Vehicle for Wife/ The Boys Turn

Parents have a cayenne s for 13 years and it's been tremendously reliable. Could be hit or miss but I'd buy one.

 

We just went through this when my son got out of the military and was looking for his 1st new car. We started looking at Rav4s and the like until we stumbled upon the 2020 Kia Sorento. They are loaded nicely in lower trims, have a (smallish) 3rd row, come with a 10yr/100,000 warranty, and start about $29k. With end of the model year discounts and my haggling we walked out of there for $20,020 + tax and registration.

 

I am surprised how little love there is here for the GX!?

I would likely have one if not for the really cramped driving position for my long legs and long trips but otherwise these are really just a more luxo 4Runner under the skin.

They feel more like a Truck because they are a simple Body on Frame Truck unlike most of the other SUVs sized like them like the Hondas which are really cars dressed like an SUV.
Same for the Hif=ghlander and Rav really too.

Not saying this is a bad or good thing but since the GX is a Toyota it is just as reliable as all other Toyotas for sure.

My sister is in love with her GX!

 

Have you read up on them? I tend to agree that I wouldn't want to own an expensive vehicle with potentially very expensive repairs (even if DIY) out of warranty, but used ones are so cheap it's not such a financial gamble. Certain years have known problems with well documented fixes, but overall they are just as reliable and easy to repair as any other make.

It's just hard to compare to Toyota which is essentially a very reliable appliance. Not many OEMs match toyotas reliability which is why I will probably always have at least one in my garage

 

Interesting choice 2010 and older 10k and less 2012 20k and more

 

Kia's give you alot of flash for the money just as long as you don't keep it outside of warranty. We had a loaded 14 Sorento an it was in constant need to repair. Lost the AWD within the first few months. All kinds of electrical gremlins. Poor build quality. Just a total POS an it only had like 60k miles on it . We bought it used so we didn't get the factory 100k warranty.. Hence why we sold it for a Toyota...Totally unreliable an got tired of chasing problems. I hope you have better luck...

 

Picked up a 2019 outback for my wife last year. I don’t care for the CVT, but aside from that it’s pretty quick, reliable, and it fits our three dogs. With a 20mm rear sway bar it handled great in the mountains. I got the 3.6R Touring model so it would be nice whenever I have to drive

 

We got my wife a used 17 Highlander back in the spring and she loves it. Got the 3rd row, so there’s plenty of room for both of our kids and others.

 

Blasphemer!

 

Your want's describes the GX460 as long as the 3rd row occupants are little...very little. I'm single with no kids, love my GX.

 

Seems like whenever I go to Colorado Springs, I witness at least 3 accidents involving speeding and stupidity.

 

GX all the way!!! That's what my wife drives, we both love it! Very reliable, comfortable, safe, and family friendly! We had a 4Runner before and liked that as well, just wanted the V8 to have a little more power when we were fully loaded for overland trips, plus the extra luxury is nice. If you love Toyota's, then a Lexus is an obvious choice. It's funny to me how many people don't know that Toyota and Lexus is the same company lol

 

Lots of fantastic options, and the wife and I went thru similar exercise this past winter when she needed a new rig....... Spoiler alert...... went with TRD Pro 4Runner for basically the same reasons you stated in that I wanted to have fun with it too.

4Runners are such great vehicles. Feels like a real truck, love how utilitarian it is, still has all the options that really matter (except heated steering wheel, which my Platinum Tundra still doesn’t have, WTF?), drives and looks great, tons of interior space, reliability on par with our Tundras with its anvil reliable 4.0L / 5 speed combo, ENDLESS mod / customizable options, and very much cool factor. Don’t know how as a Toyota fan I’ve gone thru 2 tacomas, and 3 tundras before finally having one in the garage. We love the thing, and it gets equal road time as our family vehicle (wife, two teen boys, mastiff dogo), and exclusive family vehicle taking the dog.

Took a look at GX’s, but with having our dog in/out of the back so much, the side swing rear would have drove me nuts.

Lexus RX is a good option as well if it’s just going to her rig. Would 100% go with one before a RAV4.... unless you buy one of the new redesigned TRD RAV4’s, those actually look decent.

