General Discussion and BS thread -Safe Haven

Ya I sat in a few other 3rd gens without sunroofs and headroom wasn't an issue. The way they've designed the new sunroof it just eats up way too much headroom.

 

Yeah it's not a problem if you're not tall but I didn't want a sun roof at all. I've somehow ended up with them in all of my previous vehicles and I don't think I ever opened them.

 

I like a sunroof in the summer. But I'm going for an Access cab, so a sunroof isn't an option anyway haha. I'll just slide the back window open

 

Some day soon. They both have to be clean at the same time!

 

We drove the 16 Prius V
Love the mileage and like the fit and feel.
Don't like tiny wheels, no off road capabilities at all and the lacking power. If we lived somewhere else we would have kept looking but she drives a fair amount of hwy.
The roads in Michigan are mostly rough and the leagle speed is 70 but everyone goes closer to 80.
We also have some brutal long lasting winter seasons to deal with and I don't want the wife running off to work in MY truck leaving me with the Prius (yes I still have the 1990 Hilux)
When I met my wife (just over 20 years ago) she was driving a red Eagle Talon awd turbo, she has sport in her blood and I don't want to drain any of that.
We still haven't sat in the boosted Forester, it had different seats than the regular Fozzy and would be a very fun car / SUV / wagon and be even safer on winter roads than a Tacoma.
We still need a closer look at the new Rav 4 and a few others like the Mitsubishi Outlander and Honda Crv
She really likes the idea of having her own Tacoma in DCSB TRD OR and doesn't mind if it is a MT like mine.
The two top considerations for this purchase are comfort and all season performance. She is also aware of resale value of the Tacoma along with the reputation for reliability. Maintenance / repair on a Subaru scares the hell out us.
It's just the two of us and I have a Dodge grand caravan 2006 with 250000k miles that I use for work and play. The new Yota is not permitted at drive throughs and beverages are only allowed in sealable containers. Lol
I also have the old worn out Hilux that just won't quit. We use that primary for weekend trail exploration. Northern Michigan is actually loaded with good trails through deep forest.
The wife has two hand me down beaters, a 92 Crown Victoria and 96 Mercury Grand Marquis.
5 registered licensed and insured working vehicles. 6 if you count my Yamaha R1 7 if I get my WR 450 before we sell one of the clunkers, I need a bigger garage,,,
We'll keep ya posted

 

My wife is a Prius lover, but hates the look of the V. The 2016 V is also very close to the 2015 - the big changes are happening to the Prius sedan (and it will be a sedan). Her 2013 does have a power mode, but it is still only as powerful as a Corolla (the 1.8 motor). The suspension is tight, which is cool for cornering. It also gets real grab and a launch burst of acceleration (for about 15 feet) when it's just electric motors (and fun for the dog). At speed, though, it's amazing just how stable and quiet it is. We have 85 MPH highways, and it scoots right along where the old 2006 couldn't maintain anything higher than 75.

You might wait to see the actual 2016 sedan and see what their supposed performance upgrades are before making the decision. The Gen 3 is a huge improvement over the Gen 2, so I'd hope the Gen 4 Prius would be an improvement as well.

 

Thank you very much for your input I appreciate it. We haven't completely ruled out the Prius just yet but it is not looking good. The attraction to the v was the cargo space, my wife loves going to Sam's Club with her mother once a month. If she were to even consider a car it would open up a whole nother list of contenders.
We had the Isuzu Rodeo back in the day and liked it quite a bit. She wants to get back in a SUV and the Tacoma still fits that category.
Again I thank you for the Prius praise. I will let my wife know you put in a good word for the handling and highway capabilities.

 

I know you're wanting something with good cargo capacity, but if you decide on a more traditional sedan, you might take a look at Camry Hybrid. When my wife decided she wanted a new car in '07, we took a brief look at the Prius, but ultimately settled on the Camry. We really liked the car, so when we were in the market 5 years later we really didn't even look at anything else. I was amazed at the improvements made. The handling was a vast improvement and the CVT transmission was much more responsive. Still the same great mileage, comfortable ride, and if possible, even quieter than before. It doesn't get quite the mileage of the Prius, but if you're looking for a mid-size sedan, it's worth a look.

 

I've been trying to tell her she can use my trucks and or van anytime. She doesn't have any interest in cars and she / we are both heavily leaning towards awd. Milage is a perk but not that high on the list but high enough you won't let me talk her into a Tundra. I do have some influence in the matter but the choice is ultimately hers.
I gotta say I don't see much downside to having my access cab long bed next to her double cab short bed, that's still versatile isn't it? She is thinking silver or quicksand and I must say I could end up being a little jealous

 

Meh, I find it a bit odd when people have 2-3 of the same truck outside their house. It's kind of like owning three of the same of any product, a bit redundant at the end of the day. Then again, it sounds like your house is the kind of place the odd person might stop by totally by accident because they thought it was a car dealership .

If she REALLY wanted the 2016 I could see getting a second one, but if she's considering other vehicles I'd keep an open mind to that as well. My father in laws Prius has just started to have some fairly major electrical issues but it's 8 years old. Goes to show you how well those cars were built back then. I'd expect the newer more refined versions to be even better for reliability.

Don't be afraid to throw options at her. My wife thought she wanted a Santa Fe more than anything... Then it was the 4Runner... and then finally she bought an F150. We looked at about a half dozen vehicles and she is very happy with her decision. I bet that she will be even happier with it once the snow hits tomorrow.

 

We are as rather odd couple, lol bought the house for the property. To get me out of Florida required that I be able to build bike jumps and stunts in the back yard. I also wanted a house with a basement, they are very rare in Florida and I wanted a place for my riding buddies to come hang out for the weekend. The house that came with the property I like had an addition instead of a basement. The additions plus the house has us listed as 6000 square feet 20 + rooms just for the two of us and a few pets.
The list of possibilities include.
Subaru Forester and Outback
Toyota Tacoma and rav4
Honda Crv
Mitsubishi Outlander
We have already eliminated anything from Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Jeep, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia and Volkswagen
My back yard
https://youtu.be/JILVSw5qKk0

 

I used to pass a house every day that had the same color, same model year truck. One was a Chevy Silverado, the other was a GMC Sierra. Then he eventually traded the Silverado in for a 2014 Silverado in a different color. I never understood why. Then there was another guy who has a black GMC Sierra and a Black Silverado, again same model year. I don't get it haha

 

I live in a rural area, so your housing demands don't sound sound strange at all. Though coming from a house with 2600 sq feet of livable space (finished basement) 6000 sq feet of main floor sounds crazy huge. It's really rare to find houses around here without at least earthen basements. A basement can act as a heat moderator that you don't get with a house without a basement. In cold climates it definitely shows up on the heating bill.

Best of luck in the search. If you are eliminating brands based on personal preference I have no dog in the fight . Personally though for reliability I would never touch a Mitsu after my experiences with them and the RAV actually has it's own problems as well. The Subi's are great until you have to replace the underpinnings of their awesome AWD system, which is pricey and around here in a snowy slippery climate usually occurs at about 150,000 km. Actually, to be honest, reliability wise there is no safe bet anymore IMHO... though out of those options I'd trust the Subi's more than a Toyota for at least the first few years.

 

I can't speak for the others but in our case we are like minded yet very independent. We do plenty of stuff together but do even more stuff separate. As you already know we like to keep our stuff for a very long time and the Tacoma ranks highest of all in this category. She also said that so far the Tacoma feels most comfortable and while some of the others we've been in come very close I tend to agree.

 

The problem is that the Tacoma's that last the longest are also from two generations ago. No one knows how long the 2016 will hold up, although the pedigree is good.

My wife liked the 2016 Tacoma too. Comfort, size, and power wise. If it was available when she bought her truck it might of almost been a hard choice.

 

Did anyone else see that Colorado won Motor Trend truck of the year for 2016?!

 

No need for arguments. This is right from Motortrend and is exactly why they love the GM twins:

It's bigger and it feels like a CUV. Hence Motortrend loves it because everyone who wants an Equinox with a bed loves it. That's the future of the market unfortunately. People want more CUV's with boxes.

 

Haha. Didn't mean to cause any stirrings lol. Just irks me a little bit.