Soft Roaders certainley ripping sales off the family sedan!

Submitted: Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 21:56
ThreadID: 91305 Views:3126 Replies:4 FollowUps:6
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I sometimes think manufactures are a headache to them selves...Lol.

Subaru have the new XV high clearance Suv on the way, Good looking little machine, But they have the Forrester, and outback and tribeca to sell all capable of the same thing !

The so called family sedan with all makes must be on the decline you would think, considering the amount of soft roaders and other people movers flooding the market from all over the place, Theres a mountain of competition out there now!..lol., At least it keeps pricing keen.

Cheers Axle.
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Reply By: The Bantam - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 23:41

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 23:41
I realised a few years ago that the SUV soft roader has more or less replaced bothe the family sedan and definitely the family stationwaggon.

AND for good reason.
That reason is the SUV is far more fit for purpose than the traditional sedan or station waggon.

Toyota has not marketed a stationwaggon in australia for some years now.

A few years ago we went shopping for a new car for the handbrake......she realy liked her corrola, and started out thinking iunnterms of a corrola waggon..which was a great thing.....but they no longer offer one.

SO, we ended up buying a RAV4.........now having owned one.....no way we would go back to a traditional stationwaggon.

consider also that a RAV comes in at less than you would be paying for a waggon version of the current flagship sedan.

cheers
AnswerID: 475375

Reply By: Member - Alastair D (NSW) - Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 09:57

Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 09:57
Axle,
Definitely agree. A couple of months ago we went looking for a replacement for the VW Jetta sedan and nearly bought the same thing again. Whilst looking in the dealers we realised just how many SUVs there were and just how functional they were. We spent a couple of busy weeks looking at the huge range of different brands and models. Some brands seemed to be confusing themselves with the overlapping range. It seemed to me to be a bad example of widespread poor coordination between market reserach, knowledge of what the buyers wanted, design teams and long lead times to market.

Ended up with a Subaru Forrester - first Subaru we have owned and got a very good deal because of market competition and a looming new model.

cheers
AnswerID: 475393

Follow Up By: Axle - Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 15:24

Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 15:24
Good choice Alastair, I had a Subie Liberty for 15yrs, great vehicle,..and what i like about subaru is the all the electrics doors etc, work just the same ten yrs later, Excellent build quality!.


Cheers Axle.
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FollowupID: 750355

Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 16:59

Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 16:59
The only reason we bought out first Xtrail is because we needed to cart elderly parents around and the Xtrail was high enough that you could easily slide them into the back seat. Lowering them down and lifting them out of a sedan is too hard. Won't go back to a low sedan.

Most SUVs are available with diesel motors. Our Tiguan does 800k per tank around town.
Most now have cheaper 2wd versions.
Most have 5 star ANCAP.
AnswerID: 475428

Follow Up By: Member - Alastair D (NSW) - Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 17:51

Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 17:51
Phil,
Our Jetta which the Forrester replaced had the 2L diesel which is the same as in your Tiguan and gave us excellent economy typically averaged 6L/100km around town. We considered a Tiguan but could not get a deal near the Subaru and the space at the rear was a bit tight as we often need to carry 2 wheelchairs for elderly parents.

The Jetta was reliable until near the end of our ownership 4yrs/75K when we started to see the central locking being intermittent and the a/c sometimes losing track of temperature and blasting us with hot air. Turning off and on fixed it so I am sure it was gremlins in the electrics.

cheers
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FollowupID: 750366

Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 22:37

Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 22:37
Gday Alastair,
Biggest criticism of the Tig is the small boot space. You can make it bigger by sliding the rear seat forward, but then there's no room for the rear passengers! It fits my MIL's walker so suits us fine. The Forrester is a better size.

Our Tig is almost 3 years old and done 45k. Gremlins in the electronics is what worries me too. We've had just the one problem so far - a throttle body was replaced after the engine fault light came on. We're thinking for the first time ever that we should extend the warranty - will cost $1390 for an extra 3 years, which might be good insurance. On a Toyota or Nissan, I've never considered extending the warranty. But the Tiguan has been the nicest car we've ever owned, so we're going to keep it.

Cheers
Phil
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FollowupID: 750403

Follow Up By: Member - Alastair D (NSW) - Friday, Jan 20, 2012 at 08:58

Friday, Jan 20, 2012 at 08:58
Phil,
When we were shopping around this time I became very aware of the differences between many of the 'extended' warranties. Unfortunately for the dealers I tend to read fine print & details.

We considered the Mitsubishi Outlander and its 5/10 warranty is without doubt the best on the market. Since I was not sure how long we will keep the vehicle we bought this time I decided to make sure we had 5 years warranty and made that part of the deal equation.

We found that many dealers were offering extended warranties that are provided by third parties and there were many exclusions. The only ones we found who were prepared to provide true extension of the 3 year factory warranty were Holden for the Captiva and Subaru, but these had to be paid at the time of original purchase. This became the clincher for us as the Subaru dealer offered the best package deal. I would have bought the Mitsubishi, even though the finish was very plastic, but the road noise was terrible.

So in long winded fashion I am saying read carefully the exclusions if you consider purchasing the extended warranty on the Tiguan. I did consider this for the Jetta when it came to near 3 years and decided the 3 party warranty offered by the dealers was just not worth it as too many things were excluded or had major limits on the sum covered.

I was up at Warraweena again recently and recalled the campfire chats we had during the ExploreOz gathering some years back.

cheers
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FollowupID: 750417

Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Friday, Jan 20, 2012 at 23:45

Friday, Jan 20, 2012 at 23:45
Gday Alastair,
Time sure flies! That Warraweena gathering was where I put a lot of faces to names - good to see many are still on the forum. Haven't been able to make it to a gathering since unfortunately.

Thanks for the warning about extended warranty. I've read it up on the VWWatercooled forum and Allianz do the VW extended warranties. The broker who quoted me assurred me that I was buying exactly the same as if I bought it from the VW dealer. I've got the fine print to read this weekend and we still have a couple of months yet before we decide.

cheers
phil
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FollowupID: 750484

Follow Up By: Member - Alastair D (NSW) - Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 at 09:50

Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 at 09:50
Phil,
I haven't made it to another gathering either. Always seems something else in the way.

On the way back from Warraweena to Sydney I dropped in to see Willem. They are both relatively well and busy plus not enjoying the joys of getting older which I share. They were planning a trip to Qld this year for some archaelogical experience and have softened to a small caravan as I see you have.

cheers
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FollowupID: 750506

Reply By: ross - Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 23:24

Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 23:24
What happened to Holden Commodore AWD ,I havent seen it advertised for a while.?
AnswerID: 475455

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