Vw tdi replacement.

Sad that you can't even buy a basic Outback with a manual transmission anymore.

 

@Juforrest

You asked about mileage for work truck, did my monthly mileage sheet today . . .

2013 Ford Explorer with NA V6 engine and AWD

1,606 miles and 9 fillups averaged 21.2 mpg. Peak was 23.2 and lowest was 18.8. This is all mixed driving . . . lots of highways, backroads, dirt roads, couple of farm fields, couple of short forest roads, limited idling on side of highway.

Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, we grabbed one of the last ones in May 2014. Great car, no problems so far @ 18,xxx miles. Average economy over that time is 30.6 mpg, which isnt bad for a lifted station wagon thats heavier than my Tacoma (RC 4x4). It does use a little bit of oil so I will be keeping a close eye on that, but it isnt too excessive right now.

 

I owned a 2001 Rav4 for 7 years and 170k+ miles and I wouldn't hesitate to get another one if I needed a small SUV again. I drove a 2015 Rav4 for a week last year when my Tacoma was in the shop, and boy let me tell you the Rav4 has come a long way since the early years. I was blown away by how quiet it was and how easily it cruised at 70mph+ on the highway. My old Rav4 was more like my Tacoma in terms of noise and highway cruising and the new Rav4 is more like a sedan. I highly recommend the Rav4 if you're looking for a small SUV.

 

Thanks guys this good info. I can't believe the exploder gets better mileage than the a Escape. That funny. Working for the city I work with the police a lot, almost all the cops the drive the Explorer really like it.

 

The best RAV4 was the last generation with the 3.5 V6. I thought I would never say a car has too much power but that RAV4 was close.

 

I remember when the larger 06+ generation Rav4 came out there was talk of Toyota slotting a smaller SUV in their lineup below the Rav4, but I guess they decided to keep the Rav4 where it is and discontinue the V6 because it competed too much with the Highlander.

 

So, I am not one to brag on the attributes of a vehicle I dont own, but I had the Explorer on some pretty nasty logging roads (part of the reason I was there) yesterday and the AWD worked amazingly well. Below is a photo of one of the roads . . . those logging mats are partially floating. These were the worst conditions I have put it through so far (only had it for about a month now) and it didnt even struggle.

 

Holy crap I never thought it would go through something like that.

 

Yeah, me neither. I had a phone number ready if I got stuck, but never came close. I have a lot more confidence in the vehicle now.

 

What kind of tires does it have on it?

 

Not sure of the brand, but they're definately AT's. I can check on Monday and get back to you.

 

We bought a 2012 pathfinder a couple years ago. We looked at the highlander and the 4Runner before moving on to the pathfinder. For the money it was a great purchase. This was the last year of the old body style which we wanted anyways. The mileage is pretty decent. We average about 20mpg mostly in town driving. We paid 25k and it only had 8k miles on it. It's been a great suv. Would have loved a 4Runner but just couldn't see spending an extra 10k for something with similar mileage and options.

 

Can't do another Nissan after the nightmare my 07 Xterra was.

 

How can the performance shops tell you that? There is no fix currently so how can they possibly know?

 

The speculation is that it will be a completely electronic fix. Vw will turn on all the pollution controls and leave them on. So if that's the case wiping the ecm and reloading it with the current tunes should work.

 

My fiance came to me last year and said "I want a compact SUV and it has to be AWD". SO we went and test drove the Honda CR-V (probably our favorite but pricey), the Toyota Rav4, Nissan Rogue, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage. We brought home the Sportage. It was equipt like the Honda but was damn near half the price. It has been a fantastic little SUV. I really like it, she loves it. We drove it to Taos, NM last winter to snow ski and got caught up in a big snow storm coming home....it did fantastic. Very sure-footed AWD system. HELL of a car for the money. It can also be had w/ an optional 2.0L Turbo which boasts damn near 270hp for around $30K if I'm not mistaken. (We bought in 2015...so things might have changed a little since then). For the record...I was pretty disappointed in the Rav4. The fit, finish, quality I was expecting was not there. (I drove an 07 4Runner V8 4x4 at the time for reference).

 

I will have to that out. Hasn't even been on my radar. Thanks for the input.

 

Also screw you judge and Vw for pushing things back a week. Now everyone will have even less time to voice their opinions if they try to screw us in the settlement.

 

You bet! I'm a big believer in making a list of what you want your potential vehicle to have/be able to do....from there...make a list of vehicles that fit the criteria...then go drive them all. My cousin is shopping right now for a midsized AWD SUV/Crossover. After test driving....he's narrowed it down to the Kia Sorento and the Subaru Outback. Both are very solid cars. The Subi is a little more rugged and capable offroad...the Sorento has a big HP V6 (290hp) and is a little more refined.