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SUV Body-on-frame or unibody
Ken:
I would recommend the Ford Explorer with 4.0 L V-6. I bought a 2004 last year for my daughter at year end and got a good price + employee discount. ( I know the dealer) She has 16,000 miles on it now without any trouble. I think the body over frame is what you want. Highway rating is 20mpg. You can adjust it for AWD to true 4X4. With the heavy discounts, that is the best buy for your money.
I'm looking at purchasing another vehicle and am looking at the Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner with 3.0L V-6. I already have my F-250 and my wife has a Lincoln. Escape/Mariner is a uni-body construction and basically FWD with the rear kicking in as AWD. It is rated as 22/23 highway. I'm looking at it for basically highway miles going up-north 100 miles each way and yet have some AWD capabilities in town, etc. for snowstorms. I think Escape/Mariner is more like a car/station wagon and does have a good incentive but not like the Explorer. Ford also has the Free style that is based on Valvo models and is a stationwagon/SUV available in AWD. It doesn't have much discount.
I've also found the ratings of the Liberty to be bad on fuel economy and the diesel doesn't seem to get it.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee has a 3.6L V-6 that is underpowered and rated for 21 mpg. I tested one last year an a wash board gravel road and it drove nice. You may want to test drive one of these.
The Chrysler Pacifica seems nice but the rear and side windows are very short. Visibility is bad.
The GMC Envoy and Chevy Trailblazer get poor mileage. I hear about 16/17 on highway.
If you wife is driving a Taurus now, just go to a Ford dealer and drive the new Ford 500 limited in AWD. It has more internal room than my wife's Lincoln Continental and the leather is so plush, you both will fall in love with it. Mileage is about 26 mpg. Not allot of discount. The Mercury version has nicer outside styling but the interior is not as plush. Ford has gone a long way in the last few years. I would recommend driving all 4 models and take it over the roads you are driving daily.
I can't comment on any import manufacturers, since they are not allowed in my household by my ruling.
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SUV Body-on-frame or unibody
Ken:
Many of the Mountaineers have a V-8. I had a 1997 Mountaineer V-8 AWD that I traded in last year with 139,000. It got about 17/18 on the highway. If you look at the mileage rating on the stickers you will find that the constant AWD of the Mountaineer has a slightly less rating than the Explorer comparably equipped.
The water pump, belt tensioning idlers, electric seat motor and right lower ball joint went out at about 130,000 to 137,000 miles. To some, that may be allot but I don't think it was bad. I only bought tires and brakes on it once! I should have sold it at 129,000 or kept it to 170,000. One of the guys I work with has a 96 Explorer Eddie Bauer with 169,000 miles. He hasn't had a bit of trouble.
That electronic mileage gauge is instantaneous and only shows those bad numbers on hills, etc. as far as I know.
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Here in Michigan our governor Jennifer Granholm, a Canadian by birth has done nothing but tax us. She has found new taxes on everything. She is now working on taxing internet sales.
Ford Explorer is still the best for your buck. A nicely equipped model (leather, moonroof, decent wheels and tires & sound system) has a sticker of about $34,500.00. With employee pricing and rebates you should get just slightly over $10,000.00 off. So for about $24,500.00 + tax & title fees you can take it home. I think that is allot of vehicle for the money. The same thing in a Trailblazer/Envoy is about $26,500-$28,500.00 with poorer mileage and not as good crash tests. The Jeep grand is about $28,500.00-$30,000.00 with the same equipment. You can cut prices slightly if you drop the moonroof and leather.
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