Replacing Wife's Car becoming a Pain in the Options

[Absolut Speed]

Time to give the Bravada a new home. GM rounded up the GM Card earnings and I'm fearing the repairs to come on the Bravada. My Dad has one (same year & options) and he dumped a lot into it around 100,000 miles (AWD and trans both took dumps about that time) and our Bravadas have tracked eerily similar as far as repairs go, with mine always going bad 6-12 months later since we're about 12,000 miles behind him.

She wants gas mileage, cargo space, room for 4 adults (her parents), a hitch for bicycles, and an elevated driving position. She'd really prefer it to not resemble a wagon or minvan. It also has to fit in the garage, which isn't that big. Essentially, she wants her Bravada again, just a new one that isn't tripping the SES light, doesn't need an idler arm, doesn't like to start in the real cold, and won't need to have the AWD and trans serviced sooner than later.

Trailblazer/Envoy - no mpg improvement over Bravada, gets pricey fast with decent options, would have to go 2wd.
Equinox/Torrent - Chinese motor that really does sound like a sewing machine. Interior not all that comfortable, though spacious. Lack of convenience options relative to Bravada. Wife hates the red dash in the Pontiac, I hate the cheaper looking interior of the Equinox. Rear glass doesn't open and the hatch when opened hits the opened garage door.
Maxx LTZ- All the little toys, very good mileage, most comfortable, really bad resale, needs aftermarket hitch and roof rack for bikes and outdoor gear. Looks goofier than heck (understatement), 2nd cheapest.
Escape/Tribute - Sucker is noisy, I never got completely comfortable on test drives, but it's compact, has the only true fold flat rear, and it's the cheapest since I found a leftover 05 with big rebates. It did handle/drive better than the Torrent/Equinox though.
6 Hatchback - Cargo room was amazing, rear passenger room sucked. Fun to drive, but she didn't like the red dash lights and she heard a rattle in the rear during the test drive.
HHR - The whole thing is awkward. Not for 4 adults, not for a tall adult driver.
Pacifica - Found a new 05 for great price, but the dang thing is too long for our garage unless we sell our bikes and my tool chest. She liked it, but we're not selling tools or bikes or building a new garage.
6 wagon, Magnum wagon, - She refuses to look because she grew up in a wagon family.
Vibe - Drove this because nothing else tripped our trigger, it was parked next to the Torrent and thought the low price & high mpg would be worth the tradeoff. It was a short test drive.

Looks like I may be gambling on the Bravada holding out. How frustrating this has been. Nothing out there is as appealing/comfortable to us as a platform that's 20 years old and hasn't been made (in 4 doors) in 4 years. Ugh. Okay, I'm done venting. It's just sad that the new RAV 4 appears to be so far above the American manufacturers and the Mazda's that are at least made in the USA.

[slowTA]

I thought the Equinox has a 3.4 liter V-6 with a 5 speed, the same as my mom's Monte Carlo. I actually thought it was pretty good... in the Monte anyway. Last month we test drove the Equinox and the interior was OK, but she wound up with the Trailblazer. So far she likes it, except for the lack of door molding and pinstriping. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) Go figure. The Impalla's trunk goes on for miles and the Grand Prix is a sportier version. It's not a wagon, I'm sure you can get a hitch for it, but don't hold you're breath for a roof rack (but with that trunk it might work anyway!)

I don't think the Magnum will help your MPG that much anyway.

[LT4Firehawk]

I'd say look at what we are looking for (Volvo V70R), but she said no wagon. 300HP, 6 speed manual, all wheel drive, seats up to 7 (but 4 adults in comfort), and will tow 3300lbs.

[Absolut Speed]

I'd say look at what we are looking for (Volvo V70R), but she said no wagon. 300HP, 6 speed manual, all wheel drive, seats up to 7 (but 4 adults in comfort), and will tow 3300lbs.

That's the problem, she wants an SUV with car-like gas mileage, but no wagons allowed! That makes me scratch my head a lot without wandering through a Toyota lot looking for Rav4's. Though a bit pricey for what it is, I thought the Saab 9-3 SportCombi was a looker for a cargo hauler, but no. I couldn't even fudge; I tested her by asking if the Freestyle was too much a wagon, to which she said yes. So she definitely wants a SUV look.

