Reliable SUV's
 

Can anyone tell me what they would describe as a reliable SUV?!

I see a lot of "dodge" for sale on there?

When i go over to edmonton i will be looking for a vehicle straight away i have look on autotrader but i really dont know what a lot of the SUVs are as i have never seen them or heard of them!

Looking to spend around $5-15k Hopefully something not too old as i really cant be breaking down all the time.

Any help would be great as usual.

Re: Reliable SUV's
 

We have a Buick Rendevous, great car, not brill on gas, but big inside, great in snow AWD, massive trunk area, all round very happy with it.

Re: Reliable SUV's
 

You're asking question(s) to which you cannot possibly get positive answers. You will have someone praising a particular vehicle and someone else condemning it. Check for independent reviews on the internet to get more objective comments.
I would be looking at vehicles towards the $15K price.

Re: Reliable SUV's
 

What size do you want and what do you want to use it for? I mean things like towing boats or caravans or just driving around.

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Something to get me and the mrs around easily no problems in the snow etc and also when family members come over be able to take 4-5 of us out easily with luggage!
Wont be towing anything with it!
The reason I want a suv over a car is I feel Safer when driving around plus the fact it can easily carry more luggage/people/shopping without any tight squeezes.

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We also went through the Consumer Reports and Lemon-Aid books from the library, but I guess that won't help if you need to buy ASAP.

We're still running a nearly twenty year old Buick as our second car, and breakdowns are surprisingly rare. Americans don't seem as tolerant of standing at the side of the road waiting for a tow truck as Italians must be (based on my old Fiats and Lancias in the UK).

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One ofd the posters on here bought one from the government although probably not ideal if your in the UK.

https://www.gcsurplus.ca/mn-eng.cfm?...wfsav&vndsld=0

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Is that like cars which havent been paid for and things? looks like a few bargains on there!! do you bid on them then?

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You go and check it out I believe then you bid on it. If you look at the ones sold you'll get an idea what they go for.

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I believe they're all ex-government vehicles, which have probably been run for a lot more miles than a typical private vehicle. Then you have problems listed like:

"Electrical problem that the dealer could never identify
The battery does not hold its charge
Check engine light is on
Rust, dents and scratches all over the vehicle"

Which is probably why they're getting rid of it :).

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Great spot to get a ex mountie car big crown vic driven hard put away wet. Then try changing the spark plugs and it all goes down hill from there.
Or maybe a seized drug dealers car You can even pick up some that have to be exported right away only here for testing

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my company has a Dodge Durango SUV which i borrowed to collect my family from the airport

its a 7 seater with tonnes of luggage room, so that was 5 adults and their luggage which the Durango swallowed with ease!

It's a bit heavy on the juice, being the HEMI (which incidentally is bloody brilliant to drive), but i believe you get them with the 3.7 and the 4.7 aswell!

Its a 2008 model and is showing a bit of rust and crap paint, but it doesn't really get treated that well when it comes to the cleaning side of things, so that's to be expected...the F150 and F250 we have are the same :lol:

I have a Honda Ridgeline which I love (it's a truck) but you do get the SUV version which is called the Honda Pilot, and is a 7 seater. Very comfortable and well specced, and its a 3.5 V6 engine, so relatively easy on gas for something of its size (i see around 11l/100km or 24-25ish MPG in real money)

The American manufacturers have really upped their game in the last 5 or so years to try and compete with the Japanese, and they seem to be succeeding.

Go test drive a couple of things and see what you like, then check for owners reviews online, then make a decision based on that...its about the only way you'll narrow it down when you don't really know what you're looking at!

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If you want it to last, get something German or Japanese.

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fixed

wouldn't touch any of the VAG group with a barge-pole these days, Merc are going down the pan aswell!

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Yep those Bugattis are shite. :thumbdown:

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Yes that was me, I bought a 2004 Tahoe with 165,000kms for $6,500. It's still going strong. Costs me a fortune in petrol but we need it for towing in the Summer.

Re: Reliable SUV's
 

always one fud who brings up Bugatti...

that said...for the money of the Veyron, there's cars that would be WELL ahead of it on my list

If OP could afford a Bugatti, i'm quite sure they wouldn't be on BE asking for advice on a cheap SUV

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It made me laugh. What the OP actually needs is a Dodge Caravan.

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which reminds me, the Dodge Caravan is the Chrysler Voyager in the UK!

A lot of cars end up re-badged for different markets, so perhaps OP could find a Yank-tank SUV rebadged for the UK and try it out there to see if they like it or not! (No idea how long they have left in the UK though :lol: )

this obviously won't work for something like a GMC Yukon or Licoln Navigator...:lol:

although the Chevy Tahoe and the Hummer share chassis' - so test a Hummer in the UK if you like the Tahoe posted above :lol:

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And how many current model VAG or Mercedes products have you experience of owning in north America that leads you to this opinion? Of the 10+ vehicles I've owned here, VW and Mercedes are the only 2 that I didn't have any warranty issues with. The Merc was US built, the VW German.

