Not a truck!

[Dice144]

This forum and the entry price of a truck talked me out of wanting a huge F-150 class truck.

I am all of over the place now. I went and test drove a few Hyunadi but they all had something I disliked. The Sonata was just horrible in the snow, could of been the crappy tires but my VW was way better with half bulled all season tires.

A few cars later, took a 2013 Ford Taurus for a spin. I was against getting a "boat" but love how the car handles. So now I am seriously looking at getting my first Ford since my 1987 ford ranger 4 cylinder 5 speed that I learned to drive with.

 

[Evilviking]

What are you primary uses? You drive in a lot of snow? I would look at a subaru. Does it need to be a suv?

 

[BurnItDwn]

Fiancee has an older taurus and its crap in the snow thanks to FWD with no traction control. Id expect newer ones to be a lot better.

Have you checked out Fusion, Edge, and/or Escape? They may not be quite as comfortable as Taurus, but you might like the handling better or perhaps something else.

Otherwise, I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but check out the Subaru Legacy if you want a sedan or an Outback or Forester if you want a wagon or SUV. Older Foresters like mine (2008) have lots of road noise, but the newwer ones have much better sound deadening, and more roomy as well.

 

[freeskier93]

What was the original reason for wanting a truck? Did you ever test drive an F-150/1500 to get an actual feel for size? Are you looking at used? What's your budget? What are your actual needs?

I was all over the place with what I wanted, but then I realized I own a Jeep that I want to eventually trailer so I've settled on a truck (Ram 1500). Definitely aren't cheap new but you can find great deals used. I recently saw a 2014 Lariat Limited with $8k miles, Hemi, air suspension, fully loaded, for $34k.

If you actually have a decent budget I'm not sure why you'd bother with anything not 4wd/awd. If you're fine with Hyundai look at the Tucson (new ones looks very good), Sante Fe (great car), or Genesis.

 

[Dice144]

I use my Uncles F-150 a few times a month. Every time I drive it, I get a bit jealous.

I am frugal so know the F-150 is out of my budget. My goal is a car that is 2013+, I go on camping family trips with 2 adults and 2 kids. I also kayak at least twice a week once spring hits.

Got stuck in a bad storm with my VW, swore I would get a real winter car/truck. Would like a silent or near silent cabin, my friends Toyota Camry 2014 has way to much road noise.

My budget is self set at 19k or less. I could go higher but prefer to stay well below 19k.

The new Tucson CVT was just horrible. The 1.6T was like a rubberband was attached to the back of the car holding it back. Then above 30 mph it was ok.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I use my Uncles F-150 a few times a month. Every time I drive it, I get a bit jealous.

I am frugal so know the F-150 is out of my budget. My goal is a car that is 2013+, I go on camping family trips with 2 adults and 2 kids. I also kayak at least twice a week once spring hits.

Got stuck in a bad storm with my VW, swore I would get a real winter car/truck. Would like a silent or near silent cabin, my friends Toyota Camry 2014 has way to much road noise.

My budget is self set at 19k or less. I could go higher but prefer to stay well below 19k.

The new Tucson CVT was just horrible. The 1.6T was like a rubberband was attached to the back of the car holding it back. Then above 30 mph it was ok.

A friend has a 2014 Honda CRV, its nice, but has lots of cabin noise.
the Rav4 is not particularly quiet inside either.

I would recommend you take a look at an Outback, it does have a CVT, but, the CVT is a lot better than the 4 speed auto my 08 forester has. The 2.5 is kinda weak, and the 3.6 is great, but its $$$$$ price difference and then you pretty much are in the F150 price range. Outback is nice and quiet, comfortable, has lots of space, and as long as you dont want to tow anything, should be great for a family camping trip and wont have any trouble with a couple kayaks on the roof rack ...

 

[NutBucket]

If he doesn't want to pony up for an F150 I highly doubt a 3.6R would appease his pocketbook either. Plus, they not very common on the used market either which doesn't help things.

 

[BurnItDwn]

If he doesn't want to pony up for an F150 I highly doubt a 3.6R would appease his pocketbook either. Plus, they not very common on the used market either which doesn't help things.

Yea, you are absolutely right, and probably have a lot more knowledge on the subject. Worth taking a look at the 2.5 specs, and if its impotent for his needs, then best to take it off the list, and not even bother with 3.6 unless he happens to have a lucky find on the used market. Modern Taurus is based on the 'Ford 500', which is a nice car IMO.. (Brother in law got one maybe 5ish years ago.) Just not sure how well it would handle poor road conditions, though with proper tires likely would be a champ...

 

[Yuriman]

I've not been in the latest-gen Avalon, but I drove around a 3rd-gen for a while and was impressed. Very comfortable, fair fuel economy (for what it is), and quiet. It's not a "winter car", but I'm of the opinion that a set of really good tires is more important than anything else.

