RFI: Subaru Maintenance

[psalms144.1]

Thanks, everyone, for your opinions so far. A little more detail on our needs:

1. We live in a wettish area. Spring time is heavy rains and occasional tornadic activity with plenty of high winds darn near all the time. Summers are mild, as is fall, generally, though we've had snow in October both years since moving here. This year's snow was a "100 year" event, allegedly, but we had several days of 6-8", and one fall well over a foot. The "100 year snow" BS scares the hell out of me, we were told the exact same thing after the first big snow we had on Long Island, and proceeded to have seven BAD years with lots and lots of snow. When we move into a new location, it seems like Winter is Coming... The previous year was mostly ice - frequently with a nice layer of powder over the top. Our neighborhood is in the county, and, as far as I can tell, my cul de sac is the absolutely last road plowed in the county. Last major snow, the plow didn't show up until about 14 hours after the last flakes fell, by which point my neighbors' combined a team of ATVs with plows and me with my "Snow Blaster" pushed by shank's mare cleared the road enough so we could get out to a "main" road. Even in the "city limits" plowing is haphazard by standards I'm used to - two winters ago we ended up driving 50+ miles to the nearest airport to catch my son returning from college, and the interstate wasn't even plowed. I've got PLENTY of experience driving in ice and snow, and that was a pretty "sporting" trip in a FWD Sienna...

2. My wife works for a critical pharmaceutical manufacturer that runs 24/7/358 (they shut down in normal times for Christmas week), and they're heavily involved in manufacturing Covid vaccines right now, so "just stay home" is not an option for her. Even when the county went "Code Red" on our last BIG snow, the plant stayed in operation, and folks who could make it to work (or stayed over for a double shift) got hefty bonuses. And, I kinda like her, so her getting to/from work as safely as possible is a plus for me. It also bears saying that, in a maximum of 8 months, 30 days and a wake up, her income is going to be the primary source of funding for my gun habits...

My specific concerns about the Sienna - either AWD or FWD, is ground clearance. The newer models have a weird "shield" perpendicular to the ground under the front bumper fascia, so there's only about 3-4" of clearance - and we frequently get more than that level of snow on the ground. I was also wildly under-whelmed with the new Sienna's power - that 4-cylinder seems pretty weak when you're on the highway and need to climb to the top of a significant hill. And it was hella loud under load - much more so than our old reliable 6-cylinder.

On the other hand, if I convince my better half to get the Forester, and the CVT shits the bed regularly, I'm not going to have much peace in my retiretude.

Looks like I really need to get her a Telluride, kind of like the various 1911s I've bought "for her" over the years...

[JRB]

Thanks, everyone, for your opinions so far. A little more detail on our needs:

1. We live in a wettish area. Spring time is heavy rains and occasional tornadic activity with plenty of high winds darn near all the time. Summers are mild, as is fall, generally, though we've had snow in October both years since moving here. This year's snow was a "100 year" event, allegedly, but we had several days of 6-8", and one fall well over a foot. The "100 year snow" BS scares the hell out of me, we were told the exact same thing after the first big snow we had on Long Island, and proceeded to have seven BAD years with lots and lots of snow. When we move into a new location, it seems like Winter is Coming... The previous year was mostly ice - frequently with a nice layer of powder over the top. Our neighborhood is in the county, and, as far as I can tell, my cul de sac is the absolutely last road plowed in the county. Last major snow, the plow didn't show up until about 14 hours after the last flakes fell, by which point my neighbors' combined a team of ATVs with plows and me with my "Snow Blaster" pushed by shank's mare cleared the road enough so we could get out to a "main" road. Even in the "city limits" plowing is haphazard by standards I'm used to - two winters ago we ended up driving 50+ miles to the nearest airport to catch my son returning from college, and the interstate wasn't even plowed. I've got PLENTY of experience driving in ice and snow, and that was a pretty "sporting" trip in a FWD Sienna...

2. My wife works for a critical pharmaceutical manufacturer that runs 24/7/358 (they shut down in normal times for Christmas week), and they're heavily involved in manufacturing Covid vaccines right now, so "just stay home" is not an option for her. Even when the county went "Code Red" on our last BIG snow, the plant stayed in operation, and folks who could make it to work (or stayed over for a double shift) got hefty bonuses. And, I kinda like her, so her getting to/from work as safely as possible is a plus for me. It also bears saying that, in a maximum of 8 months, 30 days and a wake up, her income is going to be the primary source of funding for my gun habits...

