Any mini-SUV owners here? Click me!

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

My girlfriend's jetta was a lemon, so she's been car shopping for a new mini SUV.

These are her favorites so far:

-Ford Escape

-Toyota Rav 4

-Lexus RX300

So, if anyone on these forums owns any of these and could give some honest and non-biased reviews, i'de appreciate it. We're havinga hard time finding the RX300 in good condition for her price range, but we've gone through plenty of Escapes and Rav4's. The Rav4 and escape are probably her favorites.

hook it up with some opinions!

Click to read more...

 

[JBLCAMRY 10+ year member]

rx300's are nice.

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

rx300's are nice.

yeah they are quite nice, the issue is she is trying to keep her budget around 10g's, and all the RX's we've found in that price range have been pretty hammered.

for the same price as a 99 RX300, she can get an 04-06 Rav4 or Escape

 

[headlesskoopa 10+ year member]

go with the 04-06 Rav4 very well built

 

[snb778 5,000+ posts]

the Escapes are rated just as high as any foreign SUV you will find... for some reason. I just bought an escape based on the reliability. Consumer reports rate them very well in every category... no half black, partially black, or black circles in any category.... allllll red

on the down side, they are a BICH to work on mechanically... CA.. ver easy to work on.. UNLESS you're doin an ALT upgrade... then its probably one of the hardest car's you can get

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

the Escapes are rated just as high as any foreign SUV you will find... for some reason. I just bought an escape based on the reliability. Consumer reports rate them very well in every category... no half black, partially black, or black circles in any category.... allllll red
on the down side, they are a BICH to work on mechanically... CA.. ver easy to work on.. UNLESS you're doin an ALT upgrade... then its probably one of the hardest car's you can get

meh, she wont let me put a huge stereo in her cars anyways.... i think.

She had a pair of 10's on 600RMS, ported, in her jetta, and she wants someting better then that now, we'll see i guess.

Cmon, theres gotta be some peeps on here that have owned these and can give me some dirt on em!!! post up!!

I am guessing she'll be getting something along the lines of an 02+ or 03+ Escape or Rav4, or a 99-ish RX300

 

[snb778 5,000+ posts]

the escapes tend to have brake booster issues, and IAC issues i've heard (ran into the booster issue already, and currently dealing with it).. they tent to need alignments more often than other cars

 

[jshak07 10+ year member]

I have a 2008 Ford Escape that I am selling but it was a great ride, ride was smooth, got great gas mileage. Doesnt have very large hatch but if she doesnt want a huge system it would be perfect. I would definetly recommend it. Mine also only had a 4 cylinder

 

[Beerdrnkr 5,000+ posts]

I have a 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara and I really like it. Wish it had more horsepower but other than that it's a nice looking vehicle and has a nice interior. Gas mileage is pretty bad though.

 

[norcrawler 10+ year member]

dont get a ford..

 

[jshak07 10+ year member]

Up until 05-06 Escapes were famous for sh!tty transmissions

 

[Al_Capowned 10+ year member]

depends on the year milage and so on.....

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

dont get a ford..

are you speaking from personal experience, or are you being stereotypical and self-centered?

I ran a lifted ford explorer to 150k miles, and the only part i had to replace due to failure was the tensioner pulley. I sold it 2 years ago, and it runs to this day.

My girlfriends dad has a ford 15-passenger van with 270k miles on it too //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif that thing is awesome.

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

Up until 05-06 Escapes were famous for sh!tty transmissions

do you know when the models switch up by year? is there an 05-06 model?

 

[Virindok 10+ year member]

Just bought an 09 suzuki sx4 crossover. Can get a used '08 for around 10-12 I'm sure. Love it.