Unrelated Pilot Question

[jonaz]

I am looking for a used commuter car and I commute about 80 miles a day. I need AWD because I live in the mountains. Which car do you think would be better, based on reliability, value for the asking price, gas mileage, and traction in the snow during the winter.

1. '99 Suburu Forester- 115,000 miles for $6,000
2. '99 Honda CRV AWD- 99,000 for $7600

Both cars are in good condition, and neither have a warranty.

Thanks in advance

[jay]

The Forester has an AWD system which delivers power to all wheels all the time, in some form or fashion, whereas the CRV is a realtime AWD sysem similar to the Pilot. Translation, the CRV is mostly FWD unless the system detects wheel slip.

The Forester appears to be very reliable, and seems to have done well in crash testing.

I'd say go with the one you like the most.

[eluwak]

Do you drive a lot on unpaved "roads"? I'm having a hard time seeing why anyone needs AWD anywhere in socal

[jonaz]

I live in the San Bernardino Mountains, at 5800' elevation. Yes, we get some big snow storms during the winter. Also, black ice is a big problem.

[jpd0363]

Wow! 80 miles a day.

I'd be looking at gas mileage and then the other concerns. On a five day work week, that's over 20,000 miles annually (if you park it on the weekends).

[larryziegler]

The CR-V is extremely reliable and it handles snow pretty well. If you drive it conservatively, it can and will get up to 28 mpg on the freeway....certainly not in the mountains though. Both are very reliable, but there are more Honda dealers than Subaru dealers. If this is an EX CR-V, then, I think I'd buy that one, since I am more intune to the needs of the CR-V platform. Price-wise, I think it's priced too high, if it's a private party sale and also if its an LX model. I just chose a popular color and any SoCal zip, so never mind those.
From Edmunds.com:

1999 Honda CR-V 4 Dr EX AWD Wagon
Trade-In Private Party Dealer Retail
National Base Price $5,785 $6,873 $8,006
Optional Equipment $130 $160 $212
4-Speed Automatic Transmission $130 $160 $212
Color Adjustment
Silver $21 $25 $29
Regional Adjustment
for Zip Code 90046 $164 $195 $227
Mileage Adjustment
115,000 miles $-581 $-581 $-581
Condition Adjustment
Clean $0 $0 $0
Total $5,519 $6,672 $7,893

[Medic721]

Something to look out for, I'm not sure about the older subarus but the current ones anything above the base engine require premium gas.

-Mike.

[jonaz]

The Suburu is from a private party, while the CRV is being sold from a small dealership here in the mountains.

[larryziegler]

Make sure the timing belt has been changed on the CR-V!

[krygny]

I think the Subaru will handle much better in the snow. I had an '82 that was only front wheel drive but it was amazing in the snow. What I don't like about Subarus is their historical lack of power. I rented a Forester in Florida last year - it couldn't get out of it's own way, so things haven't changed much.

[jl_ss]

We had a 99 CRV. It was great in the snow in the our hilly Northeast area.
It was however, underpowered and in the mountains with A/C on, don't expect much better mileage than the Pilot. Because the CRV system is reactive and the Subie system is full-time, the Subie system is better in the rain. It might be better in the snow, but the CRV system got us through everything with no problems.

[jonaz]

What about tires? I heard that Suburus go through tires really fast.

[colorider]

I've owned several Subarus and IMHO their AWD system is the best on the market (including the Pilot/RidgeLine/CR-v). I used to live at 8700 feet in the mountains west of Colorado Springs and commuted 85 miles RT daily in my Subarus. NEVER had a problem!

In my experience (about 400K miles) the Subaru reliability is on par with Honda.

Moved from Pilot General to Off-Topic/Other Automobiles.

[larryziegler]

Originally posted by jonaz
What about tires? I heard that Suburus go through tires really fast.

I got 57,000 miles from the OEM BF Goodrich Touring TA's. Decent tire, too. I hear the other OEM tires (Bridgestone's) get only about 40,000 mi of wear and are noisier. The CR-V loves to rev high, so in mountain driving, you would be using 2nd gear mostly. Make sure you get the 146hp 2litre.
When I had mine, freeway driving at 80 mph w/ac on was about 24mpg....at 75mph, about 26 mpg, and at 70 mph, about 29 mpg. One of my businesss partners has an 04 Forester and says he gets 23-25 mpg on the highway. I also got a solid 20 mpg around town.