midsize SUV or crossover

[vsm712]

guys, im planning to by mga crossover type na sasakyan na 2nd hand lang...reading sa mga reviews sa motioncars mukhang pano ang escape in terms of on/off road handling which is one of my major criteria kase i go out of town madalas..pero im not sure with regards sa durability ng sasakyan na ito at yung fuel consumption (i prefer the manual version na 2003 xlt) at how high din yung maintenance cost nito compared sa mga CRV and rav 4. i would appreciate inputs on the following:

1. Durability and reliability - jap cars (at least honda in my case) subok sa tibay and for sure halos pagsasawaan mo na siya in years before ka magkaroon ng sakit ng ulo. how about escape?

2. Maintenance - mataas ng konti ang honda pagdating dito pero how about ang escape?

3. Fuel consumption - ano consumption sa city and highway nung manual version ng escape? how about yun 2.3L na AT version nya?

4. engine and other part maintenance - mas complicated ba ang pag maintain ng escape in terms of engine technology sa mga jap cars? like mahirap ba itong ipa maintain sa labas ng casa or like toyota madali mo ipa maitain kahit labas casa.

5. Price - oks ba sa 600+ ang 2003 xlt escape? how much ang best price and how much tingin nyo dapat di lalampas ito?

6. Aircon- review says aircon is not good...as in nakakapikon ba aircon ng escape or oks lang naman but not as ok as other like crv.

7. Safety - almost every week akong uwi province so what can you say in terms of handling nito sa highway...di ba taubin ito?

on the other hand, sabi rav 4 na gen 2 di oks sa medyo rough road, how bad is it? sa mga nagpunta na ng laluz may rough road na part dun...you think rav 4 will suffer sa terrain na yun? im also considering rav 4 kase dahil sa fuel efficiency nya pero kung medyo di sya oks kahit simpleng off road lang eh parang ayaw ko...

appreciate any other thoughts and inputs...thanks..

[kimpOy]

pare all the cars you mentioned are mini SUVs...

midsize SUV are the fortuner, sta fe, sorento, alterra, everest and crossover well murano pa lang yata ang crossover dito...

now kung talagang pang harabas, eh sa Ford Everest na ako...just change the stock shocks to bilstein then you're ok na...

[vsm712]

ay sori po...correction..i only prefer mini SUV..di po pang harabas...70% city driving and 30% offroad pang lumalabas for beach, diving, or out of town..

[niky]

Escape:
1. Durability and reliability - Only known issue so far is the "sinking" tail-lights... the plastic melts from the heat. No other major issues so far (it is a new car, after all)

2. Maintenance - parts are somewhat expensive at the casa (this is true of all casas), and I'm not sure if Fordland or any of the other "suki" stores that the Lynx guys go to carries parts for the Escape.

3. Fuel consumption - The manual should get fuel consumption similar to the CRV (the RAV4 is much more efficient than either of these), the 2.3 AT is kinda thirsty, but again, this is similar to the AT CRV.

4. engine and other part maintenance - It's a half-Japanese car, shouldn't be too hard to work on... but fewer mechanics will be familiar with this than with the CRV.

5. Price - not sure, but I think you can get it for lower than a comparable CRV.

6. Aircon- No idea.

7. Safety - there are concerns about roll-over in the Escape in the US, but this is only because they don't have stability control... if you're looking at secondhand CRVs, they don't have it either, so it evens out... Handling and tires on the Escape are better somewhat than the CRV, so it's got a slight edge in accident avoidance.

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Personally, the RAV4, despite being smaller, is a great choice. As for off-roadability, none of these cars were built for hardcore off-roading anyway. The RAV4's one big disadvantage is its low ride height, but if you're not going over very rocky ground, it's probably not a big problem.


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Edit: If you're really concerned with off-road durability, you might want to consider a Vitara. It's a full-on ladder frame like a big SUV, but it's still the same size and general price as the three you've mentioned. It doesn't ride or handle as well as the Escape, but it's more than durable enough for some light off-roading.

[vsm712]

sir TY po sa inputs nyo...

>>The RAV4's one big disadvantage is its low ride height, but if you're not going over very rocky ground, it's probably not a big problem
- eto nga ang medyo concern ko sa rav 4..dahil napakababa eh parang almost di pdeng idaan sa rocky ground..pero i have follow-up question din sa rav 4..since ang base platform nito eh corolla (tama ba?), parehong pareho ba ang suspension or was it somehow improved to at least be capable offroad? kase alam ko ang escape medyo panalo pagdating sa suspension..

[kimpOy]

ay sori po...correction..i only prefer mini SUV..di po pang harabas...70% city driving and 30% offroad pang lumalabas for beach, diving, or out of town..

ok with that being said... sa Sorento ako or Everst pa rin
Midsize SUV for mini-suv price at the pinaka the best pa is Diesel fed pa sila...

[niky]

All three are car-based.

The Escape is based on the 626, the CR-V (first gen) on the Civic... I think...

They all have different suspensions, though, to accomodate the bigger bodies and weight, but they have similar engine bay mechanicals (except the Escape, the engine is a Ford unit instead of the Mazda engine in the 626).

[Syuryuken]

Nakalimutan nyo yata ang XTRAIL.

