looking at new cars...any input?

[CMA21]

My husband and I have recently moved to NH and are looking to get a four wheel drive vehicle. We've narrowed it down to:

-Ford Escape
-Toyota RAV4
-2014 Jeep Cherokee
- Subaru Forrester

Thoughts, good or bad, on any or all of those vehicles? We like different things about each one and just looking for some other reviews.

TIA!!

 

[skatalite]

My husband and I have recently moved to NH and are looking to get a four wheel drive vehicle. We've narrowed it down to:

-Ford Escape
-Toyota RAV4
-2014 Jeep Cherokee
- Subaru Forrester

Thoughts, good or bad, on any or all of those vehicles? We like different things about each one and just looking for some other reviews.

TIA!!

I'd suggest buying used whichever car you get, so it holds a greater value as you drive it.

Of the four you mentioned, I'd go with either the Escape of RAV4.

 

[Poohforyou]

I'd go with a Honda, Toyota or Subaru. You can't go wrong with any of them. We have 2 Subaru Forresters and love them.

 

[dakcp2001]

Love, love, love my Escape! I got the Limited which is a V6, but you can also get a 4 if you want better mileage. I have ad good luck with Fords over the last decade. I'd avoid jeep. I had a very bad experience with a Dodge in 2010.

 

[Fjobe]

I recently purchased a Toyota van and love it! My old van was a 2007 Dodge with 139,000 miles, and I no longer felt safe driving it. My Grandpa has a 2000 Toyota van with 239,000 miles on it, and it is still going strong, so I decided to go that route this time. My aunt has a Toyota Land Cruiser (I believe '96) with over 400,000 miles on it! I love my Toyota!

 

[debster812]

I have a 2004 Forrester with 177K miles on it. I'll likely be getting a new to me Subaru Legacy sedan or Impreza 5-door in the next few months, and DS will inherit the Forrester.

I absolutely LOVE my Forrester. Decent mileage, great in poor weather, plenty of room for all our 'stuff', no major issues to speak of, just normal wear and tear stuff.

 

[Fueledbycoffee]

Just curious...Have you looked at the Dodge Journey? It comes in an AWD package. I test drove the Escape but fell in love with the Journey. You can also get it with a 3rd row if that would be beneficial to you (it is for us).

 

[xlsm]

I have car dealers in my family, and have quite a bit of experience buying cars. I hate car shopping, but I just got a new one yesterday. Well, new to me, I have had it beaten into my head since I was a toddler to never buy brand new cars due to the depreciation.

I bought a GMC Terrain and I'm obsessed. I normally drive a Ford Mustang (my husband gets to drive it now), and the Terrain handles as well as it does. Not even kidding. It's also rated very high for safety.

Mine is not a 4x4, but I think it is an option. I would recommend looking into the Rav4 (the reason we didn't persue that is b/c I don't care for the exterior styling), and the newer Cherokees (If I were to choose a 2014 model year car, that would be the one...they're gorgeous!).

I also know several people with Acadias and Ford Edges who love both of those.

I think your choice will boil down to how much space you need. Good luck to you!! Car shopping stresses me out!

 

[CMA21]

Thank you for all the feedback! I'm glad to hear I have some solid options in there! I briefly looked at dodge online but I was afraid it'd be too big. Right now we drive a Mazda 3 right now, so I'm going to have to get used to driving a bit larger vehicle anyway I guess haha

 

[AJ1983]

I'm a big fan of Toyotas! Great cars, great resale value. Just bought a new one myself

 

[Disney Doll]

I've had good luck with Fords...both Explorers and now the Edge.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would go with the Toyota. My husband has owned various Toyota and they have been reliable. Many had over 100,000 miles and never was in the shop. In fact mechanics hate Toyota because they rarely get to work on them.

The only thing we have had to do is normal stuff like oil, air filter, wipers and tires. My husbands Corolla has 135,000 miles and is 14 yrs old and it has the original brakes that are still in good shape according to the brake inspection we had done when we rotated the tires.

