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Recommendations for AWD vehicle - Bay Area Daily Driver and occasional Tahoe Trips

martyg

Making fresh tracks
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I’ll repeat the requests:

1. New, used CPO thru dealer, or just used?
2. Plan for service? Dealer or other.
3. Budget? What do you want to spend? What will you stretch it to?

1. In a typical environment, I always go CPO. See my last post on mileage, and cost of my SQ5. My last Audi was purchased new, as it is somewhat rare.

2a. I always purchase Audi's service plan. It runs about $1200 for all scheduled maintenance through (I think) 35,000 miles. It saves several thousand dollars. It also motivates me to leave our little mtn town and go to the Big City.

2b. I'm a fam of Audi's extended warranty. $3,000 for 7 years / 70,000 miles. Yeah, I don't drive much. $3,000 is one blown electrical module. Cheap insurance.

3. Can't comment on this.
 

Ogg

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1. In a typical environment, I always go CPO. See my last post on mileage, and cost of my SQ5. My last Audi was purchased new, as it is somewhat rare.

2a. I always purchase Audi's service plan. It runs about $1200 for all scheduled maintenance through (I think) 35,000 miles. It saves several thousand dollars. It also motivates me to leave our little mtn town and go to the Big City.

2b. I'm a fam of Audi's extended warranty. $3,000 for 7 years / 70,000 miles. Yeah, I don't drive much. $3,000 is one blown electrical module. Cheap insurance.

3. Can't comment on this.
With all the complex and expensive electronics in new cars an extended warranty can often be worthwhile if you plan on keeping the car for a while, IMO. I'm not sure how it is with Audi but with Subaru my wife was able to shop for the warranty from other dealers and got a better price which our dealer then matched.
 

raytseng

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If this is intended for a solo Tahoe drives, there is something to be said about comfort, unless your wife has an iron back and lowerbody of a long-haul trucker.

4 hrs alone without the kids in a luxurious comfortable seat with a beverage and snacks and a full list of your podcasts can be relaxing and destress time, same as unwinding at home on your sofa.
But if the seat is not comfortable, then it's torture and a commute and work...then to your cabin with the kids which is likely more "work".

So, I do recommend that you may need to include luxury/comfort in your parameters. Sometimes this is just a Trim decision; Unfortunately that will be difficult to evaluate without butt in seat test.
 
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murphysf

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I’ll repeat the requests:

1. New, used CPO thru dealer, or just used?
2. Plan for service? Dealer or other.
3. Budget? What do you want to spend? What will you stretch it to?

It’s a tough market. Might be very tough where you are.

I for one think recommendations are tough with no roadmap.

An Outback, an Allroad and an SQ5 are not in the same wheelhouse, IMO. Just 3 examples. You can buy three CPO Outbacks for the price of a NEW SQ5 in this market.

There are some deals out there. Friend just bought a brand new {250 Dealer miles} two year old leftover Volvo V90. It is a new car. I am sure that he paid at least $5K less than the dealer cost. Probably $10K, or more. Pretty nice car. Volvo could not give them away. Price, I think, and other models in the lineup.

My brother ordered, waited months and took delivery of a RS6 Avant. I think he paid all of the sticker and more when done. A second set of wheels for winter, and a third for the shoulder seasons, just to start. Full dealer price. He knew exactly what he wanted.

If the question is reframed as “What can I buy for $ xx, with some type of decent remaining warranty, for our needs?” I bet we can give you rifled suggestions. Smart ones. Good ones.

If it MUST be new, again, with a solid budget number….you’ll get good suggestions.

My adult son and I play this game all the time. Best car for $10K, best for $15K, $25K, $35K, $50K. Or….best trucks. Or cars that should appreciate.

We also add in things like, we want to own it for 250K fairly trouble free miles. As one exampl

Glad to try to help, if you’ll give us some direction!
Thank you for the questions, appreciate your engagement and interest in the topic. I will get around to answering them as well as some of the questions others have posted. This thread has brought to mind other topics and I am going to create two new separate threads to address them and then will circle back to this thread.

I will actually be in the market for two awd vehicles. We had bad luck with our cars recently. I don't want to confuse the two topics. To cut to the chase I am thinking of getting a Impreza for my wife and a RAV4 for myself, stay tuned and look for the other threads that are related but can stand on their own.
 

Muleski

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Thanks for clarifying that.
Hopefully you’ll get a lot of good information and insight on your two new threads.

I asked the questions because I did not want people wasting time recommending cars that you would have zero interest in.

A well used “base level trim” Imprezza is a lot different car than a nearly new CPO Audi, or Volvo….etc.

if the criteria is reliable, and as you stated in the new thread you want to own to 200K miles, and I think you said maybe 15 years, that makes the list much different.

Two of our vehicles are 15-20 years old, with about 150K miles on them. One is a Toyota Land Cruiser. Our fourth over 24 years. It drives as new, looks new. Built like a tank for a 500K+ service life.

The other is a 2006 BMW 328xi six speed wagon. I’ve done quite a bit of work to that one. Suspension, manifolds, exhaust, etc. It drives like a 335. I will drive that car to 300k miles. Not a doubt in my mind.

We love them, we take great care of them. They both have dipsticks and no lifetime fluids.

I’ll make a couple of comments as my last on this thread. You still have not told us what you hope to spend. We know you need/want two cars. It seems like cars are not your thing, and that you’re looking for the “best bang for a lower budget buck.”