Highlander is basically what checks all the boxes on paper as to what to get when the wife and I looked. Truly superior vehicle to the 4Runner in almost every metric besides capability off-road. But I just couldn’t get excited about it, and I couldn’t get over the overall coolness of the 4Runner Pro, so we went with it and we both LOVE driving it.

Good luck with your search.

PS - 4Runners also have an basically identical sister site as this website in 4Runners.com which is equally as awesome / helpful, and will help you spend equally as much $$$$ on everything you didn’t know you needed.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions now I have more research

 

https://www.beavertongmc.com/VehicleSearchResults?make=Buick&bodyType=SUV

Bucks seem cheap first impression but I don't know anything about them, might be a temp solution

 

I haven't had a single problem with my 2012 Kia Forte Koup yet ( ) but I only have about 45k miles on it so far. The only issue my brother had with his 2017 Hyundai Tucson was a battery that went dead after a couple years. Will see how things go with my dad's new Hyundai Kona.

 

My sister went from a Tahoe to an Escalade- both of which her husband, my husband, and myself tried to talk her out of and without fail she had constant mechanical and electrical issues to the point where the entire dash of the Escalade was lit up like a xmas tree towards the end. She finally got a 2018 4Runner that she's now in love with and it will undoubtedly last her forever. She carts the two kids and three dogs around in it with no problem and likes how it's not a full-size boat of an SUV (although she drives her husband's Silverado 2500 w/ plow and tow mirrors around no prob)

 

You might be ok with a GM car in the warranty period but I would only buy one if I lived somewhere with a decent lemon law. There's a reason they cost less than Toyotas despite (I assume) having more features.

 

Gotta be fun for him also

did you see the link I posted for the Lexus for sale on tacoma world? It’s a sweet looking truck..

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2004-gx-470.688150/#post-24343395

 

When we were looking for a car for wife, test drove the 4runner, GX460 and others. And we already have a Sequoia for 3rd row space. So we ended up a Lexus RX350. It was more comfortable and better gas mileage for long commute. She had a 2gen 4runner in the past and loved it but I'm glad we went with RX350. It's very comfortable and reliable. It's at 280,000 miles now and still drives like new- great car!

 

Showed my wife she liked it, but we are in Oregon

 

Since u compared both. What do you think of leg room behind the front seats and middle row? Trying to see which has the most leg room as the wife doesn’t want our van anymore. Wants an suv

 

Ahh gotcha. That’s a bit of a drive. But hey you’d be comfortable. Sorry tho, didn’t realize that’s where it was located.

 

My wife rocks a 2015 Dodge Durango R/T AWD with the 5.7l HEMI. She loves it and so do I. Say what you want about FCA, the Durango is an awesome vehicle. Their keyless entry / tech is also top notch. Keyless entry, push button start, auto climate on remote start (ac in the summer / heated seats and steering wheel and full defrost below 40 degrees I believe...either way when its cold it does it), 3 rows of seats with leather, heated front and middle row seats, Beats 12 speaker audio system, HID headlights, Uconnect with sat radio, bluetooth, phone etc etc, and power tailgate. One of my favorite features is the fact it has dual driver memory and it ties that memory to the key fob ID's. The driver profile not only saves the power seat position, but also both side view mirror positions, and also radio station presets and I think also phone priority settings. The awesome part about this is when I open the driver side door with my fob and hop in, it moves everything for me. When my wife hops in via the driver door, moves everything to her settings. LOVE the vehicle and...it also hauls ass. Most importantly...she loves it. Paid $28k for it used with 74k miles on it, its in perfect shape

 

Because I only test drove a few 4 runners (but owned a Tacoma)I didn't spend a ton of time in the back seat. So I couldn't give a true unbiased comparo between the leg room of both. That being said we have squeezed 7 adults in the Highlander. We have the capitans chair for second row which are quite nice for a full size adult. That being said the 3rd row gets cramped pretty quick. Great for kids not so much large adults.. we use the 3rd row often with kids and the kids friends. No one has complained.The middle row is adjustable obviously, so with them set back there is alot of leg room for an average adult on the second row an the seats are comfortable. I felt in the short time I spent in the 4 runner that the interior in general felt smaller and less comfortable.

 

Looking at Kia Sorento, she wants that third row