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View Full Version : Looking at an AWD car for the wife, trading 05 Hemi Grand Cherokee



justin'sbig7
12-13-2012, 06:22 PM
well, with the daily commute my wife makes the fuel is killing us. when she was driving 3 miles a day for work it was not an issue. now 80 miles a day is hurting:118:. she has an 05 jeep grand cherokee limited, loaded with a hemi, and about 76,000 miles (i think) its a thirsty pig either way. she owns it outright, and we are looking to trade straight up. we do not want to get into another car payment.

i want her in an AWD car, but i am not a "car" guy so this is new to me. we are looking at some audi's and a subaru impreza 5 spd. anyone have experience with these good or bad ? anyone care to toss out other AWD cars that they had good luck with? thanks!

highlandercj-7
12-13-2012, 10:27 PM
I'd venture to say it's Subaru's market there. The guys in WV beat the ever living crap out of them and they take it and keep going. I almost bought one, fortunately my wife only drives 5 miles to work so I was able to get the JK. If we needed fuel milage and AWD it would have been a Subaru.

dan58
12-13-2012, 10:30 PM
Love me some Volvo AWD. That said, it's hard to beat the deals that Suzuki is throwing out there now. THe AWD SX4 is practically a steal, and they will still honor the 100K warranty.

justin'sbig7
12-13-2012, 10:33 PM
I'm leaning toward subies. Found a BMW 330xi too, but its an auto and I am reading some hellish driveline failures.

joe_and_jeep
12-14-2012, 12:07 AM
Subaru, there is a few years with head gasket problems but other than them they're bullet proof

DMG
12-14-2012, 01:09 AM
I am a fan of the subarus. Newer models are less likely to need head gaskets. The 2012 and newer impreza gets amazing mileage for an awd car, btw.

justin'sbig7
12-14-2012, 06:56 AM
What era of Subaru had the hg problems? We're not gonna be getting anything new, maybe 04-07 if the trade can be made. Looking at a Volvo s40 turbo today possibly

xcwes
12-14-2012, 07:46 AM
My mom had a few wrx's and now is in a legacy gt. All great cars. I had an 09 impreza for awhile and loved it. Fun little car and got 25mpg running it pretty hard. As far as the head gasket problems, you mentioned 04-07, should be fine there. Im almost positive it was older ones, mid 90s or so

REDjp500
12-14-2012, 10:39 AM
My wife has a 2012 Forrester and loves it. I wanted her to get the outback, but you know how that goes. She consistently gets 28 mpg highway and 24 mpg around town. My only gripe is that I still feel the thing is slightly underpowered, but I am used to having a V8 under my ass. Obviously not going to trade straight up for a 2012, but you know you are going to get a long lasting vehicle with just about any subaru. I am sure you are starting to see a trend here.

We had a 95 legacy and never had any head gasket problems. Spun a bearing at about 170K miles. Ran it up until a year ago to over 200K miles, every major component was original other than the motor.

Bird_Flu
12-14-2012, 11:15 AM
What era of Subaru had the hg problems? We're not gonna be getting anything new, maybe 04-07 if the trade can be made. Looking at a Volvo s40 turbo today possibly

The 90s-early 2000's is what I've heard that need the head gaskets replaced at around 100K miles. My family has owned 7 Subaru's since 2003 and they are AMAZING cars. The maintenance is a little more expensive and you have to be a little more religious about it than other cars but they last forever. And as far as AWD systems go Subaru's are built from the ground up as AWD not adapted AWD from FWD or RWD, trust me it makes a difference in the snow and ice the way they deliver the power. Look for a service loaner on someone's lot, we just bought my wife a 2012 Subaru Outback with 5500 miles and essentially got $4000+ off the new sticker price of the car. The newer Legacy and Outbacks are nice on fuel, (around 20mpg in the south hills with it's terrible traffic) the new Imprezza 2013 is AMAZING on fuel, the Forester is OK on fuel, but wait for the 2014.

dan58
12-14-2012, 01:35 PM
Looking at a Volvo s40 turbo today possibly

Great little cars. My ol' lady's XC70 is killer commuter. Too bad it only goes from the house to day care and back.

SirFuego
12-14-2012, 02:25 PM
We were in the market for an 1 or 2 year old AWD mid-size car or mini-SUV a few months ago. We were very impressed with the Subaru Legacy. We both liked the Forester, although my wife (5'5-5'6ish) for whatever reason felt very uncomfortable with the layout of the pedals and steering wheel and both were adjusted as close to her as possible.

