Family SUV

[RudderVator]

Hi Guys,

I need some advice and ideally first-hand experience.

I am trying to decide on a family SUV. Hoping to keep the car for a long time ~10 years so I need something that will go the distance.

I have narrowed it down to the following, which are all a couple of years old and lowish mileage:

• Subaru Forester- Worried that the car isn't that common so getting parts over the long term may be an issue
• Nissan X-trail- Read that reliability isn't as good as before with the CVT gearbox susceptible to failure
• Honda CR-V
• Toyota RAV 4
• VW Tiguan

Reading the Kinsey report, it seems the X-trail is the cheapest to service with the RAV and CR-V being more on the high side.

Any advice?

Would suggest the Rav4 if you want very good parts availability. Both the Forester and XV is an excellent car and most probably the safest and best value all around with standard equipment including the eyeSight system and All-Wheel drive.

Parts are pretty easily available from both Subaru SA and hundreds of websites worldwide since Subaru is one of the best-selling brands in the USA/Canada currently. Rockauto comes to mind!

The Tiguan has a nice drive and engine! Long-term reliability and maintenance costs along with high initial buying cost remain an issue compared to the rest. Spec'd out to match the rest you would easily pay over R800K!

I can see you did your homework! Nissan has some serious CVT issues. The JATCO CVT that they use is prone to problems. *Do note that Toyota Rav4 and Subaru Forester also use a CVT but they are developed in-house and no serious problems have been reported in the last 11 years in the feild.

 

[RudderVator]

Subaru Forester is very thirsty I've been told. I know of one owner who has had cooling hassles even after being worked on at the dealership. An old employee of the dealership recommended getting the engine block skimmed (the head had already been skimmed)... that seemed to do the trick, but it's disturbing how little the dealership knew. They fought with it for a while. Assume you have a price range?

I'm very happy with my Suzuki Brezza - bulletproof simple 1500 engine. I have the auto.

Old Subaru's were rather thirsty especially the 5 speed Auto with a 2.5L Turbo! Look at buying a model after 2010 with the new Lineartronic CVT and 3rd Gen direct-injection engine instead.

 

[die_koos]

We had a Rav for almost 10 years (Bought new). Swopped that for a nearly new one a year ago and planning to keep it for another 10 year stint. No complaints thus far.

Think you can get a better deal on a similar specced x-trail if you don't need 4 wheel drive but I don't know what resale will look like on an x-trail 10 years from now. (Bought new Rav in 2011 for R 288k, sold for R 145k 9.5 years later)

 

[nazmo]

I hated the concept of an SUV. until we went to buy my mrs a gti.

As we walked over to VW she saw a silver R-Line on the lot and fell in love. Signed an OTP right there.

Footnote, we testdrove RAV4, Evoque, Q3RS (yes, RS lol). Lexus NX 200T...

Now 4 years later, its such a brilliant car, faultless, comfortable, super well made, jsut the right amount of physical buttons. Electric everything... the 1.4T is more than enough and ave consumption since bought is around 7.2l/100km. Ontop of that, its the best holding value car on market last year.

we took a 5yr plan and intend to extend by 2yrs.

We recently had twins, two carseats, she fits in the middle, takes 2 prams in the back. Highly recommend. Just testdrive it

 

[nadeem_k]

So I guess in short the X-Trail should come off the list and maybe replace it with the CX-5.

It seems the Forester doesn't hold value as much with the Rav, CR-V and Tiguan all selling well above book value

 

[nadeem_k]

Old Subaru's were rather thirsty especially the 5 speed Auto with a 2.5L Turbo! Look at buying a model after 2010 with the new Lineartronic CVT and 3rd Gen direct-injection engine instead.

Ya I am looking at the new gen forester

 

[The_MAC]

Four most of the time, with prams and stuff the big boot would be nice. Offroad is a nice to have but definitely not a requirement

We have a Caddy Maxi 2 Litre TDI

Plenty of space, lots of Torque to carry or pull a load, very pleased with it

 

[RudderVator]

So I guess in short the X-Trail should come off the list and maybe replace it with the CX-5.

It seems the Forester doesn't hold value as much with the Rav, CR-V and Tiguan all selling well above book value

Most likely true. Do you need some off-road abilities?

At least you have all real cars on your list, not a Haval or something Imagine the resale after 10 years.

 

[Sayf777]

Check on 2nd hand Ford everests (limited if its within budget).

 

[Neuk_]

I'm driving a 2018 CR-V. Coming from a 4tuner at the time, my only requirement was to be able to fit 3-4 golf bags in the back, without removing clubs or letting the seats down. Vehicle passed that test with flying colours. The CVT took some getting used to, firstly because it was my 1st automatic and secondly it seemed to have a mind of its own sometimes 3 years later 'm still very happy

Added a Thule roofrack at the time... still hanging unused in my garage

This is because it literally has no gears.

