Hi Scotty,
Next year the lease of our 2022 Hyundai Tucson SEL,…and we do love the car and how quiet it is. We are thinking of BUYING our next car in 2024 or early 2025.
I wish we could afford a Toyota RAV4,…however with the features my wife says we must have are limiting our choices to either a Subaru Outback Premium or Hyundai Tucson Limited.
Of the two,…which would you buy? Thanks.
between the two, outback for sure.
A Toyota or Honda would be better than either but if I had to choose one of those it's the Subaru all day long. For some reasons why see the site Hyundai/Kia topic.
If you want to keep your sanity, between the two go with the Subaru. If you intend to keep your vehicles as long as Scotty or myself do, then step up to the Toyota.
I wish we could afford a Toyota RAV4,…however with the features my wife says we must have are limiting our choices to either a Subaru Outback Premium or Hyundai Tucson Limited.
Ideally, two people should come to a consensus about a vehicle they want to drive, and it should be a team effort, not your wife or you dictating. She seems to be attracted to the bells and whistles, not the underlying reliability factor. Another person mentioned a used Genesis the other day. It's just an upscale Hyundai product that wows you into buying one, only later do you realize that more recent Hyundai/Kia vehicles tend to burn oil at low mileage, for example. A slightly less loaded Toyota will way outlast a Subaru.
I guess if push comes to shove and she just has to buy all of the bells and whistles, get the Subaru, forget the Tucson, unless you like gambling and will get rid of it before 100k miles.
Beware, Hyundai dealerships will say up to one quart of oil per 1k miles is "normal", and they won't do a thing. My 1999 Ranger has 292k miles on it, and between leaks and oil consumption, it only burns a quart every 5,000 miles. It hits the minimum end of the dipstick every time I change it. Properly designed engines aren't supposed to do that.
Subaru Outback or Hyundai Tuscon
You are kinda comparing apples and oranges.
Between a practical and somewhat reliable AWD lifted station wagon,
and a technologically advanced yet mixed reliability MPV.
Out of these, the Outback is a much better car.
I wish we could afford a Toyota RAV4
Look the Tucson SEL has a starting MSRP of $29,400 and the Subaru starts at $31,195.
Surely you can buy a Toyota RAV4 for less than that, you can even fit a RAV4 Hybrid into that price bracket.
however with the features my wife says we must have are limiting our choices
Out of curiosity, are those supposedly required features?
I can not think of a single meaningful feature that a RAV4 lacks compared to an Outback.
Hi Dan,
My wife insists on having a passenger power seat and a quiet car. The RAV4 has that ONLY in its top trim from what I read,…is that correct?….thats a $45k vehicle.
Hear is my dilemma:
The Hyundai Tucson Limited has both (our 2022 Hyundai Tucson SEL is really quiet). The last 4 vehicles have been Kia and Hyundai models without any problems and kept until 75-80k miles each. Changed the oil with synthetic every 5k.
I like the bumper-to-bumper 5yr/60k and 10yr/100k of the Hyundai / Kia.
The car I had before that was a Subaru Outback which I ran until 140k miles. No. Problems either. Same oil change with synthetic every 5k. Liked the car, but then I lived in MN.
But living in Florida I don’t need an AWD - and hate the idea if I need a tire change if have to replace all 4. And the Warranty is only 36k/36mo. .Not especially fond of the CVT transmission. Does the Subaru now have a timing belt of chain?
I could get a Kia Sportage Prestige,…thoughts?
Thanks.
Well that is quite an interesting requirement, do you move your passenger seat a lot?
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I doubt it costs $45k to get that on the RAV4, since it's standard on the $40k Lexus NX base model, which is based on the RAV4.
Anyhow, looking at Edmund's website and it's standard on the 2023 Toyota RAV4 Limited, a car with an MSRP of $36,580 (USD), but that's still 5 grand over an outback...
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I don't think that a RAV4 is worth that much over an outback,
The outback is a perfectly good vehicle as is - yes there's a LineTronic CVT but to Subaru's credit it drives rather well and if maintained properly can last a very long while.
The 2.5 naturally aspirated engine has been decent so far, it does have a chain.
I do not know if the Outback is particularly quiet or not, I'd assume it's not as quiet as a
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As far as Hyundai-Kia products, I see that we are on the same page.
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You can see that I too have Kias (as you can see in my signature on the forum) and previously had Hyundais - the real drawback with them is low initial quality and that they do not age gracefully.
The longest I had a Hyundai was 112k miles on an Accent, and it began to age quite badly, the seat cushions wore out, the transmission began showing first signs of wearing out, and the I began getting valve train - meanwhile a Corolla I had at the same time with the same millage was still running like it's brand new.
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Yes, getting a HMG product is a possibility if you're not planing on keeping it after 100k miles and you're saving money doing so - that's what I personally do.
As far as Tucson vs Sportage, although they're practically the same car - The Sportage has a slight edge - both have the same kinda crappy 2.5 GDi and the same somewhat decent 8 speed, personally I like the Sportage more as the interior layout is much better and exterior design is better (although on both the exterior isn't the strong point)
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If you choose the Sportage over the Outback (for some reason), after purchase have all receipts for all the required services, see what the manual requires you to check and perform on your own, and read the fine print on the warranty - we've seen quite a few cases of Hyundai-Kia warranty being denied. (The usual case where warranty is denied is when an engine seizes, and the dealer discovers there's no oil on the dipstick)
Additionally, check that your transmission doesn't exceed 185F (85C) when driving on highway / long trips as a lot of newer HMG products are lacking proper transmission cooling.