My specific concerns about the Sienna - either AWD or FWD, is ground clearance. The newer models have a weird "shield" perpendicular to the ground under the front bumper fascia, so there's only about 3-4" of clearance - and we frequently get more than that level of snow on the ground. I was also wildly under-whelmed with the new Sienna's power - that 4-cylinder seems pretty weak when you're on the highway and need to climb to the top of a significant hill. And it was hella loud under load - much more so than our old reliable 6-cylinder.

On the other hand, if I convince my better half to get the Forester, and the CVT shits the bed regularly, I'm not going to have much peace in my retiretude.

Looks like I really need to get her a Telluride, kind of like the various 1911s I've bought "for her" over the years...

What had her liking the Sienna over some other Toyota offerings? While they have a 4 cylinder, the hybrid system adds to the total power output which is around 250hp now. The Rav 4 Hybrid and a few of their other Hybrid models are actually the fastest of their respective lineups.

Kia's haven't really impressed me at all for the price, but Hyundai is solid these days. What about the Telluride really piques your interest?

[psalms144.1]

What had her liking the Sienna over some other Toyota offerings? While they have a 4 cylinder, the hybrid system adds to the total power output which is around 250hp now. The Rav 4 Hybrid and a few of their other Hybrid models are actually the fastest of their respective lineups.

Kia's haven't really impressed me at all for the price, but Hyundai is solid these days. What about the Telluride really piques your interest?

We have a 2006 Sienna FWD V6 with 125K+ mostly trouble free miles on it, and she loves that vehicle. It's been our "family get away" vehicle for most of our kids' growing-up years, and, in her mind, there are still more long road trips to take with all of us and the dog jammed in one car.

We test drove the FWD Sienna Hybrid, the AWD Highlander Hybrid, and the AWD Hybrid Rav4, along with the AWD Hybrid new Venza. Of those four, the Rav4 was a hard pass for both of us. Noisy, cheap feeling, clearly targeted to a different driver than a couple of 50ish folks. The Venza's fit and finish were VERY nice, and it performed OK, but I have a hard time looking at it's price tag - you're really paying a LOT of money for upgraded seats and "soft touch" finishes over the Rav4. I liked the Highlander, but she was underwhelmed - and I had the opportunity to rent one for a week last week in TX, and, granting that it was a rental, it was a rattly, gnarly POS. I wouldn't buy one on a bet after driving it for five days (again, I know it was clearly a HARD used rental, and it was V6, not Hybrid, but the overall experience was marginal or worse).

We also have a 2010 Kia Soul with 130K+ miles on it that has been her primary car since we bought it, and, except for having to swap out the cheezy aluminum wheels for some sturdier rims, we haven't done anything to it except routine maintenance. This builds brand loyalty like there's no tomorrow. We test drove a Telluride 18 months ago, and it was smooth, powerful, quiet, and super well appointed for the price point. It's bigger than she wants (makes no sense, given she prefers the Sienna over everything else), but other than that, she really liked it. And, she's scared of the low-ish MPG, thinking long term and watching gas prices increase by 40% locally in two months hasn't been a lot of fun.

With the concerns about recent model components, and inventory shortages, is there a smart choice for a lightly used small-ish SUV? I've got two kids who're starting college in the fall, so buying something 3-4 years old, having her drive it for four years, then giving it to one of the "graduates" might make sense...

[farscott]

With the concerns about recent model components, and inventory shortages, is there a smart choice for a lightly used small-ish SUV? I've got two kids who're starting college in the fall, so buying something 3-4 years old, having her drive it for four years, then giving it to one of the "graduates" might make sense...

For smallish, used SUVs, it is hard to beat the Lexus CPO models, either the UX (small) or the RX (bigger). There are 2017 RX models with less than 24,000 miles available for a bit more than $30K. For example, https://www.lexus.com/lcertified/sea...ZZMCA2HC072775

[camel]

No matter what a cvt is going to be a little bit of a gamble. Selling parts for a living like I do each manufacturer has issues. Nissans are regarded the worst but the fleet vehicles I have have mostly held up well. Not sure about Toyota because I don’t sell nearly anything on the transmission unless there greater than 10 years old. My family’s fleet of Subaru we currently have my fathers second driver a 13 Impreza down with some type of transmission issue. It has 230k on the odometer and he is fucking anal about maintenance. I am not sure exactly what it is so I don’t know if it’s gonna require a total replacement.

Any awd, 4wd, is going to be costly when they fail there more complex. More shit to break.

Far Scott has a good recommendation at looking at Lexus CPO’s.

And I have to say jrb has it right in looking at it from a mechanics perspective every vehicle out there is a steaming pile with there own issues.