The reference came through indeed.

 

I don't really get the angst with crossovers. Well, as a whole I don't really get why people are so concerned with the cars other people choose to purchase with their money, but anyway...

I have a crossover (Highlander). I've had a body-on-frame SUV (4Runner). It was awesome and I loved it, and to be frank, I loved it more than our Highlander, but in reality, our Highlander is more comfortable than our 4Runner was. Lower floor for better seating position, better 3rd row seating, better fuel economy (I know, it's a hybrid, but even the gas version is more economical than my 4Runner was), etc. I'm not saying our Highlander would handle off road or towing like the 4Runner would, but given that I never towed with either the 4Runner or the Highlander, and never took either off road, the Highlander is the better choice for us as a family vehicle, even if I'm more neutral about it. Our Highlander Hybrid even has more power than our V8 4Runner did, and gets nearly double the gas mileage.

Now, if I were to replace it today, I'd most likely buy a Sienna. But when we bought the first Highlander in 2016, and our second in 2019, we looked at the Sienna (the only AWD minivan at the time, and AWD is important to us), and we were really unimpressed with it so we went with the Highlander, which has suited us well.

 

Same, I have no problem with crossovers or what people choose to drive. Thats why they manufacture a wide variety of vehicles, to suit everybody's needs and wants.

To me a crossover provides many of the benefits of a full frame SUV, without many of the drawbacks, You get the rugged good looks, the driving position and interior layout, some of the ground clearance, AWD typically, utility in carrying cargo. You also get more carlike fuel mileage, more carlike ride and driving characteristics and in general lower cost. I've said it before, the only reason why I personally would buy a big BOF SUV is if I towed, and/or for long highway road trips where they really shine. As for a smaller BOF SUV like a 4Runner or Bronco, good for a fun car but I wouldnt want one for a daily.

Honestly my perfect garage would include my large luxury sedan, my minivan, and a Suburban for long trips. But, paying $90,000 for a Suburban and parking it on the street just for trips makes no sense.

In other news, got the new tires on the Pacifica, much better riding and quieter. Beefy looking though lol, I'm not used to 60 series tires...same tires we had on the old Pacifica but that had the 20s...my wife wont be able to curb these wheels! $2,995 later we again have 4 matching tires and no dent. Expensive flat tires lol

 

Damn right!

 

Could you live with the current Sienna's interior? IMHO, by today's standards, it is classic El-Cheapo inside. I'll admit, though....hard to beat the quality of Toyota drivetrains.

 

Absolutely. We've had the current Siennas for rentals and the interiors have been wonderful.

 

Congratulations on the new rubber. But, by now, you should be used to it.....you've also replaced the stock rubber very early on some previous vehicles you've owned.

I might (?) have to look at some new rubber for my Encore GX. I'm not entirely satisfied with the stock Hankooks....even with Buick Quiet-tuning, they are getting some rumble on some road surfaces (depending on the amount for porosity in the surface). It could (?) be the wheel bearings, though..from going through a deep puddle at around 35 mph or so, and a lot of water spraying underneath. I'll have them looked at during the next service

Many of today's tires develop road noise, simply because they seem to wear in a feathered pattern on the outside of the tread no matter how well you rotate them or keep the wheels aligned. They are fine when new, but start around 10,0000 miles or so.

 

Interesting. I’ve been several as Ubers and while it seems very well laid out, I was taken aback by the cheap interior materials. I guess Toyota rightfully assumed the average minivan buyer is much more concerned with utility.

 

Very dependent on trim level, but yes, we really enjoyed the Sienna interior. We found the current one to be a major step above the previous version, which we just couldn't stomach.

 

I was probably going to replace the tires anyway because the OEM Nexens were loud...that makes me feel better lol

The interior is too cheap for me in the Sienna, and the powetrain is too buzzy and unrefined.

 

For me, it’s not angst over crossovers. Sure, people buy and drive what they want. I don’t like driving them as a personal preference and I would prefer not to have one as a rental car in Europe. The handling was poor in both of the crossover rentals I got in Germany. The Kona was less bad than the Citroen. They both felt floaty and disconnected. I did take both to 160 km/h (100 mph) on the non speed controlled sections of the Autobahn. It’s not a comfortable cruising speed for those vehicles. 80 mph is about ideal.

The poor handling of the Kona was exposed while driving on smaller roads with higher speed limits than a similar road in the US would have. It wasn’t well suited for that type of driving (but we made it).

I am not the typical car buyer and market research clearly shows that people like crossovers. I don’t.

 

So is going 1MPH over the speed limit.

Whom does it affect? If anything it makes people wish they had it.

In any case, people can think I'm rude but I really don't think anyone thinks anything of it. Others do this all the time, too. All I'm doing is edging over a curb... to make the light.

 

The last time I was in Europe (England) I had an MG HS for a rental, which is a small-ish (RAV4 sized) CUV. I actually enjoyed it, as there was plenty of room for 4 adults plus luggage, plus a 6 speed manual FTW (other than shifting left handed)! My coworker, however, had a Citroen and if it's the same one you had, I totally get it... Another co-worker had a Peugeot, but I'll have to look up what model again. It was a small 4 door hatchback and super fun. Though he had to pay extra to get it. It was an automatic and he couldn't drive a manual LOL...Americans!

 

Oh absolutely. I bet police still miss the CVs. They were slow (especially now) but they loved them. But they were huge, versatile, dead reliable, and tough as nails. Easy to maintain/fix.

 

Looked it up, and the Peugeot was a 308 like this: