The classic adage of a GM running poorly longer than other cars run at all applies well here. My bro is a mechanic in a rural part of PA and regularly services all flavors of 90/00s GM, GMT360 Blazers included. I remember he did balljoints on a customer’s S10 Blazer with 240k a few years back. Engine and trans rock…

“There’s a two-year-old Pacific Hybrid in Fort Wayne, Indiana with less than 50,000 miles and only $26,000,”

Horrible idea tbh.  First few years of Pacifica Hybrids were an absolute shit show in terms of reliability.  Stick with a newer gas engine’d version and you should be good though.

You have to be damn near brain-dead to be a “car guy” and not be aware of how great the GM G-body platform is. Relatively light weight chassis that readily accepts any flavor of V8. Prices have been creeping up for clean cars, it’s bee hard to find a rust-free driving Cutlass Supreme (or Monte Carlo, or Malibu, or…

LMAO this is my take on it as well

“Jeez, this car doesn’t sound all that great if it needs all this extra protection....”

Hey it sure beats your ride:

That’s right I forgot your grandfather was totally an intersex radical feminist who worried about black trans lives

Your Grandfathers by a vast majority supported segregated armed forces, opposed not just gay marriage but the very concept of homosexuality, to say nothing of all this trans crap. They’d take one look at the bioleninist freakshow that is antifa and would march them into camps themselves.

Yeah because you’d much rather look at another idiotic anti-car or other left wing political take here instead, right?

DT’s wrenching is one of the only reasons to peek in here any more.

gen 1 Armadas are underappreciated TBH.  Looked long and hard at them, ultimately ended up with an ‘06 Suburban.

Gutless?  The VQ40?  We must have driven two different trucks or else your reference point is a 400hp Hemi or tuned Ecoboost.

“before 2015 or so usually got abysmal mgps.”

Not really... all the compact CUVs were just about at high 20s/30 highway mpg by that point.

I agree though he should assess just how much “offroad capability” he needs. Just some gravel roads here and there or something more serious? By the sound of it interior room is more…

“ We need space for four moderately-sized humans, the ability to haul 4 bikes at once, and hopefully throw the bigass canoe on top as well.”

“I have a lovely and functional ‘99 Saab 9-3 turbo hatch with under 100k miles. It’s a joy, but it can’t hold us all, and a cooler, and a canoe, and 87 stuffed animals, and two…

lmao, now that’s a serious piece of equipment with a fuel bill to match.  There’s a notable difference between the MPG the 1500s with the 5.3 get and the HDs with the 6.0L (or god forbid the big boi 8.1)

“For goodness sake you can get a well optioned brand new Hyundai Kona for that price.”

Why would anyone buy a new Hyundai Kona at ANY price.

Totally agree.  The 2nd gen Xterras are an absolute bargain, and well built tough/capable rigs.

Throw an external transmission cooler on it and forget about it.

A LOT more capable/comfortable at comfortably hauling the family places.  But on (mild) offroad, the Flex has really poor clearance and overhangs for even mild washouts and such.  The Crosstrek (or more appropriately, an Outback) would shine here.

I wouldn’t buy one unless I a) had a good Volvo shop give it a PPI and b) had said shop nearby and they were reasonably priced to work on it.

“it has most of the capability of the xterra”

Not offroad it certainly doesn’t. The Xterra and 4Runner are more or less equal there (both are highly capable). On road, the Xterra is the worst, the Highlander is the best, the 4Runner is right in the middle.

FWIW my rental FWD Flex (non EcoBoost) got 24-25mpgish in all highway driving at 75ish MPG.  A good bit better than a 4Runner.  But surprisingly, I got almost the same MPG on the same route in a rental Tahoe.