Gets great gas mileage still at 36 mpg.

 

[wiigirl]

Love, love, love my Escape! I got the Limited which is a V6, but you can also get a 4 if you want better mileage. I have ad good luck with Fords over the last decade. I'd avoid jeep. I had a very bad experience with a Dodge in 2010.

x2

 

[ChrisFL]

Subaru is a great brand, I'd highly recommend the Forester.

I think its more capable than the RAV 4 though I'm a Toyota fan, Subaru wins this battle.

 

[Zandy595]

I've always driven sedans and have a Camry now that I love. However, we got a loner RAV4 for a few days and it was awesome. I was sad when we had to give it back. If we needed to get a bigger vehicle I would get that.

 

[bedogged]

Subaru is a great brand, I'd highly recommend the Forester.

I think its more capable than the RAV 4 though I'm a Toyota fan, Subaru wins this battle.

I read on a link through AOL that the Foresters are flying out of the dealerships because of their popularity. No first hand experience, but I would think that would make it much harder to get a deal on one. If you are a Costco member, I would recommend using their buying service to make your best deal on any model you choose.

 

[barkley]

we took delivery 2 weeks ago on our 2014 ford escape. we LOVE it.

we have an '06 escape that has served us well and when dd needed a safe reliable vehicle for college we decided it was better to sell her ours and get a new one for ourselves (and dang, that '06 held on to it's value, I was really surprised).

we got the 4wd titanium level (we LOVE the heated front seats in the winter). the only upgrades we did was the navigation package (the back up camera display is fantastic), a luggage rack and a tondeau cover. I love the remote rear gate lift, the dual zone heat/air controls (dh and I could never agree on settings so this is heavenly), and ESP. the remote start (we start the car out the front window to warm up/de-ice in the morning so it's ready to go when we walk out the door). ford has done some nice redesigns on the escape so it feels more roomy and the back storage area can hold allot more.

it's getting very good mileage and the 4 wd is working well on the snowy/icy roads.


a suggestion-if you belong to Costco check out their car buying program. you just plug in some info. and the rep. at an individual dealership will contact you (costs you nothing). between using it, a rebate, and financing the minimum amount to get an additional $500 off (which we turned around and immediately paid off) we save several thousands off the best deals we had been offered.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I bought a GMC Terrain and I'm obsessed. I normally drive a Ford Mustang (my husband gets to drive it now), and the Terrain handles as well as it does. Not even kidding. It's also rated very high for safety.

Mine is not a 4x4, but I think it is an option.

AWD is an option on the Terrain as it is on most of the cars OP listed. OP, it probably goes without saying, but do check that when car shopping. I had a friend who bought a Jeep Cherokee for "snow prowess" many years back and when I peaked under it, there was no front differential. It was a 2WD model. She had no idea. I didn't mention it either since it was too late to do anything about it. IIRC, the Suburu is the only 1 of the first 4 listed that ONLY comes as AWD where the other 3 can be had in front-wheel-drive versions at a lower cost.

I'm not positive any of those listed can be had in true 4WD (with the front-to-rear ratio fixed at 50/50), but if any do, it's probably the Jeep.

 

[Syrreal]

I used to have a forrester and I LOVED that car. It never gave me any trouble and it was very reliable and safe and I never had to stress about road conditions. I needed a bigger car so I now drive a Subaru Tribeca but next time I am in the market for a smaller car it will be a Forrester. If you like sedans, subaru also makes excellent sedans.
Toyota has excellent cars too. DH drives a tundra and I would not hesitate to get a rav either

 

[snoopy two]

I just got a new 2014 Cherokee and I really like it. Especially today, as the 4 wheel drive came in handy with our big snow storm. It gets great gas mileage and is very comfortable. It has quite a bit of tech stuff in it, if you like all that. I am just happy to have a nice car that gets me thru the snow.