Have you test driven anything recently that was either surprisingly good or surprisin

[Rack]

I recently drove my cousins 2019 Subaru Outback. I really didn’t like it. Feels sluggish while accelerating, even just putting around town. On top of that felt the Steering was super vague. Interior also feels very plastic, and on the highway lots of noise in cabin. Only thing I liked was the ingress/ egress due to the ride height, as well as the seating position. Overall I was unimpressed and shocked that so many people love these cars.

My wife owns a 2016 Outback with the Flat 6 cylinder Boxer engine. Too bad Subaru discontinued this engine it has plenty of power.
Its still a nice all around vehicle for the price.
I would not buy a new one with the 4 cylinder either.

 

[kenwilliams0803]

My wife owns a 2016 Outback with the Flat 6 cylinder Boxer engine. Too bad Subaru discontinued this engine it has plenty of power.

Its still a nice all around vehicle for the price.

I would not buy a new one with the 4 cylinder either.

I agree. The NA 2.5L plus the CVT is just awful. I had a Legacy for a while. I want to say it was a 2012. The CVT was so depressing especially when coupled with the 2.5L, plus they are problematic too. When I traded it for a G37X I can remember saying out loud to multiple different people that "it's nice to have a real car again".

 

[IslandJim]

I see a lot of Subarus 1-2 years old back out on the lot and this may be why


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The Subarus that used to be made in Japan were great, owned an XT6 and an SVX and they were both great cars. Now the ones made in the US....that could be the problem. just sayin.

 

[2021nightshade4x4]

The Subarus that used to be made in Japan were great, owned an XT6 and an SVX and they were both great cars. Now the ones made in the US....that could be the problem. just sayin.

I am very glad my 4Runner was made in Japan.


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[wcjeep]

Currently own a Nightshade and a Range Rover. Test drove:

1.) 2022 Grand Wagoneer - almost sold me - deployable running boards are huge, massaging seats, 6.4L Hemi sounds great and performs well. Had my color and everything. Was already at the absolute top of my price range and then found out that particular dealer marks up $10k as well. You NEED the surround camera system on that. The whole vehicle is a blind spot. Front seat doesn’t get low enough for a 6’+ person, hate it for anyone much taller unless you’re all legs. Hard to judge front, rear, whether you’re parked straight, all of it.


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Buying a first year Stellantis product can be an adventure. The Hemi engines with cylinder deactivation tend to develop a tick at 75k. Known as the Hemi tick. It's not cheap to repair. They do have a new generation Straight 6 engine with turbos in two different power levels. The engine recently started production. It's rumored the I6 will replace most of the current V6 and V8's.

 

[Jetboy]

Ram 1500. Rented one a year or so ago. Was a Laramie trim with the 5.7. It was as good as advertised as far as being incredibly quiet on the highway. They're quieter than almost every luxury sedan on paper, but it really is impressive. I bought a tundra, so obviously it wasn't good enough to get me to buy it. The tundra is not really close in ride comfort or fuel efficiency. Just did an 800 mile run with a ~7500lb trailer. But it's Toyota reliable and that's still more important in my overall evaluation. Just got out of a truck that was a nightmare of unreliability. It was a close call though. I seriously considered a Ram 1500 or possibly a Sierra with the baby duramax instead. The 3.0 duramax is really nice to drive, likely not so nice to own long term.

 

[2021nightshade4x4]

Ram 1500. Rented one a year or so ago. Was a Laramie trim with the 5.7. It was as good as advertised as far as being incredibly quiet on the highway. They're quieter than almost every luxury sedan on paper, but it really is impressive. I bought a tundra, so obviously it wasn't good enough to get me to buy it. The tundra is not really close in ride comfort or fuel efficiency. Just did an 800 mile run with a ~7500lb trailer. But it's Toyota reliable and that's still more important in my overall evaluation. Just got out of a truck that was a nightmare of unreliability. It was a close call though. I seriously considered a Ram 1500 or possibly a Sierra with the baby duramax instead. The 3.0 duramax is really nice to drive, likely not so nice to own long term.

4Runner was initially my safe bet purchase but 1 year in, I’m not regretting it at ALL.

Unless I missed something - what was the unreliable nightmare truck?


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[majdomo]

Welp. Shouldn’t have driven a Land Cruiser but I did. And now I can’t stop thinking about it.


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Best vehicles built by man. I’d go for a 100 series over just about anything new. Gas hogs though.

YL’s 2019 Highlander is great, just a little too product-y for my tastes. Good family hauler. We crossed that against a 2022 Outback Limited, we both walked away from that test drive with zero desire to ever get back in that car again.

The GX series is a LC Prado in the ROW. Couldn’t convince her to get that over the Highlander, though.

 

[Pedro367]

Aint that the truth! GM cant seem to stop catering many vehicles to the 60+ demographic. I still dont know how the GMC line is still around and not just intergrated into the chevy line. I do think they finally got rid of that hideous Champaign color though.


I recently had a dodge charger rental car and was completely unimpressed. Albeit a base model, the car felt clunky, cheap, slow, and not intuitive at all. Dodge has always had a knack for using recycled coke bottles for the interior plastic and it still holds true.

Funny you mentioned rentals. I was an Enterprise Rent-A-Car clone for a few years out of college. This was a couple years after the bailout. Amazing to see which manufactures seem to make specific vehicles for only rental use to get cars off the line. Just boring people movers. Dodge/Chrysler and GM were peak rental fleet. Impala, Cobalt, Equinox, Avenger, Charger, 200, 300.

