Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
SUVs Crossover SUV Comparison
7120 messages, Last post on Nov 06, 2009 at 8:28 AM
You are in the SUVs Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
|
|
|---|---|
|
Replying to: ateixeira (Aug 04, 2008 9:26 am) |
|
|
Replying to: coldcranker (Aug 04, 2008 6:16 pm)   Truth is, both have their uses. Our Forester has been great, and it will be our only snow vehicle. The clearance and AWD should come in handy, plus our mileage keeps improving. We were getting 34mpg on one all-highway stretch. |
|
|
Replying to: coldcranker (Aug 04, 2008 6:16 pm) |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: bobw3 (Aug 07, 2008 6:41 am) About the CUVs, the real subject here, there was an article saying that CUVs sales were surprisingly down as people now want cars with a good-size trunk instead of these station wagons on steroids. Many of these CUVs (Freestyle for one) gets better MPG than a lot of big cars out there, so I don't completely understand why CUVs aren't a little more popular right now. |
|
|
|
|
Replying to: coldcranker (Aug 07, 2008 11:49 am) About the CUVs, the real subject here, there was an article saying that CUVs sales were surprisingly down as people now want cars with a good-size trunk instead of these station wagons on steroids. Many of these CUVs (Freestyle for one) gets better MPG than a lot of big cars out there, so I don't completely understand why CUVs aren't a little more popular right now. I am not surprised CUV sales are down. We have an '05 AWD Freestyle that we love, but have been bit hard by gas prices. The computer says the Freestyle only manages 16.5mpg with mixed city/suburban driving. On long road trips it typically manages 22mpg. This is lower than some other Freestyle owners report, but I believe it is most likely due to it being an AWD model which we do utilize in our long Minnesota winters. By contrast our other car is a 2001 Saab 9-5 wagon. This is classified as a large car with a good sized cargo area. In the same type of city/suburban driving this car manages about 24mpg. On the highway it does better than 30, so by driving it instead of the more roomy Freestyle we increase our MPG by about 8. This is a significant difference for us because we have to drive a lot, so this summer we have been driving the Saab more often and the Freestyle less. We love our Freestyle, but next time we go to buy a car we will likely look for something that gets much better fuel economy. I just wish something roomy like the Freestyle was available with a diesel engine that allowed it to get 30mph on the highway. I don't see why this isn't possible with some diesel cars getting 50mpg on the highway. - Chad
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: coldcranker (Aug 07, 2008 11:49 am) my explorer is 6 years old, has 83k on it averaging 16 mpg and runs great. i am keeping it and bought a sedan with a large trunk.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: saabturboid (Aug 07, 2008 12:21 pm) The '01 Saab 9-5 wagon with automatic gets slightly worse MPG than my '05 Freestyle 2wd. ....www.fueleconomy.gov database..... I don't understand why there are some Freestyles (especially AWD versions) that don't get good MPG. I have elaborate theories why some don't, some which sound more like they come from Mel Gibson's character in "Conspiracy Theory, 1997", which in my case involve manufacturing variations and the weakness in the CVT design to fail to control steel belt tension nominal levels. Don't know for sure, but I have some evidence of this. The low MPG in some Freestyles appears to be real, as it affected the first Freestyle that Consumer Reports got a hold of for their first test of it, reporting 12 MPG then! Do you think Ford would ever admit this? Yeah, right. Related conspiracy theory: Ford quit using the CVT because of this design performance weakness in some percentage of vehicles.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: coldcranker (Aug 07, 2008 4:11 pm) |
|
|
Replying to: bobw3 (Aug 07, 2008 6:41 am) Amen to that. unless you really, reallly need AWD, why would you not buy an Odyssey or Sienna You can even get AWD on a Sienna, though you'll have to take the run-flats along with it. We like our Forester, but it would be nice if Subaru also offered their Exiga here, i.e. a small minivan to compete with the Mazda5 and Kia Rondo. 
|
|
I was in the local dealer again recently and while waiting for my salesman, I had the chance to eavesdrop on a conversation going on between the finance manager and a customer. They were a middle aged to retired couple looking to buy a passenger car and trade-in their SUV with 10 months remaining on its lease. They became quite upset when it was explained to them that their vehicle was worthless and in fact, the cheapest thing to do was to pay off the remaining ten payments and then return the SUV. The finance manager was very reasonable and simply tried to explain the realities of residual values and the current market. I have to say that I had no sympathy for the customers. They did not appear unsophistocated or financially disadvantaged but the gentleman couldn't get past the difference between residual value and a guaranteed trade in value. I don't care what any salesman might have said, if leasing costs 2/3 the monthly payment of financing, don't expect a big payout at the end - it's simple common sense. If you want to cut and run earlier, don't expect to get off for free. You will always be upside down on a lease - the current realities just made it worse. The irony here is that the customer isn't the victim, it's the leasing corporations. Leases have in fact gutted the Big 3 to the point they have dropped them or are dropping any incentives on rates since their recent losses are measured in the billion$. The bad news for us is that good lease rates or even leasing itself (especially in Canada) are gone, but the upside is that prices and finance deals for CUV's should be generous for those of us looking to buy in the near future.
|
|
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2010 GMC Acadia
2009 Mitsubishi Outlander
2010 Subaru Forester
2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
2009 Ford Taurus X
2011 Toyota RAV4
2010 Nissan Rogue
2010 Honda Accord Crosstour
2010 Dodge Journey
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
