Suv Vs A Sedan

[leonardo]

Hi,

Having only owned cars all my life I am finally considering going for a Japanese SUV purely because I reckon it will be cheaper to maintain in the long run than a car. The last few days with all the rains the roads around my area have become worse and my car has taken quite a beating with all the potholes its gone into! People I know who own SUV's say that apart from the higher fuel consumption, I will probably have less repairs over a 4 year period than I would with a car. Any SUV owners in this forum agree? I can imagine the suspension being hardier.

I'm on the lookout for used GT X trail or if I get a decent raise this year, maybe I'll look at the new Vitara. Anyone with any experience with these?

[dragster]

Hi,

Having only owned cars all my life I am finally considering going for a Japanese SUV purely because I reckon it will be cheaper to maintain in the long run than a car. The last few days with all the rains the roads around my area have become worse and my car has taken quite a beating with all the potholes its gone into! People I know who own SUV's say that apart from the higher fuel consumption, I will probably have less repairs over a 4 year period than I would with a car. Any SUV owners in this forum agree? I can imagine the suspension being hardier.

I'm on the lookout for used GT X trail or if I get a decent raise this year, maybe I'll look at the new Vitara. Anyone with any experience with these?

hey leanardo... well it doesnt got much of a difference with todays SUV's in the market... most of them are just for show.. not like in the real old days where they made it to with stand any terrain.. well most of the terrains... but I guess to some extent it will be ok... also it will be an easy ride on the pot holes...

but lets see what Fuzo's got to say as well... he's got an X-trail...

[xXx]

i would prefer a SUV over a sedan any day. simply coz they are big. not too sure bout the maintenance part i recon if you were careful n keep up with the regular maintenance it shouldn’t be that bad to maintain a sedan. IMO its not that easy to maintain a SUV.

[Gummybr]

i would prefer a SUV over a sedan any day. simply coz they are big. not too sure bout the maintenance part i recon if you were careful n keep up with the regular maintenance it shouldn’t be that bad to maintain a sedan. IMO its not that easy to maintain a SUV.

Correct choice leonardo. The SUV is far better than a sedan when it comes to travelling in Sri Lankan roads, considering the state of the roads and the oncoming buses and big vehicles.

But I do not know for certain about the cost of maintenance as against a sedan car, but petrol consumption would be somewhat similar cars with the X-Trail giving around 7-8kms per litre depending on your driving ability & where you drive it.

As a matter of fact if ground clearance is your issue you might consider something like a HRV or a Suzuki Ignis / Swift / Chevorlete Cruise with somewhat of a better ground clearance, but I dont know whether they will be small for you.

[rajiv]

I guess it all comes down to your personal preference and usage.

A SUV will never be able to give you the handling of a sedan (with the possible exception of the Forester STi). Also an SUV will on average, as mentioned in previous posts, consume more fuel than a sedan. You cannot expect performance figures of a sedan from the average SUV (again with some exceptions). I am not 100% sure about this, but I believe that maintenance figures are higher on SUVs when compared with sedans. So if your the kinda person who enjoys a ride with good handling characteristics and decent performance, a sedan would be the choice vehicle.

On the flip side, you cannot expect a sedan to go places where a SUV is able to go (especially noting the poor ground clearance of sedans). And some people prefer the high driving position of SUVs as opposed to the 'butt-on tarmac' position of sedans. So if your the kinda person who likes to lord over others on the road (phrase credit to JC) and prefers the odd off-road experience, the SUV would be your choice!

Like I said, it all comes down to your personal preference and usage.

[Hola]

Correct choice leonardo. The SUV is far better than a sedan when it comes to travelling in Sri Lankan roads, considering the state of the roads and the oncoming buses and big vehicles.

But I do not know for certain about the cost of maintenance as against a sedan car, but petrol consumption would be somewhat similar cars with the X-Trail giving around 7-8kms per litre depending on your driving ability & where you drive it.

As a matter of fact if ground clearance is your issue you might consider something like a HRV or a Suzuki Ignis / Swift / Chevorlete Cruise with somewhat of a better ground clearance, but I dont know whether they will be small for you.

X-trail does only 7-8kms per liter?

No machang a Nissan will do better than that..Now where is our Fuzzo?

[dragster]

X-trail does only 7-8kms per liter?

