Please, introduce yourself (Newcomers, start here)!

spudgal

Thanks, Steve. Eww! ICED tea. You're supposed to throw it away when it get cold . I've visited the Wrangler crew, plus the Infiniti & MDX chaps. Great forums all round. Keep up the great work!

Anne

stever

No, no, that wasn't a typo. It really is "ice tea" from where I come from :-)

Steve
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davidert

This is the first message board I've ever written on. I am in the U.S. military returning from overseas. I own a Volvo 850, and am looking to purchase a new SUV (or a very good late model used one). The new SUVs that I've looked at that I like so far are the Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, Ford Explorer XLT, Toyota Highlander V6, and I'm interested in the Honda Pilot. I am trying to stay below 30K after taxes and tags, and in reality would like to be closer to 25K than 30K. Which of these vehicles is the best choice? I plan on using it for normal driving mostly, but I want to have the ability to go off-road and have a little fun too sometimes.

stever

Welcome to Town Hall and welcome home!

Check out this topic for some ideas and maybe branch out to the model specific topics in the SUVs list:

Exactly $30,000...Best luxury and rugged combined SUV could be????

There's also a handy comparison tool linked on the main edmunds.com page.

Steve
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bobw92

I'm Bob W. This forum is extremely informative. I am looking to buy a new Pilot or MDX. I live in New Mexico.

tidester

¡Bienvenidos!

I am sure you've already found the Pilot and MDX boards. We're glad you're here!

tidester
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froggy47

Hi group,

Serious shopping for a Suburban Z71, drove half a dozen this last week & found one thru GM Buy Power locator tonight, next town over. Hope it's there tomorrow.

See ya.

stever

Good luck on the hunt tomorrow. After you drive it home, check out the Surburban Owner's Club, and welcome to Town Hall.

Steve
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pyro49

Long time truck owner {mostly Fords}New SUV owner even if I don't get to drive it much-I am paying for it after all.Wife's wheels,I'm driving around in a 18 year old Ford F-150.I want a new Ford F-150 ext. cab 4x4,but I'll settle for a 4 year old Explorer to haul around the grandkids.My likes are computers(lol),trucks trucks and more trucks.I live in snow country and a truck is a way of life here or as the saying goes"8 months of winter 4 months of poor ice fishing".I'm pleased I found a site that has info and advice about TRUCKS!!!

stever

Don't miss the Pickups Board either. (My brother drives an F-150 btw).

Steve
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ahasher

We (the wife) just took delivery of a 2000 Explorer XLT SOHC with every option I think, (couldnt ask for a slightly used vehicle to be in better condition.. and THEY actually made the offer better several times to get her to sign ) so that makes us SUV owners. Im a member in the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab Owners thread, and have been for 2 years. Excellent group of people there, providing a great exchange of experiences and information.. and hope to have the same here.. and so far I have..

stever

Welcome to SUVs. We have several Ford Owners Clubs but don't have an active one for Explorer owners. Maybe we can get you to "seed" one?

Steve
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casecom2

I live in St. Paul, MN and own a 1996 Honda Civic, which I love, but now that I'm a homeowner I'm looking for something that has a little more cargo space.

So far I'm leaning toward a Subaru Forester, but a VW Passat wagon and Honda CR-V are also possibilities. The Protege5 looks mighty tempting except for those performance tires in my Minnesota winters!

Anyway ... interesting forums. Glad to be here.

stever

If you need any help finding your way around, please ask.

Steve
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missgail1

I am interested in the Toy. Highlander, questions on the 4 cy vs 6 cy. Thanks for the informaton, Miss Gail.

stever

Welcome to Town Hall. I had my beignet fix about 5 months ago although I was bummed to learn that the Morning Call had left the Quarter (we're big on donuts around here).

The Toyota Highlander discussion would be a good place to start.

Steve
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goldienut

I'm Jody and I am interested in the Honda Pilot. I like the Toyota Highlander but need a few more seats for passengers. I own a 2000 Toyota Camry and a 1993 Mercury Villager (which I want to replace with the new vehicle).

stever

The first new owner's reports are coming in fast on the Honda Pilot board. I hope you only need to put kids in that 3rd row!

Welcome,

Steve
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dennys1

I EVERYONE, I AM NEW AT THIS AND HAVE A UNIQUE QUESTION.
I AM LOOKING AT A 96 TAHOE THAT HAS SOME KIND OF AFTERMARKET CUSTOM PACKAGE ON IT. JDP CHROME HEADERS,EDLEBROCK SHOCKS, POWER MOON ROOF
PLASTIC WOOD TRIM ON DOORS,STEERING WHEEL,DASH,ETC.ALSO HAS FIBERGLASS
RUNNING BOARDS, FACT. PAINTED VENT VISORS,BUG SHIELD AND REAR ROOF
SPOILER AND 4 WHEEL DISC BRAKES. THIS LOOKS PROFESSIONALLY DONE BUT THERE ARE NO NAME TAGS OR LOGO EXCEPT FOR CHEVY BOWTIE W/ THE
"CADILLAC LEAF WRAP" AROUND THE BOWTIES. THIS IS ON DASH AND BOTH
EXTERIOR B PILLARS.
DOES ANYONE RECOGNIZE THIS PACKAGE???
THE TAHOE IS SHARP AND THE ALL DISC BRAKE SETUP IS NEAT.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP;
DENNYS1

stever

Try the GMC Yukon/Chevy Tahoe discussion. More owners will be there than in the comparison topics.

Welcome to Town Hall (and please lose the CAPS - it's considered "shouting" and is hard to read - thx!)

Steve
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bigdog2000

Just recently found Town Hall while researching an upcoming new car purchase. Have owned mostly trucks/vans through the years since my 1974 Ramcharger purchased new when I was fresh out of college. (I confess to also enjoying a zippy little car as a diversion; an urge that has peaceably been sleeping since giving up my 280Z, until that pesky WRX came to the states.)

Currently my 2000 Excursion V10 (purchased new) is my main rig, I affectionately call it the "Big Dog"! I travel throughout the western US towing a boat a bunch. Used to use full size vans for this until someone finally built a 4x4 self enclosed platform large enough to accommodate my gear and provide a ready-made bed for sleep when necessary on those 20+ hour road trips. Glad Ford did it. Sure is much safer towing through the mountains. It's been a fantastic rig, though I realize it may not be the rig for everybody.

Was happy to find the Excursion forum. Hopefully I can help contribute, plus I know I'll learn a lot from others' experiences.

And oh yes. My wife's main ride is a 2001 Forester S Premium. She loves it, and so do I (when she let's me drive it!)

Thanks for the venue.

BigDog2000

stever

Welcome to Town Hall. In addition to the Excursion (and Forester) discussions, check out the Towing tips for SUVs board.

Steve
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paisan

I had an 83 Ramcharger 2wd. Loved it til the doors literally fell off at 250K miles! Also love my subies as well. Be sure to check out the Subaru Owner's club it's quite active here!

-mike

bigdog2000

Will do guys. Thanks for the welcome.

Paisan, have noticed some of your posts on the WRX forums already, where I've been spending way too much time dreaming.

Looking forward to being active in SUVs and scooby forums.

And awaaaay, we go!

BD00

marlenen

I'm a new member. I just bought a 2003 Forester XS and will pick it up on Thursday. I currently have a 2001 Forester Ltd.

I'm interested in any posts on Foresters

stever

Welcome to Town Hall and congrats on the new Subaru! The main Forester discussion is here. (Look for the Owner's Club link there too).

Steve
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lllinder

Hi,
I just finished grad school and am in the market for a little suv. I've been unofficially researching for months, but just can't seem to make up my mind. I've been looking at the Santa Fe and drove a Jeep Liberty today, but am still at a loss. I like the power of the 3.7 in the Jeep, but love the extras on the Santa Fe...any suggestions?
Linda

tidester

Welcome aboard!

