My sister is transfering from her school at Delaware U to Mercyhurst (spelling?) up in Erie.
The snow and roads to there are horrible, this is the same road my dad totaled his 05 STS a few months back (while on his 1st attempt to take her for orientation)
Anyways the ETC is being given back to me and my sister will now be buying a replacement car.
1. It has to be AWD and an smaller SUV or Crossover, no cars, wagons, or full bodies (if that was the case shed be in a TBSS and there's no arguing that fact)
2. Gotta be GM, its all I know and desire to work on, and as I'm the privlegded one of the family who gets to do all maintance, theres no moving on that

That said and done shes looking at a few cars, topping the list is a Certified SRX (hard to find around what she can spend) and a newer Chevy Equinox and a Pontiac Torrent.

Shes looking to spend 15-17K

Any suggestions, SUVs are new to me...

Thanks guys, were going to look at the Equinox tomorrow when I take my Camaro in for frame repair.

They can't be all bad, aren't they basing the new SRX off of it? If you're getting used and she's going to drive it forever, I'd get a Torrent, just because I think it looks better from the outside than the Equinox, and will probably have depreciated worse.

However, when Pontiac (probably) gets the ax, it will depreciate worse, so she'd need to keep it a long time...

If you're buying new, I'd get the Equinox. However, I've never sat nor ridden in one.

car will def be used period
she cant afford and would never take the depreciation hit of new

The late 90's/early '00 Blazers are nice. They can be found cheap and are inexpensive to repair, although they are tanks so that rarely needs to be done anyway. I have taken my Mom's through some pretty serious stuff when she wasn't with me and it does very well.

has to have a warranty so if anything happens while shes away the dealer will cover it (a non maintenance failure that is)


and right now I've g2g guys, sister just got home hysterical, her BF dumper her and apparently he hit her so now I have to go throw a mother f***ing beating

Can we get pictures of him after you go and "talk" to him :stirpot:

Didnt really get a chance
my Z can outrun my dads STS but not by much
he came down as soon as my sister told him along with two Harmar Township black and whites
they are filing criminal assault charges as he used a hockey stick to hit her

way to change a thread huh?
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs021.snc1/3055_538775373022_35107119_32763401_4203530_n.jpg

the XBFs friend had the balls to start mouthing off to my mom while my dad was going off on the XBF
I refused to tolerate that so I said dont you dare speak to my mother like that
He got mouthy with me and said easy for you to say cuz you have a wrench (he was with his whole hockey team, I'm not stupid I pulled the biggest wrench from my tool box in the trunk and was ready)
I threw the wrench on the floor and told her I dont need a wrench to beat your ass
My dad grabbed me and pulled me away or someone was about to get nailed
yeah you dont mess with my family, period lol

Damn dude that sucks! Hope everything works out for your sister!

On a lighter note.
I acutally own an AWD 07 Equinox. My wife loves it. I find it to be a very good vehicle. We have put 36,000 miles on it. All we do is gas it up and change the oil.
It only has a 4 qt oil change. We have seen 27 MPG on the Highway and average right around 22-24 mpg. The rear seat moves FWD or backwards eight inches.
I grew up in Upstate New York and have driven all kinds of stuff in the snow. My Equinox with TC, Stability Control and AWD has been the best thing I have ever driven in the snow. Drives smaller than it is big, is pretty quiet on the highway and is very comfortable.

My two gripes are the rear pillars are large which create an akward blind spot, you get used to it quick. The only other bitch I have is the turning radius is large.

It has been a rock solid vehicle for us. We paid 19,000 for an LT trim (Leather, heated seats) with 6,000 miles on it 1 1/2 years ago. You can get them GM certified
with 30,000 ish miles on them for under 15,000 right now.
http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicles/full/22307175020.jpg?1217470146

Equinox gets a smaller engine (2.4 DI) with nearly the same power for 2010.

SRX > Equinox

And I thought the side of that police cruiser said "HARHAR" when I first scrolled down.

Look at a Saturn Vue. I personally like the quirky, unique styling 100x better than a Torrent/Equinox. Believe it or not, you could get a 250hp Honda 3.5L V6 in them, from 04-07 model years. Its pretty quick with the V6 under the hood

Look at a Saturn Vue. I personally like the quirky, unique styling 100x better than a Torrent/Equinox. Believe it or not, you could get a 250hp Honda 3.5L V6 in them, from 04-07 model years. Its pretty quick with the V6 under the hood

Beware of the Honda engines used in these. My mechanic said he has changed a number of head gaskets. While I was at his shop last year, a woman was buying a used Trailblazer and trading in her Saturn that needed a new head gasket.

I was going to mention that. The Honda motor has not been as reliable as the 3.4 used in the Torrent and Equinox.
Many of the folks that frequent the Equinox/Vue/Torrent board I visit have had a lot of problems with that particular motor.

My sister hates the look of the Saturn
and shes a bit of a priss, she wants the leather, nav, and the heated seats blah blah blah

thanks for all the help guys, we will be leaving shortly to check them out

Picked up an 08 black on gray equinox lt

Congrats. I am sure she will like it, it is mostly a chick car or a family car. What did you think of it overall?
They are what they are, a simple, easy to maintain, pretty comfortable people mover. The 3.4 makes plenty of torque, I have towed my boat with it and it does well.
Still it makes me appreciate the power of the Trans Am everytime I drive it.

A buddy of mine has a Torrent and has been pleased with it. He towed a pop-up camper throughout the Northeast and Canada last year with no complaints.

I've got a classmate from college who bought an Equinox and she really likes it, now she bought the middle of the line trim level and bought new, but she's got about 15k on it, no breakdowns, is pretty comfy and has decent power for the size of vehicle....but I'd still look hard for the SRX.....an Equinox won't compare to the SRX in any category other then price.

And on other topics if bad things come in threes you should be set for a long time.

On the bright side Jason, you now have your Eldorado back.