No machang a Nissan will do better than that..Now where is our Fuzzo?

wow that's something new coming from you....

[Pericles]

X-trail does only 7-8kms per liter?

No machang a Nissan will do better than that..Now where is our Fuzzo?

Fuzzo says his X-Trail will do 7 on a good day.

And no, Nissans are comparatively not good on fuel. Thats acknowledged.

Edited June 23, 2006 by Pericles

[isurujosh]

Correct choice leonardo. The SUV is far better than a sedan when it comes to travelling in Sri Lankan roads, considering the state of the roads and the oncoming buses and big vehicles.

But I do not know for certain about the cost of maintenance as against a sedan car, but petrol consumption would be somewhat similar cars with the X-Trail giving around 7-8kms per litre depending on your driving ability & where you drive it.

As a matter of fact if ground clearance is your issue you might consider something like a HRV or a Suzuki Ignis / Swift / Chevorlete Cruise with somewhat of a better ground clearance, but I dont know whether they will be small for you.

i guess leonardo doesn't require terrain experience , so SUV should be ideal, yah HRV is the best deal...

[dragster]

I guess it all comes down to your personal preference and usage.

A SUV will never be able to give you the handling of a sedan (with the possible exception of the Forester STi). Also an SUV will on average, as mentioned in previous posts, consume more fuel than a sedan. You cannot expect performance figures of a sedan from the average SUV (again with some exceptions). I am not 100% sure about this, but I believe that maintenance figures are higher on SUVs when compared with sedans. So if your the kinda person who enjoys a ride with good handling characteristics and decent performance, a sedan would be the choice vehicle.

On the flip side, you cannot expect a sedan to go places where a SUV is able to go (especially noting the poor ground clearance of sedans). And some people prefer the high driving position of SUVs as opposed to the 'butt-on tarmac' position of sedans. So if your the kinda person who likes to lord over others on the road (phrase credit to JC) and prefers the odd off-road experience, the SUV would be your choice!

Like I said, it all comes down to your personal preference and usage.

well said Rajiv...

but also if your not that much a speed freak.. I think you should go for the SUV.. cause sri lankan roads are horried... if the jap see's are road he'll not even export their vehicles here anymore.. lol...

but however... suv is are better option on our rutty roads... you can just fly through easily other than a sedan..

[fuzzo]

i don't know how true the part mentioned regarding the SUV maintainance cost being lower than a car. it all depends on you. if you care for the suv as you did for the car, there should be no difference actually on the maintanance.

apart from that, i totally agree that suv is the way to go for our roads. just dont expect it to perform like a sedan.

as for the xtrail gt, i do know one that for sale, send me an email if interested. [email protected] there is also a nice x-trail for sale on the classifieds

i was going to go for it but have decided to stay away from it simply because of the CVT gearbox.

[sharkster]

Fuzzo says his X-Trail will do 7 on a good day.

And no, Nissans are comparatively not good on fuel. Thats acknowledged.

yea he averages 6 but mainly cos he runs on 90 octane...im sure its usually better cos those 2.5L X-Trails r doin pretty well...reliable sources say 8

update!totally OT but my sunny is FINALLY doin 11-12 in colombo!! if any1 needs sum1 gud on carbs let me knw...

[Hola]

yea he averages 6 but mainly cos he runs on 90 octane...im sure its usually better cos those 2.5L X-Trails r doin pretty well...reliable sources say 8

update!totally OT but my sunny is FINALLY doin 11-12 in colombo!! if any1 needs sum1 gud on carbs let me knw...

Is there a Xtrail on 2000cc engine?

[fuzzo]

the recon x-trails are 2lt and the brand new came in 2.5

[Hola]

the recon x-trails are 2lt and the brand new came in 2.5

Fuzzo, i saw a Dieasel Xtrail with GTZ logo with DPL numbers

[fuzzo]

yes there are diesel x-trails... there are even manual x-trails.. saw one advertised in the papers...

[xXx]

Fuzzo, i saw a Dieasel Xtrail with GTZ logo with DPL numbers

ooooooooooooh what a surprise

[Hola]

Yeah it is a surprize...I never seen SUVs in dieasel. Never seen Pajero IO, CRVs,HRVs,RAV4s in dieasel...why have you?

