Which SUV would you choose for now?

[Fuelsaver]

Bro @Atrecord, have u checked out kia sportage gt line? Although pricey imho, it should fit all ur requirement except fc but I believe not be worse off than crv or outlander. But most suv fc r not that good, unless u looking at 1.5-1.6 cat. Vitara seemed to have good reviews on drive n handling but rear cabin kinda narrow to have 3 adults + centre bump kinda high. Else subaru xv has better space but pickup may be less satisfactory. Same for xtrail due to 1.6t body compared to qashqai at some 1.3t w same engine unless 2.5.

[therock]

I have been checking out (almost) all the MPVs in the market in the last 2-3 yr, originally with the intention of getting a new one to replace our old Wish. But there was no ideal one that ticked all the boxes, so we eventually decided to stall for time by renewing the COE last Jan.

 

We also have a second car, which has always been an affordable used car. Had planned to get a new MPV but renew COE of the second car, or get another cheap used car when it expires.

 

Now my wife has suddenly changed her preference and suggested we look for a new SUV to replace the old car, and keep the wish instead, but I'm new to SUV, and do not really know what to look out for, and what's available, as well as the specs/features, plus and minuses of each model.

 

The few basic considerations would include:

 

- spacious: kids are growing up to be quite tall, and i expect my son to be taller than me (1.8 m) in a few years. So will need ample space.

- tall: don't need a van, but wife likes to be able to see further and so should be a bit taller

- it would be good to have electric and better still, memory seats, at least on driver side

- power: i don't desperately need a really fast car, but if it is not as sluggish the Ford Focus i'm driving now. (I read a lot about the bhp, torque, etc., but am not v familiar with torque...)

- FC: ideally not one that drinks

- maintenance/servicing: ideally not very expensive to maintain along the way

- budget: we're hoping not to exceed $140k

- If the floorboard on the rear seat is flat, it would be good.

 

The above are just my wish lists, but i'm aware not all can be had.

 

Any bros here have any suggestion/recommendations?

 

tks...

 

Bro

Given that you were looking for an MPV before your switch, can I offer you a choice which fits all the criteria? 

The Merc B180

space - enough to put a 2m tall driver and a 2m tall passenger behind each other

electric seats with 3 memory settings for both driver and front passenger

1.6 turbo = o-100 in 9.3 secs

FC - specs says 18km/l, but I expect a bit less

fits your budget

it's been around since 2011 (facelift in 2015) so parts and repairs are available (FYI - they sold more B class than C class in Germany, and there are > 350000 of the current example in the world)..

safest car in it's class

driving position higher than a sedan, but easier to get into than a SUV.

 

Give it some thought and you can pm me for a rep or for my personal opinion - not a sales rep.. 

PS: I was looking for something like that not long ago..

Cheers

[Atrecord]

Based on your criteria, would suggest you test drive the larger SUVs, in particular (1) Subaru Outback, (2) Kia Sorento Diesel EX (a touch above budget, but worth checking out), (3) Nissan Xtrail, (4) Toyota Harrier (only PI). 

 

Each would tick most, if not all, of your criteria below. Best choice is subjective and depends on how you rank each criteria. 

 

If you need 7 seats, then only Sorento or Xtrail will work. 

 

If size is not a strict criteria, then it opens the door to excellent options like Forester, Tucson, Sportage, as well.

 

Actually I'd taken a look at the 7-seaters when i had set my sights on MPVs previously. Tested Sorrento. It was a good car. Didn't bother testing X-Trail at that time cos the 3rd row was a joke 

 

But now wife said no need 7-seater, cos we'll falling back on the old Wish on the occasions when we go out together with my parents. So we're focusing on 5-seaters to save the $$.

 

Had tested Forester and Tucson, and plan to test others like Sportage. Space-wise, Forester seems like the biggest. Wife provides the acid test sitting on the back row. So far Tucson she said still can. I suspect Sportage can pass too.

 

Outback has much bigger boot than Forester, but in comparison, Forester seems more value for $$.

[Atrecord]

Appears the external looks not a consideration. 

 

Can take a look at forester xt the decent engine power can cover for some of CVT's short fall. 

 

Ha ha... Forester now looks better than the last model, but Sportage looks better externally.

 

Any other models with killer external looks? 

