I have to Buy a New Car, Need Input, Please

fostrmom2mny

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May 19, 2000
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After getting my car totaled from a rear end accident,I am now thinking about a Nissan Rogue. Maybe a Chevy Equinox. Any input for either of these? I thank you kindly for your feedback.
 
My daughter had the Rogue but traded it in because it didn't have much power to accelerate. The same is true with my Kia Sorento. Sorry about your accident.
 
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My mechanic is not a fan of the quality of the Equinox. The Nissan Rogue with a CVT* is a disaster.
If you can get a Rogue without a CVT, that would be the best of the two.
I'd look at a Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4 or Honda CRV instead. All three are pretty bullet proof compared to the Chevy and Nissan.

*http://www.edmunds.com/nissan/rogue...san-rogue-nice-but-cvt-is-a-deal-breaker.html
I had an Equinox that folded like a bad suit in a 20mph fender bender. Everyone else drove away, the Equinox was totaled. Never a Chevy again. Go Honda.
 
I have a 2012 Toyota Rav4 and love it. When we were shopping for it I looked at a Rogue but didn't like the blind spots and it seemed smaller inside too. If I remember correctly it didn't come in a V6. I didn't think the difference between a 4 and 6 cylinder would make that much of a difference in a smaller SUV (I previously had a Tahoe and Acadia) but after test driving different models I decided I definitely wanted the better acceleration.
 
My husband has an Equinox and neither of us like it very well. I don't find it comfortable, and he says it just "feels clunky." It seems solid enough on the highway, and handled what little snow we had this winter easily. It's only a year old, so I can't comment on repairs. We are leasing it, and we know we won't do the buy-out option; we are counting the months until the lease is up.

I have a 2015 Kia Soul that I like a lot. It did well in the snow this winter (without snow tires) and feels spacious inside without being a "big" vehicle. Some find it lacking in acceleration, but I've had no complaints entering the highway or when passing. I REALLY like that it gets 27mpg in the city; that's about 11mpg better than my minivan was getting!
 
I have a Rogue and love it. Drives nicely. We took it on a 3400 mile road trip this summer--drove all over Yellowstone Park and the Grand Tetons and it did great. Was comfortable and we were able to get a lot of stuff in it--we camped.

My daughter and five friends also have Rogues. I have two friends with a Rav4 and they like theirs. Two friends had Equinoxes and traded them in--didn't like them--they ended up getting vans instead.
 
I'm a big fan of Subaru and Volvo. For a small SUV I'd look at a Volvo XC60 or the Subaru Outback.
 
Go for a Toyota, Honda or Subaru.

Had to lemon out a Nissan Pathfinder for a defective CVT - the same CVT that is in the Rogue. Avoid like the plague :)
 
I drive a 2013 Mazda CX-5. It's fantastic. Highly recommend it for a smaller SUV.
 
I know you didn't ask BUT I love my Subaru Forester! I test drove the Chevy Equnoix and didn't like it as much. I've also had it as a rental car several times and it's hard to see out of and uses more gas than my Subaru.
 
I am sorry about the accident. I was rear ended back in April and they totaled my Outlander. I only had it for 2 years. My mom had an Equnoix and had several problems with it. I have a cousin that has one and it seems to be fine. I don't know about the Rogue though. We really like the Outlander. It gets pretty good gas mileage and to us the price is better. I have had one for 3-4 years now and have never had any problems with them.
 
We just bought a 2016 Equinox last night, and I love it. We've been considering this purchase for over a year, and have looked at many comparable vehicles, but kept coming back to Chevy. This new year model is nicer than the older ones, and we thought it drove great on the test drive. We took it on the highway, and it handled great.

I've been doing a lot of comparison and while it's not rated at the top, it's not bad. It was rated higher in reliability and safety than the top ones. Also, it was the roomiest of them all, and since we were downgrading from a minivan, this was important to us.
 
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I have a 2011 Equinox and I love it. I was originally looking at the Traverse but found that to be cumbersome to drive and the visibility was terrible (I am very short).
 
I owned a 2010 Rogue for about three years, and I wasn't a fan. Although the CVT in my Rogue never had any issues, it was definitely a concern and one of the reasons we chose to get a new vehicle. I also had issues with blind spots and visibility, especially when backing up. However, the body style has changed since I owned my Rogue, so the newer models might not have the same visibility issues.

The issues with the CVTs are bad enough that Nissan extended the warranty for certain models: http://www.nissanassist.com/faqs.php?menu=3
 
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I have a Subaru Forester and would buy another one without even looking at other cars.
 
From a mechanics point of view, I avoid anything with a Nissan logo on it.

From a Chevrolet mechanic point of view, there's a reason I drive a Ford.

If I had to choose between a Nissan anything or a chevy equinox, I'd buy a bus pass.
 












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