[OTEP]

Nakakapikon talaga aircon niyan. Ang gulo ng controls, parating nagpapapasok ng hangin galing sa labas. Pero masasanay ka din siguro. Hindi na lang kasi nilagyan ng 'Recirculate' switch like other vehicles. Nagpauso pa. hehehe.

Bakit nga pala wala ang Grand Vitara sa choices mo? That would have been my pick. One of the most underrated SUV's in the local market.

[cta2]

If you are set in buying an escape due to price (its really cheaper than a crv/rav/etc.)

Consider the mazda Tribute... even cheaper! with the same performance/maintenance issues of the escape

Though a bit hard to find... owners will not sell na pa-lugi, unless in need...

an office mate sold hers for less 500T... no takers at 600-650T original asking(going rate for escapes)

just my 2 cents

[vsm712]

thanks again po sa mga inputs...to answer some questions..

mid size suv too big for me...still no family and single..so masyado malaki sya for me...

i love the new vitara pero out of picture kase can't afford...in fact i would put this sa first list ko if i can afford it..

as for the xtrail di ko masyado gusto porma just like the crv and tribute..

so kung talagang magpipili ako eh between rav 4 and escape siguro... i like escape kase somehow higher ground clearance plus suspension is good enough to at least be capable ng unting offroad..plus i like din yung porma nya...my only concern sa sasakyan na ito eh yung durability nya kase baka sakit sa ulo pag maintain nito kung madali masira..maybe i can live with the aircon but not yung parating sakit ulo sa pag maintain..

rav 4 i like the porma and i heard good handling dahil sa low ground clearance nya...though sabi not good suspension so can't go offroad (when i say offroad eh mga tipo lang beach locations na may occassional rough roads pero mahaba and rocky roads talaga just like that of laluz in batangas).. plus parang medyo kawawa din rav 4 sa mga baha sa sobrang baba nya...but im considering it for the simple reason na alam kong toyota ito and alam kong durable and reliable ang pagkagawa..

so bottomline if the escape's weakness is not really bad then i might go for escape pero kung sakit sya ulo later on eh i'd sacrifice yung strengths nya and go for rav 4...

what you think?

[OTEP]

Vitara is around Php400-500 nowadays.

Alam ko yung kay jaycrew was around Php450k, naka-Old Man Emu shocks na.
Full ladder frame and dual range just like the big guys. Off-roding will not be a problem unless hardcore ka talaga. Oh, the underbody is armored, too.



Calmini's [ http://www.puresuzuki.com/grand_vitara2.htm ] poster boy:

[vsm712]

ay sir...sori di ko nalinaw..i only like the 06 grand vitara...the old ones ayaw ko looks kaya not an option..

[niky]

Too bad. Because if you're reaslly concerned about road quality where you will be driving, it'll be less of a problem than the Escape.

The thing with crossovers and CUVs (Escape, CRV, RAV4) is that their suspensions are car-based (albeit modified) and designed mostly for on-road use, so if you subject them to too much abuse, you'll have the same issue as with cars... Unlike pickups, AUV-based SUVs (Everest, Alterra, Fortuner) and full-sized SUVs (Pajero, etcetera) which have heavyweight and durable suspensions.

The Vitara, while being the same size as other CUVs, is very heavy-duty underneath... thus, it rides in a truck-like manner compared to the CUVs, but it can definitely take abuse.

But if you really want to limit yourself to CUVs, the Escape/Tribute pair aren't a bad choice... a little more sure-footed than the CRV, but you'll probably have similar underchassis issues after a year's driving on rough roads.

But if your driving is only on lumpy dirt roads, any of these CUVs will do.

[vsm712]

But if your driving is only on lumpy dirt roads, any of these CUVs will do. --> siguro mga hanggang ganitong conditions lang...but then yung nga sabi sa review yun daw escape ang mas ok pag sa ganitong conditions and crv and rav4 are better left sa city use daw...pero if you guys think na rav4 will do just fine sa mga lumpy road eh i guess pdeng ito nalang kunin ko given na i won't have any doubts sa durability nya being toyota..

pero question..yung pong corolla at rav 4 ano mainly diff sa suspension nila since rav4 is somewhat improved in suspension compare sa corolla itself?

[mojojojo]

what i like about the escape/tribute is the ride.

for the la luz type of dirt road, an ordinary sedan can go thru that kind of road without problem. on a CUV, you can drive faster without feeling much of the road vibrations.

[vsm712]

sir correct ka sa statement mo that any sedan will do just fine sa mga road conditions like dun sa papuntang laluz however kawawa ang kotse sa ganun so what im hoping would be a CUV that could easily traverse sa mga ganun road conditions and with the suspension na at least desgin for that kase if not kawawa lang ang suspension talaga...

[OTEP]

Pero pareho lang naman ang design ng suspension ng cute ute at ng sedan. hehehe. Yung RAV4 dati galing sa Camry, yung sa CR-V naman galing sa Civic.

Ang advantage ng cute ute is the higher ground clearance. But they are not made out of significantly tougher bits as the ads and marketing make us believe.

[vsm712]

really? so as in ni walang improvement sa suspension ng mga CUV? you mean gnaun kaganda ang suspension ng 626 na mazda dati kaya ang escape eh mas maganda sa offroad kesa rav 4 at civic?

as in ground clerance at gulong lang ang binago? hehhe

[OTEP]

The suspension design is the same, some part numbers are shared. Of course the suspension is retuned to carry a heavier load and to allow for towing.