A practical CUV for her *** Thread update, Rotor’s worst nightmare realized ***

[MrH]

Lol seriously what kind of person pops out a baby and then drives a CUV?  That's some suspicious shit. There's more to this story.

If anything, you should be trying to impress your newborn, so he/she doesn't grow up thinking their dad is a loser.  You should probably sell the 4Runner, make the woman drive the M3, and get a GT3 for yourself.

I'm only looking out for the best interest of the child.

[giant_mtb]

Become a 4runner bro.  6" lift, 35" tires, high-clearance bumpers, and a spare attached to the roof.  Get the kid into curb hopping.

[MrH]

He's already a 4Runner Bro.  Can't have 2 4Runners in the house.  Too much Alpha for one garage.

[Lebowski]

If anything, you should be trying to impress your newborn, so he/she doesn't grow up thinking their dad is a loser.  You should probably sell the 4Runner, make the woman drive the M3, and get a GT3 for yourself.

I'm only looking out for the best interest of the child.

Well he's bald too. So I was thinking we should get him into corvettes early.

[giant_mtb]

He's already a 4Runner Bro.  Can't have 2 4Runners in the house.  Too much Alpha for one garage.

I meant turn his current one into bro.  For enthusiast cred.

[MexicoCityM3]

All this 4Runner talk made me curious about it. Not for sale in Mexico, it turns out.

[Soup DeVille]

All this 4Runner talk made me curious about it. Not for sale in Mexico, it turns out.

But you get diesel Land Cruisers that aren't loaded up bourge-mobiles.

[MexicoCityM3]

But you get diesel Land Cruisers that aren't loaded up bourge-mobiles.

AFAIK we only get the bourgeoise Land Cruiser: http://toyota.com.mx/homevehiculo/suvs-y-minivans/land-cruiser/

[12,000 RPM]

But you get diesel Land Cruisers that aren't loaded up bourge-mobiles.

He can cop the Narco package with the gun turrets and center console scales (good for 10kg w/an accuracy of ~1g)

[Soup DeVille]

AFAIK we only get the bourgeoise Land Cruiser: http://toyota.com.mx/homevehiculo/suvs-y-minivans/land-cruiser/

Oh.

Well crap.

You get the Hilux though, right?

[MexicoCityM3]

He can cop the Narco package with the gun turrets and center console scales (good for 10kg w/an accuracy of ~1g)

Hummers were the ideal narco vehicle. That market wasn't enough to save the company. Who knew?

Oh.

Well crap.

You get the Hilux though, right?

Yes.

[AutobahnSHO]

Lol seriously what kind of person pops out a baby and then drives a CUV?  That's some suspicious shit. There's more to this story.

[Raza]

Do you know what year/generation it was?  I think the the newer (2017) CRV interior is significantly better than the RAV4 personally.  Don't think I've been in the previous gen CRV.

Not sure. But I'm fairly certain they're both older than 2017.

[Raza]

Regarding ride height, my wife prefers the higher line of sight.  Had to trade the Focus for an Escape because she felt vulnerable sitting so low driving the car.

That is a draw for a lot of people, especially women, it seems. I'm obviously the opposite. Whenever I drive the S4, I feel like I'm teetering on the top of a skyscraper. And that's a fairly low and small sport sedan!

[68_427]

All this 4Runner talk made me curious about it. Not for sale in Mexico, it turns out.

You don't get the Fortuner?

[68_427]

Not sure. But I'm fairly certain they're both older than 2017.

The new CR-V is pretty nice

[CaminoRacer]

That is a draw for a lot of people, especially women, it seems. I'm obviously the opposite. Whenever I drive the S4, I feel like I'm teetering on the top of a skyscraper. And that's a fairly low and small sport sedan!

Same. I need to lower the seats in my car.

[12,000 RPM]

That is a draw for a lot of people, especially women, it seems. I'm obviously the opposite. Whenever I drive the S4, I feel like I'm teetering on the top of a skyscraper. And that's a fairly low and small sport sedan!