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Nah, get one of these:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...service=mobile

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I would have another jeep liberty, or ford explorer or if you need slightly bigger a expedition. We had a durango for about three months crap snow handling - so crap oh was not happy to let me drive it, and crap gas mileage, trying to think what else we've had thats an suv, erm I think the other stuff we have had have been trucks or cars apart from a couple of range rovers and ford bronco's.

Someone will no doubt recommend an escape, I know people really like them, oh, a ford tech would not have one EVER and if he were to be given one he would sell it straight on, I have asked him about his hatred, and there is nothing concrete, just lots of little things.

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what does it matter where i've owned them...all the VW/Audis i've had were german built ranging from 1995-2006

the only Merc i've owned was a 190E Cosworth (the fake "2.5 not really a Cosworth but still has the badges"), and it only saw the road for a week, so my experience of Mercs is just from friends owning them!

Warranty issues don't matter to me, its the problems you encounter outwith that which concern me!

Re: Reliable SUV's
 

So none of them very recently. It matters where, as the majority of VW products sold here are built in the US, and there's a perceived quality difference. Golf GTI's are shipped from Wolfsburg.

Old 190's are hardly relevant to current models, are they?

On the contrary, I've had engines blow under warranty (Subaru), needed replacement fuel pumps, steering racks, ECU's and transmissions within the first year of ownership. Warranties have meant a great deal to my ownership experiences here.

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So you've talked a load of bollocks before on this subject? :rofl:

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its pertinent to the discussion though...OP's budget won't see them in a brand new VW/Audi/Mercedes, they would probably find mostly cars of the years i'm talking about were in their price range!

The reason I mentioned warranty issues was because again, the cars of these years and price ranges won't have manufacturer warranty on them, and neither does any car i've ever had!

The old 190 wasn't really applicable to the original discussion, but you asked what Mercs i had owned, so i mentioned it! :)

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i've talked about this subject many a time...usually trumping all my VAG-bumming mates with the phrases "Nazi Motor" or "I ran 300bhp through my Type-R, gave it limiter action on the reg and never had any trouble with it, try doing that with a VAG"

none of them could :amen:

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Spot the oxymoron in one, two, three . . . ;)

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You had a Bentley?

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"VAG-bumming"... now that's what I call multi-tasking.

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Jings - I would have bet money that you would be one of the 1st to point that out :thumbup:

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Threesome I would guess. Probably in the back of a Nazi motor, with the use of a limiter. Sounds like fun.

Not sure why he has decided to share this with us, unless its to highlight the extra room available in modern vans.

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I could probably work a Max Mosely joke into "threesome nazi motor bumming" but my lawyers have advised me not to.

Back, on topic and some observations to share. I've found that really used SUV's, cheap ones, don't last. Now that might be because it is damp and salty here & they rust to hell - which is not the case in Alberta - but take my recently retired Suzuki XL7 for example. It cost me around $10k 4 years or so ago. I was the second owner. It's been a solid car for those 4 years, requiring little work - some muffler welding (see, I can say muffler without sniggering cos I'm Canadian now), a recon alternator & a few other bits and pieces. Of course the A/C stopped working as did the stereo but all in all it was reliable and cheapish transport.

At 9 years old though the steering started playing up and we were in for "replace the steering box, maybe bits of the rack, until we find out whats wrong" territory. Not to mention the need to likely change the timing belt which neccessitates some engine rebuild soonish. It was worth somewhere between $1.5-3k so repairing it wasn't an economic proposition. Hence it's retirement to the scrapyard under Ford's retire your ride scheme. (& as posted elsewhere it's replacement by a F150;)) The point to the tale is that a $10k vehicle might not have many years life in it before it gets BER. If you are mechanically minded you might look after it yourself but that 'aint me.
A $5k vehicle is likely to be a year or two's proposition if you are unlucky.

So buying something newer is better. Buying something abundant and for which there are many parts & independent mechanics who can fix it is sensible as well. So US made metal - Dodge, Chrysler, Ford, GM etc. I'd avoid a Jeep Liberty as I've had bad experiences -mostly under warranty, with them. At the top end of your budget a Dodge Journey might work. You can get them in AWD and they are not quite a SUV but not quite a minivan. Aside from that RAV4, Honda CRV, the dreaded Ford Escape would all be contenders. Or a Ford Exploder, GM Surburban etc if you don't mind a gas hog.

Re: Reliable SUV's
 

We are reluctantly looking at buying a new 'used' car. We were hoping our 2003 super rusty Mazda MPV would limp on another 15 months (when we leave Canada) but it doesn't look like it will make it :(
So have to fork out for something big enough for a family of 5 and their skis or camping gear which will last 15 months.
We are not car people and are pretty clueless so were looking at price and mileage and had come across Ford Escapes that fitted the category.
Curious why you say 'dreaded Ford Escape'?
Ta

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Have a look at what I posted about OH'S feelings about escapes. If any qualified tech said to me, I wouldn't touch one (any make or model) with a barge pole, I would be inclined to listen

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I've had numerous Escapes and they've worked well but, since they don't seat 5+skis, we've no need to argue the point here.

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Just as well I didnt bet money as I missed Oink's post :D

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I have heard that a couple of times but we have had 2 escapes and not had a problem with either , roomy enough for a family of four and handled very well in the winter

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the problem with this is, that just about every tech i know always tells you never to buy the make they work on!