Long-Term Road Tests

Just out of curiosity, what's your first language, lexusisboi?

We Live On a Island here in Texas called Galveston and you need a SUV to get around because of the floods...We dont care about tow & hauling with the Envoy thats why we have a Expedition & a Tundra...so thats why we getting a Venza its a way better ride & drive(have to wait till it come out)
 
stingray454-my mom can pay how much she want because she have it and everyone we know have the same problems with there Envoy but they already got rid of it...GM wont file our car under the lemon law after lying to us about they cant find info of it coming to there shop even thought we have receipts so she said she will just keep it and pay it off...the problem we have is when we leave a complete stop turning the steering wheele it will cut off...thats a safety issue to say that once we almost got hit from leaving an intersection because of the problem so before u say anything about my mom ask me!!!

you can't compare an old paid off car to a new car.
 
like billt9 said, you buy a new car because you want a new car. (my case is I needed a new car)
 
when you are comparing a new car to a new car, you may be able to eventually save money. I have a coworker who just traded in his Mitsubishi Montero (100,000 miles) for a Prius. The payments will be $400 a month, but he will save about $250 a month in gas (he lives 40 miles from work). To that affect, it only costs $150/month for a new car. Not a bad deal IMO

lexusboi - you're so biased it's pathetic. Do you wear clothing with "I love Toyota" written all over it? You should.
 
"first off my mom pay 650 a month for her Envoy which the car cost $36,000 all together..."
 
Your mom isn't too smart then, is she?
 
"its in the shop every week for something so thats and extra $1,000 for extended warranty she had to get which she have 72,000 miles on it..."
 
Once again, not too smart. She owns a lemon, and she decides to keep it with an extended warranty? Only a fool would do that. There's only one thing to do with a lemon: GET RID OF IT.
 
FWIW, I work with someone who bought an '05 Envoy, and has had zero problems with it in 45k miles. Not even a rattle.
 
"the car rattles and cracks if we roll over a dime but we treat the car with the best of care.."
 
Again, why would you keep such a vehicle? Cracks? I've heard of Toyota FJ Cruisers cracking, but not Envoys.

"One would expect the 3.5-liter Venza to get something around 20/27 mpg. Essentially the same as a Camry V6. Since it's merely a Camry wagon with its own unique styling."
 
If its a Camry wagon, then there's really no comparison to an Envoy. One is a car, the other is a truck. The Envoy can tow over 6,000 lbs., can haul over 1,200 lbs. of payload, and handle light offroading. A Camry wagon can't come close to that kind of utility and capability.
 
It all comes down to what you need. If you don't need to tow or haul stuff or go offroad, there really isn't a need to own an Envoy. Too many people bought these things to have something big, perhaps to compensate for some other body part (or parts) that weren't. For these people, a Camry wagon that tries to look like half of a truck but isn't, would be a better choice.

first off my mom pay 650 a month for her Envoy which the car cost $36,000 all together...its in the shop every week for something so thats and extra $1,000 for extended warranty she had to get which she have 72,000 miles on it...the car rattles and cracks if we roll over a dime but we treat the car with the best of care...i hate it so i dont drive it...my Lexus IS was cheaper than it, have more miles than the envoy do and never had a single problem...the same with Our 06 Tundra we love it!!!!

stingray454,
The Japanese Venza, the Mark X Zio, is rated at:
3.5L V6 2WD: 10.2 km/L
The Rav4/Vanguard is rated at:
3.5L V6 4WD: 9.6 km/L, 19/26/21 mpg.
The GMC Envoy
4.2L V6 2WD: 14/20/16 mpg.
 
One would expect the 3.5-liter Venza to get something around 20/27 mpg. Essentially the same as a Camry V6. Since it's merely a Camry wagon with its own unique styling.

billt9
 
But alot of times, people use the excuse that they are buying to save money by spending less on gas.
 
IMHO its stupid to spend 300 dollars a month, to save the 10-20 bucks a week tops at the pump. Its just rationalizing a purchase.

If you get the V-6 powered Venza, you won't get better fuel economy than the Envoy. 268hp doesn't come for free.
 
If you get the 4-cylinder Venza, it will be dramatically slower and less capable than the Envoy, with marginally better fuel economy (I'd bet it won't get better than 25 MPG).

You are not buying a new car to save gas.
You are buying a new car because:
1) You want a new car.
2) You want to "save gas" because you don't want a large weekly reminder that you have to pay to drive a car.
 
A hybrid acomplishes number 2 well because you pay up front and forget. Your weekly reminder is much smaller then.
And that's why people want to "Save gas". To get a smaller weekly reminder.

firstwagon: I know, but I was trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. And even then it loses.
 
this is a break even point for a 25k car, your new car needs to get about 3.5 times the fuel economy of the old one.

But that's assuming the Toyota get 30 mpg and it won't.

I also used very high milage numbers there.
 
if you are more average, and drive about 15k miles a year, or 1250 miles a month you get this:
 
Envoy
(1250/15)*4= 333 dollars a month
Toyota
(1250/30)*4 + 416 = 582 dollars a month

lexusisboi
 
you need a lesson in economics.
 
If the envoy is paid off. The cost to you is about $0 a month.
 
Say you spend 25k on that new crossover.
 
if its a 5 year loan, no interest, thats $416 a month for the new car.
 
How bad is you enovy's milage that you would spend an extra 416 dollars a month?
 
for example. if you drive 2000 miles a month. and the enovy gets 15mpg thats 133 gallonsor @ $4/gallon = 533 dollars a month.
 
say the new car gets double that millage.
2000/30= 66 gallons = 266 dollars a month.
 
total enovy costs = 533
total toyota costs = 682
 
Unless your enovy gets less then ~12mg. it will be cheaper to keep the enovy.
 
And thats if the toyota gets 30mpg, and costs just 25k.

"Firstwagon-Thats what i meant to put inline-6 but however it go its still a crappy car!!!"
 
its 7 years old, it's unlikely to be the benchmark at that age.

And, back to the original topic...
  
So why isn't this vehicle in the normal "Blog" rotation like all of the other long-term cars? I understand it's a special extended-test circumstance, but shouldn't it recieve the same treatment as all the other cars, just for a longer period? And why is the mileage so low? The one year cars regularly gather 20k+ miles on them. Who has (or more specifically, Hasn't) been driving this thing? 30k miles is a rather Poor test of long term durability- the warranty probably isn't even up yet. May I suggest buying a Civic Hybrid or Prius with ~100k miles on it, if long-term durability is the test?

I'm gonna have to back up bal169 on this one. My Trailblazer (also a SWB 2wd, with 3.42's) gets pretty much the same mileage (if I try). And what's crappy about it? It's highly capable, handles decently for a tall BOF SUV, has equipment that Hondas (ANY Honda) could only dream about, and goes like Stink (especially considering the 6 is the BASE Engine!). About the only thing wrong with it is the 4-speed automatic. Oh for the 6-Speed Manual this engine so desperatly wants!

Firstwagon-Thats what i meant to put inline-6 but however it go its still a crappy car!!!

Again, consider having someone look at the battery terminals for corrosion.
That's a known issue that makes a battery worthless.
But an easy fix.
 
20 mpg is what a regular RX350 4WD would get. According to the revised 27/25 mpg ratings, 20 mpg would be off the wall. Something is broken.

"The envoy is only a V6 so check your facts before u write comments.."
 
The Envoy never came with a V6, it's a straight six.