We want a hybrid / high mpg wagon or SUV with balls. Room for a family of four, a dog, at least one other person, and a bunch of crap.

Slim pickins.

Any year now, Toyota might fill your need.

Highlander Hydrogen, anyone?

Last year, we were looking at the smaller SUVs for my wife also, and eventually decided on Toyota's RAV-4 (nice little vehicle, not-so-great fuel economy -- around 20 MPG on a good day).

We checked out the Equinox, but never actually took one out for a test drive. One thing that really stuck out in my head was the cheap plastic interior. The center console was especially flimsy. Also, some genius designed the cup holder so that it was directly beneath the parking brake lever (i.e. the cupholder was useless).

...just my 1/50th of a buck...

All I can say is that my next door neighbor at the old house has an Equinox and they are very happy with it. Big question is whether you need an SUV-ish kind of vehicle or whether you just need space. Minivans still rule from a space and mileage point of view, and the better ones (unfortunately almost all Japanese) are surprisingly quiet and comfortable, probably much more so than an Equinox.

I looked at the whole mini-SUV vs. minivan thing, gave up and bought a Dodge Magnum with the 3.5 engine. Other than visibility when backing up, this is without a doubt the most satisfying vehicle purchase I have ever made.

Having said all that, if you want a mini-SUV-ish vehicle the Equinox does seem to be well liked by its owners. I would definitely look at a Honda CRV before pulling the trigger, but otherwise I haven't heard any bad things with the Equinox.

Huh. I always thought that Dodge/Chrysler made the best minivans. It's what my friends swear by.

Me, I like wagons. Well, wagons with decent handling and power. SUVs just don't seem to hold that much stuff, and I don't like being that high off the ground.

>>Me, I like wagons. Well, wagons with decent handling and power.

I had a chance to drive an SRT-8 Magnum last weekend, better yet an SRT-8 Magnum whose owner believes that cars should be driven hard.

There were some serious "Dukes of Hazzard" moments going on before the electronic stability thingy kicked in. That car really is not short on power.

I'm looking enviously at the Audi wagons, myself. They've put some real screamers in that lineup. Of course, so has Mercedes, but their prices are just astronomical.

The Honda Odyssey has been consistently named the best minivan, we have a 2001 and have been very happy with. I personally like the big suv's, I have a Suburban Z71, other than the 14mpg and having to spend over $100.00 to fill it up, I like the security that when I have the kids in the car, that if there should be an accident we are pretty much driving in a tank.

>>The Honda Odyssey has been consistently named the best minivan

That's the model I was trying to remember. I was astounded how quiet and comfortable it was inside.

For me it was a tossup between the Magnum and the Odyssey... people *claiming* to be my friends suggested I went with the Magnum over the [correction] Odyssey because "Magnum" was so much easier to spell

The Suburban is still my personal favorite, but since I was moving 40+ miles away from work I figured I should at least *try* for better gas mileage.

Of course having gone through the first winter at the new place I am now thinking hard about trading both vehicles for a big 4x4 -- if I could find a Dodge Power Wagon with the '06 pricing incentives I think I might take the plunge... I can always draft behind the constant stream of big dump trucks to get better gas mileage.

>>I'm looking enviously at the Audi wagons, myself. They've put some real screamers in that lineup.

Definitely. I used to think that 0-60 in 5 seconds was perhaps "excessive" for a station wagon but I am pleased to say that I no longer feel that way after driving the SRT-8.

The Magnum is much cooler looking

Actually, I'd love to have a V70R... but I don't know if I can stomach owning a Volvo again, especially the same model. I suppose it works fine now, but boy have we had troubles with the 850 Turbo.

I love my Volvo V70!

I have driven 9 different Volvos in my lifetime... The last two were lemons (760GLE and a 760 turbo) Now I drive American iron... Buick Regal GS (supercharged V6 -- very gratifying) and my wife has the Regal custom.

My two cents worth.

About a year ago I was helping the girlfriend find a new vehicle. Her lack of knowledge per vehicles is frightening to say the least. Her criteria were pretty simple. A vehicle with decent ground clearance, 4 wheel drive, four doors, comfortable seats and under $30,000. I was so sick of test drives and ignorant salesmen after three solid days of car shopping that I was soon to become postal if I would have been handed one more business card or pumped with the “what do you do” questions salesman use to establish your ability to get credit.

At the end of this grueling ordeal, her choices were narrowed down to the Equinox and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep won the fight. The steering / braking was better, better AWD system, better fuel mileage, better warrantee, and most importantly to the lil’ lady, the seats were more comfortable.

