Thank you for clicking on this topic. I am an expat who has been in Riyadh for four years and now am in a position to buy a new car on installment. I basically would like to go for a seven seater and the cars I have checked are Santa FE V6, 7 seater.............Ford Expedition............Toyota Fortuner............Chevorlet Traverse. I am completely confused, I have visited all showrooms, first with Hyundai Santa fe, I like the features it has with a panaromic roof and spacious interiors, the only thing troubling me is I feel the airconditioning is not strong enough to handle the horrendous heat during summer or I may be wrong. it costs around 115,000 SR. Second thing I checked was Ford Expedition which is costing around 110,000 the only problem i feelis that I heard the maintenance of Ford Expedition is quite high, can anyone tell me more about it. With regards to Fortuner I have been told that its just a regular Hilux pickup with a cover and it is not comfortable while driving as you can feel every bump and the car jumps a lot. This is costing around the same price 110,000. Chevorlet Traverse again is a good car but the only thing that worries me is the resale value and again an American car. Someone told me that if you want to look at the reliability of car check which brand or regions of car you see being towed on a car carrier, and I must admit most of the times they are American cars. So please advise what should I go for. My budget is around 120 and I want to go for a car which has a V6 engine and powerful. I woudl really appreciate people helping me out here, its not every day that one buys a car, and your comments can really help an expat out here. Thanks in advance for your advice.
Which 7 seater should I buy please help
From a reliability and ease and frequency of maintenance point of view, you can't beat Toyota. In my opinion, Hyundai/Kia would be second. As for resale, Toyota is the best in this country, by far. I don't have any experience with American cars so I can't advise you there in terms of repairs and stuff.
Why don't you go for test drives? Since you have heard the Fortuner is bumpy, test drive it and see how you feel. What about the Land Cruise Prado? I guess it will be above your limit.
How long do you plan on keeping the car? Yes, it is nice to have a new car, but unless you plan on keeping it for a decade, I would advise buying used, as you will easily save a lot of money, plus you won't lose as much with depreciation if you go used. Go to the Toyota used car showroom on Madinah road and see see what they have. They probably have a few Prados as well, which are much better than Fortuners. They have other brands as well, so they might have others that you like.
Ford is bit expensive in maintenance as I had it before and yes you will feel the exactly same, what you have you mentioned, when riding on Fortuner. Rest I don't have experience with any other.
Zeesham, Trapeius, thanks....So I am taking Ford and Fortuner out of the list. I intend to buy the car on installment as my travel allowance would cover it. I wish Prado V6 was cheaper by 10k, and I would have jumped on it. Are there places where you can buy say an year old car on installment?
An extra 10K on top of 120k is a small percentage!
Also, I would seriously recommend, again, that you go test drive all the cars on your list rather than base your decisions on what people say concerning issues of ride quality or comfort.
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