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iam interested in aramada

4K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  Tatonka 
#1 ·
hi iam maried, have 4.5 year old girl and one more on the way ,right now iam driving dodge srt4,and now i want to get same thing safer and bigger so i like armada,just not sure if armada is for averege family or for people that go off road?and traveling?
please let me know what do you think about this suv.
is it ok to have only one car like armada or it is too much and to big for every dat driving?how is gas milage?is it comf. to drive?
thanks!
 
#2 ·
Of all the concerns you listed, mileage is the only one you need to worry about. Figure 13-17mpg is typical depending on your driving habits. Other than that, its great. Fast, good handling, carry anything, not one complaint or "wish it had or did that" for me. Of the cars I have, I find myself driving it the most. :thumbup:
 
#3 ·
My Love Story

I love my Armada and would not trade it in for any vehicle on the market. But this is an Armada web sit so your only going to hear good things. What i did was pick 4 SUV's and put them side by side on the web at MSN.com that got me down to 3.

I then went for the test drives the Armada was my second test, I never did make it to Ford and i am still in love.


The End
:p
 
#8 ·
The price is about 8 grand more, there are more bells and whistles, 10 more HP, 5 more ft lbs torque, the ability either a) look like you have money to burn or b) you have money to burn but I don't. :D
 
#9 ·
tailshe said:
what you prefer armada - navigator or volvo xc90?
The Volvo is a great vehicle but a different animal than the Armada. The Navigator is an over priced Ford Expedition, and the Expedition is overpriced as it is any way.

There is not an SUV out right now that I would rather have over the Armada.
 
#10 ·
I drove the Lincoln before I bought my Armada. It was nice, but underpowered. If you've got the ching, the Infiniti QX56 is the luxury version of the Armada and is very nice. Not really a whole lot of difference though. If it were me I'd buy a loaded Armada LE. There's TONS of room for people and gear, and actually it drives a lot smaller than it is. No trouble parking or navigating with it- it handles nicely. Gas mileage is not going to be great as it's a big V8, but that's a given. After break in you should be able to expect 15-17 just depending on the type of driving you do.

If you tow get the tow package and you'll love it. This is one of the best towing vehicles I've ever driven. Not sure about off-road.

Good luck, and let us know what you end up with.
 
#11 ·
tailshe said:
what you prefer armada - navigator or volvo xc90?
Three different vehicles.
Volvo is a midsized overpriced SUV designed to appeal to those who "want something different" or have safety as their primary concern. If I was shopping in that class, I'd get the BMW X5, Toureg, or Mercedes ML. Lower towing, smaller, less people moving capacity, etc. The Lincoln has Luxury as its primary goal. Problem is, it drives like a dog. Worst acceleration in the group just like the F150 is the slowest full sized pickup. It too is also smaller than the Armada with less passenger room.

If you want to look at vehicles in the Armada class, look at the Yukon Denali XL, Suburban, Escalade ESV. Expedition is smaller, Excursion larger.

Personally, I looked at all the above vehicles, and test drove many. The Armada/QX56 is the fastest of the full size lot. I also looked at the QX56 but couldn't justify the extra coin for some additional chrome, wood, and HID headlights.

As for the Volvo, I worked on cars of all makes. It is near the bottom of the list of what I'd own. Below them are Peugeot, Fiat, Saab, Citroen, and Trabbant. Build quality was junk and the only redeeming quality I could find was safety. Everything else was sacrificed for that. Personally, I could care less. I've been in 5 accidents, 3 with me not driving. I'm still here. :051: I'm not really worried about safety though I'd rather be in an Armada than a Volvo if those two met on the street. ;) If you want reliability, look at the Nissan, BMW, Merc, or Toyota. If you want speed, look at the Nissan, Porsche Cayenne, Touregg, or BMW. Merc AMG ML 55 was also quick. If you want capacity, look at the Nissan, Excursion, Suburban, Yukon XL, Excalade ESV. If you want luxury, look at the QX56, Navigator, Escalade, BMW, Merc.
If you want gas mileage, look at a Toyota Prism.
Hope this helps.
 
#12 ·
Don't forget the safety. Airbags EVERYWHERE. Standard side curtain airbags too. The VDC dynamic stability control. Lots of great reasons.
 
#14 ·
tailshe said:
hi iam maried, have 4.5 year old girl and one more on the way ,right now iam driving dodge srt4,and now i want to get same thing safer and bigger so i like armada,just not sure if armada is for averege family or for people that go off road?and traveling?
please let me know what do you think about this suv.
is it ok to have only one car like armada or it is too much and to big for every dat driving?how is gas milage?is it comf. to drive?
thanks!
I drove the Ford Expedition before the Armada, and it's no comparison. The ford's interior is cheesy and it's kinda bland. Gas mileage is likely the same for both trucks. I plan to go traveling once I get the necessary stuff... No, it's not too much for every day driving. It gets V-8 gas mileage, in my case around 13-14 mpg but I was expecting that. If you got the cash, go for the LE. I think it's got reaaaaal nice seats.
:rrg: The Toyota Sequoia wouldn't be a bad choice either, but it doesn't tow that much and it's slow compared to the Nissan which is a shame because it feels like a Lexus.
 
#15 ·
Hands down

There is absolutley nothing with wheels that you could give me in excahnge for The Beast. I'm a rather big fellow and it was custom made for me. Nissan waited all these years to design a V8 and trust me they take the prize all day.
Faster! Stronger! More room! Most fun! Best looking! I wouldn't even trade a QX56 for The Beast becuase in my opinion the Beast looks better. That's my opinion. But you can't go wrong.
 
#16 ·
I agree with the Beast, man, I really like this baby. We looked at the Sequoia but even an SR5 with leather and some other upgrades was still more than the LE, PLUS, I was having a really hard time getting past "3 on the tree" (even though its a 5 speed) , and throw in the towing. I hate being maxed out on tow capacity, plenty of extra capacity is good, 'cause then it's how it should have been rated in the first place.
The Sequoia is also a bit dated design, where as the 'mada definitely is making a design statement, either you love it or...
 
#17 ·
I have to take exception she comments about Saab reliability. Over the years we've had a suburban, a pathfinder, a 4Runner, a Toyota supra (my father had 3 cressidas and 1 avalon), a couple mazdas and recently a 2002 Honda Odyssey and currently a 2005 Honda Pilot. And my brother had a volvo for 17-18 years!!! I've also had two Saab 9000s - the current one is an 11 year old Aero. Of all those vehicles the Toyotas were the most reliable - followed by one of the mazdas. However the Saabs rank right up there and well above our experience with Honda so far.

My brother's old volvo was incredible but had a couple small engine problems. Great seats / great comfort on par with the Saab - and built like a tank (and same gas mileage). On the seating issue - nothing else we've had comes close to the comfort of the saabs and volvo for long trips. (So I'm glad to hear that the QX56 and Armada seats are "very comfortable".) Unfortunately new saabs seem to have lost their "extremely comfortable" ranking in reviews.

While my Saabs have had minor repair issues like light bulbs, headlight wiper, etc., the drivetrains have been absolutely incredible - pretty much bulletproof. When I sold it, the 86 Saab had 350,000 km on its original engine, tranny and even turbo - pretty much everything but the clutch. Same for my 95 with nearly 190,000 km - one clutch - that's pretty much it. (And this while driving these in Canada from -35% degrees F to 90 degrees F.) The cars aren't great looking (I personally hate the looks) but they have been incredibly fun to drive as well as are very utilitarian cars to own (Mine have had hatchbacks, I consider them to be among the first S U V s).

Honda? At 70,000 km of really soft driving by my wife our Odyssey went through three transmissions - plus some very expensive dash lightbulbs, door squeaks, etc. Great, great vehicle otherwise.

My 4Runner needed new springs after an easy trip to Alaska and some $1,000 computer board - all under warranty thank God.

My suburban needed BOTH a total engine AND transmission rebuild in its life!!!

Moreover, on the safety issue - these SUVs are unstable - just look up the death stats by vehicle from rollovers - amazing numbers!!! So, this Detroit News article on the volvo is very enlightening. It's best to click on link and read the whole story - here's excerpts:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/specialreport/0404/13/a09-119932.htm

European vehicles exceed standard for U.S. car roofs

excerpts:

"the SUV was loaded on a cart, which was accelerated to a speed of 30 mph. When the cart was brought to a sudden halt, the XC-90 went rolling, spinning more than three times before coming to a stop. At the end of the violent demonstration, the XC-90’s roof sustained only slight creasing and its windows were cracked. "

"The Volvo roof is reinforced with boron steel, a high-strength alloy so hard that special factory tools are required to work with it. The alloy is 25 percent to 50 percent more expensive than conventional steel. "

"...European automakers like Mercedes-Benz and GM-owned Saab follow similar regimens of testing to produce rollover-worthy cars and SUVs. Volkswagen, Toyota and BMW also conduct dolly rollover tests, according to company brochures.

But Volvo’s parent, Ford, [URL="javascript:companybox('GPM')"]General Motors Corp.[/URL] and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler unit, follow a different path in developing its vehicles. Detroit’s automakers do not routinely conduct either dolly tests or tests where vehicles are suspended from cables and dropped on their roofs, according to court records and safety experts. ..."
 
#19 ·
tailshe said:
what you prefer armada - navigator or volvo xc90?
If I had my choice of those 3, I'd do either Mada or 'Gator. The Armada is great in every sense of the word and I've always been a big Lincoln fan. The Volvo XC90 is just crap. The new Navigator is realiy nice in the interior with its retro, 1958 styling. Its new grille is a fashion statement to.:D
 
#20 ·
Yup. And Saab was bought out by GM. They are Chevys now. My sister had one. POS. Before buying it I gave her an article that reviewed the Euro sedans: BMW, Merc, Volvo, Saab, Audi, and of all 5 it came in dead last in almost every category. The reviewer's quote was."This is the first car I have tested that I was actually happy to return the keys."
Mainly, Saabs are bought by people whose sole goal is to be different, rather than save, reliable, fast, etc., hence the purchase from my tree hugging sister. She passed on the BMW 3 convertible to buy a 93 vert. She spent an extra 5 grand doing it and it was junk.
She wouldn't buy Japanese because she didn't like the way Japanese men treat women. She wouldn't buy the BMW because it was rear wheel drive, though she lives in Los Angeles. :rolleyes: I think she did it to tick me off like the good sister she is. ;)
 
#21 ·
I figure our roads are filled with different brands - our cities are filled with millions of people on the roads - so no one cares what we drive. So when you say "Mainly, Saabs are bought by people whose sole goal is to be different" - that statement could be applied to any lower volume/dying brand, or to even mainstream brands where people buy things like bush bars, chrome wheels, etc - should we all be driving matching Chevs or Toyotas?

Saabs simply offer the european combination of features plus FWD and 4cyl turbo at a lower price and sometimes lower quality than BMW, Mercedes and Audi. Same for Nissan in its market. I figure Nissan and Saab are both ultimately doomed brands but that may make them offer a bit more for the money and take a few risks in design (ie better suspension, etc.) - and try to serve a niche of customers with more specialized needs/desires. As the big guys win your choices will diminish.
 
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