6 used Crossover's to Never, Ever Buy according to the 20+ years of CAR WIZARD mechanic experience! 

It's really considerate that Wizard does these "working class" videos. Not just showcasing exotics with premium maintenance that can be exclusive to some. Variety at its best.

"But Car Wizard, I got a smoking deal on this..." It's the other way around. The deal comes first, the smoking comes after.

Blast from the past. Five year old (1986) Toyota Camry I bought from my Dad wouldn't start. Tried everything I could think of. Finally called him for ideas. (When I was little, he'd buy a couple of cars, combine the best parts and build his everyday driver.) "I don't know. All I've ever had to do was put gas and oil in them." Finally got it to start. Problem? Floor mat got up behind the clutch pedal so you couldn't push it in far enough to disengage the starter interlock switch. Removed mat, instant start. Toyota reliability is legendary.

I can wholeheartedly support the Highlander recommendation. I bought mine new in 2004 and still have it - coming up on 302K miles and runs like a Swiss watch.

Another vehicle to add to the list is the Ford Escape with the 1.5 EcoBoost engine.

David, you might never see this, but thank you so much for your conversations about the Nissan CVT's. Honestly, it's your videos with your Cube that prompted me to change out my transmission fluid myself and some maintenance done on it on my 2010 Sentra. It runs so much better and I plan on doing it again with a new filter as well.

I found you and Mrs. Wizard early this year and it has been GREAT! Merry Christmas and thank you for all of your good words and pictures. YOU are the BEST!!!!!

Where I come from in Denmark, we have a term for cars like these called “Køb og smid væk biler”, which translates to “buy and throw away cars”. Meaning they are cars that you buy (new) and scrap afterwards, they have no used car value and were pretty crap from the second they rolled out of the factory

The tragedy is that the auto industry could update the station wagon, call it a "crossover" and the American public swallowed it.

I own a 2014 journey. bought it in 2016. it has never given my wife any problems at all. it's been back and forth from MD to FLA many times. I love it

The spare/family Toyota corolla just reached 450,000 miles. I had my 11 year old son did new injectors, coils and spark plugs. And i did the fuel and brake lines too due to the large amount of rust on them. The car has just been a beast. The issues that I have had are all age related. Toyota is the only brand that I would buy brand new off the lot and keep it till its time to scrap it.

Thanks Wizard. These type of videos are.so valuable. Thanks for sharing your years of experience.

Cx5 is one to buy. Same powertrain since 2013 in the N/A format, turbo been around since 2016 with little issues with either. Great mileage and no shitty cvts

I pick these up at auctions for dealers. Car Wizard is so right. Almost none of these are kept up. I sometimes wonder if they will start up again. Nailed it.

You happily surprised me with the vibe! Bought a 2009 base manual and it is on it's 3thrd owner, all in the familly! Around 240 000km, drove it recently and still going strong! A solid toyota! Glad i bought that one for so cheap back then!

You are the best, wizard. This segment could be its own channel. Thanks for helping the community!

Great stuff Mr. wizard man. I like how your videos do not rely on clickbait and other fluff. yet, your style is both entertaining and informative. good work!

thank you so much for all your Insight and honesty in the car industry. I was thrilled when you featured the Buick LeSabre as a car to buy that runs forever 3.8 good motor take care of the whole car and I still see a lot of them on the road as you said! I'm going to take care of mine as long as I can👍

Thanks Wizard for the video. You have confirmed what my other favorite Video Mechanic had suggested that the Toyota products are the best investments to make. I would move to Kansas just for your maintence service, but my wife would miss her favorite Collision shop.

Thx for your wisdom/experience! It's very valuable and appreciated!

Can confirm every word about the Pacifica. Just ended my run with my 2004 after five years. Cost me five grand Canadian in repairs to keep that thing on the road, and that's doing most of the work myself. They're comfortable when they work right, but the build quality is just not there. The cost of those rear shocks alone will give you a heart attack... mine needed those done TWICE in 60k kms.

Oooff, my sons first car was an Equnox of that vintage (his mom got it for him). Warped heads, transmission issues, then the electrical system went crazy and bricked the car, sold it to some guy that was going to swap out the powertrain with his because his was rear ended. I could never wrap my head around why he was willing to put that mice time and effort into turning 2 scrap heaps into one, I was just glad to get more than scrap value for the damn thing.

My daughter bought a used Pontiac Vibe and the only thing its needed was tires, oil changes and brakes ( which I did for her). The only problem area was the paint and she had it repainted to a competely diffrent color. Very peppy little car and she still loves it, besides its paid off. ;-)

Thank you. This was very informative. I look forward to viewing more of your videos.