Ultimately we went with the Nissan Rogue because we decided a small SUV would be a bit more ideal with all the crap she sometimes needs to lug around for school, plus we figured it'd be easier when we have kids. We get a little over 26 mpg and my wife isn't easy on the throttle.

justin'sbig7
12-14-2012, 02:25 PM
it was an s60, but it was sold. i checked out the beamers, and an a4 quattro all were on the same lot and looked pretty beat. we'll be looking at the subarus here soon,just had to get the flashy german stuff outta the way first i guess.

Bird_Flu
12-14-2012, 02:50 PM
it was an s60, but it was sold. i checked out the beamers, and an a4 quattro all were on the same lot and looked pretty beat. we'll be looking at the subarus here soon,just had to get the flashy german stuff outta the way first i guess. If you're near West Liberty Ave in the South Hills at all go to Day West Liberty Subaru and ask for either Pete or Mary and tell them Jeff Jenkins sent you. They made a NICE deal on the car we just bought there and did a nice trade in as well. Granted this was our 3rd car we bought off them since '09 and between us and my Parents we've not bought 7 Subaru's off of this dealership, but still they'll give you a good price. If you're looking new check out truecar.com and if you're looking at Subarus go look at cars101.com to do some research first on price etc.

highlandercj-7
12-14-2012, 05:19 PM
What about a Diesel Liberty? They are pulling 28MPG plus from what I been getting from owners of them. One guy claimed a high of 34 on the road.

HoodRN
12-14-2012, 05:53 PM
I've had 3 Subarus, 2 Foresters. Current Forester is a 2008 XT turbo with an automatic. It has a tune on it from a Cobb Accusport, and makes good power on premium pump gas. It got 30mpg when we took it to Hatteras this past spring, and has been reliable as sunrise (just like the other two). It has lots of room inside and is rated high in the safety department. It makes me grin every time I mash the skinny pedal. The 2014 Forester XT is going to be a direct injection 2.0 turbo w/ CVT. Should be a nice little car. I will be buying the Mrs. her own Forester when we finally decide to sell her Scion TC.

justin'sbig7
12-17-2012, 10:49 PM
wife pulled the trigger tonight... she picked up a 2006 BMW 330xi 6speed manual, its being detailed and prepped for delivery tomorrow. sweet frickin ride! i am jealous.

i tried to push her to a subaru but she did not like the looks of any of them and in the end after driving the bimmer, she was sold. I am not dissapointed, the car is badass

tjblair
12-17-2012, 10:59 PM
What about a Diesel Liberty? They are pulling 28MPG plus from what I been getting from owners of them. One guy claimed a high of 34 on the road.its too late now, but good luck finding one. I know one guy that has one he love it. Gets around 30mpg . I keep telling him we need to swap it into his wrangler.



Hope the wifey is happy with her new ride Justin.

highlandercj-7
12-17-2012, 11:35 PM
Sounds nice Justin. Blair I was looking last month for giggles and found 3-4, because i am not in the market, if I wanted one I would not be able to find one.

tjblair
12-17-2012, 11:48 PM
My buddy took his into the dealer for service, and they didn't want to let him leave with it. They were making him good offers on it but he didn't want to sell it.

PAFirefighter49
12-18-2012, 07:44 PM
Anyone that knows me knows what I'm about to say...

Audi Quattro / VW 4-motion... I'm a huge fan of German cars and Audi makes a hell of one. If I were to buy an AWD car, it would probably be an A4 quattro. 30+ mpg for the turbo 4 cylinders, all wheel drive, and just overall fun cars.

jeepnick
12-18-2012, 09:25 PM
Anyone that knows me knows what I'm about to say...

Audi Quattro / VW 4-motion... I'm a huge fan of German cars and Audi makes a hell of one. If I were to buy an AWD car, it would probably be an A4 quattro. 30+ mpg for the turbo 4 cylinders, all wheel drive, and just overall fun cars.
Not to be a hater, but I disagree, I park cars every day and every Audi I see Is nice at first but when the start getting some miles on them, 80k+ they start getting very expensive to maintain

justin'sbig7
12-18-2012, 10:53 PM
The Audi's I have had experience with were all rather expensive and parts were dealer only for everything. The BMW is much the same but there's at least a fair amount of parts availability from the regular old napa so the common parts are not crazy expensive.

This car is like sex on wheels... I may have to sell off the CJ, waggy and whatever else I got layin here for one of my own that I can run out at beaverun. What a blast to drive!