We have several active and exciting forums dealing with Jeeps and Santa Fe (and anything else you can imagine!) If you haven't already discovered them, I recommend visiting those boards and discussing your situation with current owners of these vehicles.

Congratulations on finishing grad school and we look forward to seeing you on the boards!

tidester
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paisan

Might want to checkout the Forester, Kia Sorento, CRV.

-mike

lynnm1

Hi, ya'll-taking the big step of buying a new car, first one in 11 years (they sure have gotten 'spensive). Hoping to get some good SUV advice. Buying a new vehicle requires lots of homework, and I think I've found a huge resource here. Thanks in advance from a Georgia girl.

tidester

Welcome aboard! We're looking forward to seeing you in the forums. You'll find lots of helpful and informative folks here!

tidester
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loritbo

I am looking at 2002/2003 suburbans and trying to decide about the seating configuration. I'd love to have input from any and all who have opinions about it. I've got two teenage boys who like to sleep on road trips and are used to stretching out on the 2nd and 3rd row bench seats. I found the captain's chairs to be very comfortable, but just don't know if I would be happy with these in the long run. Any help out there?

tidester

Welcome to the Town Hall! Have you checked out GMC Yukon XL/Chevy Suburban?

tidester
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lgriffin4

I am a 2002 Chevy Suburban owner , I am having problems with the dealership . I would really like some advice . The dealership made an error on the P.O. , the financing transaction between the credit union and myself is complete . Done deal . Seems the finance mngr (dealership) accidently subtracted my GM Supplier discount twice , 723.86 . They are demanding that I repay the 723.86 . Am I leagally bound to do this ????

paisan

If it's in the contract tell em to take you to court! But I'd consult a lawyer to make sure.

-mike

tidester

Welcome to the Town Hall!

Am I leagally bound to do this ????

Of course you are. It's not your money. Why would you want to keep what doesn't belong to you? It's not like you found it in a landfill. Rather, it was the equivalent of a typo.

I had a similar situation once when closing a bank account. They gave me more (by several hundred dollars) than was actually in my account and it was THEIR error! The first I heard of it was when they took legal action against me shifting the blame from themselves.

After providing proof that it was their error, I demanded and received a written apology from the president of the bank upon which I gladly returned their money. I was prepared to take it to court simply on the principle that they initially had attempted to shift the blame to someone else.

I don't think your claim would stand up in court but I just don't see the point of walking away with their money unless they had wronged you in some manner.

tidester
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paisan

I dunno, a contract is a contract. That is why they have high priced lawyers read it before they sign it. I'd tell them to go after their lawyers for the $! On a side note, when I picked up my '00 Trooper they actually gave me all the paperwork and I signed for a Limited Model instead of the LS model that I was actually buying and picking up. Since the dealership is my friends I agreeed to go back and swap paperwork with them. To this day I joke with em about how I should have gone back and demanded the Limited model

-mike

tidester

Indeed, a contract is a contract is a contract. However, do you really think it was the intent of the dealer to GIVE the customer extra money and the customer's intent to accept extra money? I don't think so!

It was a typo and it's not the customer's money! Moreover, we have the customer publicly proclaiming he wasn't entitled to it and admitting it was a clerical error.

tidester
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cobra98

Not really that new here. Been around for several years but forgot to check out these boards in quite some time.

Name: John

Likes: Fords, cars, quads, boats, beer, guns and running/biking

Dislikes: Cars with more stickers than paint trying to look fast. There's another word for this but I know Shifty doesn't allow it...

Current vehicles:
2001 Ford F150 Lariat 4x4 5.4
2000 Ford Expedition 4x4 5.4
1998 Ford Mustang Cobra Convertible
1972 Ford Mustang Mach 1 351
1967 Buick Electra 225 w/ 430 Wildcat

stever

Well, welcome to this corner of Town Hall, John!

Steve
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payson

Just joined these boards, and I am looking forward to sharing information with other owners.