 

[Reinout]

Good car to rent...not to own!
I rented a Toyota Camry a couple weeks ago while I was in Texas. Now, this was mostly highway miles but it was getting 40ish mpg. And that was using cruise around 80mph. Comfortable car, but not my cup of tea. 4Runner is the only 4 door vehicle I have owned in 25 years or so.

I would agree with that: rent, not own. But if I was gifted one I would not be upset.

 

[chrisridebike8]

I got a brand new Tacoma TRD OR with 120 miles on it as a rental. I was super stoked figuring it would be like my 4R. It was not. The ergonomics were weird...like making the 4WD knob right next to the climate control knob and making them both the same size! I almost ended up going into 4WD on the freeway but realized something didn't feel right as I turned the knob. And the ride was choppier and the truck wandered a lot. And the transmission that everyone complains about...that's real. It hunted for gears. Overall, not a terrible truck, but just not as nice as the 4R.

 

[2021nightshade4x4]

Funny you mentioned rentals. I was an Enterprise Rent-A-Car clone for a few years out of college. This was a couple years after the bailout. Amazing to see which manufactures seem to make specific vehicles for only rental use to get cars off the line. Just boring people movers. Dodge/Chrysler and GM were peak rental fleet. Impala, Cobalt, Equinox, Avenger, Charger, 200, 300.

Ironically the Chevy Captiva started as a fleet only vehicle (only sold to consumers in ROW) and its popularity as a rental lead it to be sold in dealers in the US.


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[2021nightshade4x4]

Best vehicles built by man. I’d go for a 100 series over just about anything new. Gas hogs though.

YL’s 2019 Highlander is great, just a little too product-y for my tastes. Good family hauler. We crossed that against a 2022 Outback Limited, we both walked away from that test drive with zero desire to ever get back in that car again.

The GX series is a LC Prado in the ROW. Couldn’t convince her to get that over the Highlander, though.

We compared a 2019 GX next to a 2019 LX just a few parking spaces away. The one outstanding feature the GX bested the LX with was the almost scary cold AC.

While awesome, is this typical of GX’s?


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[majdomo]

We compared a 2019 GX next to a 2019 LX just a few parking spaces away. The one outstanding feature the GX bested the LX with was the almost scary cold AC.

While awesome, is this typical of GX’s?


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Maybe, if it’s engineered for really hot places in the rest of the world, Mr. T may have put a little extra bean in there.

GX requires 91 octane but gets a bit better mileage, LX / LC will run on crude oil.

EDIT - may also want to bounce over to Mud and see what they’re saying about the GX in those forums.

 

[Pedro367]

Ironically the Chevy Captiva started as a fleet only vehicle (only sold to consumers in ROW) and its popularity as a rental lead it to be sold in dealers in the US.


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We had a Captiva in our fleet, but mostly it was still equinoxs. The Captiva was just a rebadged equinox as you probably know. I didn't think they were sold in dealers though. Maybe just not around me.

 

[2021nightshade4x4]

I got a brand new Tacoma TRD OR with 120 miles on it as a rental. I was super stoked figuring it would be like my 4R. It was not. The ergonomics were weird...like making the 4WD knob right next to the climate control knob and making them both the same size! I almost ended up going into 4WD on the freeway but realized something didn't feel right as I turned the knob. And the ride was choppier and the truck wandered a lot. And the transmission that everyone complains about...that's real. It hunted for gears. Overall, not a terrible truck, but just not as nice as the 4R.

Please tell me it’s not the A760 trans in automatic Tacomas


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[Jetboy]

4Runner was initially my safe bet purchase but 1 year in, I’m not regretting it at ALL.

Unless I missed something - what was the unreliable nightmare truck?


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I had a powerstroke f250 last year. For 10 months. It was a used one with about 100k on it. I think it may have gotten more miles on the back of a flatbed than it did with me behind the wheel. I'm confident that it spent more time broke down during the 10 months I had it than it did running. Over the course of 10 months it needed two different fuel injectors, a glow plug, an exhaust pressure sensor, and a catalytic converter replaced. Each one left me broke down somewhere. The mechanics are all busy so it takes forever to get in anywhere that has a diesel expert. It quickly became apparent that that was a truck that needed to go to a new home.

 

[Skip2a]

I have driven several new Bronco's over the past year and a half (545 days until I cancelled my order and ordered my 4Runner).

The 4 door and 2 door models drive differently but but are incredible beasts. Their stance makes you feel like you are driving something much bigger than it is. The 4 and 6 cylinder motors are both very capable and the standard vs auto debate both have valid points. Overall it is an incredible vehicle that isn't readily available, not proven reliable yet and is being used by shifty dealers to make huge profits.

See ya,

Skip

 

[John in NC]

I drove my wife's 2014 Highlander XLE all over creation the last 4 days including two 7 hour road trips. Quite a vehicle. I'd say it requires 1/2 the steering inputs the 4runner requires on the highway at 70 mph. Lots of power, roomy, great stereo, and 3rd row seat. We had 8 in it a couple times. The sliding 2nd row that can be repositioned in many ways is really nice.

 

[SurfToy]

2022 Tesla Model 3 LR and performance. Also Model Y LR and Performance. Damn good for all 4 variants. I ended up buying a Model Y performance to get the hatchback layout. Much better for a young family transporting hockey bags around.

Can confirm. I have a 2021 M3P and it's a blast to drive. You may miss the noise and sensation of a powerful 6, 8, or turbo 4, but the instant torque more than makes up for it! :zoom: