February 22, 2008
Automotive Department
Choosing an SUV
After my trusty old Camry gave up the ghost, my wife and I decided to buy an SUV. It was a big deal for me, so I'm going to be blogging about it a bit, in case anyone is interested.
Buying an SUV is insanely complicated because the category covers a lot of vehicles designed for a lot of different purposes, and we had to make some choices. We settled on a few basic criteria.
- Car-like. SUVs come in two basic types: truck-like and car-like. Truck-like SUVs are strong and heavy and tough, and they're suitable for some fairly serious off-roading. Car-like SUV's are basically cars with beefed-up suspensions and drivetrains. This will be our first SUV, so we don't want anything too radical, and since we're not planning on any serious off-roading, and we'd appreciate a smooth ride, we decided on a car-like SUV.
- Small. There are only two of us, and we don't have hobbies that require a lot of hauling, so we don't need a huge vehicle.
- 4-wheel drive. We want a car that will get us through the snow. Besides, if it doesn't have 4-wheel drive, is it really an SUV?
- 6-cylinder engine. I just don't feel comfortable with a 4-banger in a heavy vehicle, and even the smallest SUV is pretty heavy. On the other hand, we're not planning to do any towing, so an 8-cylinder engine seems like gas-guzzling overkill. A supercharged 4-cylinder engine would also have been okay.
- Dad-compliant. My 88-year-old arthritic father has to be able to get in and out of the passenger seat, so it can't be the kind of SUV you have to climb into.
That narrowed it down a lot. After a whole bunch of research and a couple of trips to nearby dealers, we decided to get a Toyota RAV4.
To be honest, we'd been leaning toward the RAV4 even before we did the research. It fit our criteria, and it was a Toyota. Our Camry had impressed the heck out of us for eleven years, and we felt comfortable with the strength of Toyota engineering.
Then it was time to choose the options we wanted:
- V6 engine and 4WD. This is going to be our workhorse car for quite a while.
- Moonroof.
- Towing package. Not the towing gear, just the upgraded radiator and alternator to make it a more rugged vehicle.
- Leather seats. We got them on the Camry as a luxury, but they proved to be far more durable than cloth seats.
- JBL 6-CD Premium Audio. We didn't really want it, but we let the salesman talk us into it. I'm sure we'll feel real bad about that as we bomb down the road blasting our tunes.
- Heated seats. Never had them, wanted to try them.
There were also a few things we didn't want:
- No third row of seating. We rarely even need the back seat, and the RAV4's third row is only suitable for children or dwarves.
- No satellite radio. We've had it, and we didn't think it was worth it.
- No navigation. We've got a portable GPS system.
- No remote start, no upgraded alarm, no first-aid kit, no cargo tray, no hood protector, no headphones. All are available aftermarket.
- No white paint. Too much like a rental car. Any other color would be okay.
The dealer didn't have one like that in stock, so for the first time ever, we ordered a car.
We picked it up on Saturday. I'll probably be RAV4-blogging for a while.
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