Currently we own:
1993 Toyota Land Cruiser 146K
2000 Toyota Sienna 36K

payson

Just joined these boards, and I am looking forward to sharing information with other owners.

Currently we own:
1993 Toyota Land Cruiser 146K
2000 Toyota Sienna 36K
2000 Ford F-150 38K

We live in South Georgia.

tidester

Welcome aboard! If you haven't already checked out the SUVs and Pickups boards those would be good places to start. Enjoy!

tidester
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wylieinnorman

Hi, guys! I'm currently shopping for a 3-seat SUV and have found this site very informative. Seriously considering: Honda Pilot, Toyota Sequoia, Mercury Mountaineer, GMC Envoy XL/Isuzu Ascender. Also looked at: Durango, Montero, Rendevouz. What am I missing? Don't want anything that stickers in the high 30's, and it has to fit in the garage (no Yukon/Expedition/Excursion/Suburbans). Also, better half says "no minivans!"

Originally came here looking for info on the Ascender, which I thought should be out by now or within a few weeks, but the info was fairly sparse and the discussion thread was dead. Any help, guys?

Thanks!
Wylie in Norman
'99 Dakota SLT Club Cab
'00 Isuzu Rodeo LS

stever

You have a lot on your plate to plow through. Did you find the SUV topic list? (click on SUVs in the drop-down box at the top left where it says Select Message Board. Then click on the display ALL discussions link). You may be best off picking one of the comparison topics and asking for ideas there.

Welcome!

Steve
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paisan

All it is is a LWB version of the Trailblazer/Envoy/Bravada w/V8 option. It will have the wonderful build quality of those 3 vehicles (look up the Triplets topic here on edmunds for the miriad of problems) so even though the Ascendor will have a 10/120 and 3/50K warranty, I'd stick with the GM branded versions just because there are more dealers to service them which they will need often. I'm a die-hard Isuzu fan, (http://isuzu-suvs.com) but this one will be GMs final blow to sink the Isuzu ship

-mike

wylieinnorman

Yes, that's why I said "Envoy XL/Ascender" on my list of considerations.

Trust me, I will be taking owner quality surveys, such as J.D. Powers, Consumer Reports, etc. into consideration. As much as I respect the opinion of those who post to a board like this, it is hardly a 'representative sample'. I'd rather get the overall picture.

And I wouldn't think that I would have any trouble getting any GM service dept to service an Ascender, since the parts are all the same. Ford works on Mazda trucks, right?

paisan

Won't honor the Isuzu Ascendor warranty. Isuzu is only 49% owned by GM and that goes down to 12% next year. Ford owns Mazda in whole, and I don't think you can get your mazda serviced at a ford dealer.

If you are paying for it then yeah they'll repair it, but warranty would be Isuzu dealer only.

-mike

xandismom

Hi everyone,

Julia here from New Orleans looking for the perfect hurricane evacuation vehicle that can accommodate two big dogs, a baby, me and my hubby and all our stuff (even if the stuff has to go on the roof). Right now we have a 1995 Toyota 4Runner that is perfect EXCEPT the back seat is a bit too narrow for getting a toddler in and out (and ok, the cup holder in front of the a/c is kind of aggravating too, but that is not a deal-breaker). I heard the newer 4Runners have more back seat room, but they significantly cut down on the cargo area so that our two full-size dogs wouldn't fit comfortably for a long haul.

We love the ground clearance, truck-like handling, and cargo capacity in this vehicle, but need to trade it soon for another used or new vehicle. I would prefer not to get into the big, big SUVs like Expeditions, but if we have to, guess we will. Anybody know of anything that would fit the bill?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

stever

Welcome to Town Hall! Maybe you'd best get a speedboat for when the levees finally give way and park your car up around Natchez?

Lots of options - guess I'll recommend the comparison articles for a place to browse, and we have lots of SUV comparison discussions here. Good luck, and hope Lili starts to fade away (sounds like 10+ inches of rain should hold you guys for a while!).



Steve

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