I enjoy getting low as well... but we have been getting our baby shower gifts, including the car seat systems. I can already tell the higher hip point and bigger door/trunk apertures of wifey's car are going to go far in making loading our spawn less of a hassle. If/when we have a second one I would not be opposed to a minivan/3 row.

[Lebowski]

Update ... Believe it or not this topic has not been nearly as hot in the Lebowski household as it has been on the 'Spin, after test driving the CRV/CX-5 a couple weeks ago we have barely discussed it w/ Irma and everything else going on, until this week.  But don't forget there's another person involved that ultimately has final decision....

We just test drove a Highlander Limited. She liked it, mainly based on styling vs the CRV. It's bigger obviously but if you don't need/use the 3rd row, it wasn't THAT much bigger than the CRV, seats also don't fold quite as flat. I kinda wish they had an option to delete the 3rd row to get more cargo space.  We took turns driving ... driving impressions, meh felt like driving a minivan IMO. Had more pickup than the 4Runner. Interior on the limited is pretty nice, had ventilated seats which I like.  Sticker was $43k, not sure what fair market value is.  Mileage 20/27 mpg iirc, not great but better than the 4Runner. On practicality and value I prefer the CRV to the highlander, I don't think the interior space difference is big enough to matter much but at the same time I totally get that she prefers the styling in the Highlander, it is better looking than the CRV and looks more upmarket esp in Limited trim. 

Enter a dark horse candidate ... my mom was in town when we went to test drive the CRV/CX-5 and mentioned she'd gladly sell us her 2011 RX-350 as she's looking to replace it later this year.  I did not give hardly any thought to this since she mentioned it but Bree brought it up the other day and said she would be interested in doing that. Has ~55k miles iirc, I would pay her KBB which is ~$20k. I'm generally not s fan of buying used due to the extra time and uncertainty of finding a clean/prestine example but I'm not against buying from someone I know who maintains and takes care of their cars, and this is in very good condition.  Biggest downside is the color which is "old lady tan metallic", I think actual color is Champagne.  Gas mileage not as good as the CRV but the additional savings make that moot.  Interior space is about perfect. Styling wise ... IMO it's the quintessential grandma car (between my mom, stepmom, and grandma I've lost count of how many of these have been owned by the older women in my family, in fact my stepmom has a 2010 that she's ALSO looking to replace soon, better color combo but more miles).

I know it's highly "suspicious" to cross shop across such wide a price/class/age range but I've almost always cross shopped random choices like this.

If I was to rank in order of my preferences I would say 1) CRV 2) used RX 3) Highlander.  But the choice is ultimately hers.  I think ignoring price her order of preference is 1) Highlander 2) used RX 3) CRV (styling of the CRV has grown on me but not so much on her), but she is pretty value conscious on this decision as well.  We'll discuss this weekend.

[Laconian]

Does Toyota makes RXes in colors other than champagne?

[Lebowski]

Does Toyota makes RXes in colors other than champagne?

I see a lot in white ... I don't know if they will even sell them to you if you're under 50 or male.

[12,000 RPM]

See if you can borrow the RX for a few days to see how she likes the infotainment system. The input method is retarded.

[Lebowski]

See if you can borrow the RX for a few days to see how she likes the infotainment system. The input method is retarded.

I agree ... we drove it a little bit while my mom was here, she said the infotainment didn't bother her. I agree infotainment of a brand new car with CarPlay etc is a big upgrade. She doesn't really care as much about this stuff though.

[MexicoCityM3]

I know it's highly "suspicious" to cross shop across such wide a price/class/age range but I've almost always cross shopped random choices like this.

Yeah. Something smells.  :)

Seriously, if a Highlander at 43K entered the discussion, now you are in interesting territory. Your wife has a very long commute. The interior + the safety and comfort features of the XC60 are tough to look past. All that driver assists may be of use and spending time in that interior, in traffic - so nice!

You say that you want to keep it for 150K miles and that you want reliability. I understand, but come on, what's the real money difference in TCO even if you have to sell the XC60 earlier? Say, 80K miles? 5K USD, 10K USD? That's in the realm of not really being big money, man. A drop in the relative bucket. And all those hours sitting in traffic and driving that long commute. The Volvo also goes well with the Yoga image IMO.