 

Forester engine is not bad - better than my wish now. But i must get use to the the taller CG of SUVs, as i felt the marked difference when the car moves on roads that curve to one side. Is that body roll? The SE said it's one of the best for SUVs already, cos it has AWD so has better control... 

Toyota Rav4? Decent suv. Toyota easy maintenance. Relatively high above ground. Rear seat height is good. I'm 1.87m if you need height context.

 

Saw this at the car@expo.

 

It was listed as around $165k! I think the floor on 2nd row is flat, so that's a big plus, but still, at this price...

 

Was telling wife that price can get Odyssey or Estima or Sharan (the more expensive MPVs that we were considering so hard and so long on...).

[Atrecord]

Bro @Atrecord, have u checked out kia sportage gt line? Although pricey imho, it should fit all ur requirement except fc but I believe not be worse off than crv or outlander. But most suv fc r not that good, unless u looking at 1.5-1.6 cat. Vitara seemed to have good reviews on drive n handling but rear cabin kinda narrow to have 3 adults + centre bump kinda high. Else subaru xv has better space but pickup may be less satisfactory. Same for xtrail due to 1.6t body compared to qashqai at some 1.3t w same engine unless 2.5.

 

I went to C&C ubi and saw sportage and ASX2 weekends ago, but didn't have time to test drive yet.

 

Sportage styling looks nice. It would be good if the price was lower. In fact, I notice that Korean cars are now priced above some Jap cars, strangely. Hopefully, the quality and reliability is on par or better than the japs, since they dare to price their cars at such levels.

 

Had looked at XV when checking out Forester. Unfortunately XV is not worth considering - the rear centre seat is just impossibly tight, as the centre console for front role juts out till the passenger sitting in the middle seat at the back, cannot even move the legs.

[Little_prince]

Actually I'd taken a look at the 7-seaters when i had set my sights on MPVs previously. Tested Sorrento. It was a good car. Didn't bother testing X-Trail at that time cos the 3rd row was a joke 

 

But now wife said no need 7-seater, cos we'll falling back on the old Wish on the occasions when we go out together with my parents. So we're focusing on 5-seaters to save the $$.

 

Had tested Forester and Tucson, and plan to test others like Sportage. Space-wise, Forester seems like the biggest. Wife provides the acid test sitting on the back row. So far Tucson she said still can. I suspect Sportage can pass too.

 

Outback has much bigger boot than Forester, but in comparison, Forester seems more value for $$.

 

you can't have everything bro.

 

what's your priority? power? comfort? space? ask yourself honestly what is important to you.

 

xtrail 3rd row is quite pathetic. not to mention with 3rd row up boot space is gone. power wise also CMI. 

 

forester XT has the best power. but interior i found it very dated and very spartan. dont even have build in gps and rear aircon etc. but it's by far the most shiok drive.

 

if FC is impt for you. then just skip SUV. none of the choices have very good FC. mostly abt 10-11km/l. heard harrier is quite decent in terms of FC but power also lacking and PI. and it's abt 10-20k above the compeition like xtrail and outback etc.

 

to be honest, if money is not a concern, i think that sorento is a great choice. diesel is cheap and relatively good power. space is excellent. 3rd row can sit adult. 

Edited January 5, 2017 by Little_prince

[Friendstar]

In this day and age. SUV of my choice will be forester NA.

 

If can stretch a little for xt

[Fuelsaver]

I went to C&C ubi and saw sportage and ASX2 weekends ago, but didn't have time to test drive yet.

 

Sportage styling looks nice. It would be good if the price was lower. In fact, I notice that Korean cars are now priced above some Jap cars, strangely. Hopefully, the quality and reliability is on par or better than the japs, since they dare to price their cars at such levels.

 

Had looked at XV when checking out Forester. Unfortunately XV is not worth considering - the rear centre seat is just impossibly tight, as the centre console for front role juts out till the passenger sitting in the middle seat at the back, cannot even move the legs.

I agree sportage be good if priced lower, although added features r more upclass like auto tailgate. I test drove it n found the 2l petrol engine quite willing, more willing than Tucson one; maybe tuned differently since same engine n 6at.

 

My old Tucson coming to 9yo. No issues other than replacing batt, shocks, driveshaft boots n thermostat housing due to coolant leak. Everyday anytime can start n won't breakdown suddenly, although my periodic checks helped played a part for above replacements. Driven for about 60k km now mileage at 150k km (if dealer didn't tamper mileage) engine n gb still smooth.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Fuelsaver

[Fuelsaver]

Ha ha... Forester now looks better than the last model, but Sportage looks better externally.

