Joined
·
9 Posts
Darn.
I had really hoped to get a Toyota Cross. I read or watched about 40 reviews. I knew all the trims and details better than half the salesmen I met. It took a long time before I could find a model to test drive (what's that about Toyota?) and that's where it fell apart but first some surprising homework results.
One of the things I checked out was what my insurance costs would be switching from a used Honda Civic to a Toyota Corolla Cross. I talked to my insurance company and while I paid $1400 for my 2002 Civic it was going to be $2105 per year for an LE AWD Cross. Part of that was that it was going to be a brand new car but why the $700 jump per year I asked. I was told that Corolla is a starter brand that a lot of new drivers buy, they have a lot of accidents and so the insurance costs are higher. I explained I had 30 years of driving and that it should be on the driver not the car but they said that's what the actuaries had decided.
So I had decided the safety features, cargo room and reliability of the Cross was worth another $700 per year (eeek) in insurance but I really didn't want to plunk $35k (Cdn) down for an LE AWD Cross without test driving the thing. Which turned out to be very smart.
I'm 6'2" and the car fit me fine both in the front seat and back. However my 5'4" wire in the passenger seat COULD ONLY SEE THE DASHBOARD AND SOME SKY. The front passenger seat was loooooooow and there was no way to raise it. She wasn't about to buy a car that forced her to look at the glove compartment every time she was a passenger. We talked to the salesman afterwards and he suggested a cushion but we told him we weren't going to spend $35k and have to keep putting a cushion on the passenger seat depending on who was sitting there.
The other big issue was that while the Cross has an impressive range of safety features it seems to have, in my opinion, a SMALLER THAN EXPECTED REAR WINDOW. We'd been spoiled by the Honda HRV's big rear window which is great for shoulder checking before lane changes and were surprised that the Cross window seemed quite a bit smaller. (Note - I own the Civic but borrow an HRV for weekend trips and cargo runs.)
So we decided NOT to buy a Cross. Sorry guys. It's been great reading your comments and research all these months but I'm switching back to Honda and shopping for a used HRV now. I didn't expect to go from being a Cross fanboy to writing this so long message but I thought I should close the loop.
My final recommendation. Love the design but ALWAYS go for a test drive to see whether the car "fits" you and your needs.
Thanks and so long.
I had really hoped to get a Toyota Cross. I read or watched about 40 reviews. I knew all the trims and details better than half the salesmen I met. It took a long time before I could find a model to test drive (what's that about Toyota?) and that's where it fell apart but first some surprising homework results.
One of the things I checked out was what my insurance costs would be switching from a used Honda Civic to a Toyota Corolla Cross. I talked to my insurance company and while I paid $1400 for my 2002 Civic it was going to be $2105 per year for an LE AWD Cross. Part of that was that it was going to be a brand new car but why the $700 jump per year I asked. I was told that Corolla is a starter brand that a lot of new drivers buy, they have a lot of accidents and so the insurance costs are higher. I explained I had 30 years of driving and that it should be on the driver not the car but they said that's what the actuaries had decided.
So I had decided the safety features, cargo room and reliability of the Cross was worth another $700 per year (eeek) in insurance but I really didn't want to plunk $35k (Cdn) down for an LE AWD Cross without test driving the thing. Which turned out to be very smart.
I'm 6'2" and the car fit me fine both in the front seat and back. However my 5'4" wire in the passenger seat COULD ONLY SEE THE DASHBOARD AND SOME SKY. The front passenger seat was loooooooow and there was no way to raise it. She wasn't about to buy a car that forced her to look at the glove compartment every time she was a passenger. We talked to the salesman afterwards and he suggested a cushion but we told him we weren't going to spend $35k and have to keep putting a cushion on the passenger seat depending on who was sitting there.
The other big issue was that while the Cross has an impressive range of safety features it seems to have, in my opinion, a SMALLER THAN EXPECTED REAR WINDOW. We'd been spoiled by the Honda HRV's big rear window which is great for shoulder checking before lane changes and were surprised that the Cross window seemed quite a bit smaller. (Note - I own the Civic but borrow an HRV for weekend trips and cargo runs.)
So we decided NOT to buy a Cross. Sorry guys. It's been great reading your comments and research all these months but I'm switching back to Honda and shopping for a used HRV now. I didn't expect to go from being a Cross fanboy to writing this so long message but I thought I should close the loop.
My final recommendation. Love the design but ALWAYS go for a test drive to see whether the car "fits" you and your needs.
Thanks and so long.