The reliability of a Pontiac vibe I can absolutely vouch for! I know a lady who owns a Vibe, she barely maintained it until her son started changing the oil, the sludge in the valve cover was horrible, and the ATF was also horrible, I didn’t think it had long to go until either the tranny or the engine let go. That was three year’s ago, it is still going strong, these Toyota’s are really something else, it is THE brand of car I can recommend anyone buy

I own a 2008 Pontiac Vibe and I absolutely love it. It’s sporty, quick, and insanely reliable. I plan owning mine forever because I love it so much not to mention they are getting pretty rare nowadays.

Thanks for posting this!

You do good business. A rare combination of ability, experience, and honesty. You will have regular customers for life. Well done, sir.

The compass was the first pavement only jeep. If you remember the first commercials they had to come up with some creative phrases to tell you it would get stuck in your dry lawn.

Wizard, I have the 2016 Jeep Compass with a 2.4L with a automatic 6 speed transmission. Works fantastic and I have no complaints except for the Iridium Spark plugs wear out prematurely causing misfire under heavy acceleration, very easy to change. Currently I have 97000 miles and drivetrain is like new. Thanks for all the videos.

I bought my Journey at 2 years old about 7 years ago from the original owner and it has never let me down. I keep it regularly serviced as well though. I wish Dodge would have stayed in Australia

The Dodge Journey has a couple known issue but there are some not so known solutions that I've been looking up over time. One common issue being no crank/no start is usually caused by either the neutral safety switch in the AT or because the starter is getting bad ground. A pretty simple solution to this, which isn't exactly something a mechanic would do but adding an extra ground wire between the engine block and ground point will improve your battery ground connection, giving your starter better ground and improve the reliability of many sensors as well. For the premature brake wear, it might just be that the brakes from factory are simply too small yes. But something I found is that a hose clamp for the brake hoses in the engine bay will rust over time, which will cause the hose at that place to collapse a bit, meaning that the brake fluid won't flow back to the reservoir as it should which means your brakes are always going to be slightly applied. The fix for this was basically replacing that hose and clamp, and maybe keep an eye on it in the future.

My sister has a 2008 Nissan Rogue bought certified used. Her transmission started slipping at around 45k miles. She didn't know what it was since it only happens at around 50+ mph and it sorta goes away after 30 mins of driving. I think it finally got worst at around 60k miles and she had to take it to a shop. Thankfully we remembered this was a certified preowned and she was still covered under that warranty. I remember seeing the repair bill and it said "Metal chunks in transmission". She still has it today but she also has a 2017 Toyota Corolla now. The Rogue will be driven to the ground and sold for scrap once it dies.

The key here is maintenance, maintenance, maintenance! We have a 2017 Journey and have had 0 problems with it. However it is always maintained. Yes the 4 cylinder is noisy and underpowered compared to my Hemi powered Ram pickup. But the Journey is way tighter and quieter on the highway. I may be a little biased as I spent 45 years in the automotive service business. Primarily in Chrysler product dealers. All but two vehicles I bought new have been Chrysler products starting in 1970 and I haven't had a problem with any of them.

Thanks Wizard! Great video! I did not know about the Pontiac Vibe. Neat.

Owner of 2006 Pontiac Vibe. Bought it pre-owned 12 years ago, has 118K miles...and I've mostly paid just for service over that time. Extremely reliable vehicle. So much so, I've named it "Trusty."

great advice, thank you Car Wizard

Amen on the Toyota's. 2006 Matrix, bought new for my mom and in 180K miles of mostly city driving all its ever needed was a starter. Just do the maintenance ahead of time, don't skimp out with aftermarket tuneup parts/fluids and it will last forever. Sadly, most people will never be mechanics, and few are interested in thinking like one when it comes time to spend money on their car....... outside of the basic payments.

I want to thank you for all the good information. I am learning a lot about cars.

thank you and your wife for the show , have a merry christmas

I’ve had 3 vibes for commuters, never had to do anything outside of brakes and fluids on them. Awesome cars.

A few years ago my mother in law had an Equinox with a 2.4L 4 cylinder. that she followed all of the recommended service intervals on. Trans went out at 120k miles. It was in mint condition, no dents or scratches new tires new battery and alternator. Interior was also mint. GM did not have any recommendation for trans fluid change, so she had never had it done. I change all of my auto trans fluid at 30k miles minimum. Most new cars don’t have a dipstick or filter on the automatic transmissions. New trans was $4k. She needed transportation so I gave her $4k, spent $4k on trans and sold it for… $8k 🙄

Wow 👌 great video as always 👏

Really informative and transparent.

