Car review sites?

[Wreckem]

We ended up with a CX-5 with turbo 2.5L option FWIW. It compared really favorably to the BMW X3 and at that point we didn’t drive the Audi or Volvo. BMW really lost their way with their electric power steering. Totally numb, boring and dull compared to the fantastic hydraulic racks in my E39 and E46. The CX-5 was better by quite a bit. Downside is it renewed my lust for a new ND Miata.

No PHEV power train but that might be a good thing in the end. Rather have all gas or all electric. Twice the power train = twice the likelihood for failure.

Also, we drove the RAV4 Prime first and pretty much hated it. Also hated the salesperson and dealership. Only BMW and one of the two Mazda dealers we worked with didn’t treat us like we are financially retarded.

I myself just got a Sorento Hybrid EX to replace my Niro Hybrid. It’s a fairly new vehicle just arriving lots this month. Gets good reviews but admittedly it does have some drawbacks. Those don’t bother me as I have no kids and I don’t need AWD. Heck in my 20 years of being and adult I have never had AWD in Texas.

Its only competitor is the Highlander Hybrid but the Sorento is substantially cheaper. The EX is a couple thousand cheaper than the striped base model of the Highlander and about 5k cheaper than a comparably equipped Highlander. Even then the Highlander doesn’t have all of the options.

Overall I’m happy with the deal I got and I really like the vehicle. And that’s all that matters. It is a lot better than my first year Niro. I routinely got 55mpg in my Niro which is above the epa estimate. My commute essentially is 100 miles round trip in bumper to bumper highway traffic. IE: 35-40mph stop and go traffic. I’m hoping to get above 40+ in this midsized crossover. I’ll find out this week. Roughly 700miles per tank will be nice. I plan to keep this vehicle long term.

 

[pauldun170]

We ended up with a CX-5 with turbo 2.5L option FWIW. It compared really favorably to the BMW X3 and at that point we didn’t drive the Audi or Volvo. BMW really lost their way with their electric power steering. Totally numb, boring and dull compared to the fantastic hydraulic racks in my E39 and E46. The CX-5 was better by quite a bit. Downside is it renewed my lust for a new ND Miata.

No PHEV power train but that might be a good thing in the end. Rather have all gas or all electric. Twice the power train = twice the likelihood for failure.

Also, we drove the RAV4 Prime first and pretty much hated it. Also hated the salesperson and dealership. Only BMW and one of the two Mazda dealers we worked with didn’t treat us like we are financially retarded.

Savage Geese review (my current favorite review site

 

[repoman0]

Savage Geese review (my current favorite review site

Thanks, can’t believe I forgot about these guys. I’ve watched quite a few of their performance car oriented vehicle reviews and greatly enjoy them, guess I didn’t expect them to be reviewing more mainstream vehicles. Glad to see he likes it :thumbup: The 2021 got a new infotainment system since this review, I was quite impressed with it but then again my daily driver is a 2001.

 

[Paperdoc]

I have little knowledge of SUV's and the like. For any car buying I always consult Consumer Reports, expecially their Buyers' Guide year-end issue. Their reviews are useful, but I look more at their Reliability Survey based on mechanical repair records over several years for every model commonly available. My second go-to is the series of yearly books called Lemon-Aid pubished and sold in Canada, from Phil Edmonston and the Automobile Protection Association he founded. It is totally unbiased, except maybe a tone of being suspicious of car makers' attempts to mislead. Each maker and model section tends to cover significant history of model changes, major repair issues, pluses and minuses etc. for several years past. I believe it is not normally sold in US bookstores, but you may find it in your library. Since it is updated and re-issued every year, get the most recent edition so you have more years of history included in the data. Because it's Canadian, it sometimes has more info on bad-weather / winter issues.

 

[Torn Mind]

Car reviews are mostly about the feel and features when it is new.

You want "internals", then check out speedkar99's reviews.

 

[pauldun170]

Car reviews are mostly about the feel and features when it is new.

You want "internals", then check out speedkar99's reviews.

Thats another good one.
Feel bad about his brother. Has no t-shirts left because speedkar uses them to clean up.

 

[manly]

We ended up with a CX-5 with turbo 2.5L option FWIW. It compared really favorably to the BMW X3 and at that point we didn’t drive the Audi or Volvo. BMW really lost their way with their electric power steering. Totally numb, boring and dull compared to the fantastic hydraulic racks in my E39 and E46. The CX-5 was better by quite a bit. Downside is it renewed my lust for a new ND Miata.

No PHEV power train but that might be a good thing in the end. Rather have all gas or all electric. Twice the power train = twice the likelihood for failure.

Also, we drove the RAV4 Prime first and pretty much hated it. Also hated the salesperson and dealership. Only BMW and one of the two Mazda dealers we worked with didn’t treat us like we are financially retarded.

Congrats on dodging the German depreciation disaster!
Sounds like the car is brand-new?

 

[repoman0]

Congrats on dodging the German depreciation disaster!
Sounds like the car is brand-new?

Lol, thank you. I’ve always been against luxury SUVs because in my mind, why wouldn’t one just buy both a standard basic reliable cheap SUV in addition to a small fun car to drive the 99% of the time you don’t need the extra space. Turns out some people are crazy and just always want to drive a big car with an automatic, but luckily the Mazda is more than good enough for way less money. It is indeed brand new, these similarly don’t have enough of a discount to justify hunting for a decent old one and they got some decent tech updates for 2021 anyway.

Now that this is the big responsible adult car of the household I’m thinking hard about an ND Miata for my daily in place of my 15mpg overkill V8 E39 that carries me and a backpack 99% of the time ... though I love that car as well. I need more garage space.