Jaraxle wrote: In fact, my wife's Chreokee had one tire replaced due to damage...it went more than 150,000 miles after that with no problem.
A Cherokee isn't full time AWD. Its owners manual will not tell you to replace all four tires at the same time.
AWD cars that don't have transaxles are the ones that require all tires to be the same diameter. If I remember the articles I read, Honda and Subaru were mentioned.
So, do they require that all tires be from the same mold, made on the same day, on the same shift, in the same factory? Do you have to match them like a pair of drag slicks? If not, guess what: there is absolutely no guarantee they will be the same diameter! There was about a 3/4" diameter difference (largest to smallest) on the first set of tires she put on the Cherokee.
Liz's Cherokee was Selec-Trac, the 4WD could be (and was) used all the time.
John and Elizabeth (Liz), with 3 nutty cats
My beloved St. Bernard, Marm, lost him 1/2/12
Current rig:
1992 International Genesis school bus conversion
FWIW my sister and BIL have owned CRVs as their last 2 vehicles and will buy nothing else now. They live on a remote farm in the north of BC. The reliability and AWD works for them. As for buying new - I feel your pain. I was horrified at the games played by dealers when I was truck shopping all over western Canada, tried gm dealer in my home town (I'd actually bought there twice over the years-but just figured I'd do better out of town - nope)who dealt honestly and all was well - felt very good about the purchase. Recently car shopping same thing - great Acura dealer in my back yard(I'd bought from them years ago as well)...gave me a wonderful deal on a TL. The whole trick is finding someone you feel isn't cheating you - they are out there. I'm ok with a dealer making money - as long as they play fair.
We replaced our 07 Trailblazer last summer. We were in the market for the exact same thing...small SUV, AWD, and good mileage. We narrowed it down to 3. Like the features of the KIA Sportage but.....resale is horrible on the KIA so we passed. Looked at a CRV - very nice but...the Honda dealer was very proud of the CRV and wouldn't budge on price. We landed on a 2011 Toyota RAV4. We were able to negotiate a fair price on the RAV4, the 4 banger has plenty of zip, and the AWD worked flawlessly this winter in Central, OR. We LOVE it and plan to keep it until the wheels fall off! If you have a Toyota dealer by you, I recommend you check then out. Honda, Subaru, and Toyota's are solid vehicles with good reliability and resale. Good luck with your search.
2013 Coachmen Leprechaun 319DS - Ford E450 / V10
2013 Subaru Outback 3.6R AWD Limited
2011 Toyota RAV4 AWD Sport
I peeked in a new Suzuki Grand Vitara the other day, I don't know much about them but it looked pretty nice. It was around 28k and was loaded, leather, sunroof, etc.. I have a friend looking for the same thing as you ib.
ib516 wrote: Can we keep this thread about new vehicle buying?
This thread IS about new vehicle buying, providing information (right or wrong) about AWD vehicles, vs.4WD vehicles. This is valuable information for a new vehicle buyer. Let it go. No harm, no foul.
Jarlaxle wrote: No, repeat no, repeat NO all-wheel drive vehicle needs all 4 tires replaced if one is damaged. This is a fallacy perpetuated by dishonest dealers & tire salesmen!
Wrong! If you go to the Tire Rack website, they give an in-depth analysis of this fact and an alternative as to how to deal with it. They also have many excerpts from different manufacturer's owner manuals stating this reguirement.
A little research will show several other sources for this information.
1) Chev Equinox/GMC Terrain had some issues with 2011 4 cyl engines, but the startup problem has not been reported on 2012 models.
2) AWD tires, they need to be close to the same size (diameter). If you have a tire damaged and need to replace it, you need to end up with reasonably the same diameter. Some shops can shave a new tire to a specific tread depth to match the tires on the vehicle. The shops that don't have used tires or the machine to shave new tires, like to tell you that you have to replace them all (they only solution as they know different size (diameter) tires on AWD will cause issues down the road... the bigger the diameter difference, the sooner the problems..
Well, I looked at the Hyundai products today, Santa Fe and Tuscon.
Packaged the way the DW wants, they run $35k for a Tuscon, and almost $40k for the Santa Fe No thanks! They are nice enough, but not that nice IMO.
The Tuscon competes with the Mitsu RVR in my mind (size wise) and the Santa Fe with the CR-V, but the Hyundai was the most expensive by a couple thousand. The salesman told me that the Santa Fe with the 4 cyl actually gets about the same mpg as the V6 offering, because the 4 has to work harder to move the bigger vehicle. One of the main things I'm looking for is better mpg than we have now, and I don't think a V6 Santa Fe would do that. The 4 cyl Tuscon might, I'll have to see what the DW thinks of them, but they aren't as inexpensive as I thought they would be. To get the options the DW wants, I'll need to buy the limited package that adds $4k to the price which makes it priced at or above the CR-V. The KIA is the same vehicle with different sheetmetal, and the salesman at Hyundai told me the KIAs are around the same price, which makes sense.
Then I begrudgingly went to the Subaru dealer. I figured that if I decided I really like the Subaru, I could get it from a dealer in the next city. Well, I wasn't impressed. Besides that fabulous AWD system, they really don't have a lot to offer. They are rated significantly worse mpg wise than a lot of the others I have looked at, and they seem to be a bit "behind". 4 speed autos, crappy nav system, the bluetooth mic looks like it was added after the dealer received the car, plastic interiors, no real neat fetures, etc. They too came in at about $35k for a loaded Forrester. DW wouldn't be interested in the car platform or the Outback. So Subaru is out.
I haven't looked at the Toyota RAV4 yet either. Suppose I should give that a look.
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No thanks! They are nice enough, but not that nice IMO.
