Buying A New (or Used) Car Experience During Supply Chain Shortages

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Do you all really think that a 25 year old single person is dying to drive a ‘Mom Mini Van’? Never going to happen, even if the Sienna is the best car for her (it isn’t). You really don’t see many people driving mini vans to the mountains for hiking, camping, or skiing. They don’t have great pick up going uphill and they slip and slide all over the place. See them all over town, rarely in the mountains.

Everyone in Colorado has Subarus, but she’s not that interested. My BIL has always had them. They still have the old sedan that his daughter drove in high school (I think they’ve had it about 12 years, and it was old when they got it). Just fine for using around town but can’t do the mountains anymore either. They use it as the extra car when one of theirs is in the shop or when their daughter comes to visit.

Now she’s decided to get an Audi (and to hell with the dogs and their comfort)!

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You want “cool”? IMO? A Land Rover Defender 90.

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Land Rover had (and still has) a lot of quality issues over the past few years including both doors & hoods falling off the SUV . Land Rover (& Jaguar) suffer from poor quality controls. Land Rover has 7 models ranked by Consumer Reports. All 7 received very low scores. Land Rover ranks below bottom ranked Lincoln with respect to quality & reliability.

I only referenced the minivan because another poster has suggested it more than once. I was politely trying to show that it would not be the best choice for your daughter based on her needs & preferences.(Until the other posted first suggested a minivan in this thread, I wasn’t sure that they were still being made. The only people whom I have known who drove a minivan were moms with several young children.)

The Subaru Outback Onyx & Outback Wilderness are quite different from the regular Outback.

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I’m talking cool. I’m not talking reliable. I love Ferrari’s too, but you don’t own these types of cars/SUV’s because they’re reliable. It’s when you have dot.com throw away money.

I just parked next to a relatively new Subaru Forester this week and the metal had already rusted completely through. That’s so Subaru IMO.

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Can you post the link to hoods and doors falling off Land Rovers please? I know they have always had reliability issues, but doors and hoods falling off? That’s funny.

For the record, two people that I know with have had several Range Rovers over the years, 2004-2005, 2014-2015 and 2020-2021 (six total) and I’ve never heard of any serious issues, like hoods and doors falling off. Expensive to maintain? Sure, they took them to British Motors, but no significant issues from my memory.

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I don’t know about doors and hoods, but Rovers have terrible reliability ratings. https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/land-rover/range-rover/reliability

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Was in 2019 that the Land Rover Range Rovers were recalled for door latch problems. Doors would open while the SUV was being driven. Some doors were reported to have fallen off.

About the same time there were reports of hood latch malfunctions that resulted in the car hoods opening up & flying off the vehicle while being driven.

Also, lots of leaky roofs.

Others reported Land Rover door panels falling off & Consumer Reports shared these complaints.

Not sure if still true, but Land Rover was owned by Tata of India.

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I’m not trying to defend Land Rover, but recalls are common to all sorts of cars, including my Toyotas.

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A bit of research on the internet or reading Consumer Reports regarding Land Rover vehicles might be worthwhile. Some car manufacturers have more problems than others.

I first learned of Land Rover failures by a report on CNBC (the financial network). But Consumer Reports may be a better resource as it is easier to research reports by manufacturer & model.

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I’m not in the market for anything Land Rover, but there’s a difference between someone looking to purchase a car as a reliable DD (Daily Driver) versus an auto enthusiast, who doesn’t give a lick about the money and reliability. And just wants cool, money be damned.

When you show up to the local Cars and Coffee or Caffeine and Octane with a Land Rover Defender, you’ll get lots looks. A Ferrari too BTW. Obviously, I got the wrong crowd here. :grin:

Not so much with your…(insert your reliable DD).

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Part of being cool is having a car that actually starts when you leave Caffeine and Octane. :laughing:

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Nevermind.

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At one point, probably when she was around 13, my D thought it would be great to have a minivan as long as it came with one of those entertainment systems, cushy captain’s chairs and a table with lots of cupholders. The ultimate party car!

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If possible, it helps not to be too choosy in times like this. Also, as mentioned in one of my earlier posts, please consider retaining a car broker with a good reputation. Here, for $395, you can get a car broker to handle your new car acquisition plus deal with trade-ins and lease terminations. My understanding is that, even in these times, they can work miracles.

Since I wasn’t too picky about the car that I wanted I was (hopefully) able to work a deal on my own. However, the time (and possibly money savings) that a reputable broker can bring to the process might well be worth the fee.

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Great advice. Thank you.

At present, we have one new vehicle with which we are pleased. Have test driven several other vehicles in a search for a second SUV. In addition to locating an available new vehicle, we are seeking one or two others with an engine that provides adequate power & refinement (quiet when accelerating).

Had an opportunity to reserve a Subaru Outback Wilderness but missed the one-day window as we chose to test drive a small SUV instead. Disappointed due to engine noise (Subaru Crosstrek Limited), we decided to buy the Outback Wilderness as a second new vehicle, but it was sold that day.

Have been given what may have been false information about vehicle availability by a couple of dealerships only to find that the target vehicle was sold during our immediate journey to the showroom.

Have test driven a gas powered Honda CR-V, but found the power to be underwhelming.

Refuse to test drive any vehicle with a rotary or push-button gear selector due to reported reliability issues so the Honda Ridgeline & Honda Pilot are not under consideration.

Test drove a one year old Toyota RAV4. Was noisy & unsatisfying. Not interested in a hybrid or EV at this time.

VW Atlas SUV is attractive & comfortable, but receives poor ratings for reliability & acceleration from Consumer Reports so no need to wait for one to become available.

Test drove a Jeep Gladiator, but the market adjustment premium was too high ($5,000) and were forcing ourselves to believe that it would be a suitable vehicle for our needs.

Test drove a Ford edge SUV, but the rotary dial gear selector failed to operate properly 3 out of 4 tries. The Ford salesmen do not like the rotary gear selector and gave us fair warning. Our local Ford dealership has an abundance of new vehicles, but the quality of the Edge, Explorer,and new Bronco is poor.

Plan to test drive a new 2022 Subaru Forester Wilderness on Monday (dealership closed this weekend). Is an unclaimed special order, but lacks a turbocharged engine so it is likely to disappoint as Consumer Reports shares that “acceleration isn’t exhilarating, and the engine’s noise isn’t the most pleasant”. If the newly introduced 2022 Subaru Forester Wilderness had the turbocharged engine, we would by it within an instant. Unfortunately, Subaru no longer offers a turbocharged engine for the Forester–regardless of trim level–despite an outcry by many to do so.

Other dealerships have no new vehicles available now.

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Another review

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I wish manufacturers would pay more attention to this problem.

Second, while I haven’t shopped for new or newer-used car lately, 21 mpg is very surprising for a 2022 Subaru or almost any new(er) car today IMO.

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