looking to save some bucks

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Subaru's systems are no different from anyone else: I think they still have some in manual-transmission vehicles with a centre differential (so driving all wheels all the time without requiring active control), but mostly (particularly in automatics) they drive the front all of the time and actively control rear drive with a clutch. The days of Subaru being special in the AWD world are long gone.

I remember my son grumbling as he had to replace his GF"s CR-V's rear differential/clutch assembly at 100K miles after just some light offroading (national forest roads in humboldt/mendocino county, mostly). when we googled it, failures of those clutch assemblies were really commonplace, but this was an older generation CR-V (I think early 2000s, 2nd generation).

[gbaglo]

I've lost track. What is a crossover? Seems to me that all vehicles, that aren't trucks, look the same. We have lots of SUVs in this neighbourhood that carry labels, like Maserati, Porsche, Lamborghini. They look pretty much the same as the more common Mercedes AMG SUVs.

[Eggscape]

Getting the optional locking rear end will give you another drive wheel on demand and well worth the extra money...after all...when you get 4 wheel drive...it is only one more drive wheel but up front and at great added weight and cost.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I've lost track. What is a crossover? Seems to me that all vehicles, that aren't trucks, look the same. We have lots of SUVs in this neighbourhood that carry labels, like Maserati, Porsche, Lamborghini. They look pretty much the same as the more common Mercedes AMG SUVs.

the ORIGINAL SUVs were things like the Chevy Suburban, a big wagon body on a full framed pickup truck chassis.

Crossover SUVs are essentially tall station wagons on modern unibody FWD-centric car chassis that have been beefed up with bigger wheels etc..

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

the ORIGINAL SUVs were things like the Chevy Suburban, a big wagon body on a full framed pickup truck chassis.

Crossover SUVs are essentially tall station wagons on modern unibody FWD-centric car chassis that have been beefed up with bigger wheels etc..

What would be an example of what is called a crossover?
Iowa Dave

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

What would be an example of what is called a crossover?

That majority of the passenger vehicles on the road now, and most of the lineup of many current auto manufacturers. Some examples:

• Ford: Ecosport, Escape, Flex, Edge, Explorer, Bronco Sport, and Mustang Mach-E... but not the Bronco or Expedition
• Lincoln: Corsair, Nautilus, Aviator... but not Navigator
• Chevrolet: Trailblazer, Trax, Equinox, Blazer, and Traverse... but not Tahoe or Suburban
• Toyota: C-HR, RAV4, Venza, and Highlander... but not 4Runner, Sequoia, or Land Cruiser
• Jeep: Cherokee, Compass, Renegade... but not Wrangler (Grand Cherokee is debatable)

The term "crossover" is now about as unclear as SUV has been for decades; both mean "station wagon with some typical characteristics such a big tires", and the marketing people just use whatever label they think will promote sales.

[gbaglo]

Well, I'm still looking for what to call the Highlander. The RAV4 was a Rav. What's short for Highlander? Not Hi. Car doesn't seem right, nor does truck.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Hihglander is most certainly a crossover, its built on a rather modified Camry platform by way of the Sienna minivan.

'crossovers' come in small, medium, and large, and the highlander is in the medium-large side of things.

re: cherokee, the *original* cherokee was far more 'real' SUV than 'crossover', it was a RWD centric classic on demand 4x4, setup for offroading (the 'sport' in SUV). unlike most of its contemporaries, it *was* unibody, but its underpinnings were not based on any sort of car platform. the *new* Cherokee has more Fiat than Jeep in it. The Grand Cherokee has a fair bit of Mercedes ML/GLE in it in terms of chassis and suspension design although it has a Chrysler drive train and interior.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

The Grand Cherokee has a fair bit of Mercedes ML/GLE in it in terms of chassis and suspension design although it has a Chrysler drive train and interior.

That's unfortunate.


I should just call the Highlander 'the Jeep', since my wife calls all SUVs Jeeps, even the Ford Explorer we had for ten years.

[Iowa Dave]

Thank you very much Brian. I don’t spend a lot of time studying this kind of thing. The labels don’t mean too much to me, I see something I like and learn about it. I bought a new Bronco
in 1978. It was a pretty good vehicle overall and never gave me much problem. I sold it at 133,000 miles. So it was with some interest when I read up on the new Bronco. The one I had was positrac rear and lockouts on the fronts and was pretty stout. I never got stuck with that
one. The next
Thanks again
Iowa Dave

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

... and the marketing people just use whatever label they think will promote sales.

True, that!

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

... The labels don’t mean too much to me, I see something I like and learn about it.

Amen.

Vehicles, like people, should be judged based on 'the content of their character', not some arbitrary label assigned by others or some superficial trait.

IMO.

[John in Santa Cruz]

We're sorta looking for a new daily driver to replace my wife's 1994 Mercedes E320 wagon. She does love that car, but at 280,000 miles and 26 years, its getting a little long in the tooth.

We like the wagon form factor, its practical and useful, but we also want a car that has good road manners, is smooth and quiet and is comfortable on long drives.

So far we've test driven...

