My Ford Edge is coming up on fourteen years old, approaching 150,000 miles. Giving good service now, but I'm living on borrowed time with respect to water pump replacement; no indication of need to replace at the current time, but typical life expectancy for the water pump is in the neighborhood of 100,000 miles and I'm well beyond that. The pump itself is not terribly expensive, but the labor pushes the total cost to more than two thousand bucks.

Tire replacement time is coming up, so I'm looking at the likelihood dropping three large within a half year or so if I keep the vehicle, and that's a good portion of the market value. And, I would still have a fourteen year old car with moderately high miles. Looks like it's time to move on, sooner is better than later, better to dispose of the Edge while it's still running well.

The primary constraint for a replacement is leg room in the driver seat. With my 36 1/2" inseam, most vehicles are ruled out. Headroom is never a problem, but with most cars and intermediate size trucks (Tacoma, Ranger, Canyon / Colorado, Ridgeline) my knees and the steering wheel try to share the same space and it doesn't work very well, so the choices that I have found so far are full size trucks and some SUV types. While I'd love an F150 or similar, the ones that I have found are beyond my budget.

SUV types are more affordable. The Jeep Grand Cherokee gives me the leg room that I need, and there seem to be some 2018 and 2019 models that can be had at or below the top amount that I'm willing to pay. I do want one with a specific option -- the Jeep Advanced Active Safety Group, which includes Adaptive Cruise Control and a couple of other items that I'd like to have.

Did a search of local dealers. Up popped a 2018, everything that I want, even the right color, offered by one of the better known BMW dealers in the area. Same dealer group also has a Dodge / Ram / Jeep store nearby.

CarFax shows previous repair for "minor to moderate" body damage. In an email exchange with a sales dude, he refused

1. My request to have the vehicle evaluated, at my cost, by an independent service shop that I use, and by a good quality body shop for quality of collision repair,
   
   
2. Refused to consider a full warranty for a limited time, and
   
   
3. Refused to consider a "buy-back" agreement if significant defects are found within fifteen days of purchase.

All of that leaves me with no way to mitigate the risk of buying a used vehicle with known previous body damage. Too many red flags. They don't want my money badly enough to agree to any form of reasonable buyer protection.

The search continues.

quote:

They don't want my money badly enough to agree to any form of reasonable buyer protection.

It’s still a sellers market so the dealers don’t care.

What about the Nissan Frontier? I have never been in one but it seems like the bastard child of small trucks so maybe there’s a deal to be had.

Have you tried a minivan? I’m seriously considering one.

quote:

What about the Nissan Frontier?

No more leg room than any other midsize truck.

Best vehicle I've ever had in terms of legroom, was my 1963 Porsche 356B. Driver seat would go back so far that I couldn't depress the clutch pedal enough to shift. I'm 6'3", but proportioned a little strangely -- my legs are longer than most guys who are 6'5"

I sat in a new Altima today, and was surprised at 1) the leg room, and 2) how comfortable the seat was.

Then again, it seems I'm about 5" shorter than you, so that may not mean much. Might be worth a look, if a sedan suits your needs.

My nephew is 6’5” and drives a Ford Maverick. My Brother in law said they tested a bunch of vehicles and that was what he fit into the best.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
My nephew is 6’5” and drives a Ford Maverick. My Brother in law said they tested a bunch of vehicles and that was what he fit into the best.

Trouble is finding one.
Crazy markups & long wait on a new one, or full msrp [or more] on a used one.

What’s so special about the Maverick?

If it was me, I would go for the Grand Cherokee. Then shop around for a Mopar extended factory warranty. Your dealer (who seems to be less than customer friendly) may offer you one. But I bought my last one online from another dealer at a significantly lower price.

Do I correctly remember a thread about your wife buying a Toyota hybrid of rav4? Would something along those lines allow you enough room?

I think I would buy a Toyota or Honda before any modern era domestic car for build quality and reliability. And I've never owned anything but Chevy in 20 plus years of driving. Of course the newest was an 03.

The one thing I absolutely hate so much about buying a car in Florida are the dealer fees. Everyone seems to have it set at $800+.

How about leasing?

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
What’s so special about the Maverick?

It's new
The hybrid gets mpg in the upper 30s IIRC
It's reasonably priced, compared to its midsized & full sized brethren

I'd probably have looked into one a lot more if the Lariat + Lux pkg didn't require orange/brown interior.
Same with the Bronco Sport. Badlands + Texh/Lux pkg = orange leather. If they'd offer the 2.0T in the lower trims, I'd probably have a B Sport in the driveway instead of the Explorer. A 2.0T Outer Banks would've done the trick.

Why mfgs lock you into oddball combinations, I'll never understand.
Subaru finally got it together & started offering black interior on the Outback Touring.

To the OP, would an Outback work? Or maybe a 2020+ Explorer?
I haven't run the seat all the way back, but have no space complaints on my Explorer. I'm 6'0" & 34" inseam.

Apologies for the thread drift, but what is it with Ford and their recent perpensity to recycle Car Model Names onto completely unrelated vehicle types, such as the Mustang, and now the Maverick...WTF?

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
What’s so special about the Maverick?

It's about the only option for a reasonably-priced truck in today's market, with a MSRP starting in the low 20s and running through the mid-30s fully loaded, versus other trucks that start around 40 and end up close to 100.

And basically every other automaker has abandoned the compact truck market - at least in the US - in favor of midsize and fullsize trucks and higher price points. The only other comparable option currently on the market is the Hyundai Santa Cruz, which is more of a funky El Camino-style crossbreed than a truck anyway. (It's effectively a Hyundai Tucson SUV with an open bed instead of an enclosed cargo area; Hyundai calls it a "sport adventure vehicle" instead of a "truck".)

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
I'd probably have looked into one a lot more if the Lariat + Lux pkg didn't require orange/brown interior.

Black interior is an option, even with the Lariat + Lux.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
What’s so special about the Maverick?

It’s a unibody truck, smaller (compared to full size), so it’s like one of, if not the least expensive new trucks on the entire market.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
I'd probably have looked into one a lot more if the Lariat + Lux pkg didn't require orange/brown interior.

Black interior is an option, even with the Lariat + Lux.

Must be new for '23
And, requires the black pkg, which puts you into a $40k truck
In that case, I'd just opt for the Tremor.

I don't know if you're interested in them or not but have you looked at the Hyundai Santa Cruz? I bought one a few months ago and there is a ton of room for me. I am 6' and about 230 lbs and my son is a little over 6'2" and there is plenty of leg room and head room for us both. Prices are not bad as I got ours for only $34,000 otd, which is not bad in this crazy economy.

I have a good friend and coworker who has a new Altima and it actually fits him and he is 6'5".

quote:

Refused to consider a full warranty for a limited time, and

Refused to consider a "buy-back" agreement if significant defects are found within fifteen days of purchase.[/list]All of that leaves me with no way to mitigate the risk of buying a used vehicle with known previous body damage. Too many red flags. They don't want my money badly enough to agree to any form of reasonable buyer protection.

The search continues.

I think its going to be tough to find any dealership willing to accommodate your demands. Buying a used vehicle is a crap shoot and most of the time you win but at times when you buy used you get burned. If buying used find the newest vehicle with the lowest mileage your budget can afford in order to mitigate your chances of buying a lemon.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Must be new for '23
And, requires the black pkg, which puts you into a $40k truck

It does require the Black package at +$1645, but even that shouldn't put you into $40k (unless you're also loading it down with a ton of other optional accessories).

Ford's Maverick builder on their website puts a 2023 Lariat with Luxury and Black packages and Black Onyx interior at $35,500, after destination and acquisition fees.

https://shop.ford.com/configur....89W.54P.993.LAR.%5D

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
I think its going to be tough to find any dealership willing to accommodate your demands.

Yep. The request to have it checked by a 3rd party mechanic is the only one that I could see some dealers agreeing to.

Full warranties and buy-backs are asking way too much from the dealer on a standard used vehicle. (Barring something like a Certified Pre-Owned with extended warranty.)

Even more so in the current seller's market.

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:

quote:

Refused to consider a full warranty for a limited time, and

Refused to consider a "buy-back" agreement if significant defects are found within fifteen days of purchase.[/list]All of that leaves me with no way to mitigate the risk of buying a used vehicle with known previous body damage. Too many red flags. They don't want my money badly enough to agree to any form of reasonable buyer protection.

The search continues.

I think it's going to be tough to find any dealership willing to accommodate your demands. Buying a used vehicle is a crap shoot and most of the time you win but at times when you buy used you get burned. If buying used find the newest vehicle with the lowest mileage your budget can afford in order to mitigate your chances of buying a lemon.

The two options (not "demands") that you quoted are taken out of context, and were presented to the sales dude as alternatives to my first request (which you ignored in your post) -- a request to have the vehicle inspected at my cost by an independent service shop, a request that was firmly turned down by the sales dude. I found this interesting, and a real red flag. The Ford Edge that is being replaced was purchased from the largest Ford dealer group in Central Florida. When that sales guy gave me the key to take a test drive, I asked if it was OK to run it by the service shop that I use, for a pre-buy inspection. His reply: "Certainly! That's a great idea. It's a used vehicle, and any smart buyer would want it checked over."

The first request is reasonable, but, in the market today, lots of dealers just are not going to go for any requests, or any others simply because they don't have to...

Have you contacted the Ford dealer where you bought the Edge, is your sales guy still there, maybe he will work with you...


We just bought our Lincoln off the lease, because it was a good deal and of course being the owners we know everything about it. The price to buy was below market value for trade and well below average used prices.