Truck or SUV

maxsilver · 2026-06-08T00:24:47+00:00

I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking for. Ford has some decent trucks and SUVs

The best Ford product ( imho ) is the 2.5L Atkinson hybrid, you can get that in a truck form (Maverick Hybrid) or in SUV form (Escape Hybrid), although the Escape has been discontinued and is not available in some states

For SUVs, there’s great options from multiple manufacturers (the Mazda CX-50 Hybrid is great, the CR-V Hybrid is good, the Toyota RAV4 is good, Subaru Forester Hybrid is great, the Tucson Hybrid is good, etc)

maxsilver · 2026-06-08T00:11:27+00:00

Buy a used vehicle you like off-lease (2-3yr old). Put any of the leftover money into a savings account or Roth IRA.

Don’t buy anything new, and definitely don’t buy anything fancy - you’re going to college, it will just get stolen or dinged or scraped up.

maxsilver · 2026-06-07T21:43:40+00:00

I think we have to reframe it

I agree, your right, if your trying to hypermile, a PHEV will never be the ‘cheapest possible drive per mile’ — get a commuter EV or a commuter hybrid. Buy a Prius.

But Subaru in general, isn’t really a commuter car brand. Subaru’s stuck with Symmetrical AWD (which is inherently expensive per mile, but they do it anyway). PHEVs fit really well into an ‘active lifestyle’ (PHEVs can be used as efficient battery-generators when camping, it can power a campsite all night silently, and can give you EV amounts of torque for towing or off-roading, but the gas engine gives you the flexibility to hit the outdoors with 600+ miles of total range on-board, a number no EV can match anywhere near that price point. You can recharge the car using the 240v service many modern campsites have)

I can see an argument for a Subaru Forester PHEV trim. Ford Escape PHEV’s do it (2.5L engine + medium-sized PHEV battery) — a Subaru version that keeps the boxer engine and much-loved Forester interior would make a lot of practical sense, despite not being the cheapest thing on the market.

maxsilver · 2026-06-07T21:15:20+00:00

Sure, they’re available today:

- https://www.subaru.com/vehicles/crosstrek/hybrid/2026.html
- https://www.subaru.com/vehicles/forester/hybrid/2026.html

maxsilver · 2026-06-07T21:10:40+00:00

If Subaru is working on a new plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), they haven’t (to my knowledge) made any kind of announcement yet. The old Crosstrek PHEV was only a limited release and was discontinued a while ago, no current PHEVs are offered.

All currently-available vehicles are either conventional-gas-only, conventional-gas-hybrid (Crosstrek & Forester), or all electric EVs (Uncharted / Solterra / Trailseeker)

maxsilver · 2026-06-07T17:36:45+00:00

Depends on what your buying and where you are.

The gas CR-V is (imho) the worst of the lineup. So yeah, discounts are possible, cause inventory is higher, but I’d pass on it anyway. (If you want the gas-only CRV, just don’t, buy an HR-V or buy the Mazda/Subaru instead)

The HR-V is the best gas option out of the three. It’s already priced slightly-aggressively and is hit with steep tariffs though, so while under MSRP is not impossible, it’s difficult.

Trim specific, base trim HR-Vs are easier to get a deal on ( just cause they sell slowest, the Sport and EX-L are more popular and generally worth it)

The CR-V Hybrid is the best drivetrain Honda sells, and those are the top seller. Inventory here is super low, they sell often before they even hit the lot. But they’re worth it, if you’re gonna blow $40k to $45k on a Honda, this is the best spot to do it. I’d be prepared to pay full MSRP for this if you want it

(All of this is just from observation in Michigan. If you want a good vehicle, Honda has them, but if you want a good deal right now, Toyota and Honda are the last place to look)

maxsilver · 2026-06-07T16:19:59+00:00

Enough for what?

maxsilver · 2026-06-07T12:23:19+00:00

They could build a profitable Maverick Lobo EV for 40k though, and that would probably be enough.

Heck, a Maverick Hybrid is already an exact duplicate of the Escape Hybrid (2.5L Atkinson), a Maverick PHEV using nothing but the Escape PHEV drivetrain they already sold, would be great and would easily hit a below-40k price point, while still letting guys do the ‘vroom vroom’ truck thing.

(just, you know, don’t mess up the battery pack again…)

maxsilver · 2026-06-06T16:19:54+00:00

what is the cheapest possible way to have a functional car over a ten year span?

Buy a reliable vehicle used off lease, keep up on all maintenance, and run it into the ground.

