What is the Best rated Used SUV i can Purchase?

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, graham59 said:

Agree about the second hand prices here.

Shocking , for some of the heaps of junk on offer... but that's the (government-restricted) market here, so nothing you can do about it.... except keep your money in your pocket.  

I have not looked into the second-hand market here so I'm ignorant but why is the market restricted by the government?

[davewe]

This was one area where I am glad I kept an open mind until I moved here. Janet and I initially wanted an SUV. She loved the bigger SUVs and I leaned toward a mid sized SUV. My thought was to buy a 5-6 year old SUV.

Now despite the fact that Dumaguete is swarming with SUVs it only took a few weeks living here to realise it was ridiculous for us. Driving narrow, congested one lane streets in an SUV was not going to be the driving experience I wanted to have. And looking at used car prices made me realise that the savings for buying a 5 year old Toyota or Honda would not be worth it.

So I did what I used to do in the US. I hit all the major dealerships and test drove some of the vehicles I liked and that might meet our budget. I found a vehicle I liked and that was about the same price as the used SUVs I thought I wanted. It's big enough to see over much of the traffic but small enough to be nimble in traffic.

So I would recommend not getting to married any any particular vehicle until you settle in and experience the driving in your area.

[OnMyWay]

20 minutes ago, davewe said:

So I did what I used to do in the US. I hit all the major dealerships and test drove some of the vehicles I liked and that might meet our budget. I found a vehicle I liked and that was about the same price as the used SUVs I thought I wanted. It's big enough to see over much of the traffic but small enough to be nimble in traffic.

This is like getting to the end of the Academy Award for best picture and the guy says "We have a winner.  Sorry, we are not going to tell you who it is!"  

I like our Avanza for that reason.  High enough and a tight turning radius.  We drive our little Brio around locally most of the time now and the downside is that I don't put the kids in car seats in the Brio, whereas I do in the Chevy Trailblazer.  The maintenance is high on the Chevy as well as other SUVs too, so we put most of our KM on the Brio lately, back and forth to school, supermarket, etc.

[GeoffH]

1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

I like our Avanza for that reason.  High enough and a tight turning radius.  We drive our little Brio around locally most of the time now and the downside is that I don't put the kids in car seats in the Brio, whereas I do in the Chevy Trailblazer.  The maintenance is high on the Chevy as well as other SUVs too, so we put most of our KM on the Brio lately, back and forth to school, supermarket, etc.We looked for a good 2nd hand current shape Innova with casa service record for over 6 months without finding any that weren’t either ‘for assume’ (not doing that) or so close to new price that we might as well buy new (which is what we ended up buying... new).

The Avanza is a surprisingly good city car for 4 people (or even 2 with a huge luggage space).  It is much easier to park than the Innova although for highway driving and carrying 6 or 7 adults the Innova is better.

The Rush is basically a rebodied Avanza with better safety equipment and styling so that might be an option.

Another choice without spending too much would be the Mitsubishi Xpander, latest figures show it out selling the Rush (it’s a bit wider and has a bit more passenger room.  The seats fold flat for better carrying of large objects too.

In my opinion SUVs (no matter how nice they look) and trucks (no matter how cool they look) are much much poorer city vehicles if you’re only having one car.  

The Innova is not any better in the city than an SUV but we need the seats sometimes.  But SWMBO and I use the Wigo unless we have to take the family also.

Roads here are not designed with large vehicles in mind, just something to consider.

Edited February 12, 2019 by GeoffH

[Snowy79]

For me the best vehicle is one where spare parts are available plus experienced mechanics to repair it.

I have two motorbikes and a Daihatsu Feroza.  The Feroza is a small 4x4 and great for the roads in my area but parts are a mare.  I replaced the cylinder head a few weeks back and had to source a second hand head from Manila and overhaul it. I had it running very smoothly but just as I was about to head to Cambodia it stopped running.  I sussed straight away it was a fuel supply problem but never had the time to sort it.  It went to the so called best garage in the area and when I returned it wasn't running but the mechanic said it needed new plugs and that he'd adjusted the valves. The valves that I had spent a good hour with the head on the bench adjusting perfectly.  I also explained it was running very smooth until I switched it off and it would turn over but not fire up.  To me it was a fuel supply issue as you couldn't smell fuel at the exhaust, you certainly wouldn't get 4 plugs failing at once.

The next day he called to say it was running and he thinks number 3 spark plug needs replacing.  I'd given him four spare plugs already.  I drove it home switched it off and sure enough it wouldn't fire up again.  It has an aftermarket immobiliser so to cancel that out I removed it and lo and behold it runs again and has ever since.

Some parts I'd ordered and was told would be in next week are still on order from over two months ago.

In short if you have a dealers with a decent workshop bolted on buy the best suv from there, certainly not one that needs special tools or parts ordered by a second party.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Snowy79

[OnMyWay]

47 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

Mitsubishi Xoander,

I have seen the Xpander around and like the styling.  It is slightly subdued compared to other Mitsu.  I'm not a big fan of all that jagged edge styling they have had for the past few years.

 

49 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

The Rush is basically a rebodied Avanza with better safety equipment and styling so that might be an option.

Our neighbor has a Rush and for some reason every time I glance at the front end, I think it has had a accident!  From certain angles, the bumper looks like is hanging down!