I am on my second Pacifica. My first one was totaled in an accident, it had 255k on it and was still going strong. I honestly loved my first one and ended up getting a second one that was very clean. You’re definitely right though, they are really beat on by people. I see them beat up all the time

I love these types of videos.

Thanks for informing the people, if more people were like you, this world would be a better place.

A very informative video....need to see more of these.

I know we probably got lucky, but we had a 2007 Jeep Compass and it was a fantastic car, bought in 2010 with 72,000 kms (46,000 miles) and scrapped in 2020 with 327,000 kms (203,000 miles) on the original 2.4L and CVT. The rust is why we had to scrap it and we drove it to the scrapyard. We loved it because when it had the rare repair or a regular oil change the look on mechanics faces when they saw the mileage and I mentioned it was the original powertrain was priceless.

Gotta add to the equinox. They also eat up wheel bearings and have a turning radius like titanic. But worse. There's a design flaw in the ABS system where if a wheels speed sensor fails the ABS computer will disable the brakes at low speed. Ask me how i know. And just to add insult to injury the response from Chevy was "yeah we know. But we don't have enough reports to have to issue a recall. Take it to the dealership and have them replace sensors until it's fixed". No lie. I will never buy another Chevy again. Ended up pulling the fuse to the ABS system

My wife has a 2013 Journey and has not had the issues you mentioned. Yes, their have been other gremlins we had to deal with, but for the most part, once fixed, that's it.

Thank you CW!!

Thought you may go the Honda CRV route for what TO BUY, but I can see your point with the Vibe or Highlander

I was confused at first when you mentioned the rogues, because my stepdad's mom in puerto rico has had hers since she bought it new in 2008 and has zero issues with it. Then I remembered "oh yeah, Rosita is in her mid 70s and has driven it about 20k miles total, and is absolutely religious with maintenance for everything". In no other scenario would that cvt be as nice as hers. (She literally still has the back seat plastic covers in place, parks it in the garage every day of its life, and knows the local pep boys mechanics on a first name basis)

I have a 2013 Honda Fit with 134k miles now and runs reliably too as well. Just needed to get the blower motor replaced in ventilation system, but that's really the main thing to fix.

Thank you so much Car Wizard!

Had a 2015 Encore - no problems whatever for 3 years. Loved it.

Really appreciating these videos. Curious about the Subaru CVT now that you basically can't get one without it. I've heard people quoted over $8000 to replace the danged thing but I can't get a handle on whether actual problems are common or this is related to people/quickie lubes draining the transmission thinking they are draining oil (which is common).

Thank you for the good information.

These type of car wizard videos are my absolute favorite, I would love to see another video on diesels too

Got a 2010 Dodge Journey. Bought new. I Take good care of it. Oil every 3000 miles. Has 85,000 miles mostly city. Just replaced suspension myself. Very easy. Trans flush and screen replaced next. Ready for another 85000. Runs and drives fantastic.

My mom has a 2008 Chrysler Pacifica that she bought new and luckly hasn't had any problems yet. She only drives it about 2000-3000 miles a year. I see them a lot in my area that are beat up or sitting in people's yards.

Its very rare a good mechanic will tell u about these bad cars god bless u for being an honest wrench man not many of us left in this world

I have a '17 Journey and the only issue I have with it is occasionally the gauges won't sweep when the engine is started. I have no brake or engine issues. I also owned an '09 Vibe, and the only issue with it was I had a TPMS sensor go on it.

The worst car I ever worked on was a 2004 Buick Rendezvous, pissing every fluid, rust hole on every part of the body, dash light up a like Christmas tree, broken windows I think two, the inside of the car smelled like death, I had to test drive it for a noise, I thought I was gonna die at some point when it hit a pot hole, I drove it back and told my service advisor, requires a new car and the lords blessings when it leaves

Really appreciate your videos Mr Wizard! Must admit I was shocked when you mentioned ALL Buick Encores. Knock on wood my wife's 19' with 36K miles has been great! I change the oil in it every 4k miles and make sure to use the correct AC Delco oil filter for our particular 1.4t

Wizard you rock! The only journey that you will be making will be to the shop! Classic.

I agree with your choices and was surprised by the Vibe!! 🐊🏌🇵🇷🦅👍

The Dodge Journey is/was a running joke among car salesmen as the go-to choice for helping the financially overextended bury their negative equity. Because it was already the cheapest three-row crossover on the market and came with generous factory incentives (including a rebate only for people with subprime credit) a lot were sold to people who couldn't afford maintain them, so they're thoroughly trashed by the time they hit the secondary market.

