Lets Talk about Slow boring SUV's...

[revelations]

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The SUV requirement is also for a bit of added clearance. My street and back alley do not get plowed in the winter and can get massive ruts.

I've seen a few cars sideways on my street because they couldn't navigate the channels in the ice / snow.

I drove a lowered car in a few winters here and even with studless snow tires, it only got stuck once in a wind blown pile of snow.

Alleys etc. not a problem and would just plow through.

[ExtraSlow]

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I drove a lowered car in a few winters here and even with studless snow tires, it only got stuck once in a wind blown pile of snow.

Alleys etc. not a problem and would just plow through.

Agree, I ran the Honda fit for 5 winters without issue. People imagine problems that don't exist.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Agree, I ran the Honda fit for 5 winters without issue. People imagine problems that don't exist.

X2. Got stuck in a 350z once in my alley.

[loweg]

I've got a honda that's that fits most your criteria . It is rhd, but 80,000 km honda awd same as element cr-v. 50 mpg. Summer and winter tires for 6500. If interested drop me a line

[Tik-Tok]

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Agree, I ran the Honda fit for 5 winters without issue. People imagine problems that don't exist.

Or your alley/neighborhood is different from others. I've seen my main street so rutted that I had to help tug cars out of them with my truck because they were high centered. My own Subaru would have too of I had tried. It's rare, but it happens.

[Nufy]

Thanks for all of the input so far.

Driving test is not scheduled until the end of November so I have a bit of time...

[ExtraSlow]

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or your alley/neighborhood is different from others. I've seen my main street so rutted that i had to help tug cars out of them with my truck because they were high centered. My own subaru would have too of i had tried. It's rare, but it happens.

no! My experience is all that matters!

[BerserkerCatSplat]

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Or your alley/neighborhood is different from others. I've seen my main street so rutted that I had to help tug cars out of them with my truck because they were high centered. My own Subaru would have too of I had tried. It's rare, but it happens.

This. Every winter I have to pull multiple vehicles out of the ruts in our alleyway if we've gone through a freeze-thaw cycle or two. The ruts get stupid deep. Had to winch out a F450 dump bed once.

[Nufy]

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Or your alley/neighborhood is different from others. I've seen my main street so rutted that I had to help tug cars out of them with my truck because they were high centered. My own Subaru would have too of I had tried. It's rare, but it happens.

For me..a west facing house means an alley and street that gets morning sun and then freezes in the afternoon / evening. City sand trucks / plows are an endangered species on my street so i can get bad at times. The alley gets nothing.

[ExtraSlow]

While we are off topic, I swear that the few times a year the plows go down my street it just makes things worse since it creates windrows of cold ice that prevebt two vehicles from passing.

[Nufy]

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If I am honest, the used car market right now is a shit show. No inventory and you got a lot of overpriced junk on the market. Its bad. Also added to the fact that everyone wants a SUV. I personally cant find anything and I have been tracking kijji and auto trader for a long time.

Just a bump to say boy were you right in this assessment.

Everything I have looked at is way overpriced crap...As someone else noted...todays 4000 car is the same quality you would get for 700 20 years ago...

Most everything is some small dealer in the NE posing as a private seller in order to get you to look at their crap.

FB market place is becoming useless and full of ads like those...

Back to Kijiji I guess.

[tonytiger55]

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Just a bump to say boy were you right in this assessment.

Everything I have looked at is way overpriced crap...As someone else noted...todays 4000 car is the same quality you would get for 700 20 years ago...

Most everything is some small dealer in the NE posing as a private seller in order to get you to look at their crap.

FB market place is becoming useless and full of ads like those...

Back to Kijiji I guess.

Ya its brutal. I nearly bought a 2012 CRV a couple of months back. It was overpriced but I thought what the hell... Im gona do it.

I checked over the vehicle, it seemed okish. A gap in the panel seemed suspicious... something was off and I could not put a finger on it. The interior smelt like a wet dog. I asked the owner if he had any pets. He said no. He was in fact a realtor. Then I wondered why a realtor would drive a Honda CRV. They all drive fancy cars. So I took it to my mechanic before I exchanged cash. My mechanic was able to point out it has a non oem rear bumper, so was rear ended at some point. The engine did not have OEM silicon seal on it, which meant they went intoit for something related to the timing chain (MASSIVE RED FLAG) and it was leaking oil from the silicon seal. That was a nope from me. My mechanic saved my bacon.

I noticed a lot of vehicles are accident repairs being sold off at waay higher prices.
Even leasebacks are just a joke. One Honda sales rep just will not budge on price on a 2017/18 CRV. I cried, begged and sobbed, but yet the sales rep stood there grinning like a cheshire cat.

I test drove a new RAV4. Same,... no movement on price. The sales rep had cornered me and was pushy on me spending $44K on something new. I told her I had to leave as I really needed to use the toilet. She looked puzzled as I waddled way. It was a brilliant tactical escape manoeuvre that I did. In the corner of my eye as I exited I could see her lunging for the air fresher wide eyed.. almost like she was gasping for oxygen (you would think Covid was bad enough). Though it was hard to tell... with everyone wearing masks en all.

