4 my other half and child - Rav4?

[muttaburra]

my wife and i looked at the Rav and Xtrail when we were buying. Xtrail won for a few reasons.

2.5 v 2.4. not a lot of diference but the extra 12kws(22Nm) in the X makes a big difference
Xtrail is generally bigger
4wd in the Xtrail is much beter than just about everything else in that catagory.

we got ours with 60k on the clock, 1 owner, logs books, a few shopping dints and only paid $20500. but it was a private sale and they were pretty desperate. Xtrail r generally around $22-25k. only thing we didnt get, as its a series 1, is cruise control. but we can live with that.

overal fuel is about 10l/100, around town or on highway. doesnt seam to vary at all. my wife loves it expecailly the dash and it makes for a pretty good 4wd, we took it for a drive in a creek a few weeks ago and was well and truly capable. didnt get bogged once. only thing i would like is a little more low down torque, but im use to driving diesel 4wds.

take a Xtrail for a drive, then compare it to a Rav, they are very similar.

[Steve Whitney]

I think the $19,990 jobs are used, but fully factory backed or something.

correct. they give 'em a new battery, tyres & interior carpet (?) as well as a warranty of some description.
typically, these cars are roughly 2yo with around 40K on the odo.

[daz]

Have you considered Suzuki Grand Vitara? They have low-range, solid rear axle (meaning more potential wheel travel than irs and much easier to lift later down the track if you decide to), come in a 2.5l V6 or 2.0l 4cyl, have a separate chassis (which, depending on who you talk to is better for off-roading) and are a far superior vehicle IMHO. They come in a 2 door or a 4 door. I have a mate with a RAV4 and build quality between both cars seems to be on par. I've attached a photo of mine, it now has bullbar (which are more difficult to fit on a RAV4 due to there being no separate chassis), roof spotties, and larger tyres. The Suzi doesn't have any electronic traction controls etc but many woudl argue (including myself) that that's a good thing. One downpoint of note, though, is that the RAV has a lot more rear storage room than the Suzi and that would be enought to sway me towards the RAV if I didn't intend doing any or much off-roading.

Just opening up options....

[cheddo7]

Well lads,

This came to a big shock to me,

After having a bit more of a look around at Subaru Forresters and Outbacks - my girl has now told me she doesn't want a '4wd' looking 4wd, and she would prefer a standard car look, and then she shocked me with the comment of "I've always been keen on a WRX"

.................................................. ...umm

Anyway, after discussing things further and me being the 'responsible' father type, tried to convince her to go towards something like a wagon, she then said "but yeah, I don't like the WRX wagons"

Hahaha............... :rotflol:

Man women are very hard to figure out!

Anyway, she's now been flat out looking at what $25-26k can get her with a standard WRX.

And then I thought I had her with this statement - "But insurance for those things are a killer"
So I rang AAMI.
Ended up being $503 a year full comp.

"Okay then baby, what colour do you want"........

Hahahaha.........
Weekend toy for me now. Gotta love that.
Cheddo.

[DRIFTIN]

Nice one.

$25-26k should get you into an MY03 with high'ish kms (80,000 or so)...
or a low km MY02 (if you can handle the looks).

Just remember that most owners of WRXs tend to think their cars are worth more than they really are - that's if you're buying private sale.

[cheddo7]

Daz - gotta give full marks for the pics mate.
I think you should be a product tester for Suzuki Japan
Cheddo.

[Captiva Fan]

That has to be one of the best results I've heard in yonks!

[cheddo7]

Well, bit of an update -
Just went and test drove a my03 2003 model WRX and yeah really nice car!
White with no mods at all, excellent condition, highway km's only (90,000) and talked him down to $26,500 from $30k so I'm now in the position of trying to convince my girl that the silver my01 model she wanted to look for $25k isn't as good and that even though she wants a silver one, this just seems too good to pass up.
What do you all reckon? Too good to pass up?
Cheddo.

[DRIFTIN]

my03 for $26,500 is good.

other than the cosmetic changes from my01/02 -> 03, they also removed the pre-cat from the exhaust manifold up-pipe and they are a bit more aggresively tuned (for a claimed 168kw - 8kw power increase) but it feels like more than this, and it probably is. The my03's seem to be as fast as the old shape (my00 and below) even though they weigh 130kg more.

Save yourself a grand (or more) and make sure the 100,000km service has been done or will be done before you buy it.

[daz]

Pfft....but how well do they play in the sand/mud?

[cheddo7]

Pfft....but how well do they play in the sand/mud?

Not a major concern as I have an old trusty '86 Hilux 4x4 turbo diesel tray to do the real dirty stuff if needed - and I've tried to talk my missus out of the WRX but she's pretty keen...

And after having a spin in one for the first time today I bloody want it as my weekend toy when work is done!
Considering it was stock standard, I'm stunned how 'P' platers are driving these things fully modded and get away with it.

Cheddo.

[ThunderBob]

Hey Cheddo
A couple of things you might want to consider before forking over your hard earned-
Considering this will be primarily for your wife and new bub,you should take a baby seat with you on your test drives and place it in the back seat in the rear facing position and then see if there is enough leg room up front as these baby seats take up quite a bit of space in this position.
Another thing also is the pram,not just to see if it fits but also to see how easy it is to load and unload.
You will find that the wagon type 4x4/cars with the lifting or swinging type tailgates are a lot easier to load and unload than the boot style where you have to lift up and over to load the pram into the boot.
Remember she will be doing this on a daily basis for the next couple of years.
Look after her.

Rob

[smellytofu]

Just one thing.. Subaru (the newer ones from 03 or so onwards) have the ISOFIX baby seat securing system. ISOFIX at the moment is not "legal" in Australia so you might find it hard to find one in Australia but is legal in Europe for quite some time. It's a much more safer and easier restraint system to put in and out than the seatbelt behind the seat method.

[Captiva Fan]

Remember she will be doing this on a daily basis for the next couple of years.
Look after her.

On the other hand, there's the increased safety of the real car; that's worth something. Plus real cars tend to have more front-to-rear room in each seating position; the gerlytrux that have more room get their extra room by having the passengers sit more upright. So baby seats etc should have more room in the real car.
I'd still give what ThunderBob suggests a try, mind you, 'cos it may become an issue if the boot loading-lip is too high or the door openings aren't wide enough; I bought my 242GT from someone who said there was heaps of room inside, but it was just getting on his nerves lifting the 6-month-old into the back of the 2dr over the fold-but-not-slide-forward seats (and past the seat-belts which were anchored on the B-pillar).

[pentae]

WRX is a perfect shopping trolley! well done.