If I got a new vehicle

[GoodGrief3]

We like Subarus. Have a Forester and an Impreza. Our most recent purchase was a Dodge Ram, but that doesn't sound like what you need ;-)

[regentrude]

48 minutes ago, KSera said:

With newer models, it’s really not a problem in most scenarios. It could be true in certain specific scenarios if you were going to be driving for six hours through nothing but wilderness to get there, but I’m married to an avid outdoorsman who regularly drives to places several hours away to recreate outdoors and then several hours home, and he hasn’t yet had a scenario where he had to take our ICE car rather than his electric. 

What reach does your car have?

Our closest weekend backpack destination is 200 miles, so roundtrip is 400 miles. No opportunity to charge at a wilderness trailhead. If we go a bit further, it's 600 miles RT. What affordable electric vehicle can deliver that?

Edited December 1, 2021 by regentrude

[AbcdeDooDah]

Subaru Outback. We bought one recently and 😍

[popmom]

4 hours ago, theelfqueen said:

 

I drive a Prius V. It's the Prius Wagon. 

 

They don’t make the Prius V anymore. 😞 That was what I wanted last time.

[Scarlett]

34 minutes ago, Bambam said:

I think it might depend upon the height of the elderly people. The elderly I  know find it easier to get in/out of a vehicle where the seat is slightly  below bottom level when they are standing next to the vehicle on the ground. They just sit down, swivel and put their feet in. Getting out - they swivel, put their feet down, and go. So usually for many this is a minivan level. For regular sedans, it's hard because it is a pretty low drop and then hard to get back up.  Suburbans are too high for many as it is a step up and that's hard for some. I would try some out. 

And for me, comfort of the driving seat is important as well - height range of seat plus length of seat from back to where your legs hang down. That can make a nice vehicle not comfortable. 

I'd stick with Honda, Toyota, Nissan myself and just head to the car lot and try them on and test drive them.  We tried a Fit for our youngest, and I just did not like the stopping ability of that car at all. And I typically love Hondas. 

My parents went from an Expedition to a Terrain due to the getting in and out issues.  They love the Terrain height.  They also have no issue getting in and out of my Prius, but our F150 is very difficult for them.

[theelfqueen]

23 minutes ago, popmom said:

They don’t make the Prius V anymore. 😞 That was what I wanted last time.

Good to know. I don't know that I'd be looking for that again (don't really need all that space any more) but helpful for others. 

[Scarlett]

You guys are super helpful.  Thanks so much.  My Sister in law got a Toyota Corolla and did not like it for some reason.  She traded it in for a Nissan Altima which she loves.  

[Roadrunner]

Another Subaru family here. We have both Forrester and an Outback and love both. I don’t think I ever want to drive anything else. 

[KSera]

1 hour ago, regentrude said:

What reach does your car have?

Our closest weekend backpack destination is 200 miles, so roundtrip is 400 miles. No opportunity to charge at a wilderness trailhead. If we go a bit further, it's 600 miles RT. What affordable electric vehicle can deliver that?

Dh has a car with ~300 mile range. If he's going into wilderness, he charges up as he's getting closer to his destination, at the last place that he can, so then he has a good amount of range still left when he arrives. I don't want to derail Scarlett's thread getting too mired down in the details since it doesn't seem relevant to her needs, I just wanted to chime in so that people who are genuinely interested in going electric know that for most people, the range issue isn't what it's cracked up to be. I understand it's not for everyone, and it's something people have strong feelings about.

If I were looking seriously for an outdoor EV, I'd be strongly considering the Ford F150 Lightening. With incentives, it costs the same or a little less than a gas powered F150 (and can act as a whole house generator during a power outage to boot!)

[Clarita]

3 hours ago, regentrude said:

ETA: Electric is only feasible if you're able to charge frequently. We wouldn't be able to do the weekend camping trips because there would be no way to charge at the trailhead, and the reach is simply not there  yet with affordable electric cars 

For us we have a full electric Nissan Leaf. That's now my husbands commuter car. The half electric Pacifica is the minivan which we take on trips. Honestly if I didn't have two kids in the bulky carseat phase I may just have 2 electric vehicles. If I wanted to do a road trip I'd rent a car for it. We only do road trips about once a year (pre-pandemic).

If you typically go within the range of a electric vehicle they are a joy to drive. It bothers me now when my minivan goes into gas mode. The electric engine is so quiet and smooth (comparing a Nissan Leaf to a BMW or a Mercedes). I love rarely going to a gas station. The minivan forces you to run the gas engine every few months (it'll run down the gas or do a certain amount of driving); so, I have to get a little bit of gas every few months.   