• 2017 (4th gen) Lexus RX350
• 2015 (3rd gen) Lexus RX350
• 2008 (4th gen) Lexus LS460
• 2020 Subaru Outlander
• 2017 Mercedes GLE350
• 2020 BMW X3
• 2020 BMX X1
• 2020 Mazda CX-5

each and every one of those, we get back in the old Benz E, and go, wow, this car rides and drives really nice, has not a single rattle or clunk in it even on a very bad road and is supremely comfortable. The Lexus RXs were way too 'cockpit' like for my wife, and had a harsh ride, especially the 2017. The LS was just too big of a boat. The Outlander was kinda OK, still way too busy of a dash, and the ride was sorta OK but I've heard horrid stories of their CVT transmissions blowing up. The Mercedes was a joke, sorely disappointed compared with our 26 year old car. the BMWs were too sporty stiff and harsh on urban bad pavement. Of all those cars, the Mazda CX-5 was actually her favorite, but she still prefers the old wagon, so I guess we're gonna drive it another 5 years or whatever.

ALL those SUV's suffered from harsh rides, excess lean on turns, poor road feel.

note we're not interested in any of these for towing, the F250 handles that chore nicely.

[gbaglo]

I've never forgiven my father, Pastor Baglo, for trading in our Mercedes Benz 190D on a Valiant. He didn't get any smarter. His last vehicle was a Caravan.

[Bill and Earline]

It's amusing to think back to our parents' choices of family car. In 1968 my Dad bought a Renault R10, rear engine four door automatic. In case the battery died it had a hand crank, much like what Escape provides for the stabilizers. We used to compete to see who could start it that way. Thankfully we had other larger cars, too.

He followed that with a Peugeot 505 Diesel that was one of my favorite cars he ever bought. Unfortunately he was not well versed in the seriousness of the oil pressure light. Killed the engine, and then traded the remains for some hideous little Ford of some sort.

Why he bought French twice, I'll never know. It might have been a result of his visit there in 1944-45.

[John in Santa Cruz]

my parents had a 58 Volvo 544 when I was really young, traded that in on a 64 Dodge Dart, then a 68 Valiant sedan, which my dad kept up until the late 90s. When my mother finally got her own car, it was a early 70's Toyota Corona Mark II, later replaced with a 84(?) Toyota Corolla wagon, which my brother still has.

[johnnyv]

To Iowa Dave, think i was in your neck of the woods yesterday. Took hwy 30 out of Cedar Rapids to hwy 330 down to 80 and over to Des Moines. The damage from the derecho (sp) is unbelievable.

Kind Regards

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by johnnyv

To Iowa Dave, think i was in your neck of the woods yesterday. Took hwy 30 out of Cedar Rapids to hwy 330 down to 80 and over to Des Moines. The damage from the derecho (sp) is unbelievable.

Kind Regards

You passed within 1/2 mile of our home. I used to take 330 all the time to go to Ankeny when I was on the Iowa parks and recreation association board. They are getting a lot of storm damage cleaned up by now but have a ways to go. A lot of the corn was chopped for silage. Some will be harvestable with a special corn head on the combines. The beans were hurt but not real bad. I’ve still got some big trees down but I’m not in a hurry to clean them up. I working on my shop garage which was never built correctly when new, so I’m anchoring it together like it should have been and tightening up all the entry points with copper mesh and rodent repelling foam.
Looking forward to next spring, the introduction of a vaccination (hopefully) and right now the muzzleloader rifle deer season. Have two tags for the farm and can get two more. It’s in about three weeks. Got my high test flu shot yesterday.
Iowa Dave

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Well, I'm still looking for what to call the Highlander. The RAV4 was a Rav. What's short for Highlander? Not Hi. Car doesn't seem right, nor does truck.

Highlander Hybrid owners have been known to refer to them as "HiHy"...

"Car" works for me. In the UK, it appears that people use "car" for what are called crossovers and SUVs here... because that's what they are.

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

Hihglander is most certainly a crossover, its built on a rather modified Camry platform by way of the Sienna minivan.

People often say that, and the front part of the these vehicles are generally similar because they share the same Toyota K platform (although of different track dimensions and few shared components), but in the rear there is no relationship between the design and components of a pre-2021 Sienna and the others - the Sienna isn't the basis for anything else. The Highlander and Camry even have similar rear suspension designs (unlike the Sienna), but looking at the part diagrams they have (at least as of the Xx-50 generation) no parts in common, reflecting their different capabilities.

Long ago light trucks and full-size sedans shared many parts, and they still would if anyone built really massive cheap sedans, and that didn't seem to bother anyone. Now, there seems to be a "stink" of passenger car that is unacceptable to people buying trucks and "SUVs"... even though they use those trucks and SUVs as passenger cars, and even though the "cars" have the most advanced technical design of any vehicle category.

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Well, I'm still looking for what to call the Highlander. The RAV4 was a Rav. What's short for Highlander? Not Hi. Car doesn't seem right, nor does truck.

It was easy when I had my "FJ", it was just "the FJ". Not quite so simple with the "4Runner", possibly "the 4R", but that is not really easy either. Will probably just call it my "truck" (even if it is not really a truck).