You ought to check out the Grand Cherokee’s Randy. You can get as crazy with the options / price as you wish, or just get the basic model for under 30K. Or, you can get the SRT model with the 420hp 6.1 ltr hemi……now that little bugger is fun! http://www.jeep.com/srt/

Interesting. Up here the Equinox and the Grand are in very different price ranges. If their prices are closer in the US then I would cast another vote for the Jeep.

I can visualize Randy and his new ride...



Cool!

Ewwww !!!

>>> Ewwww !!!

I couldn't do it either John. Like some of the mid-eighties Chevrolet Caprices running around with 27" rims on them, WTF??

That's kinda scary. Surely there's a replacement interval on those things a little faster than that!


Then again, our '91 Honda Civis seems to be pretty bulletproof. I mean, except when all the radiator fluid drained out of it... and it has 170000 miles on it or so. Looks like crap. Runs great. Until I posted this, I'm sure.

I looked at the Equinox about a year ago and it was OK. With all the rebates Chevrolet gives it might be worth it. I got a Nissan Murano in Dec. 2004, a much more refined vehicle and handles very good for an SUV, no comparison in my opinion. Holds its value much better than a Chevy too. In Houston you can get one for around 24,000 plus tt&l. They come with all wheel drive as an option too. Not really necessary here but in Idaho it might be useful.

2wd SUVs crack me up.

That's interesting... I have a '97 Grand Voyager that's never given me any problems whatsoever and I think I'm likely to replace it with another Chrysler product. I want something that holds a 4'x 8' sheet of plywood, and I *think* the Chrysler "Grands" are the only ones that do....

My Friends, I give you… THE DUMBEST GUY ON EARTH!

This picture is real - not doctored in anyway - and was taken last week by a Transportation Supervisor for a company that delivers building materials for 84 Lumber. When he saw it in the parking lot of IHOP, he went and bought a camera to take pictures.


The car is still running, as can be witnessed by the exhaust. A woman is either asleep or otherwise out in the front seat passenger side. The guy driving it was jogging up and down on Rt. 925. (in the background)

Witnesses said their physical state was OTHER than normal. The driver
finally came back after the police were called, and was found crouched
behind the rear of the car, attempting to cut the twine around the
load! Luckily, the police stopped him and had the load removed.

The materials were loaded at Home Depot. Their store manager said they

had the customer sign a waiver. While the plywood and 2X4s are fairly obvious,
what you can’t see is the back seat, which contains -- are you ready for this? --
10 bags of concrete @ 80 lbs. each. They estimated the load weight at 3000 lbs.

Both back tires exploded, the wheels bent and the back shocks were driven through
the floorboard. The car, with FL plates (naturally), was headed for Annapolis, where
the couple presumably planned to build a new house!

Now THERE are some folks who should have bought an SUV.

EDIT -- maybe the same guy works for Korean Air...

http://www.micom.net/oops/loaded%20in%20miami.jpg

... or your local trucking company :

http://www.micom.net/oops/LostMyJobToday6.jpg

Wow, those pics make me feel a lot better about coming close (?) to overloading my wagon... Now, I have had to specifically ask for a flatbed tow truck so the exhaust/bumper/whatever didn't drag on the ground with a big load, but at least the problem was unrelated to the load.

What on earth was the dude thinking?

>>Heck, the slogan on their page says "turns any vehicle into a SUV"

Guess that's why I keep having to rescue people out on the trails with their 2wd sedan and Home Depot trailer

I know the suspense has been killing you, but we finally purchased a new SUV for the wife. She purchased a 2007 Honda Pilot EX AWD. We have been doing lots of research on reliabilty, resale value, safety, etc etc... and the Pilot came out on top.

Personally, I've always been a believer in buying from one of the big three American automakers, but this was her choice. Her Isuzu Rodeo is 11 years old and still going strong. I will most likely drive it to work to save miles on my Silverado.

I'm also very proud of her on the deal she received. I usually do all the talking to get the best deals in the past. We heard from many people that with Honda/Toyota/etc.., it is very hard to get them to negotiate much off of sticker. I rarely spend much over invoice, or I walk. Many people get screwed as they don't do any research on True Market Values, Invoice, Dealer Hold Back, etc... They just go in and say, "This is the payments I need" and get screwed and sometimes pay MSRP+.

Anyway, my wife did her homework, and when we walked out of the dealership, she was about $200 over Invoice, which was about $3,000 off MSRP for a new 2007.

Looking forward to taking it up to see her folks for the Holidays.

Congrats on the new addition! That will be a great vehicle for her. It was derived from the Acura MDX, who's platform & running gear was derived from the Odyssey. Very good DNA indeed.

thanks Shawn.

Hmmmmmmmm, the wife gets a new vehicle and Randy gets some M80s Sounds like a fair deal to me.

I didn't even think of that Rick, hmmmmm. It really is her turn for a new vehicle, I've always seemed to get what I want.