 

Any other models with killer external looks?

 

Forester engine is not bad - better than my wish now. But i must get use to the the taller CG of SUVs, as i felt the marked difference when the car moves on roads that curve to one side. Is that body roll? The SE said it's one of the best for SUVs already, cos it has AWD so has better control...

 

 

Saw this at the car@expo.

 

It was listed as around $165k! I think the floor on 2nd row is flat, so that's a big plus, but still, at this price...

 

Was telling wife that price can get Odyssey or Estima or Sharan (the more expensive MPVs that we were considering so hard and so long on...).

Looked like u n me have a thing for sportage haha.. too bad no go for me due to its pricing - some 11x k for gt line then may give some consideration. But it's really euro style n built wo its price tag.

[fungyee77]

Actually I'd taken a look at the 7-seaters when i had set my sights on MPVs previously. Tested Sorrento. It was a good car. Didn't bother testing X-Trail at that time cos the 3rd row was a joke

 

But now wife said no need 7-seater, cos we'll falling back on the old Wish on the occasions when we go out together with my parents. So we're focusing on 5-seaters to save the $$.

 

Had tested Forester and Tucson, and plan to test others like Sportage. Space-wise, Forester seems like the biggest. Wife provides the acid test sitting on the back row. So far Tucson she said still can. I suspect Sportage can pass too.

 

Outback has much bigger boot than Forester, but in comparison, Forester seems more value for $$.

For 5 seater, I like the Forester as well. Great value for NA, superb power + value for XT.

 

Trade off is FC, and dated interior.

[Mason016]

Ha ha... Forester now looks better than the last model, but Sportage looks better externally.

 

Any other models with killer external looks?

 

Forester engine is not bad - better than my wish now. But i must get use to the the taller CG of SUVs, as i felt the marked difference when the car moves on roads that curve to one side. Is that body roll? The SE said it's one of the best for SUVs already, cos it has AWD so has better control...

 

 

Saw this at the car@expo.

 

It was listed as around $165k! I think the floor on 2nd row is flat, so that's a big plus, but still, at this price...

 

Was telling wife that price can get Odyssey or Estima or Sharan (the more expensive MPVs that we were considering so hard and so long on...).

They bs you lah. Rav4 list price is 155 to 156k.

[Atrecord]

you can't have everything bro.

 

what's your priority? power? comfort? space? ask yourself honestly what is important to you.

 

xtrail 3rd row is quite pathetic. not to mention with 3rd row up boot space is gone. power wise also CMI. 

 

forester XT has the best power. but interior i found it very dated and very spartan. dont even have build in gps and rear aircon etc. but it's by far the most shiok drive.

 

if FC is impt for you. then just skip SUV. none of the choices have very good FC. mostly abt 10-11km/l. heard harrier is quite decent in terms of FC but power also lacking and PI. and it's abt 10-20k above the compeition like xtrail and outback etc.

 

to be honest, if money is not a concern, i think that sorento is a great choice. diesel is cheap and relatively good power. space is excellent. 3rd row can sit adult. 

 

Yah, i know that too.

 

To us, i'll say maybe in terms of priority, it should be:

 

1) space

2) safety

3) reliability and quality

4) price

5) ease and affordability of maintenance

6) ride comfort

7) noise level

8) FC

9) Performance/power

10) rear a/c

11) external styling

12) features

13) ICU/GPS

 

Any other factor i should consider/rank?

 

On FC, I don't need to aim for 15 km/l, but hope to avoid those in the region of 7-8 km/l type of vehicle leh. Is this reasonable and achievable for new SUVs? If can hit 11 km/l then should be acceptable. Anything better is bonus. Also, our driving pattern has quite a lot of city driving, and not much highway.

 

Yah, Forester said no GPS, and cannot connect to phone. I tot lots of new cars can link already...

In this day and age. SUV of my choice will be forester NA.

 

If can stretch a little for xt

 

Forester AWD and Boxer engine maintenance is more expensive right? By how much when compared to Kia/Hyundai?

 

How is Subaru quality and reliability?

[Kangadrool]

Better take saloon if aiming at 11 km/l.