 

[epah]

Bmw X3, any of the diesels and call it a day.

 

[pinball wizard]

I hated the concept of an SUV. until we went to buy my mrs a gti.

As we walked over to VW she saw a silver R-Line on the lot and fell in love. Signed an OTP right there.

Footnote, we testdrove RAV4, Evoque, Q3RS (yes, RS lol). Lexus NX 200T...

Now 4 years later, its such a brilliant car, faultless, comfortable, super well made, jsut the right amount of physical buttons. Electric everything... the 1.4T is more than enough and ave consumption since bought is around 7.2l/100km. Ontop of that, its the best holding value car on market last year.

we took a 5yr plan and intend to extend by 2yrs.

We recently had twins, two carseats, she fits in the middle, takes 2 prams in the back. Highly recommend. Just testdrive it

5/10 for storytelling.

Long way off the legend of the man who whilst en route to buy a Stinger GT fell in love with a humble Suzuki Swift.

If a may ask, R-Line what? I understand R-Line to be vw speak for a makeup kit for one of their models?

 

[RudderVator]

I'm driving a 2018 CR-V. Coming from a 4tuner at the time, my only requirement was to be able to fit 3-4 golf bags in the back, without removing clubs or letting the seats down. Vehicle passed that test with flying colours. The CVT took some getting used to, firstly because it was my 1st automatic and secondly it seemed to have a mind of its own sometimes 3 years later 'm still very happy

Added a Thule roofrack at the time... still hanging unused in my garage

This is because it literally has no gears.

Don't think I ever thought It would cross my lips but I prefer a CVT now over a traditional Automatic!
Drove a couple of cars on loaners for a couple of months.

First, a 2.0CVT Rav4 was a little noisy but power delivery was reasonable and smooth.
Had a nice 360 camera but no Apple Carplay!

Secondly, a Subaru XV 2.0L CVT had the best torque for me at low revs. power delivery was more consistent with less engine noise than the RAV4 CVT along with all the gadgets you could think of.

Lastly the 2.5L Rav4 with the traditional automatic. I hated the lag of switching gears! Sure it had more power but it was almost as if the car lost momentum in that action not using its torque properly from a really nice engine.
it started feeling unnatural to me compared to the CVT.

 

[nazmo]

5/10 for storytelling.

Long way off the legend of the man who whilst en route to buy a Stinger GT fell in love with a humble Suzuki Swift.

If a may ask, R-Line what? I understand R-Line to be vw speak for a makeup kit for one of their models?

1.4T R-Line kit means full R line bumpers. 19 inch wheels. And some bits. A must in my opinion as non R line reminds me of older cars with black bumpers.

 

[pinball wizard]

1.4T R-Line kit means full R line bumpers. 19 inch wheels. And some bits. A must in my opinion as non R line reminds me of older cars with black bumpers.

Still doesn't make it clear which model vw you are talking about. I think you can buy the r-line trim level across the range of vw models. I think I even saw a r-line Kombi once.

 

[Neuk_]

Still doesn't make it clear which model vw you are talking about. I think you can buy the r-line trim level across the range of vw models. I think I even saw a r-line Kombi once.

Tiguan based on it having a 1.4T.

 

[pinball wizard]

Tiguan based on it having a 1.4T.

I bet lots of vw's have a 1.4T? I'm not gonna read all the specs across all the vw range to figure it out.

 

[nazmo]

Tiguan based on it having a 1.4T.

I bet lots of vw's have a 1.4T?

I don't even know what version it is. It's the 110kw 250nm DCT one with most options ticked.

 

[pinball wizard]

I don't even know what version it is. It's the 110kw 250nm DCT one with most options ticked.
View attachment 1129818

That's a Renault.

Oh, you mean the Sharan next to it?

 

[Neuk_]

Don't think I ever thought It would cross my lips but I prefer a CVT now over a traditional Automatic!
Drove a couple of cars on loaners for a couple of months.

First, a 2.0CVT Rav4 was a little noisy but power delivery was reasonable and smooth.
Had a nice 360 camera but no Apple Carplay!

Secondly, a Subaru XV 2.0L CVT had the best torque for me at low revs. power delivery was more consistent with less engine noise than the RAV4 CVT along with all the gadgets you could think of.

Lastly the 2.5L Rav4 with the traditional automatic. I hated the lag of switching gears! Sure it had more power but it was almost as if the car lost momentum in that action not using its torque properly from a really nice engine.
it started feeling unnatural to me compared to the CVT.

CVT's have their place as they can contribute to very efficient fuel use but one of their biggest limitations is that they can't handle high torque which is why you only find them on smaller capacity and output engines.