Hi all,
I'm in need of a car, and looking for a Subaru SUV. Probably a XV or Forester. Not fussed about used or new, but my budget is around 30k and I'm willing to go higher. Anyone have any experience recently with buying a car? Or perhaps a suggestion on a better SUV around the same price. Have dealers been more keen to clear stock given the current covid climate?
Cheers
Sorry no not at the time! Thanks for the link, I've read that now and also a bit more on the cars. Leaning more towards the XV now to be honest. I think it fits my lifestyle a bit better
Any Subbie should be good. The fuel economy is probably the only neg.
Have you driven one?
Which is your preferred version?
i haven't driven one yet, but just reading reviews and youtube videos, I'm really liking the look of the XV. A lot of concern around the lack of power, but I'm not that hungry for power anyway. My previous car was an old civic and never really had many complaints, except for when I was going up a hill on a freeway.
Here we go again…….
What do you want to do with your car?
Auto or CVT or dct or manual?
What sort of traffic do you drive in? Describe this in detail.
Petrol or diesel?
How many km per year?
How long you plan to keep it for?
How can you narrow down your search without having driven any cars?
Really appreciate the time mate,
Not fussed on transmission, although last car was a manual and I really felt like it was more hassle than benefit.
I live in metro Syd, commute daily to work on Victoria road in peak traffic. Not a lot of bumpy roads. Very light off-road driving (<5 times a year) when I go for weekend activities, potentially going to the snow in the car, but no big deal if I can't make it up the mountain.
Petrol
10-15000 km a year
Plan to keep it long term.
I'm still really in the preliminary phase of looking at a car. I've been thinking of upgrading for a long time, but crashed mine yesterday. I've been seeing a lot of the XVs on the road, it seemed to meet my criteria of a small/compact car good for city driving, with a little bit of capability off road for camping/fishing/hiking.
@Sl138: My choice would be a 2017 Tucson active X, TL. The next version, the TL3 was not as good, IMO.
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2017-Hyundai-Tucson…
Or a new Kona.
@oscargamer: The Tucson isn't even something I'd ever thought about, thanks for the reco, it does look it would suit me.
@Sl138: We have had one from new.
60000km.
Absolutely great thing.
Does everything we want.
You'll find most SUV engines are underpowered, so they can claim good economy.
Real world economy on our Tucson is 8l.
Decent sized boot. Many SUV have tiny boots.
Pleather seats. Good visibility. Good warranty. Full size spare.
15000 / 1 years service intervals.
@Sl138: XV is a good fit for you. I've driven one short-term and they're quite good. Just make sure you don't get the base model, they're missing a few features you probably want long-term.
Watch reviews and take one for a drive.
A Forester is just overkill if you don't need the extra space, but if you do, the XV is not a big car so check it out.
Don't worry about the power, if you've been driving a Civic it won't feel slower. It's not a fast car but it's fine for all driving you need.
Have dealers been more keen to clear stock given the current covid climate?
No. I have found the opposite, they have become more reluctant to give a deal or to even negotiate. I am in the market for a work ute/dual cab and every dealer that I have found that has what I am looking for doesn't even want to budge on sticker price.
I found a vehicle I wanted that I had on my watch list from March, went in and said "I'm here to buy today" and wanted to work out a deal on that vehicle. "That's a fixed price vehicle… We don't negotiate. Ive had 6 inquiries this week for that vehicle…" I laughed, thanked him for wasting my time and left.
I have even seen some dealers jacking their prices, like this is some kind of eBay coupon sale. A Triton I looked at 3 weeks ago was $21.5k ("Fixed price") is now on their site at $25.9k
I think what may be happening is that the used market has gone apeshit because people are trying to save a few $$'s on a car, so they buy a used one instead and dealers are feeling the pinch, so they need to make as much as they can per car because they are selling 5 a month instead of 50. The market seems to be flooded with cars, but no one is buying, because everyone is trying to sell at top dollar into a depressed market…
Don't even get me started on the drug snoting, time wasting, dreamers that are the private sale used car market.
Lol the private sale used car market is not something I'm keen on getting in to again. God that was such a hassle.
Thanks for sharing your current experience mate, It's useful information I need going ahead.
This is my exact experience
Subaru have a ‘demonstrator’ clearance all over social media. I put in an enquiry and got a phone call and the discount was literally $1000 with 3000kms and already registered so not even full year
Seems a fallacy regarding discount at moment
Not sure if it's just me, but I find the xv very underwhelming.
Why?
Yes. A statement like that is if little use unless there some more specific observations. Doesn’t need to be objective, but give us something to go on.
Agreed!
Engine underwhelming, trans underwhelming. Doesn't do anything better than any of the other vehicles in its class. Just a very "meh" drive. Not like the old Subarus.
Some of that is fair enough, and I agree that it's a "meh" drive. But that's not why you buy one.
I'd buy one because it's very practical, looks decent, is reliable, gets you where you need to go, comes from a brand that is trustworthy and has a good dealer network.
The interior is well appointed and comfortable.
The engine and transmission are certainly underwhelming but there's no situation in which they don't do the job. Chassis is well sorted, doesn't feel sloppy or too tight for a small SUV.
@[Deactivated]: Yeah, I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not good, like 90% of the small SUV segment to be honest.
I am/was a Subaru fan, loved my gt forester I had years ago, and had a liberty wagon many years before that.
Thanks. Make a lot more sense so can Compare those factors against other vehicles.
@Euphemistic: Applies to most of the "small SUV" segment really. Only outliers are the previous Vitara/grand Vitara with actual 4wd, jimny and then "performance small SUVs" like the Audi sq3, which still seems pointless, but may work for some.
@brendanm: You'd be surprised how capable some of them are off-road. The XV in particular is quite decent. I mean I wouldn't take it deep into the bush but it's going where 99% of people want to go. More ground clearance and better 4wd system than the offerings from the likes of Mazda / VW / Toyota etc in their small SUVs.
I'd put money on an XV being the most capable new car off-road outside proper 4wds, actually.
So while I agree that most small SUVs are pointless (if they don't have decent awd, get a hatchback instead?), the XV is a bit different.
Use case: you live in a city/drive to a city often. Most of your driving requires a small car. You also like to go to the snow or go camping. You have one vehicle. You have one or no kids. You want to spend 20-40k on a car.
XV is perfect and I reckon the market I described above is a BIG percentage of 20-40yr olds.
@brendanm: When it applies to most of the sector then it’s more normal and the ‘meh’ factor isn’t so much about the particular vehicle.
@Euphemistic: It is about this, as jrowls says it actually has a proper AWD, but the engine and trans combo does nothing for me. A bit more power, and a normal auto, and it would be a standout.
Have XV over 6 years now since new, happy with it, very practical car.
What's the service interval?
Believe it was 6mo in the older version (don't quote me but I think pre-2018) and has since.shifted to 12mo, possibly at the same time Subaru shifted to longer warranties. Again don't quote me. I shopped around for one last year so took note of this stuff but it's been a while.
Yep, this is accurate.
If you go up to the snow with mates, the XV may be a bit small as it's a compact SUV. I think it has less space than an Impreza wagon but with the SUV look. My sister has one we took up to Mt Buller and it was pretty cramped inside. Most of the gear went into my RAV4.
I think the competition in that area are the RAV4 / C-HR, Tucson / Kona or Sportage / Seltos. Can also check the CRV / HRV from Honda but news is they met be doing a Holden here in Aus.
I had a XV for a couple of years and have since upgraded to 4wd. At no time off-road did the XV not feel incapable I was just more worried about getting it scratched etc. I must admit I do miss it from time to time
If anybody has seen any deals or heard of in Melbourne for the XV S let me know
Reading whirlpool and other forums around this time last year was frequently $35-36 driveaway yet at moment hard to get under $40
With Subarus you'd usually want to get the "demo" models for the best pricing.
With the Subaru Outback Premium 2.5 as an example, RRP last year was $47k, the actual dealer's market price was $42k, and you could get a near-new one with 4-5k km clocked for $38k.
Thanks mate, I'll try go around, take the price of a demo, and offer 10-15% lower
Have you looked at the other similar threads?
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/529594