is based on the even smaller EX.

The QX60 on the other hand might be one size and price level up? 50k+ when you factor in the options, and it's biiig. Styling is too subjective since everyone has different tastes. To me, the toned down look of the RDX makes it one of the most attractive CUVs out there, but that's just me.

 

[tokugawa]

2015 Golf Sportwagen might be an option but when will it be available? I haven't seen it on the Volkswagen Canadian website yet.

http://media.vw.com/release/724

http://autoweek.com/article/new-yor...olf-sportwagen-tdi-4motion-concept-first-look

 

[IluvBackrubs]

2015 Golf sportwagen is due for "early 2015" release. Good luck finding one right away. Note that AWD is not available with the wagon, if that's important to you.

 

[Five-Guns-West]

2015 Golf Sportwagen might be an option but when will it be available? I haven't seen it on the Volkswagen Canadian website yet.

http://media.vw.com/release/724

http://autoweek.com/article/new-yor...olf-sportwagen-tdi-4motion-concept-first-look

That should be an excellent choice for reliability, interior quality, performance (depending on engine). As I said, the Golf has evolved over 2 decades, and they've really nailed it in my opinion - much like the Corolla. If they offered it in TDI, that would be the one I'd choose - the diesel is especially torquey and great on gas.

If they made it AWD, that would be superb. But then, why not go for the Audi A3 - it's the sister vehicle sharing many platform components (btw, if you get tempted into the S3, that might be a whole other animal). One caution though, if you really want to play it safe, stick to the Golf.