A good SUV

itsbob

I bowl overhand
desertrat said:
Oh, way up north? I like it up there.
You can drive on the dunes in Hatteras.. and I thought I saw entrances all the way down to the bottom of OBX.
 

purplepassion

Lovin' Life
itsbob said:
Any small SUV would do then.. The little Honda Pilot has been around a long time, and Honda has the reputation for longevity. Toyoata RAV4.. Ford Escape.. get the advantage of 4WD and still be able to put gas in it.

Personally, I think my next one is going to be the Subaru. They've been around for YEARS and are renown for their reliability and durability, and if you get in an accident the chances are you are going to survive.

Today's "trucks" are all plastic and cheap tin, hit anything bigger than a squirrel and you'll be lucky to drive away.

I got a Honda CRV 2 1/2 years ago and I love it. I haven't had any problems with it. I looked at a Subaru first and like you thought it was too low to the ground. I get 23 - 24 mpg and that's doing 70 up to College Park and back every day on Rt. 4. I have over 108,000 miles. But I wish I had gotten the Pilot now just because it's a little bigger. My biggest reason for getting it was safety (rated 2nd behind the Subaru) and the gas mileage. Most SUV's such as the Escape only got 17mpg. I guess it just depends on who much you drive and where.
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
desertrat said:
Sorry, had to chuckle at massive. This is where we used to play.

Is that the Imperial Sand Dunes in Arizona? My dad used to go there and send me pictures of everyone racing around. It looks like fun. :smile:
 
jazz lady said:
Is that the Imperial Sand Dunes in Arizona? My dad used to go there and send me pictures of everyone racing around. It looks like fun. :smile:
Yeah, thats "competition hill" in Glamis, part of the Imperial valley dunes, but they are in California. They cover aprox. 250 sq miles and up to 300' height. Fun place, but too crowded now.
 
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MDTerps

Back in the saddle
mv_princess said:
So I have a truck now, which I am looking to get rid of. And I really want an SUV nothing huge, and nothing that will break the bank. Any suggestions?

MV~ I have a Toyota Highlander. I love it. Haven't had any problems with it. Got it at Bayside toyota 2 1/2 years ago.

It was a toss between that and the Honda Pilot. Better deal on the highlander, and I'm happy with the choice.
 

mv_princess

mv = margaritaville
MDTerps said:
MV~ I have a Toyota Highlander. I love it. Haven't had any problems with it. Got it at Bayside toyota 2 1/2 years ago.

It was a toss between that and the Honda Pilot. Better deal on the highlander, and I'm happy with the choice.
I am staying away from Toyota, I have had two so far. And nothing but issues, and if toyota would just fix them I wouldn't have issues. But since they wont I would like to give them back their truck and move on.
 
mv_princess said:
I am staying away from Toyota, I have had two so far. And nothing but issues, and if toyota would just fix them I wouldn't have issues. But since they wont I would like to give them back their truck and move on.
Look at a Jeep Liberty yet?
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
desertrat said:
Yeah, thats "competition hill" in Glamis, part of the Imperial valley dunes, but they are in California. They cover aprox. 250 sq miles and up to 300' height. Fun place, but too crowded now.

He said the same thing and they stopped going, plus his health deteriorated so he couldn't take the physical exertion anymore. I think he went nearer to Yuma, which is about 3~4 hours away from Phoenix. He had a Honda Pilot like this one:
 

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jazz lady said:
He said the same thing and they stopped going, plus his health deteriorated so he couldn't take the physical exertion anymore. I think he went nearer to Yuma, which is about 3~4 hours away from Phoenix. He had a Honda Pilot like this one:
About a 20 minute drive from Yuma to the closest ones. Turns into a small city on Holidays during the cooler months. Lit up like one too. People started bringing unbelievable rigs for camping. Huge lights up on poles with generators, stuff like that. It's all regulated now though.
 

BS Gal

Voted Nicest in 08
desertrat said:
Sorry, had to chuckle at massive. This is where we used to play.


Mem'ries,
Light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? Could we?
Mem'ries, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...
The way we were...
 
itsbob said:
it's sad that that station wagon carries the "Jeep" name, almost as sad as the LR Freelander..
Well it's not meant to be a CJ.
Still a good compromise between a street SUV and a trail machine.
Here's what Rock Crawler mag. had to say.
Conclusion
So after all of this discussion of what the Liberty is made of, what are our overall thoughts and feelings about Jeep's new middle-weight?

We really liked it a lot. In fact, we didn't want to give it back. The Jeep Liberty is a near-perfect middle-of-the-road sport utility. It can hold tons of stuff, weave in and out of traffic, and get you just about anywhere you'd want to go off-road, within reason.

Is it a serious rockcrawler? No. Do we expect people to be running it in next year's ARCA series? We doubt it. Is it a Jeep? Oh yeah!
The Liberty is being positioned in the market against SUVs like the Ford Escape, Nissan Xterra, RAV-4, and other similar "Cute Utes" but it is really very much unlike its competition for one single reason - a real low range 4WD. Yup. For real trail use, you've got to have a real transfer case and a rig that knows how to use it - and the Liberty has just that. Heck, it's even got two choices.
The main thing they didn't like was the IFS and the tires it came with.
 

Nickel

curiouser and curiouser
mv_princess said:
Not yet. I don't really like the style of those.

I am stuck on a Mazda CX 9
Or Hyundai Santa Fe
I wasn't impressed with the Santa Fe at all. I wanted to be (because of the low price), but not even close. I did like the Suzuki XL7 though.
 

itsbob

I bowl overhand
Nickel said:
I wasn't impressed with the Santa Fe at all. I wanted to be (because of the low price), but not even close. I did like the Suzuki XL7 though.
I think the Santa Fe is in the Station Wagon/ Soccer Mom category.. You REALLY don't want to take it off road anywhere.. But if you want if for the safe ride in all ON road conditions it would be a great choice.
 

mv_princess

mv = margaritaville
Nickel said:
I wasn't impressed with the Santa Fe at all. I wanted to be (because of the low price), but not even close. I did like the Suzuki XL7 though.
What didn't you like about it? And what year was it?
 
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