 

[NutBucket]

Wife and I just decided yesterday we're going to get a 3.6R. We've already got a Forester with the 2.5 and its adequate but really want something with more oomph for mountain driving and such. I don't think you can touch a 3.6R for less than $32k. Even $32k is a bit of a stretch.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Fiancee has an older taurus and its crap in the snow thanks to FWD with no traction control. Id expect newer ones to be a lot better.

1) Use good tires for snow
2) learn how to drive in the snow

I had a 93 Taurus as my first car, which obviously had no traction control, and I got around just fine in the winter.

More often than not when I see people complain XYZ car is "crap" in the snow it is because of either bad tires or inexperience (or bad habits like mashing the gas instead of feathering the throttle when the tires start to spin).

 

[yh125d]

1) Use good tires for snow
2) learn how to drive in the snow

I had a 93 Taurus as my first car, which obviously had no traction control, and I got around just fine in the winter.

More often than not when I see people complain XYZ car is "crap" in the snow it is because of either bad tires or inexperience (or bad habits like mashing the gas instead of feathering the throttle when the tires start to spin).

Agreed, I've mostly driven FWD cars in the snow, and all have gotten around just fine, until my Focus with summer tires, which was completely useless - but it's all in the tires.

 

[thomsbrain]

Snow performance is down to the following:

1. Tires
2. Tires
3. Tires
4. AWD/FWD/RWD
5. Differential types of #4
6. Tires
7. Tires
8. Make/Model (ie, suspension geometry and setup)

Driving a particular car and thinking it's "bad in snow" is pointless because all you are testing is #1, 2, 3, 6 and 7. And you'll only test #4 and 5 if you're climbing a steep hill.

 

[yh125d]

I would add that if you're driving FWD in snow, handbrake is a must. Both because it allows you to do some maneuvers you can't do with an electric one, and it's fun.

 

[BurnItDwn]

1) Use good tires for snow
2) learn how to drive in the snow

I had a 93 Taurus as my first car, which obviously had no traction control, and I got around just fine in the winter.

More often than not when I see people complain XYZ car is "crap" in the snow it is because of either bad tires or inexperience (or bad habits like mashing the gas instead of feathering the throttle when the tires start to spin).

She would get it stuck on the 2 inch hump at the back the the driveway over the culvert EVERY time she tried to drive in the winter.

If you had momentum and were on flat land, with mediocre all seasons that have a couple years life, yea, it would be the same as any other low ground clearance FWD, but to me, thats crap.

I know winter tires give much better snow traction, and NOTHING gives good ice traction, so, if the bump at the end of the driveway had iced over, there was no way to get her car across as the driveway is not long enough to build any momentum. However, that is the good thing with AWD, if 2 of the tires have no traction and are on a slight icy incline, but the other 2 have some traction, the car just keeps going as if it was dry pavement.


(so Sparky, if you are going to give me shit, it should be "Shovel your driveway better")
Car gets stuck in driveway = crap in snow.

 

[Yuriman]

She would get it stuck on the 2 inch hump at the back the the driveway over the culvert EVERY time she tried to drive in the winter.

If you had momentum and were on flat land, with mediocre all seasons that have a couple years life, yea, it would be the same as any other low ground clearance FWD, but to me, thats crap.

I know winter tires give much better snow traction, and NOTHING gives good ice traction, so, if the bump at the end of the driveway had iced over, there was no way to get her car across as the driveway is not long enough to build any momentum. However, that is the good thing with AWD, if 2 of the tires have no traction and are on a slight icy incline, but the other 2 have some traction, the car just keeps going as if it was dry pavement.


(so Sparky, if you are going to give me shit, it should be "Shovel your driveway better")
Car gets stuck in driveway = crap in snow.

I don't want to say that I have "plenty" of ice traction, but I get around just fine. I share a driveway with my in-laws (2 houses, 1 property), and it turns into a perfectly smooth sheet of ice with something like a 15-20° incline, ~100feet long, until we got some more snow on top of it. Then, it's a sheet of ice covered in snow. My in-laws have some cheap Douglas snow tires on their Prius, while I put on a set of top-of-the-heap Nokians on my FWD car, and I've driven around my father-in-law several times when he got stuck half way up the driveway. I'm able to come to a complete stop on the ice, on an incline, and then accelerate and go around him, when he can't get up at all.

Tires tires tires.

 

[SparkyJJO]

(so Sparky, if you are going to give me shit, it should be "Shovel your driveway better")

Shovel your darn driveway!

 

[Dice144]

I will admit, the last time my car won't move was because I was lazy and tried to ram over to much snow in my long driveway.