She says she's now willing to compromise now that we've seen about all there is out there, but I hate to buy something she's going to be much less happy with than what we have now. So then I think about holding on, but shortly after, I read about the number of Bravada transmisions that don't make it to 100,000 miles and I get nervous. Add in a new a/c compressor, water pump, fuel pump, tune-up and hoses in the next year and that really doesn't look too appealing either since the dang things not paid off yet.

[Bud M]

Too bad the Pacifica won't work for you, they are pretty nice

[Crazy Canuck]

Cherokee SRT8 (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[sgarnett]

That's the problem, she wants an SUV with car-like gas mileage, but no wagons allowed!

Yeah, there's really no way to get great gas mileage from a heavy vehicle with poor aerodynamics.

A coworker went from S10 Blazer to Trailblazer to Toureg fairly quickly. He's young, single, and got his C5 paid off, so his daily driver budget improved dramatically (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) The Toureg is just way too expensive, but it's nice. I liked the Trailblazer, and if I'd known he was going to trade it I might have offered to buy it for Denice. The Trailblazer was a huge improvement over the Blazer, and while it may not be ideal for real offroad use, it seemed to drive well and was comfortable.

Denice's car is overdue for replacement, and my Camaro will be paid off at the end of the year. I would like to get into a pattern of buying a new (or close to it) car for her that will "trickle down" to me after it's paid for (ie keep wife and child in the most reliable car) instead of taking turns, but she doesn't want anything "good".

Personally, I'd like to get her a stock 2002 low mileage Formula, put good shocks and narrow all-season tires on it (she's not capable of "taking it easy" on true ice tires), and call it a day, or maybe get her a 2006 Miata (more leg room than earlier models), but she's not going for it (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

What about a Subaru Forester? It's kind of in the "crossover" category, and doesn't look as wagon-like as a WRX. Maybe she'd go for it (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Chris 96 WS6]

I've been looking at Trailblazers for a couple years now. They actually get slightly better mileage than my '99 Blazer...its like 1 mpg but given how much bigger it is I'd say that is astonishing.

I have 107K miles on my Blazer, it is 4d/4wd. In the 5 years we've had it (its my daily) only 4 things have gone wrong with it: 1. Driver's door window regulator (fixed under warranty), 2. Battery came apart and leaked acid all over the batt tray (fixed under warranty), 3. 4WD encodor motor went out on the transfer case, $400 fix I had to eat myself (I did the R&R myself, saving labor costs), and most recently 4. The alternator went out, which I swapped out for a little over $100.

I've been very pleased with it but it does have its shortcomings. Its sadly underpowered for commutiing, and it is pretty flexible/rickety. But for the price, size, etc. there's nothing else out there right now.

I like my SUV's to be truck based, because the ruggedness is attractive to me. I like having 4WD on the rare occasion it snows here or if its really pouring down I can stick it in "auto" and have a bit more confidence. I like being able to take off across fields or muddy patches, even sand and not fear getting stuck. Most of the small SUVs now are car based, and are FWD. No thanks...

[00 SS]

I know exactly what you mean. I want a new SUV/DD and what I want doesn't exist anymore. I had 2 of the older standard Cherokees with 4L motors and 5 speeds. Great vehicles, they just did everything a little better than you'd expect. Now, they have that cartoon looking Liberty - NO THANKS. The Grand Cherokees are now ridiculously heavy, low and expensive. The only thing that looks remotely interesting is the Magnum, but it won't go offroad. My sister has a Trailblazer and those things are tanks. It's so low, I would worry about tearing it up on even the mildest of trails.

When are the manufacturers going to get back to a basic formula of light, powerful, functional and cheap without looking like Disney or Warner Brothers designed it?

This post has been edited by 00 SS: Feb 24 2006, 04:31 PM

[Crazy Canuck]

what about the Equinox... thought it had decent mileage.
http://www.chevrolet.com/equinox/
That should be decent...

[2000Z-71]

If you go down the SUV route take a look at the Nissan XTerra. Yeah the styling is a little goofy but we got one in dark gray that hides all the gray plastic body parts. Power with the 4.0 V6 is very good. Mileage while sucky is not bad for an SUV we get around 22 on the highway and 18 around town with it. The parts are all beefy, Dana 44 rear and a Dana 50 front, it's all scaled down parts from the Titan pickup. Also get the off-road package, it comes with Bilstein shocks and doesn't wallow and bob around like the standard ones do. We've had ours now for about 6 months and have been really happy with it. It was by far the most truck for the money in the less than 30k category.