We are 103,000+ car owners sharing real-world car information.

Join Us

Retirement Vehicle For Active Life

The Right Car for Me | TrueDelta

moondance406

Have owned several SUVs over many years from Chevy Blazer to most recently Nissan Murano. Retirement looms so looking for a lifestyle vehicle to transport me to fishing holes in summer and mountains in winter. Ideal vehicle would have good on road cruising capability for long trips, reasonable gas consumption city/highway, and have some off road capability for the forestry roads. Thinking 6 cylinder as most 4s have looked at lack in either power or off road capbability. Dont need a big family hauler as just wife and I with occaisonal grand kids. Also dont need a luxury badge as wont look good in scratches and insurance will be much higher.

Priorities: Reliability & durability / Handling / Off-road capability

Need minimum of 5 seats

Will consider new cars only

Maximum price: C $ 50000

« Return to results

Sign in or join TrueDelta to post your own thoughts.

Sort responses by likes

Response from danncas

10:15 am May 12, 2017

Volvo

1

Link to this reponse

Volvo XC60
Subaru Forester
Toyota Highlander

Response from Dnslater

11:38 am May 12, 2017

How rugged are your off road needs? The unibody/car based SUV's mentioned by the previous poster are good options, but maybe not great for more extreme off roading. The Subaru does have full time AWD, while the other two are FWD with the AWD only kicking in when the front slips. Subaru Forester would be the best choice in this category, without going to a full blown truck based SUV like a Jeep Grand Cherokee or a Toyota 4 Runner. Truck based SUV's are more rugged, but sacrifice fuel economy.

Also don't be too caught up in 4 vs 6 cylinders. Many vehicles are switching to turbo charged 4 cylindars in lie of bigger engines, and many of them have great low end torque which is nice for off roading. This is a big change compared to turbo charged vehicles of 10+ years ago. My GTI with a 2.0 liter 4 has more torque than the big V6 in my wife's Odyssey.

They make a turbo charged version of the Forester, but they are harder to find. Alternatively the V-6 Outback might satisfy you. Outback is similar to the current Forester, but slightly lower and longer and more car-like. Perhaps a bit more comfortable. Both have full time AWD.

3

Link to this reponse

Subaru Outback
Subaru Forester

Response from DarronS

11:50 am May 12, 2017

I'd suggest a Honda Ridgeline. The AWD version gets 25 mgo n the highway. They're comfortable, should be reliable and have enough truck capabilities for 90 percent of the people who buy trucks.

2

Link to this reponse

Honda Ridgeline

Response from jasonmreece

7:28 am May 18, 2017

Even though a 'luxury' brand name isn't important to you, the first recommedation that came to mind is the Acura RDX. It's technically considered a 'compact' luxury SUV, but it's on the large end of the compact size class. It's actually less than 6" shorter than your Nissan Murano. The interior space is vritutally identical with the RDX having 103 cubic feet vs. 105 for a Murano. So it's very similar in size.

There are three primary reasons that I think the RDX could be a good fit for you- Reliability, Size and Performance. The Reliability and Durability are both excellent, as expected from Honda/Acura products. The interior is very comfortable for four adults (it actually has 2" more rear seat legroom than a Murano). The front seats in general and the driver's seat in particular are comfortable even after several hours on the road. Best of all, there's a good ol' 279hp Honda V6 under the hood! It's good for 0-60 times in the low 6-second range, very quick among the SUV/CUV group. The 6-speed automatic almost seems like it can read you mind because it's always in the right gear and you'll never catch it flat footed. It's always ready to pass, merge or run for hours on end at 90mph on the rural interestate. =)

Another idea I wanted to toss out, though it may not interest you, is the new Mazda CX-9. It's a bit larger than your current vehicle (a 7-seater, although it makes a great 5-seater with a huge cargo area), but it handles and generally feels much smaller. It also has a turbocharged 4-cylinder, but the engine is tuned for 310lb-ft of torque at 2,000rpm, so it feels like a MUCH larger engine. The power delivery is so smooth that I had to look under the hood just to make sure it wasn't a V6. (BTW, in the interest of full disclosure, I own a previous-gen 2012 Mazda CX-9 and I love it). It's just a lot of car, both in size and features, for the money. The interior is near-luxury in terms of material and assembly quality and fuel economy is among the best in class.

My final suggestion is a bit 'safer' (some might say boring) and the reliability probably won't be any better than avearage- the Ford Edge. It's the only domestic-branded SUV/CUV that I could ever imagine buying. I would skip the standard 2.0L EcoBoost 4-cylinder for the 3.5L V6 though.

Good luck and hope this helps!

1

Link to this reponse

Response from DarronS

10:40 am May 18, 2017

If you check the reliability data here on True Delta you'll see the curent Acura RDX is only mid pack, while the Ford Edge fares better. The main problems with the Edge are rsale value and Ford dealers, which are hit or miss. I've owned several Fords over the years and the dealers have ranged from excellent to inexcusable poor. When I complained about the poor dealer to Ford customer service their answer was that the dealers are indepedent agents and Ford could do nothing to hlp me. Having worked at a Subaru dealer's service department I knew this was nonsense. If your local Ford dealer is good, and from my experience the good ones outnmber the bad, then the Edge may be a viable choice for you.

1

Link to this reponse

Response from NormT

10:57 am July 10, 2017

Not sure I'd recommend the RDX as the AWD systems is a bit of a misnomer.RDX is pushed off the roller test.

0

Link to this reponse

Buick Envision
Buick LaCrosse
Cadillac XT5
Sign in or join TrueDelta to post your own thoughts.

Return to top