[TechWife]

10 hours ago, Scarlett said:

What would I want?  Lets say in the 35K or under price range.  Good if not great gas mileage.  Good for elderly parents to ride in.  Good chance of it lasting many years with few problems because I prefer to drive cars into the ground rather than trade often.

Dh is making me say what I 'want'.  I am like, 'what a silly question.  I always just drive what is there.'.   And then he forces the issue....

Has anyone researched new vehicles lately?  

I’m looking at a Volkswagen ID.4. It would meet all of your requirements. 

[TechWife]

5 hours ago, regentrude said:

What reach does your car have?

Our closest weekend backpack destination is 200 miles, so roundtrip is 400 miles. No opportunity to charge at a wilderness trailhead. If we go a bit further, it's 600 miles RT. What affordable electric vehicle can deliver that?

If you get a Volkswagen, it’s possible you can charge en route. They have put in an extensive charger infrastructure as part of their settlement surrounding the emissions fraud they engaged in several years back. Driving an ev does take some planning, buts it’s increasingly feasible. Electrify America has a lot of charging stations listed.

[KSera]

17 minutes ago, TechWife said:

If you get a Volkswagen, it’s possible you can charge en route. They have put in an extensive charger infrastructure as part of their settlement surrounding the emissions fraud they engaged in several years back. Driving an ev does take some planning, buts it’s increasingly feasible. Electrify America has a lot of charging stations listed.

Yep. If you’re going long distance, you can plug in your destination on the car, and it shows you where you can charge along your route, calculating which ones you have the range to get to. Or, there are many third-party apps for your phone that will do the same. And you don’t have to have a Volkswagen to use the electrify America ones. The Tesla superchargers are the only proprietary ones that I’m aware of.

[MooCow]

10 hours ago, rebcoola said:

My dad got a Nissan rogue and really likes it.  

I have a 2020 rogue sport and my Dil has a 2020 rogue. Next time I'm getting the rogue. 

[vonfirmath]

4 minutes ago, MooCow said:

I have a 2020 rogue sport and my Dil has a 2020 rogue. Next time I'm getting the rogue. 

My dad said Nissan recently closed all their plants in America and is concerned about getting parts for Nissans in the future?

[MooCow]

5 hours ago, Scarlett said:

You guys are super helpful.  Thanks so much.  My Sister in law got a Toyota Corolla and did not like it for some reason.  She traded it in for a Nissan Altima which she loves.  

We loved our Dil's Altima, we wanted to buy it from her but she needed the trade in value. 

[MooCow]

2 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

My dad said Nissan recently closed all their plants in America and is concerned about getting parts for Nissans in the future?

Both my older kids work for Nissan and we haven't heard anything like that....I'll have to ask them

[vonfirmath]

Just now, MooCow said:

Both my older kids work for Nissan and we haven't heard anything like that....I'll have to ask them

Please do. I can't seem to find news and if not true we're definitely good to put Nissan back on the table.

[MooCow]

I will try to remember. Feel free to remind me if I don't update tomorrow. 

[prairiewindmomma]

39 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

Please do. I can't seem to find news and if not true we're definitely good to put Nissan back on the table.

AFAIK, they only idled production at times because of semiconductor shortage.

[regentrude]

2 hours ago, TechWife said:

If you get a Volkswagen, it’s possible you can charge en route. They have put in an extensive charger infrastructure as part of their settlement surrounding the emissions fraud they engaged in several years back. Driving an ev does take some planning, buts it’s increasingly feasible. Electrify America has a lot of charging stations listed.

Charging en route will prolong the trip. How long does it take? I hear things like 20-30 minutes? Not really practical when you want to GET places.

Eta: just checked on Electrify America, thanks for mentioning them. Assuming the map is correct, there isn't a single option in rural NW AR or Southern MO or SE UT. EVs may work great in urban areas and on the interstate ( but there you'll still have the time issue on longer drives).

I would love to go electric, but that could only be an additional vehicle. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by regentrude

[prairiewindmomma]

You might try looking at the website plugshare. Southern Missouri and NW Arkansas have plenty of stations—Rolla, Ft Leonard Wood, Lebanon, Springfield, Mountain Home…. In Utah, I counted over 100 stations inSt. George, and saw them also in Hurricane, Springdale and within Zion itself. 
 

Stopping to charge is admittedly annoying but I don’t think charging access is a problem.

[J-rap]

My favorite car that I've ever had is our current one, a Honda CRV.   We've had it since 2014 with no maintenance issues, 100,000 miles now.  It has a surprising amount of storage space.  With the middle seats folded down, you can easily fit a bike or two.  We moved our dd back and forth to college in it.  

