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Reliable; All Wheel Drive; Mid to Larger size;

The Right Car for Me | TrueDelta

bcboy5440

I have looked at the Toyota Tacoma - The front seats seemed poorly designed and lacked comfort; I liked the size for parking - Liked the 4X4 - Great resale value - I had some concerns after talking to an owner of a 2016 Tacoma that he had some issues and the dealer seemed to have problems fixing them.

I want the Reliability of the Japanese built product with the decent comfort

I like the seating postion of the SUV or a Pick-up truck as you sit up higher off the floor and have a better view of the road

Looked breifly at the Subaru Outback - I like their All Wheel Drive system - The older ones had head gasket issues

I like the comfort and ride of the American made pick ups but I am concerned about the reliability. Talked to a Chevy owner and he had transmission issues early on.

I like the All Wheel or 4 X 4 as I have a bad driveway in the winter.

I currently have a 2004 VW Touareg AWD I bought from my kids as they needed a van. I am concerned about the reliability as the electrics seem flakey and they are expensive to repair

Any recommendations

Priorities: Reliability & durability / Front seat room / Depreciation

Need minimum of 4 seats

Will consider both new and used cars
Maximum mileage: 50000
Maximum age: 5 years

Maximum price: C $ 35000

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Response from NormT

8:08 am October 3, 2017

I wouldn't buy a used Subaru 2.0l/2.5l without a warranty. Not unless the oil consumption was a problem and then fixed. The Tacoma has had it's share of major recalls in 2016 and 2017 models due to leaking differential that could run dry and lock up while driving and a crank sensor could cause stalling while driving. Both of which have been recalled. The prices on the Tacoma TRD Sport is $3,000-5,000 more than a discounted Colorado Z71 based on V6 with AWD on cars.com. Used 2015 models with less than 50,000 miles are the same price at about $30,000. So the Colorado has less depreciation than the Toyota Tacoma. The Colorado/Canyon have won quite a few comparisons over the Tacoma since the twins were redesigned for 2015. The Tacoma is old these days as well as ithe Japanese Nissan Frontier. If you want one of the most rugged 4x4 systems the Frontier has an older, more traditional system. Just skip the Ridgeline for any off roading or towing as they over heat v with mild use. As far as comfort you will have to spend some time in the seat to determine what is comfortable for you. These are not as nice and luxorious as your Toureg. If you want more comfort I'd take a drive in a Silverado as the new trucks are as quite as passenger cars today.

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GMC Canyon
Chevrolet Colorado

Response from LectroFuel

11:54 pm October 3, 2017

Subarus have had a variety of engine issues like oil, head gaskets, etc. Be careful if you are about to buy a Subaru.

If you want a truck with close to as much comfort as your Touareg, buy the Honda Ridgeline. It rides on the same platform as the Honda Accord and Pilot, so if you need to tow more than 5000 lbs (AWD rating is 5000 lbs, FWD is 3500 lbs), don't buy this. Normal people rarely haul more than this. The Colorado tows 7000 lbs. Other than the towing rating, this truck beats the other compact trucks in every way except off roading (because of tires). The reason they used a unibody platform was to make the truck almost entry-level luxury. It rides like a Honda Pilot, which is high praise especially for a truck (trucks frames make for a harsher ride, but higher tow rating). Also, reliability ratings are good! The Ridgeline AWD has a terrain management computer so you can select snow, mud, sand, and normal modes.

The only reason NormT said the transmission overheats is because an automotive YouTube channel had their Ridgeline test car's tranny overheat. He is talking about one truck...out of the tens or hundreds of thousands sold. So take that info with a grain of salt. I've searched online for other occurances and found nothing.

So you get the comfort, handling, and reliability of a Honda with the Ridgeline. The Colorado does have transmission issues and failures as well as the engine randomly stalling. Chevy also doesn't have a fix to these problems after two years. No recall, no software update.

The Tacoma has a few minor problems. The transmission has a delay when shifting into reverse and drive. Also the transmission shifts harshly. Toyota has a free software update for these problems.No reports of engine stalling and transmission failures though. The 2017 is much more reliable than the 2016 Tacoma. The Tacoma is a newer truck that rides like an old one. Really rough ride. The Colorado slightly beats it in ride comfort and the Honda beats the both trucks by a landslide. Hope this helps!

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Honda Ridgeline

Response from NormT

7:41 am October 4, 2017

Response from NormT

7:50 am October 4, 2017

Honda has not sold hundreds of thousands of Ridgeline as they have only18,596 Ridgeline pickup trucks have sold the first half of 2017.

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Response from LectroFuel

8:08 pm October 4, 2017

I said "tens or hundreds of thousands." They have sold around 50k of the 2nd gen (2016-2017). If you do off roading with any truck/car I would add a transmission cooler or fan or at least a heavy duty one. There is no TSB on the transmission, but there are a few TSBs on sticky tailgates that have trouble unlatching.

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Response from NormT

8:24 pm October 4, 2017

Here is info on the info on the mysterious trans over heating TSB. Sounds like it is a software update but no mechanical change to current owners. Just tightening up the torque converter will lower temperatures but also effect performance by not allowing the converter to slip to get rpms up for towing or off roading.

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Response from JTT

7:24 pm November 3, 2017

As a long time owner of a Ridgeline, that has towed with it a considerable amount, and at times in excess of it's 5000lb limit, I can say, I have NEVER had any issue with transmission overheating, or anything else for that matter. Mine has 265,000 kms and has never had anything but scheduled maintenance, brakes and tires. Still tight, smooth, rattle-free and doesn't use a drop of oil after 8 yrs and 265,000 kms. Ride is good, reasonably quiet, and handles great. Outstanding reliability and low cost of ownership. Fuel mileage isn't great, but nothing in this class is.

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