IMO, there are a few cars that are aging REMARKABLY well, and tend to be proving that they are reliable and very inexpensive to keep on the road. They also look well.

My top recommendation would be a Lexus RX350. Do not be scared by the Lexus badge. Incredibly reliable, plentiful, with many on the market: private sales, indies, dealers. You can but a NICE one in the range of $10K, or less. Or a touch more.

Another, which takes more searching, is an early generation Toyota Highlander V6. Most have the good trim. We gave a good friend who has owned a few. Right now she has one with about 150K miles, and it is PERFECT. She is a landscape gardener, and owns a Tacoma, but HER main work vehicle is another well worn Highlander. Probably has 400K on it. Dents, full of tools, dirt. Rear seats removed. And….always starts. You could not beat on a car more.

My family has a lot of Subie history. Our daughter’s first car was a 2002 Outback with the H6 engine and VDC. Most expensive car that they built at the time. For a first car, in ski country, perfect. It also made about 6 2000+ mile road trips. Decent built quality. It was a very good car. It also cost almost $40K as delivered in 2001. Too much for Subie.

I threw in the towel on a 2003 VW six speed W8 wagon, 2K miles before the 100K warranty expired. I needed a reliable car, in a hurry, and bought a CPO 2005 Legacy GT wagon.

That car was built out of paper mache, cheap plastic and tin foil. The sheet metal would ding with a finger tap. The paint was terrible. The “leather” interior was horrible. And it was the most expensive car to operate and own, maintenance wise during our 120K miles together. NUTS. And I say that having owned some expensive needy ones: An S8, a 740i Sport, etc. That Subie fell apart. Literally. At least every single hard brake line was on warranty. The turbo, the steering rack, alternator, starter, and the two complete sets of shocks…no. Brake rotors and calipers, master cylinder, radiator…….batteries {3}. Ate tires, at got horrendous gas mileage on 93 Octane fuel.

BTW, our daughter’s 2008 Outback XT was incredibly expensive and needy. She took great care of it, until it was draining her pocket book, and just a huge pain in the ass, time wise. She got a ridiculous trade in on it, in a very hot Subie market. Bought a new Alltrack. Great car.

My sister in law, and two nieces have all owned new Subies over the past 5-8 years. All gone. Will never buy another. My brother is a serious car guy and was astounded with how crappy the cars were. Yeah, they drive well in deep fresh snow.

So three years ago one niece unloaded her Imprezza, and bought a CPO VW Tiguan. Has had ZERO issues. Lives in CO. Big skier. Loves it. Feels like more of a quality/upper end car than it should.

My other niece and my sister in law are driving Audi’s. An Allroad and a Q5.

I would never plan on owning a newer Subie for 200K miles. Just my opinion, shared by my friends who know cars.

They were once the most reliable and cheapest to operate on the road. For a lot of miles. Parking lots like the Post Office in Steamboat, and the faculty lot at every New England college were FULL of them. For good reason.

I feel that there has been a huge pendulum swing with many cars that have Japanese roots, and those with German origins. Germans are “better”, some Japanese, not so much.

You should also look in detail at Kia. Doing a lot of things right. Best warranty out there.

I will not mess up the Imprezza vs Crosstreck thread. People get really passionate about the cars. I get it. Friends who are serious car people, living in ski country DO NOT get it these days. People discuss their Subies and get irrational.

I have a friend who is a pretty big dealer. I think 20+ dealerships these days. He has two Subie stores and he loves them. They sell new, they lease, he really pushes people rolling them over, he always has CPO Inventory. His guys sell the history, which has little to do with the current product. Which is fine.

He does enormous warranty volume, and his parts department sales are off the hook. Supplies all of the nearby independent guys with OEM parts at discounf.
Service work on off warranty cars? Really has dropped off. He says that a 100K owner is “too cheap, or frugal” to pay his rates.

He also sees a lot of that group doing no maintenance until things break or fail, badly.

Find a fully “booked” up RX350. One owner private sale. Get a PPI at a dealer. I really feel that might be your best long term used car play. They are amazingly nice.

Best of luck. Over and out. No more to add!
 

BigSlick

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If your wife has a commute, then go with something that will be enjoyable, has plenty of amenities and is comfortable - Audi Q5 or Audi A4. My wife drives a Q7 and the 4 cylinder turbo is pretty impressive in what is a heavier car than the Q5. It drives like a car not a cross-over. Otherwise, the above-suggestion on the Toyota Highlander was a great one if you need more room for the kids and their friends. If your kids are getting to the age where you are schlepping them around with friends, you’ll want that 3rd row seat. I’m partial to Toyotas over Subaru (great marketing, meh cars). I am on my second 4Runner in 20 years. They just plain run. Lexus are just uglier Toyotas with a few more bells and whistles, and bad blindspots from their raked c pillars especially in the RX350 which is built on the Highlander platform.
 
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Ogg

Skiing the powder
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Long Island, NY
It occurred to me that as a 99% commuter vehicle an AWD Prius might also be worth a look. Yes it is the definition of appliance but everyone I know who has owned one has been quite happy and have usually ended up owning more than 1. It would also be quite appropriate for where you live :duck: . Around here it also gets you a clean pass sticker so you can use the HOV lane solo.
 

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