It's also a little higher, which makes it easier for my 94-year-old father to get in and out.  

We'll for sure get another Honda CRV, probably a hybrid next time.

Edited December 2, 2021 by J-rap

[regentrude]

12 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

You might try looking at the website plugshare. 

Thanks, this looks a lot better. (The additional time is still a deal breaker for us)

Edited December 2, 2021 by regentrude

[Tap]

I used to really think my Subaru Outback was great quality. I have had two a '13 and a '15. The front axels are going out on my '15. When I looked on line, it is a known issue with this year of Subaru. The cost to fix, is close to $2000. I live in a city, drive on concrete almost exclusively, and it has had an easy life. When I talked to the dealership and asked what caused both axels to go out at the same time, the service person told me it was from driving it in and out of parking spots (insert my stunned face, head tilted to the side with a WTF look, while crickets chirped in my stunned silence) Reallyyyyyyyy You expect me to believe a Subaru, that is marketed as an 'outdoor person's car', that turning into parking spots are so hard on a car that the axels go out in 70k miles and 5 years????? or....is it that axels are so shoddy they go out from turning into parking spaces because they are crap quality?  ⁉️⁉️I think the latter is the more likely!  

I also had to get one of my seats leather fixed, because it split in 3 places (again....a well known issue). The other one will go bad too, it is the same type of leather and you can feel hard spots in it, but it just hasn't split yet. People always comment that my car still looks like new inside because I take good care of it and only used high quality products designed for leather. None of that care or money matters when the product is crap to start with. 

There have been several recalls on major engine parts and a few other issues too. My guess, is that they got too big for their britches  too quick and their quality is crumbling. 

 

[popmom]

3 hours ago, vonfirmath said:

My dad said Nissan recently closed all their plants in America and is concerned about getting parts for Nissans in the future?

Even if they did close plants here, that in and of itself won’t affect parts availability. Those parts were never made at the plants that actually build the cars. 
 

My brother has worked for Honda Manufacturing for a LONG time. And he’s the plant’s head/guru on supply chain. So I’m going by info I’ve gleaned over the years from him.

Edited December 2, 2021 by popmom

[Pawz4me]

5 hours ago, J-rap said:

My favorite car that I've ever had is our current one, a Honda CRV.   We've had it since 2014 with no maintenance issues, 100,000 miles now.  It has a surprising amount of storage space.  With the middle seats folded down, you can easily fit a bike or two.  We moved our dd back and forth to college in it.  

It's also a little higher, which makes it easier for my 94-year-old father to get in and out.  

We'll for sure get another Honda CRV, probably a hybrid next time.

We have a 2014 CRV and it's also my favorite vehicle ever. Big enough without being too big. I'm super short but it's easy for me to get comfy and see out. DH is about 5'10" or maybe a bit taller, but he's also very comfy in it. It's just absolutely perfect for us. Ours only has a little over 70k miles on it, so it should last for many more years. But I'm pretty sure our next vehicle will be an EV. ETA: My MIL is 86 but still in pretty good health. She has no trouble at all getting in/out of our CRV.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Pawz4me

[Janeway]

My husband is planning on a Subaru Forrester or Outback next. Our other choices were the Toyota Venza or Rav 4 (he did not like how they felt in the test drives at all, I heard this same complaint from others), the Honda CRV, or Hyundai Tucson or Santa Fe. 

[Janeway]

21 hours ago, Bootsie said:

I am somewhat in the same position.  I am just starting to do some research and DH and I went to do some looking this past weekend.  My Honda Pilot has over 193,000 miles on it and I want something that is comfortable to get in and out of and something that is reliable; I will probably drive whatever I buy forever.  So, I want something that I find the seats comfortable.  We went to a Subaru dealer first and they had ZERO new cars on the lot.  So, we could not even see one.  They have all the cars they are expecting to get in during the coming weeks reserved already.  So, they don't even know when they will have one I can actually sit in.  Other dealerships have very little inventory.  The good thing is that the salespeople aren't doing the "what does it take to have you drive off the lot today..." The bad thing is there is nothing to see. 

Yep. Our 17 1/2 yr old car failed a few months ago, right after the shortage started. We did not replace it as a result.

[Janeway]

14 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

Another Subaru family here. We have both Forrester and an Outback and love both. I don’t think I ever want to drive anything else. 

Which do you like better? My husband settled on the Forrester, which I agreed with. But when I saw them in person, finally, I thought the Outback was a better choice. He never saw them in person though. Can you compare them for me?