I test drove the new crosstrek as well. The sales rep was much much older. I had never seen a sales rep this old. The Joe Biden of sales reps you could say. When the numbers were presented, it was the same all bullshit added on fee's. When I asked him to negotiate and remove the fees. He gave me that 'disgusted old man look' and turned facing away from me to his screen. All the while he was making strange old man grunt kinda noises. As I left the dealership, he was still facing away. I wonder if he actually noticed that I had left.

I gave up. I bought a non oem driveshaft for $400. I threw that in my vehicle to give it rear wheel drive again. I hit 400,000km. I emailed the previous owner. She had bought it from new and sold it to me after ten year at 212,000km. She was delighted for me that it had gone on this long. Hopefully it will go on longer. Though I do wonder what I am doing with my life driving this old rattle can. Then it snowed last week and I was reminded that I am Lord Vishnu on the roads... the mighty Jagannath The old millennium falcon still has some life left in her.

I kept the cash and bought some stocks instead.

That being said, you can still get the CRV 2002-2005 manuals at decent prices. I have seen a few about.

[jaylo]

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Ya its brutal. I nearly bought a 2012 CRV a couple of months back. It was overpriced but I thought what the hell... Im gona do it.

I checked over the vehicle, it seemed okish. A gap in the panel seemed suspicious... something was off and I could not put a finger on it. The interior smelt like a wet dog. I asked the owner if he had any pets. He said no. He was in fact a realtor. Then I wondered why a realtor would drive a Honda CRV. They all drive fancy cars. So I took it to my mechanic before I exchanged cash. My mechanic was able to point out it has a non oem rear bumper, so was rear ended at some point. The engine did not have OEM silicon seal on it, which meant they went intoit for something related to the timing chain (MASSIVE RED FLAG) and it was leaking oil from the silicon seal. That was a nope from me. My mechanic saved my bacon.

I noticed a lot of vehicles are accident repairs being sold off at waay higher prices.
Even leasebacks are just a joke. One Honda sales rep just will not budge on price on a 2017/18 CRV. I cried, begged and sobbed, but yet the sales rep stood there grinning like a cheshire cat.

I test drove a new RAV4. Same,... no movement on price. The sales rep had cornered me and was pushy on me spending $44K on something new. I told her I had to leave as I really needed to use the toilet. She looked puzzled as I waddled way. It was a brilliant tactical escape manoeuvre that I did. In the corner of my eye as I exited I could see her lunging for the air fresher wide eyed.. almost like she was gasping for oxygen (you would think Covid was bad enough). Though it was hard to tell... with everyone wearing masks en all.

I test drove the new crosstrek as well. The sales rep was much much older. I had never seen a sales rep this old. The Joe Biden of sales reps you could say. When the numbers were presented, it was the same all bullshit added on fee's. When I asked him to negotiate and remove the fees. He gave me that 'disgusted old man look' and turned facing away from me to his screen. All the while he was making strange old man grunt kinda noises. As I left the dealership, he was still facing away. I wonder if he actually noticed that I had left.

I gave up. I bought a non oem driveshaft for $400. I threw that in my vehicle to give it rear wheel drive again. I hit 400,000km. I emailed the previous owner. She had bought it from new and sold it to me after ten year at 212,000km. She was delighted for me that it had gone on this long. Hopefully it will go on longer. Though I do wonder what I am doing with my life driving this old rattle can. Then it snowed last week and I was reminded that I am Lord Vishnu on the roads... the mighty Jagannath The old millennium falcon still has some life left in her.

I kept the cash and bought some stocks instead.

That being said, you can still get the CRV 2002-2005 manuals at decent prices. I have seen a few about.

@tonytiger55 I think the issue is shopping for new vehicle in Calgary. Go up to Edmonton and you will surprising find prices lower there.

[r3ccOs]

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I need to find a SUV for my son to get him through this winter and beyond for a few years maybe.

Looking for a small SUV / Crossover type vehicle.

AWD or 4WD budget about 7 - 8K.

I am looking at mid 2000's or newer :

Ford Escape
Nissan Exterra
Honda CRV

Others ???

Most everything in that range is in excess of 200k kms...

Can they still be reliable at that point ?

Thoughts ??

the only car I would think is a Matrix AWD but they hold their value too much for what they are worth

used TDI IMO... all of the options there are ridiculously undervalued for a reliable and wonderful vehicle

[engibeer]

AWD wagon could be a good in-between..

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...-0t/1532578535

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...awd/1527168851

[ExtraSlow]

Slow boring SUV for cheap, I recommend Ford Escape, not because it's great, but because it's cheap and common and as easy to fix as anything. Get one $2000 under your price limit and leave that money in the bank and you are covered for any repairs.
Like this one: https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...-v6/1532832044

[Clever]

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AWD wagon could be a good in-between..

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...-0t/1532578535

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...awd/1527168851

I was looking at that Audi but the check engine light is on. I have never driven an Audi before, closest I can compare it too was my old BMW 535 and I really do not want to deal with that kind of hassle again.

[ExtraSlow]

An Audi with a check engine light is not my first choice for a student, especially since it's faster and more fun to drive.

[bjstare]

That outback might be decent, but head gasket issues as mentioned above.

Wouldn’t touch that 2.0t Audi With a ten foot pole. Great car, but apparently that engine is notoriously bad with oil consumption.

[ExtraSlow]

people who want a boring SUV should buy a CHEAP boring SUV.