 

Even a lot of new saloon with small cap petrol turbocharged engine also may not do this figure in real world local traffic conditions.

[flikmy]

Forester AWD and Boxer engine maintenance is more expensive right? By how much when compared to Kia/Hyundai?

 

How is Subaru quality and reliability?

 

I've been looking at similar cars too, and found that reliability of the Subaru especially on UK car websites tend to be quite good. Maybe it's because their boxer engine and turbo are fairly established design/technology.

[Atrecord]

Better take saloon if aiming at 11 km/l.

 

Even a lot of new saloon with small cap petrol turbocharged engine also may not do this figure in real world local traffic conditions.

 

That's what i suspected.

 

But i keep hearing that merc got FC in the region 15-23 km/l... in another forum, a forumer even posted a photo of his/her dash showing 20+ km/l...

 

Wonder whether it's true, and if so, how did they achieve it.

 

OK, if 11 km/l is unrealistic, is 10 km/l realistic for SUV?

[Mkl22]

That's what i suspected.

 

But i keep hearing that merc got FC in the region 15-23 km/l... in another forum, a forumer even posted a photo of his/her dash showing 20+ km/l...

 

Wonder whether it's true, and if so, how did they achieve it.

 

OK, if 11 km/l is unrealistic, is 10 km/l realistic for SUV?

Merc 15-23? More like 15-23L/100km.

[Kangadrool]

yew sai can lah, a lot of people driving 1.5~1.6L turbo diesel easily do 15 km/l in local traffic, but small petrol turbocharged jin difficult. I remember seeing people complain about getting less than 10 km/l on their 1.0L 3-cyclinder petrol turbo.

 

That's what i suspected.

 

But i keep hearing that merc got FC in the region 15-23 km/l... in another forum, a forumer even posted a photo of his/her dash showing 20+ km/l...

 

Wonder whether it's true, and if so, how did they achieve it.

 

OK, if 11 km/l is unrealistic, is 10 km/l realistic for SUV?

 

Edited January 5, 2017 by Kangadrool

[Fuelsaver]

Yah, i know that too.

 

To us, i'll say maybe in terms of priority, it should be:

 

1) space

2) safety

3) reliability and quality

4) price

5) ease and affordability of maintenance

6) ride comfort

7) noise level

8) FC

9) Performance/power

10) rear a/c

11) external styling

12) features

13) ICU/GPS

 

Any other factor i should consider/rank?

 

On FC, I don't need to aim for 15 km/l, but hope to avoid those in the region of 7-8 km/l type of vehicle leh. Is this reasonable and achievable for new SUVs? If can hit 11 km/l then should be acceptable. Anything better is bonus. Also, our driving pattern has quite a lot of city driving, and not much highway.

 

Yah, Forester said no GPS, and cannot connect to phone. I tot lots of new cars can link already...

 

Forester AWD and Boxer engine maintenance is more expensive right? By how much when compared to Kia/Hyundai?

 

How is Subaru quality and reliability?

supposing i chose up to top 9 criteria, i may recommend vitara. i can't comment on subaru but u may wanna read up threads concerning subaru cars.

 

although a tad narrow, headrm n legrm is quite ok at the back n shouldn't have no issue accommodating 1.8m tall persons.

 

safety - 6airbags n 5star ncap iirc.

 

reliability - typical jap car.

 

quality - trims r taut, though plasticky.

 

price - other than vezel n qashqai, this is another "cheaper" suv.

 

maintenance ease n affordability - typical jap car; 2wd easy to maintain (even 4wd also not as complicated). affordable - 258, 368, 478 for odd number, even number n 40/80/120k km respectively (best part is 2wd = 4wd price, note it's based on website)

 

ride comfort - composed yet not bumpy (based on car review videos). personally sat on seats - didn't appreciate seat back profile as i felt i'd to slightly arch my back n lean head slight forward to bear back against seat back; no issue with seat padding though.

 

noise level - acceptable for it's cat / price (based on car review videos)

 

fc - other than vezel n qashqai 1.2T, this is next "champion" in fc (check out vitara 1.6 thread)

 

performance - based on 1.2t body, 1.6l w 6at should be acceptable (test drive video reviewers mentioned adequate iirc)

 

remaining 30+k budget can use for family savings / other spending if ur budget is 140k :)

Edited January 5, 2017 by Fuelsaver