All others note: I am not recommending a BMW.

Go look at that Volvo. I guarantee she´ll love it. That interior is bonkers good.

[giant_mtb]

Most infotainment systems become second nature after a couple weeks.

[FoMoJo]

That is a draw for a lot of people, especially women, it seems. I'm obviously the opposite. Whenever I drive the S4, I feel like I'm teetering on the top of a skyscraper. And that's a fairly low and small sport sedan!

These days, I'd rather be higher up driving in traffic, which is most of the time.  Better vision as well as a better sense of security.  In the past, I loved the go-kart feel of driving a roadster but, in traffic, the view is pretty grim.  Had a crash because I couldn't see a car that was making an illegal left turn in front of me as my view was blocked by the traffic beside me.

[mzziaz]

A 2011 is a bit old, imo, when you already have the 4runner, so I'd pass on that. Two larger SUVs seems like a bit of a waste for your usage, too.

[Lebowski]

Yeah. Something smells.  :)

Seriously, if a Highlander at 43K entered the discussion, now you are in interesting territory. Your wife has a very long commute. The interior + the safety and comfort features of the XC60 are tough to look past. All that driver assists may be of use and spending time in that interior, in traffic - so nice!

You say that you want to keep it for 150K miles and that you want reliability. I understand, but come on, what's the real money difference in TCO even if you have to sell the XC60 earlier? Say, 80K miles? 5K USD, 10K USD? That's in the realm of not really being big money, man. A drop in the relative bucket. And all those hours sitting in traffic and driving that long commute. The Volvo also goes well with the Yoga image IMO.

All others note: I am not recommending a BMW.

Go look at that Volvo. I guarantee she´ll love it. That interior is bonkers good.

$43k just happened to be the window sticker of the one the salesman grabbed. I had asked to look at an SE which starts a bit lower, ~$40k. Highlander isn't a very new model I assume can do better than msrp.  Sorta looked at the highlander as a let's see what else is out there kind of thing (since we know she doesn't like the RAV4), I'm not pulling for the highlander to be the winner. 

If she drives 20-25k miles/yr, 80k miles is 3-4 years.  The difference between buying a new European/luxury brand every 3-4 years and buying a new Honda/Toyota every say 6-7 years, over time, is not insignificant.


As I've said, I like the XC60, she's not a Volvo fan but I'm not sure how she feels about the XC60 specifically.  Starts at $41,500 a quick look at the website looks like it's decently well equipped starting. I'll run the idea past her if she's interested I'm not totally against looking at them, but as I said above I don't agree with you WRT owning for 3-4 years vs 6-7+, keeping cars a long time is key to reducing total cost of ownership (which again is why leasing is almost never a good idea).  Keeping the bmw only 3 years is an anomaly in my car ownership history, not something I'm looking to make the norm.   

Also note after googling, cargo volume of XC60 is 31/67, that's actually smaller than the CRV.  So if you compare the value proposition to a $31k CRV rather than a $40k highlander ...

[Lebowski]

A 2011 is a bit old, imo, when you already have the 4runner, so I'd pass on that. Two larger SUVs seems like a bit of a waste for your usage, too.

The age is a factor. It only has 55k miles and is a Toyota so should be good for another 100k+ though.

My preference is generally to buy new, and keep cars awhile. A 2011 obviously isn't something I'd plan to keep for 6-7 years. At the same time, it's so far into its depreciation curve that financially it's a home run compared to the other options, despite its age, despite the fact that two vehicles that size is maybe more than we need etc.  Size wise it's a little bigger than CRV but smaller than highlander, so I don't think the size is out of line at all in fact might be about the perfect medium.

Buying a used car and keeping for 3-4 years is a lot different than buying a new car and keeping for only 3-4 years, so obviously I'd relax my expectations of how long we'd keep it compared to a new car.

[2o6]

I'd nix the Lexus solely because of lack of CarPlay.


If the RX was a hybrid, i'd prolly buy it.