5 Used SUVs You Should Buy

Rev up your engines, today I'm gonna talk about five used SUVs that you should buy, now SUVs are getting more and more popular everywhere I go now, I generally see SUVs instead of cars, but since they're so popular guess what, the good ones are really expensive, why not buy a used one to save some of your hard-earned money, now as usual when I'm talking about buying a good used vehicle I'm talking about reliable vehicles, vehicles that get decent gas mileage, now number five on the list is the 2016 Honda CR-V, in 2016 the horsepower went up on the CR-V up to 185 horsepower, so it's got plenty of acceleration and they handle quite well, the CR-Vs were always a pretty good handling SUV, I mean Honda let's face it, it was a motorcycle company originally, they're really into handling and gas mileage, it gets decent gas mileage on the highway, 31 miles a gallon for an SUV in the United States is pretty good gas mileage, they don't have too many problems, they hold up quite well over time, I got a customer with one that's got 350,000 miles on it, and although it's got little rattles and creaks and stuff, it's still running pretty good, now the 2016 CR-Vs did have one problem was, if you get the all-wheel drive version, the rear differential a lot of times they have a tendency of making noise, because they've got a very special fluid you have to change all the time, but my advice is just get a two wheel drive one, you know you get all-wheel drive, you're gonna spend a lot more money on maintenance, you're gonna get worse gas mileage, unless you absolutely need all-wheel or four-wheel drive, my advice stick to front-wheel drive, hey I grew up up north and you got a front-wheel drive car up there, they go fine in the snow most of the time, and some of the Honda CR-Vs had a problem with air conditioning clutch, either making noise or wearing out, but Honda recently issued a warranty for a hundred thousand miles or seven years on those things, so if you get one that's got a noisy compressor, hey Honda's got to fix it for free, now number four on the list is a 2016 Acura RDX, you're gonna pay a lot more for it, Acura Honda it's the same company, so you know they got quality vehicles, but they are a rather luxurious car, you want more luxury in SUV, you might think Acura, you can get 279 horsepower and still get 29 miles a gallon on a highway, if you don't drive like a maniac, they got insane acceleration, my customers with them when I work on them and then road test them, boy they really are fun to drive, yeah they really have a smooth ride, they're one of the smoothest riding SUVs out there, and it's quiet roomy inside, you can take your family all over the place on that thing, it's no problem at all, now the one downside of this vehicle is, it is big and relatively heavy and it's fast, but it takes a hundred and eighty-four feet to stop when you're going 70 miles an hour, so you're not going to be bragging about how fast the thing can stop, it takes off all right, but you got to be a little bit careful with your acceleration there, you don't want to drive too fast in a heavy vehicle like that, the front-wheel drive ones are fine, the all-wheel drive Acuras have always had a history of problems with four-wheel drive transmission systems, so I would definitely stick to two-wheel drive if I was going to buy one of these, number three on the list is a 2016 Toyota rav4 the rav4 and the CR-V have been duking it out for a long time, they're both excellent smaller sized SUVs, the rav4 is the safest one, it's got the highest safety rating and it's very visible, when you're driving around you can see everything, some SUVs they're hard to back up and they got blind spots, but the rav4 really doesn't, it's a pretty quiet ride, now I've been working on cars a long time, the early rav4s, hey they were rattle traps, they bounced and rattled they could run forever, I got a customer that's got 500,000 miles on it, the new ones are a lot smoother than the old ones were, and with all Toyotas my customers with them they just keep driving and driving them, the main reason I see them is to change the oil in the car, and yeah the brake pads wear out, I do brake jobs on them but they are a really solid built car, the rav4s have a lot of space inside and they handle quite well, now some of them did have a problem with the electric door actuators, my son actually bought one and the electric door actuators broke, so he went online and got cheaper door actuators and put them in instead of buying the super expensive Toyota ones, and they're not race cars, you know they're not like the Acura with 278 horsepower, they only got 176 horsepower, but still it's a smaller vehicle, it's enough power to get it around, now number two on the list is a 2016 Toyota Highlander, you can give them a four-cylinder, six-cylinder, they don't have a hybrid version, but the most popular ones are the v6 engines, they're smooth and man they can run forever, I got a customer the one that's got 550,000 miles on, original engine, original transmission, and it still runs pretty good, people get it and when he tells them the mileage they have, they just don't believe him, I know it's real because I've worked on the car since he bought it, there's just caverns inside, there's all kinds of room for a family, if you're looking for something to haul your family around and go to the Grand Canyon and travel around the country, hey the Highlander is probably for you, behind the front seats there's 83.7 cubic feet of space, that's a lot of space you know, you could probably set up a tent in there if you wanted to, now the only downside that I really see in them is, if you do want a third row seat, the third row seat in the Highlander is somewhat cramped behind, it's not you know huge, it doesn't have the space that something like a Sequoia has, for its size the Highlander is the best SUV in its size range, and for that price because realize there's lots of SUVs out there that have a lot of space, that cost less, but they're not gonna hold up like a Toyota Highlander will, I've seen guys get Chryslers, get GM's, some of my customers will go through two or three or four of those things, one right after another, and another customer who bought a new Highlander is still driving a Highlander after those other people have bought two or three or more cars to replace theirs as they fell apart, now my top pick for buying a used SUV is a 2016 Lexus RX 350, and sure they're not giving them away, they cost a lot of money, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for, for what you're paying a Ford you get, you really can't beat the Lexus, it's got a v6 that puts out about 300 horsepower, so it's got plenty of get-up-and-go, it rides like a dream, like any Lexus, the 2016 had its suspension done over, so it's more responsive, because hey let's face it, they're competing with the Acuras at really good handling, and now the Lexus hey it's got really good handling too, but it still has a really smooth ride, and of course it's got all the electronic bells and whistles that people seem to want these days, but the most interesting thing is their electric power steering, it actually gives you more feedback than the conventional steering, it's got various settings on it, and you actually get a better feel of the road with electronic steering than it did with the old manual one with hydraulic power assist, like most Lexuses it's got a luxurious trim inside, and it also has a very quiet ride, these guys spent years perfecting things, typical Japanese you know they start out with something, and then they just start making it better a little bit a little bit at a time, and rather than jump from one model to another, they perfect what they have, it's a better philosophy really, but for those of you who are looking for cramming as many people as you can inside, no luck on this because they don't come with third row seating, I'm assuming they didn't want to destroy the luxuriousness of the vehicle, cramming in a third row seat where it really didn't fit, and messing with the ride, I kind of agree with them, you want third row seating, hey go get a gigantic Toyota like a Sequoia or something, so now you know five SUVs that would be great vehicles to buy used, cuz hey so popular these days, they're not giving away the new ones, so why not try to save a little money, find a used one instead that's gonna last, so if you never want to miss another one of my new car repair videos, remember to ring that Bell!