Hi Guys I was thinking to get new small size SUV any suggestions on which to buy based on following criteria.
I had honda CRV, rave 4 and subaru in my mind.
max price below 28,000
2014 or 2015 model
reliable and should last for 7+ years as this will be primary means of transportation.
No off road or snow driving but nothing wrong if they have it.
The reason i am thinking to get new car is my old car needs $500 repair. Its 70,000 miles driven 2009 corolla and expecting to get more repair once it reaches 100k. (General maintenance like transmission flush, timing belt changes, radiator flushed, etc ) Its well maintained so should i go ahead with repair or get new car .
Of those three, it’s a personal choice. Each brings their own advantages to the table. Manufacturers try not to go head to head and each has there own bragging points. Try each out and based on a list of priorities, see which comes closest to matching them. You can’t go wrong with these three nor several others that come recommended by CR and other review periodicals. I would not get too tied up with reliability of isolated parts when general reliability of all three of your choices is excellent. Btw, your car is still too young to need replacement and $500 is a drop in the bucket. Sounds like you want an excuse to get a new car. You don’t need one from us. If you can afford to, do it. If you can’t, keep the car and repair ( maintain ) it as that’s all these items are. Even a new car will need $500 to maintain it over time.
Just the registration on the new car might be close to $500, depending on your state, the sales tax would be high too. I am with the others, seems like you don’t really NEED a new car. If you have disposable cash and want to upgrade, then test drive a few. I am going to tell though, that the ride on your Corolla might be more comfortable than some of the smaller SUV/CUV’s.
Puncture one tire and you may be looking at replacing all for off road tires at around 500. If you want a new car with awd, check out the impreza instead of riding high in an SUV. BTW, I drove a brand new Toyota for 150k and spent about 900 on repairs. I would have kept it had there been a Bering strait bridge for me to drive across
I bought a new small SUV two Marches ago and the registration costs $640. My insurance went up too. Buy one older than your car and you will end up saving the wrong dollars. Every new car could be a no win situation so have fun with it if you want one bad enough.
Actually most of these Suv’s don’t ride all that much higher than the Impreza, Just looks that way. I’d do the repairs unless you really want a new car. You might not need to spend more than $200 next year depending on how fast you go through things like brake pads and other wear items.
If you want a small crossover any of the ones you mentioned would be great,the CX-5 is another option worth looking at. I’m a few weeks into owning a 2015 Forester and the ride is firmer than a corolla but not too bad. It’s really about which one fits your needs the best.
I’d also suggest adding the Mazda CX-5, for driving better, greater efficiency, and attractive styling. The new 2015 Nissan Rogue is worth a look. It’s nothing like it’s drab ancestors. The Ford Escape is nice, but avoid the fancy informatics package that integrates everything into the touch screen. These are hard to use while driving and buggy. A simpler Escape could be quite nice.
Hyundai and Kia make some pleasant models. The Kia Soul is more of a tall wagon, but certainly useful. Kia also sells the Tucson compact crossover and the Santa Fe in two lengths, with an extra row of seats in the longer. All have been well revlceived. The KIAs have a lot of style but could use a freshening. Still, they look good, are a bit sportier to drive than most (the Sportage looks to have drawn design inspiration from a runnin shoe) , and are just less common so you won’t be saying yourself coming and going.
@wolyrobb, I was referring to the tires. Bigger off road tires are expensive to replace and they are heavier than car tires. Their inertia tends to drop city driving mileage. If you need to go off road or tow often, then bigger tires make sense. But the op is tripping over a 500 dollar repair.
After owning a 2000 Blazer for 10 years I learned to look at repair costs in terms of car payments. It made it easier to justify those $400 to $500 repairs once a year or so. Depending on your down payment, a $500 repair is 1 to 1 1/2 car payments. If you do the repair and get two months out of the car you are ahead. I traded the Blazer in on a 2013 Equinox (4 cyl, FWD) when the cost of repairs was more than it was worth.
@chunkyazian I get what you’re saying about the tires which can be a little pricey but on these compact crossovers you’re usually seeing all season suv tires on 17" wheels compared to the car tires on 15" wheels with the regular Impreza. The off road tires do impact mileage according to co-worker who added them to his CRV. The O.P should check out the cost of replacement tires but that applies to just about every new car these days.
Not to spoil your plans to buy a new vehicle, but your Corolla will never need a timing belt, the transmission and the cooling system should NOT be flushed, just a drain and refill.
There is absolutely no reason to replace a <100,000 mile car with a brand new car over a $500 repair. You’re talking about $20-40 grand spent in order to avoid spending 500 bucks. Makes zero sense.