[Gummybr]

Yeah it is a surprize...I never seen SUVs in dieasel. Never seen Pajero IO, CRVs,HRVs,RAV4s in dieasel...why have you?

The X Trail Diesel is a 2.2litre which is supposed to be quite economical according to motorcar magazines.There are Diesel SUV's in the country but you wont find a hell of a lot becuase of the high duty on diesel vehicles. People entitled to duty free imports (like ministers, NGO's & some professional businessmen bringing in a lot of foreign earnings to the country are entitled) do bring down diesels. But on the long run it will cost the same as a petrol to run because of the maintenance factor.

BTW Earlier Suzuki Japan said no to the Vitara Diesel in Sri Lanka cos of the pollution in Sri Lanka plus the quality of the diesel. Most brand new Vitara diesels failed in Sri Lanka. (Check with Aitken Spence Hotels - They still have a diesel Vitara bought on the hotel permit).

But still there are quite a few diesel SUV's which came in recently on the MP's (Prado, Montero, X3, Patrol, Discovery3) & retiring government servants permit (Freelander, Sportage).

[xXx]

The X Trail Diesel is a 2.2litre which is supposed to be quite economical according to motorcar magazines.There are Diesel SUV's in the country but you wont find a hell of a lot becuase of the high duty on diesel vehicles. People entitled to duty free imports (like ministers, NGO's & some professional businessmen bringing in a lot of foreign earnings to the country are entitled) do bring down diesels. But on the long run it will cost the same as a petrol to run because of the maintenance factor.

BTW Earlier Suzuki Japan said no to the Vitara Diesel in Sri Lanka cos of the pollution in Sri Lanka plus the quality of the diesel. Most brand new Vitara diesels failed in Sri Lanka. (Check with Aitken Spence Hotels - They still have a diesel Vitara bought on the hotel permit).

But still there are quite a few diesel SUV's which came in recently on the MP's (Prado, Montero, X3, Patrol, Discovery3) & retiring government servants permit (Freelander, Sportage).

i have to disagree with you on your comment about maintenance cost of a diesel. it wont be that much unless you come across a major repair. so the best thing is to use it for about 3-4 years and sell it off. anyway this is the trend with any car these days as i've hardly come across someone who uses the same car more than 5 years.

there are quite a few 1996 model and 1999 model diesel vitaras brought down under the then common government servant permit.

[noaim]

i have to disagree with you on your comment about maintenance cost of a diesel. it wont be that much unless you come across a major repair. so the best thing is to use it for about 3-4 years and sell it off. anyway this is the trend with any car these days as i've hardly come across someone who uses the same car more than 5 years.

there are quite a few 1996 model and 1999 model diesel vitaras brought down under the then common government servant permit.

Hmm could this permit be used to bring down 97/99 model prados and intercooler pajeros? i see a lot of em in car sales, unregistered!

[sharkster]

i have to disagree with you on your comment about maintenance cost of a diesel. it wont be that much unless you come across a major repair. so the best thing is to use it for about 3-4 years and sell it off. anyway this is the trend with any car these days as i've hardly come across someone who uses the same car more than 5 years.

there are quite a few 1996 model and 1999 model diesel vitaras brought down under the then common government servant permit.

an interesting fact i rememberd wit regard to buyin hybrids over the petroleum counterparts...the hybrid version of the lexus RX is 5000 USD more than the normal petrol version but u cannot recover that money wit savings in fuel from the hybrid in several yrs (cant remembr how many)...i got this from an msn article...i guess the only gud ur doin is savin the environment

[AMG]

But still there are quite a few diesel SUV's which came in recently on the MP's (Prado, Montero, X3, Patrol, Discovery3) & retiring government servants permit (Freelander, Sportage).

X3

Do you mean BMW X3, I haven't seen any X3s in SL, is there any?

I've seen only X5s.

[sharkster]

X3

Do you mean BMW X3, I haven't seen any X3s in SL, is there any?

I've seen only X5s.

seen 2 or 3...there shud b one in the showroom rite now...

[xXx]

Hmm could this permit be used to bring down 97/99 model prados and intercooler pajeros? i see a lot of em in car sales, unregistered!

no no i was talking about the permits issued in late 90's for government servents. don't know how thoes prados and intercooler pajeros were brought down. fuzzo ment to go check them out and update us . any clues how much they are and are they diesel or petrol???