The Greatest Canadian Vehicle?

[Wormius]

I loved my Impreza until it died from a somewhat catastrophic engine failure. My only wish was that it had higher ground clearance, and obviously didn't die on the highway far away from civilization. The Crosstrek seems better in that regard.

We have a Rav4 too, and that has been really good. AWD, V6. It's sweet. The complaints are mainly about the crappy creature comforts in it. The cup holders should be in a better location. And the wind vibration noise when only the back windows are open are enough to make you want to kill.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Toyota Highlander.

Neither cheap nor expensive and holds value well. Big enough for a family as a minivan replacement, but hardly enormous. Highly winter capable. Able to haul lots of stuff, but not out of place in an urban setting. Tons of safety features and modern tech. 295 HP is more than enough for purpose. And exceptionally reliable.

In terms of suitability for the lifestyles of the largest swath of Canadians, that's my pick.

[Fuzz]

What happened to the engine? How many KM?

[aaronck]

I have a Subaru Forester XT(Turbo)

This thing with heated seats, winter tires and a car starter is a beast in the winter-very nimble and never a worry of being stuck anywhere. This is my second Subaru and I like it but don't love it as an all around vehicle. Fuel economy with the Turbo is pretty bad, and it drinks premium of course.
Heater is just ok, neither of my Subarus have provided awesome heat. The cabin is also not very well insulated so the road noise makes it not a great highway car.

[Tron_fdc]

I drive a poop ton year round for work and for activities. When I travel I constantly rent cars, so I've driven just about everything that a rental car company offers. Add to that, over the years I've driven (personally) just about every VW and Toyota model, a lot of Fords and a few chevy trucks.

By FAR the best vehicle for all round usefulness was my diesel VW Touareg. It was an AWD, pulled more than a 1/2 ton truck, was fast as hell, and was AMAZING on fuel. I pulled a 23' ski boat to Kelowna quite regularly, pulled sleds, pulled campers, you name it. I LOVED that vehicle. It's a shame you can't get the diesel anymore or I would have a new one in the garage. The limited slip diffs (can't remember the name) was pretty crazy too. That thing with winter tires was virtually unstoppable on winter roads.

I currently have '17 4Runner LTD and a '17 Highlander LTD. Both are AWD and 7 seaters, but I find the 4runner heavy and a bit gutless. The Highlander is pretty close to the T'reg, but it's not a diesel and it has no hitch. It's got the upgraded V6 in it though, so it's crazy fast for what it is and decent on fuel (far better than the 4runner). Both are decent in the snow and ice, but I prefer the Highlander when the roads are garbage (I ski and sled every weekend).

I was driving a Tundra, before that a 3/4 ton chevy truck, before that a 1/2 ton Ford truck. They all sucked in the winter unless you had something in the box, and then your fuel economy sucked. Hard to park, hogs on fuel, and totally unnecessary for pretty much ANYTHING.

tl:dr buy a new Highlander with the new V6, or a used diesel Touareg. You won't be disappointed.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

What happened to the engine? How many KM?

The piston rod put a hole through engine. It had nearly 250k on it, IIRC.

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpo...postcount=2943

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by Jbo

A vote for the Ford F-150. Truck has been amazing.

Good value and bang for your buck. Interior on my model rivals most luxury cars, 4x4 is great, supercab gives me tons of room, and I don’t rely on friends to move stuff.

Top it off with great engine ratings at V6 level also makes it a decent choice for gas milage.

Highly recommend

I see the value of having and driving a truck, but would definitely not suggest it as a good vehicle if the majority of Canadians had to only have ONE vehicle as a go-to.

[Ruttiger]

Originally Posted by Red Slinger

I happen to be in the market for a new vehicle right now so I've been asking myself the same questions.

I was looking for a AWD that was decent on fuel mileage. I think I'm currently debating either the Subaru Impreza, Subaru Crosstrek or Toyota RAV4 (possible hybrid). There are some other decent vehicles out there like Nissan Qashqai, Honda CR-V and Hyundai Tuscon. There are other similar vehicles like Volvo and VW but they're a little pricier and you don't necessarily get what you pay for from what I can tell. Some people like Jeep's but I have a real issue with the poor quality of domestics.