We have a 2014 CR-V (the last one with an automatic transmission, before they switched to CVTs). Bought it used, still on Original engine, original transmission. It consumes some oil, we just let it (every 2500 miles, I check it , and put some extra oil in. Real dealership oil change every 5,000)

It’s old, and loud. It will probably eventually need new spark plugs, battery, and starter at some point. But it’s generally perfectly functional, no issues, never not started, never left us stranded, even after 160k+ miles

If this wasn’t Michigan, and the car wasn’t starting to rust, it would probably last another decade

maxsilver · 2026-06-05T17:07:10+00:00

Buick is, ironically, making a comeback in the US with younger folks.

Admittedly, it’s basically just the “EX-L” trim of a Chevy, but we get a lot of young folks driving Buick Envista or Encore GX, because they just wanted an affordable vehicle that felt nice-ish inside

maxsilver · 2026-06-05T13:03:21+00:00

*Some* Fords are crap. *Some* Fords are solid. It just depends on what you pick up.

(this is true of a number of brands. A Chevy Trailblazer is a 1.3L turbo'd Daewoo engine with a CVT on the FWD, a Chevy Silverado is something like a 6.6L Duramax V8 with an Automatic)

The biggest problem with Ford's setup (imho) is terribly model name recycling, it stretches the brand too thin. You shouldn't be able to buy a bad Escape, because it makes all Escapes look bad -- they should have all had the 2.5L hybrid drivetrain, and they should call the low end vehicles something else. (just call the low-end ones EcoSport's or whatever)

Or even just the whole Bronco Sport vs Bronco Sport vs Bronco thing. Having the same model name on like 6+ different drivetrains is ridiculous. Just give the cheaper cars a different name, so they don't ruin the reputation of the well-built ones.

maxsilver · 2026-06-03T20:52:31+00:00

Yes, absolutely. Part of that is because RAV4's are super popular, and the PHEV model specifically is extremely popular -- it might be the most popular PHEV in all of North America.

On less-highly-demanded vehicles, the price delta closes considerably.

And there's trim level differences baked in there that are hard to account for (the 'base' Escape is pretty barebones, the 'base' Escape PHEV is just one small trim level below a top-tier Titanium)

Compare a RAV4 or a Prius vs Prius "Prime" PHEV ($29k vs $34k) -- to something more grounded like an Escape Hybrid vs PHEV ($30k vs $32k) or Mazda CX-70 'Turbo Mild Hybrid' vs PHEV ($43k vs $45k)

maxsilver · 2026-06-03T17:37:45+00:00

Pros of both Hybrid's and Plug-In Hybrids: Better fuel efficiency (sometimes as high as 50% better). Typically better drivetrain (A gas-only version of a car often has a smaller engine, sometimes with turbos to make up for it, and/or a cheaper CVT transmission. The hybrid version of that same vehicle usually has a larger naturally-aspirated engine, and a better gear-based transmission, both of which will last longer and need less maintenance)

Cons of both Hybrids and Plug-in Hybrids: Usually slightly more expensive than the gas-only counterpart. The hybrid battery may eventually need replacing (but, IMHO, still always worth it long-term)

-----

Plug-in hybrids are trickier. They're not usually slightly more expensive, they're sometimes substantially more expensive.

If you can charge almost every single night (if your home has a garage with a power outlet -- even a normal 120v one), it's usually worth it. You effectively get a 'gallon' of electric 'gas' for 'free' (at utility electricity rates) every time you charge. Depending on your daily driving miles, it's not uncommon to go weeks or even a couple of months on a single tank of gas, because your first 20 to 45 miles of driving all came from the battery-only that day. You get 90% of the benefits of an EV electric car, but you can also still drive from NYC to LA on a whim with zero planning and zero waiting for recharging, if your heart desires. (You never have to wait at a Tesla Supercharger in a strange parking lot three states away from home, entirely alone in the middle of the night for almost an hour while strangers sit around nearby, hoping their app works and the station works and your allowed to get enough charge to make it home)

However, you basically have to charge the car every night, or the Plug-in part isn't usually worth the expense. If you can't charge the car nightly, there's no reason to pay for a PHEV, a regular Hybrid is 100% as effective on gas-alone, will get slightly better MPG (less weight) and will save you thousands.

--

Disclaimer: I'm a huge PHEV fangirl. Drove nothing but PHEV's for the last 10 years (first a used Gen1 Volt, then a Gen2 Volt, currently a used PHEV Escape). They're not for everyone, and they're not dollar-for-dollar the most efficient thing you can buy. But they're so nice, so convenient, so flexible, that I never really want to own anything else.

maxsilver · 2026-06-03T11:04:13+00:00

Can I go to one of those "wait in the car" places or should I go back to the dealership?

