Looking at a new car. I’ve never owned a Ford before. Edit

April 05, 2024, 07:23 AM

DoctorSolo

Looking at a new car. I’ve never owned a Ford before. Edit - still don’t own a Ford

You still cannot beat Toyota for reliability and durability.
I'd look hard at a Rav4, there's a reason every other compact SUV copies them.

Good luck, buying cars and trucks is a royal pain these days.

April 05, 2024, 07:25 AM

DonDraper

Check out the Mazda CX-5 or CX-50. The new Honda CR-V is really nice too.

Also everyone - The Bronco Sport Badlands in question has a 2.0 inline 4 turbo "ecoboost" engine.

April 05, 2024, 07:30 AM

mark123

quote:
Originally posted by Black92LX:
quote:
Originally posted by mark123:
Should we specifically be looking for an engine without a turbo?

Is Toyota still king for reliability? I took a look at the RAV4 and it’s kinda nice.

I missed the Sport part in your original post. I was thinking just Bronco.
Yes, you should most certainly get a RAV4 over the Bronco Sport.
I also suggest the Hybrid.

Toyotas reign for reliability and their hybrid systems have been around a very long time and are nearly perfected.
Along with a 10 year 150k mile warranty on all hybrid parts.

I think I’m going to present that to my wife. That sounds very promising.

April 05, 2024, 07:35 AM

Perception

quote:
Originally posted by mark123:
quote:
Originally posted by arfmel:
I believe the 1.5L ecoboost is actually a 3 cylinder engine. Ford recalled over 500,000 of those 1.5L engines for fuel injector failure causing engine fires.
The Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV are two worth considering for a reliable small SUV. The 2021 Forester we had actually had very good interior room for a smaller vehicle. Plenty of leg and headroom.
They are inline 4. It’s the 1.6l downsized to avoid the higher tax rate in China. Hooray, Chinese power plant!!

The 1.5L is a turbo 3 cylinder. The 2.0 is the 2.0 is the 4 cylinder.

My mom has a 2011 escape, which she loves to this day. Last summer she bought a 2023 escape with the 1.5L turbo 3. Next week she'll probably be trading it in for a Kia. She's not a car person, but her primary complaint is that she hates that engine. I haven't driven it, but it sounds like power deliveri is not very linear or predictable and she really hates driving it.

"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford, "it is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards."
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."

April 05, 2024, 08:31 AM

TMats

We’ve had great luck with the Fords we’ve owned, and have two now, an F150 and an Explorer. The Explorer has the 2.3L EcoBoost 4-cylinder, a turbocharged engine that makes 300 HP. It’s a great car, but maybe you don’t need that size vehicle. The Bronco is pretty cool looking, but didn’t fit our pistol. Hope you’re happy with whatever you decide on.

April 05, 2024, 08:42 AM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Scooter123:

In regards to the Bronco Ford offers 2 engines for it per my nephew. The base engine is the 2.3 liter ecoboost which is actually a decent engine if you keep it bone stock. Start doing "tunes" and larger turbos at it and it won't last nearly as well as the Stock setup. The second engine offered is the 2.7 twin turbo V6.

Mark asked about the Bronco Sport, which has neither of the engines that you mentioned. Same as the Escape, the Bronco Sport has the 1.5L engine as "standard," with the 2.0L available on some trim levels.

I looked at both the Bronco Sport and the Escape. At the time I bought mine, the dealer did not have any CPO Bronco Sports, so I wound up with an Escape with the 2.0L engine. No engine-associated problems to date with a bit over 51,000 miles on the vehicle.

April 05, 2024, 09:00 AM

HRK

Plum Crazy Charger! Shes got good taste!, last year for those bad boys.....

Fords are good quality vehicles, we've had several over the years both Lincolns and Fords.

Wife has had and still does, Lincoln MKC, the precursor to the Corsair, we would have bought another but the prices and now interest rates are insane. Bought her MKC off the lease both were trouble free, never back in for any warranty issues. Same for my older F150, 2003 with 5.4 that everyone says is "oooh bad" and it has almost 200K on it, zero issues.

There have been others, neighbor has the Bronco Sport in one of the 400 editions, good looking, runs nice, think it's the 2.0.

As for aftermarket warranty, if you plan on keeping it past the warranty period, there isn't a vehicle out there that I wouldn't buy an aftermarket warranty for because of the electronics, digital screens, sensors all over the vehicle are expensive to repair.

If you plan on keeping it and want warranty coverage the Kia/Hyundai models are very well made, and have 10/100 warranties on them.

Either that or lease it for the term of the warranty and give it back, the day of easy peasy back yard fixes are going the way of the dodo.

April 05, 2024, 09:06 AM

mark123

You guys were right, i was wrong. It is a 3 cylinder. That’s why it felt gutless, I’m sure.

April 05, 2024, 09:42 AM

Calif Phil

Our 2020 Corsair was a great vehicle, never any issues, drove great, seats were super comfy. Ford makes some nice products. Never was an extended warranty buyer, but now I have changed my tune, with the electronics, and HIGH price of about any repair it makes sense to buy a warranty from the manufacturer.

April 05, 2024, 11:16 AM

gjgalligan

You say you have never had a Ford before?
Why would you ruin that run of good luck now?

April 05, 2024, 04:15 PM

arfmel

quote:
Originally posted by DonDraper:
Check out the Mazda CX-5 or CX-50. The new Honda CR-V is really nice too.

Also everyone - The Bronco Sport Badlands in question has a 2.0 inline 4 turbo "ecoboost" engine.

Yeah, but in the OP Mark says: “She found one with all the features she wants and she likes the looks. It’s a Ford Bronco Sport Outer Banks.”

Which is only available with the 1.5L 3 cylinder.

April 05, 2024, 05:07 PM

mark123

Next Monday we’re going to look at the RAV4 together.

April 05, 2024, 05:17 PM

Leemur

We looked at the RAV4, CX-5 (50?) and the CR-V. For us and particularly my wife (her vehicle) the CR-V won hands down.

April 05, 2024, 08:19 PM

SW_Sig

One of my daughters bought a new AWD RAV4 XLE Hybrid last September

She loves it.

April 05, 2024, 08:40 PM

mark123

quote:
Originally posted by SW_Sig:
One of my daughters bought a new AWD RAV4 XLE Hybrid last September

She loves it.

That’s the model I tested today. It’s a whole lot more car than the Bronco for slightly less money.

April 05, 2024, 08:46 PM

V-Tail

My wife bought a new RAV4 Hybrid Limited on July 4th, 2019, so it's coming up on five years. She loves the vehicle. It's mostly used for local errands, grocery runs, etc., with a long road trip every year or two. Despite my wife's "enthusiastic" driving, with assertive acceleration, the hybrid system consistently delivers fuel economy in the 37 to 40 mpg range, occasionally a bit higher, both in local stop-and-go traffic and on long highway trips.

I have never driven it, there's not enough legroom for me with the driver's seat all the way back. My knees get tangled with the steering wheel. I would rate it as extremely uncomfortable, but I'm way out on the end of the Bell curve, with a 36.5" inseam and there are very few vehicles that work for me.

There were a couple problems with the tech stuff -- the display panel that hosts the navigation and other displays. These problems should have and could have been solved easily, but the paper shufflers in the sales area screwed things up, so it took a lot of effort to get their incompetent errors untangled and satisfy the computers at the Toyota Mother Ship in order to get the software updates installed, after which everything worked just fine.

There have been no significant maintenance or repair costs, the most expensive to date was around $150.

Bottom line: if you do not have freakishly long legs, it's a great vehicle.

April 05, 2024, 09:23 PM

mark123

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
My wife bought a new RAV4 Hybrid Limited on July 4th, 2019, so it's coming up on five years. She loves the vehicle. It's mostly used for local errands, grocery runs, etc., with a long road trip every year or two. Despite my wife's "enthusiastic" driving, with assertive acceleration, the hybrid system consistently delivers fuel economy in the 37 to 40 mpg range, occasionally a bit higher, both in local stop-and-go traffic and on long highway trips.

I have never driven it, there's not enough legroom for me with the driver's seat all the way back. My knees get tangled with the steering wheel. I would rate it as extremely uncomfortable, but I'm way out on the end of the Bell curve, with a 36.5" inseam and there are very few vehicles that work for me.

There were a couple problems with the tech stuff -- the display panel that hosts the navigation and other displays. These problems should have and could have been solved easily, but the paper shufflers in the sales area screwed things up, so it took a lot of effort to get their incompetent errors untangled and satisfy the computers at the Toyota Mother Ship in order to get the software updates installed, after which everything worked just fine.

There have been no significant maintenance or repair costs, the most expensive to date was around $150.

Bottom line: if you do not have freakishly long legs, it's a great vehicle.

I’m 6’1” with 34” inseam. I had to move the seat up a bit for comfort. I did fit in the car.

April 05, 2024, 10:46 PM

SW_Sig

My daughter is 6’3” with a 37” inseam and it fits her fine.

April 06, 2024, 12:53 AM

oldbill123

Check out the Subaru Forester/Outback also. Wife has 2021. Redesign is soon out.
Subaru, Toyota, and Honda have raised their MSRP's the least. Deals on all should be able to be had. New cars are not selling well. Especially Ford and Jeep Ram Chrysler Dodge.

April 06, 2024, 10:48 AM

Gene Hillman

I may be the cheapest guy on this forum but I would certainly consider fuel mileage in whatever selection you make. Getting a gas guzzler and paying for it with every stop at the gas station just doesn't seem like a good idea unless you are independently wealthy or own an oil well.