We're currently leasing our second of the redesigned RAV4's and have no complaints whatsoever. Bang for the buck on things we were interested in (cargo space, mileage, reliability) it was the best option out there for us (family of 3) and it hasn't let us down.

[Ruttiger]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Toyota Highlander.

Neither cheap nor expensive and holds value well. Big enough for a family as a minivan replacement, but hardly enormous. Highly winter capable. Able to haul lots of stuff, but not out of place in an urban setting. Tons of safety features and modern tech. 295 HP is more than enough for purpose. And exceptionally reliable.

In terms of suitability for the lifestyles of the largest swath of Canadians, that's my pick.

That's what we'd like to get into eventually as well when the budget allows.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by Locke

Sounds like a miserable Kingdom.

Said the guy who thinks the Jeep Patriot is a good vehicle (It had to be said)

[OMG!WTF!]

I got 560k km's out of my '96 4 runner and it just died from old age. The engine was fine. My Rav-4 is at 110k km's and just getting broken in. It's almost as big as the old 4 runner and has about twice the fuel efficiency. Funny how things change like that. I miss the option of opening the tail gate window though. I tried the new Toyota chr and it was really cool but no AWD. I see no reason to buy anything other than a Toyota. Unless it's a shaggin wagon. Then Chev all the way.

[Ashasx]

I think the average Canadian needs a smaller vehicle than they believe, so I'll say a Subaru Impreza Hatchback or Crosstrek, or something like a Golf GTI.

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

By FAR the best vehicle for all round usefulness was my diesel VW Touareg. It was an AWD, pulled more than a 1/2 ton truck,

What 1/2 ton trucks are you comparing it to? The three gas 1/2 ton trucks I’ve driven all exceed the Touareg’s 7700lb capacity.

[TheFlamesVan]

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

What 1/2 ton trucks are you comparing it to? The three gas 1/2 ton trucks I’ve driven all exceed the Touareg’s 7700lb capacity.

The base level Ram is horrible. The V6 is 4800
https://www.ramtrucks.com/en/towing_guide/

Going back a bit on Ford's, if you look at a 2008 F150 The V6 and V8(4.6l) are all below 7700lb. (page 17).

http://www.fleet.ford.ca/resources/f...TTgdeSep08.pdf

All here:
http://www.fleet.ford.ca/towing-guides/

Even the 2017's have a few engine models below the 7700.

[flylock shox]

To add another that hasn't been mentioned yet, the Mazda CX-5 AWD was high on my list too. Nice size, fun to drive as compared with most suvs, good looking, relatively cheap, very good on gas. Another good all rounder if you don't need tons of capacity.

[TheFlamesVan]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

What 1/2 ton trucks are you comparing it to? The three gas 1/2 ton trucks I’ve driven all exceed the Touareg’s 7700lb capacity.

What trucks? The Sierra is 7600lbs.

SUVs get mad towing capacity due to gear ratios and suspension and such things I'm not overly knowledgable about.

But my wife's Cherokee out tows my Sierra easily.

Edit: not talking about 2017s though. Also when you get up there in truck models = $$$$$$$$$. Where as you can buy base model SUVs with really good towing capacity. My point is you can tow with either, depending on what you need it for.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Cuz

Said the guy who thinks the Jeep Patriot is a good vehicle (It had to be said)

Philistine!

[Aleks]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Subaru's are the best bang for buck AWD out there. We have an Impreza, my dad has had a few Outbacks and a Forester. He's taken those on many back country ski trips up logging roads without issue. I'm not sure if they still do, but CMH employees used to use them to get to their lodges in winter. Before that it was the AWD Tercel that was king. The Kootenays are like a Subaru kingdom.

BC Roads pilot vehicles for leading cars up the coquihalla during snow storms and shut downs are subies as well. Was neat to see. I love my F150, great stability, 4x4 auto and H/L modes, plus an electronic locking rear differential and I'm not getting stuck anywhere

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by TheFlamesVan

What trucks? The Sierra is 7600lbs.

SUVs get mad towing capacity due to gear ratios and suspension and such things I'm not overly knowledgable about.

But my wife's Cherokee out tows my Sierra easily.

Properly equipped (tow package, which the Touareg would have too), the Sierra 1500 is good for 10,500