New car - 'blah' practicality

[Feanor]

It's a great looking car Feanor. Just be careful backing up with that exterior tire. They are notorious for causing dents in the rear door.

Wow! Thanks for the tip. I'll pass it on to my wife and we'll keep it well in mind.

[Feanor]

Feanor, the Taurus has a V6 right? How does the RAV perform with a car full of people and only a V4? Any noticeable performance change from the wagon?

So far performance seems quite adequate and my wife, who's done most of the driving hasn't noticed any disadvantage vs. the Taurus.. Of course the Taurus was old and tired. We've driven a bit with three not-small adults and a load of books and it seems fine; haven't had 5 adults plus luggage yet.

The RAV4 is much easier ingress & egress for both people and cargo. The back seats of the RAV4 are more comfortable too. The RAV4 has larger rear windows that roll down all the way, which the Taurus did not.

[Florian]

I just smile when i read car fans from over the pond :-) I recently had my car in the shop for regular maintenance and got a VW Amarok for a day, and it brought back some american memories! Enjoy your new car :-)

And dont worry about the four cylinder engine, you are not in Germany!

[Feanor]

I just smile when i read car fans from over the pond :-) I recently had my car in the shop for regular maintenance and got a VW Amarok for a day, and it brought back some american memories! Enjoy your new car :-)

And dont worry about the four cylinder engine, you are not in Germany!

Thanks, Florian. My wife, who's done most of the driving so far, finds the 4 cyl quite adequate, better than the Taurus 6 cyl, (though the latter probably need a tune-up pretty badly).

The VW Amarok is a truck, no? I don't recall that these were ever sold in Canada. Just now I noticed that VW is considering selling them here; that's not surprising given pick-ups are about as popular here as in the USA.

We're enjoying the smaller, unit-body SUV format. For a long time I resisted the idea of an SUV for a few reasons: (1) poor fuel economy, which really applied to larger, truck-based versions, (2) the notion that a 2wd SUV was pointless, which omitted other considerations, and (3) higher price, which really applied only to the decked-out, 4wd models. But none of these issues applies at all to the RAV4 version that we got; it's turning out to be a hugely practical vehicle and much preferable in general to the Taurus wagon it replaced.

[Florian]

Hi Bill,

yeah the Amarok is a truck. Its a lot of fun to drive and the complete opposite of what i normally drive. Another car which is closer to a compact SUV is the VW Tiguan or VW Toureg. Not sure if they have this in Canada.

[ForeverAutumn]

Good thing you didn't go with the Escape Feanor...

Ford recalls 1.6-liter Ford Escape, tells owners to stop driving

Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it is recalling 11,500 new 2013 model Ford Escape SUVs with 1.6-liter engines and warned drivers to stop driving them immediately due to a risk of engine fire.

It is extremely rare for an automaker to warn drivers to stop driving their recalled vehicles. The company is telling owners to contact their local Ford dealers immediately so that loaner vehicles can be delivered and their Escapes picked up to be taken to the dealerships for repair.

The redesigned Escape began to sell only last month and is an important vehicle for Ford.

Ford Escapes from the 2013 model year that have 2.0- and 2.5-liter engines are not affected the recall and fire risk, Ford said.


Ford recalls 1.6-liter Ford Escape, tells owners to stop driving - Yahoo! News Canada

[GMichael]

Good thing you didn't go with the Escape Feanor...

Ford recalls 1.6-liter Ford Escape, tells owners to stop driving

Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it is recalling 11,500 new 2013 model Ford Escape SUVs with 1.6-liter engines and warned drivers to stop driving them immediately due to a risk of engine fire.

It is extremely rare for an automaker to warn drivers to stop driving their recalled vehicles. The company is telling owners to contact their local Ford dealers immediately so that loaner vehicles can be delivered and their Escapes picked up to be taken to the dealerships for repair.

The redesigned Escape began to sell only last month and is an important vehicle for Ford.

Ford Escapes from the 2013 model year that have 2.0- and 2.5-liter engines are not affected the recall and fire risk, Ford said.


Ford recalls 1.6-liter Ford Escape, tells owners to stop driving - Yahoo! News Canada

A BBQ on wheels?

[Feanor]

Update. We are very pleased with the '12 RAV4, it has exceeding expectations overall. I especially like the easier rear seat access.

This car is an improvement over our old '02 Taurus wagon in virtually every respect. Gasoline usage is less compared to the Taurus. A small exception is the RAV4's greater lean in case of higher speed cornering; this was expected, of course.

My wife was amused to hear about the '13 Ford Escape's recall for the Eco-boost 1.6 liter engine, although likely we would have gone for the base 2.5 liter. I think there was a CR-V recall too, so we're feeling good with our choice.

[RGA]

I rented a Ford Festiva for a week.

Pretty good car - techno gadgetry galore. push button starter no key/lock. Of course if the battery dies in your remote you're completely screwed. Good gas mileage, pretty quiet - pretty good looking - the cupholders glow in the dark so you can actually see where you put the cup at night - even had purple floor lights and none of this was distracting.

Pretty crappy rear leg room and not much space overall and not very comfortable on a 1.5 hour drive.

Ultimately I would buy something else. And with the whole engine fire and Ford's general track record unless it is significantly less than a competing Hyundai like $8,000 less then I would not really consider it.

[Feanor]

I rented a Ford Festiva for a week.
...
Ultimately I would buy something else. And with the whole engine fire and Ford's general track record unless it is significantly less than a competing Hyundai like $8,000 less then I would not really consider it.

Do you mean the Ford Fiesta? Possibly the best thing about the Fiesta is that it's mostly a Mazda. (Same is true for the Ford Escape.)

[texlle]

A BBQ on wheels?

Yes, Ford likes their carbecues, as we've seen with just about every recall Ford has issued. Looks like I won't be buying a Ford anytime soon (not that I was considering it).

Feanor- good to hear the Toyoter is working out for ya.