Originally Posted by stazzy33
Since this thread has devolved into "How should I purchase my next car?", I figure I am going to throw my current situation to the hive-mind and see what you all think.
My current car is a 2014 Mazda 3 Sport with 165,000ish kilometers on it. My daily commute to and from work is 80 km round-trip and I take monthly trips from Edmonton to Calgary or the mountains. I've owned it since new and beyond oil changes I've put about $5,000 into it, including winter tires, some interior upgrades, roof crossbars, a refurbished alternator, and a new sunroof when mine exploded on the highway (thanks Mazda).
I would like to get into a CUV or SUV (mostly for the ride height and extra storage), and have been looking for a long time a vehicle that gets good fuel economy, has decent acceleration, all the new safety features that vehicles have these days (lane-keep assist, blind spot monitoring, radar cruise control, etc) and Apple Carplay/Android auto. My main contenders for quite some time have been the 2019 turbo charged Mazda CX-5 and a used Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
Recently though, Toyota announced the RAV4 Prime which looks to be a game changer. It is a PHEV that gets an estimated 30 miles on electricity alone, has 302 HP and a 0-60 less than 6.0 seconds, and gets wicked fuel economy. This vehicle is going to be a unicorn and is already in huge demand from the dealers I have talked to. The new RAV4 Hybrids have 6-8 month wait as it is.
So, CP, what should I do:
1. Buy the new RAV4 Prime when it comes out this summer and either a. finance it or b. lease it, at likely pretty high interest rates?
2. Buy a 2019 CX-5 turbo and either a. finance it or b. lease it, at 0% as there are still a few kicking around.
3. Look at buying a used Highlander Hybrid and pay for it in cash if I can get the right vehicle, I'll need to replace the stereo with one that has AA/CP.
There seems to be lots of experts in this thread, so I feel like you all can come up with the best solution.
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