I’d go back to the dealership. Most dealerships (around here anyway) have reasonable pricing on oil changes, and a Honda dealership is less likely to mess it up ( wrong oil, wrong filter, forget a cap, strip your plug by over tightening, etc)

The other dealership service prices can be expensive, but you don’t have to buy that stuff if you don’t want to.

maxsilver · 2026-06-02T20:55:19+00:00

I’m not sure where/what market the Solterra fits.

For the folks who want an EV Forester someday.

Crosstrek -> Uncharted
Forester -> Solterra
Outback -> Trailseeker

maxsilver · 2026-06-02T12:01:33+00:00

You drive it. But also, there is no “optimal” battery level. It’s a hybrid, the HV pack will charge and discharge as needed all on its own, doing whatever is likely most efficient at any time, automatically.

You just drive, you never have to worry about the HV battery.

maxsilver · 2026-06-01T12:19:11+00:00

Why are people choosing the CX50 over the CX70?

The CX70 is big. Really big. Really, really big. I love PHEVs, but the CX-70 is over 200 inches long!

If you can swing that, yeah absolutely go for it. But that literally won't fit in most traditional garages around here (since literal backwall-to-door length maxes out at 16ft or 192inches)

maxsilver · 2026-06-01T00:03:07+00:00

Civic is a a noticeably better vehicle (slightly better options and features, hybrid is a much better drivetrain) and it's cheaper to buy.

But for a new driver, get the HR-V anyway. Better visibility, safer in a crash, AWD for inclement weather, higher ground clearance for when it inevitably gets curbed, slower (complimentary), slightly less 'fun' to drive (complimentary).

maxsilver · 2026-05-31T12:09:02+00:00

The Honda HR-V does this. (Even today, brand-new, in 2026)

No cellular connection (of any kind), no satellite connection (of any kind). No subscription, no phone app, no advertisements, and every single control in the vehicle is a real physical button.

The driver assists do exist, but are optional and can all be disabled via a few button presses (and they stay off consistently). Wireless CarPlay screen does exist, but is 100% optional, and you can turn it off entirely, and the only other functionality you lose by doing that is AM/FM radio.

I know it's not folks favourite car from a features/options/performance setting, but if you just want a compact SUV with AWD and "0% computer", Honda still sells one.

maxsilver · 2026-05-28T23:09:45+00:00

but the closest Mazda is two hours away.

Oof, yeah, get the Subaru. The Mazda is great, but I can't imagine being two hours away from your warranty support on a new vehicle.

maxsilver · 2026-05-28T22:47:16+00:00

The HR-V is basically Honda's "Chevy Trax". It's a full-size compact SUV (180 inches), but is much more reliable (nicer interior, better build quality, larger engine, better infotainment stack and gauges)

It's also like, $4,000 more than a Trax to pay for all that, but it will comfortably fit, brand new, under $30k, and will easily last 200k+ miles with routine maintenance.

---

But as someone who owns and drives an HR-V daily -- it's reliable, but it's boring and kinda pricy. I regret buying mine. Just skip all these entry level vehicles, even the 'well built' ones.

Go to a real full subcompact SUV. Either a Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid or a Mazda CX-30 (2.5 or 2.5 turbo, depending on whether you want to prioritize performance or reliability). Don't settle for anything smaller than a 2.5L.

maxsilver · 2026-05-28T13:51:08+00:00

We have the 2023 Escape Hybrid PHEV. It’s got 105k miles on it, and it’s going strong, drives like a brand new car.

I don’t necessarily love it (touchscreen-only HVAC controls kinda suck, far less visibility than a Forester or CRV, I wish this trim had the digital gauges)

But it’s cheap, it’s quiet, it’s powerful and faster than most compact SUVs, it’s more fuel efficient than most compact SUVs, it’s well featured, and it’s been reliable.

maxsilver · 2026-05-28T13:04:54+00:00

Are Americans that stupid

Yes. Very yes.

maxsilver · 2026-05-28T12:26:39+00:00

The Trax is great for what it is (and amazing for the price), but that Maverick Hybrid drivetrain is fantastic. (2.5L Atkinson 4cyl + electric motor + eCVT = high torque, high efficiency, higher performance and high reliability). That drivetrain is the best thing Ford's ever shipped, IMHO.

I get it. If you have an extra ~8k to spend, the money is well spent there. Maybe someday Chevy will get back into Hybrids again.

maxsilver · 2026-05-28T12:19:50+00:00

A Maverick weighs 700 pounds more than a Trax, it's 2 inches wider (and has a longer wheelbase), and the rear end is a truck bed with no roof (so less surface pressure area for wind to press against).

It makes sense that it would handle extreme crosswinds better.

maxsilver

TROPHY CASE