[prairiewindmomma]

7 hours ago, Tap said:

I used to really think my Subaru Outback was great quality. I have had two a '13 and a '15. The front axels are going out on my '15. When I looked on line, it is a known issue with this year of Subaru. The cost to fix, is close to $2000. I live in a city, drive on concrete almost exclusively, and it has had an easy life. When I talked to the dealership and asked what caused both axels to go out at the same time, the service person told me it was from driving it in and out of parking spots (insert my stunned face, head tilted to the side with a WTF look, while crickets chirped in my stunned silence) Reallyyyyyyyy You expect me to believe a Subaru, that is marketed as an 'outdoor person's car', that turning into parking spots are so hard on a car that the axels go out in 70k miles and 5 years????? or....is it that axels are so shoddy they go out from turning into parking spaces because they are crap quality?  ⁉️⁉️I think the latter is the more likely!  

I also had to get one of my seats leather fixed, because it split in 3 places (again....a well known issue). The other one will go bad too, it is the same type of leather and you can feel hard spots in it, but it just hasn't split yet. People always comment that my car still looks like new inside because I take good care of it and only used high quality products designed for leather. None of that care or money matters when the product is crap to start with. 

There have been several recalls on major engine parts and a few other issues too. My guess, is that they got too big for their britches  too quick and their quality is crumbling. 

 

This is helpful, thanks. 

[Roadrunner]

51 minutes ago, Janeway said:

Which do you like better? My husband settled on the Forrester, which I agreed with. But when I saw them in person, finally, I thought the Outback was a better choice. He never saw them in person though. Can you compare them for me?

My Forrester is the smaller model. I believe the newer ones are bigger. I prefer the Outback for that reason. It is more spacious and gives up much more room when we travel with our luggage. What I don’t like about Outback (at least the model we have) is how low the ceiling (space above head) is. Both drive very well (and I have ran with them on plenty of snow) and our Outback consumes less gas for some reason. 
 

[vonfirmath]

8 hours ago, J-rap said:

My favorite car that I've ever had is our current one, a Honda CRV.   We've had it since 2014 with no maintenance issues, 100,000 miles now.  It has a surprising amount of storage space.  With the middle seats folded down, you can easily fit a bike or two.  We moved our dd back and forth to college in it.  

It's also a little higher, which makes it easier for my 94-year-old father to get in and out.  

We'll for sure get another Honda CRV, probably a hybrid next time.

We have a 2018 CRV we purchased last summer and we enjoy it too. In fact the higher entrance is making my husband want similar in his next car because the Malibu we are now trying to replace is SO LOW to the ground.

 

[Janeway]

7 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

My Forrester is the smaller model. I believe the newer ones are bigger. I prefer the Outback for that reason. It is more spacious and gives up much more room when we travel with our luggage. What I don’t like about Outback (at least the model we have) is how low the ceiling (space above head) is. Both drive very well (and I have ran with them on plenty of snow) and our Outback consumes less gas for some reason. 
 

So much husband is taller and ceiling height can be an issue for him. Should he pick the Forrester then?

[Roadrunner]

27 minutes ago, Janeway said:

So much husband is taller and ceiling height can be an issue for him. Should he pick the Forrester then?

They modify the models all the time. Make sure he test drives both. I haven't seen the newer ones since both of our cars are 6-7   years old. If I were buying my models, I would  go with Outback because head space would be less important than overall space for us, but again, I am not sure what the newer ones feel like. Forresters have gotten bigger, so he might like them over an outback.  

[Lady Florida.]

18 hours ago, Scarlett said:

You guys are super helpful.  Thanks so much.  My Sister in law got a Toyota Corolla and did not like it for some reason.  She traded it in for a Nissan Altima which she loves.  

The Corolla isn't one of Toyota's best cars. If you're looking at Toyota and don't want a van or suv, look at the Camry or Avalon.

Ds has a 2011 Nissan Altima which he loves but I understand Nissans tend to have transmission problems. He had to get a new one for his within a few months of buying it but he knew that before he bought it (it helped him get a great deal on the car). I don't know if it's something Nissan has addressed or if their newer cars still have transmission issues.

11 hours ago, regentrude said:

Charging en route will prolong the trip. How long does it take? I hear things like 20-30 minutes? Not really practical when you want to GET places.

Eta: just checked on Electrify America, thanks for mentioning them. Assuming the map is correct, there isn't a single option in rural NW AR or Southern MO or SE UT. EVs may work great in urban areas and on the interstate ( but there you'll still have the time issue on longer drives).

I would love to go electric, but that could only be an additional vehicle. 

The new infrastructure bill that recently passed includes adding a half million charging stations by 2030, the majority of them fast charging. I believe the plan is to first address the "EV deserts". In addition, auto makers are also adding their own. That doesn't help if you buy a fully electric car today but it's something to consider for future purchases.