I have a 2006 Matrix. Best car I have ever owned. Love it. Sporty car with the 5 speed manual.

I love you Wizard! That being said, wife is on her 3rd encore since they dropped. She has a 19 Essence model. We haven’t had 1. And I mean one. CEL, electrical issue, turbo issue etc. That being said, I am a service advisor for our auto group and we do our 20k and 30k services religiously. Also, we only run 93 octane fuel. Any turbo car in my opinion runs better and more reliably with higher octane fuel. I honestly believe a lot of Encore customers buy with budget in mind and run low octane fuel, don’t don’t do recommended services, and probably do 7-8k oil changes and we all know how that story ends. All the other opinions ; I agree.

Thank You Sir for very valuable advice.

I work for a Nissan dealership here in Pennsylvania. Any Nissan with a CVT is a weak point of a Nissan. I've done a bunch of valve bodies and CVT replacements.

When I used to get my Prelude serviced at Honda in the 90's I used to get loaners. I'd either get a Cavalier or a Geo Prism (It was also a Chevy dealer). I was shocked at how much better the Geo was even though it looked like the shitbox Cavalier. I wasn't surprised to find out it was a rebadged Toyota Corolla.

Worked on a Ford Escape 1.5L. The turbo was leaking oil all over. The antifreeze was turning black with oil.

Thanks for the tips

I had a 2002 Highlander i bought new. I had until recently and it was the best vehicle. The early 01,02,03 had a problem with the knock sensors but its fixable and they are incredibly reliable. The v6 is much better than the 4. Thankfully 90% were sold with the v6. I loved mine and would recommend it to anyone. Just not the hybrid. The battery WILL be dead and need changed

The Vibe! My neighbor bought one new in 2004 and all four of his boys learned to drive in it and all 4 drove it to HS. There isn't a straight piece of sheet metal on it and the red paint is rusty and faded but it still runs great with 260k miles on it.

Thank you for this.

Enjoyed the information very much 😂

So glad you're educating viewers on the Nissan CVT issues, I would never purchase a Nissan with a CVT.

I have a 2005 Vibe. My daughter bought it new and then sold it to me when she moved 2000 miles away. Now has 210,000 miles and never needed a major repair. Also have a 2004 Mazda Tribute (Ford Escape) with 3.0 V6. Nothing has ever gone wrong with that car either.

I drive a 2013 3.6L Dodge Journey. It has 140,000kms on it and it's been good to me. Oil changes every 5000kms. I did the brake pads once. The only thing that failed was the info screen. But it was replaced under factory warranty. No issues since then. I can't vouch for the 4cylinder models. Mine is an R/T 3.6L AWD.

I did not know about the Vibe. Thanks for the tip

I just bought a 2014 CR-V with 23,000 miles. I bought the 2014 due to that being the last year before they switched to CVT transmissions. My old Honda made it to 450,000 miles before I sold it so I hope the quality and reliability is still there. So far, so good.

Love our Vibes! We have owned 5 now, all great vehicles with 115k-300k on them. That's the whole reason we bought them, a Toyota for Pontiac prices!

Right on about the Vibe. I've had several. My favorite was my 2004 Vibe GT, 6 speed. I never had to do any major repairs to it and I had it up over 130, stock. I'm super OCD about maintenance on my cars, though. I also had a red 2003 Vibe base that I junked with 280k miles and was still running good. It was a death car so I junked it to kill the bad "Vibes".

Nissan Rogue...Qashqai in UK...UK 2018 onwards 1.3 160bhp has Mercedes engine and Mercedes 7 speed full auto...not CVT...and dynamic chassis control all 3 of which transforms the car into a peach. Hope you have access in USA. Thanks for sharing your knowledge Wizard. You all keep safe

I can vouch for the Pontiac Vibe. I have an Uber driver I've used 3 times that has a 2004 Pontiac Vibe with almost 300,000 miles and it still works!! Everything functions. It has a manual transmission, still looked nice. A little rough around the edges inside but he uses the car.

This man really knows his stuff so I suggest you take his advice on everything he says in this video!!

I'm a 2nd gen. Vibe GT owner here. (The picture of the car that Wizard showed, is the exact car, I have but in white, even though he was talking about the 1st gen.) I love this car!! Bought it, roughly a year ago, and it has almost 205k miles on it, still running like a top. Now I'm going to talk about what I like about the vehicle, as well as its quirks as features...then give it a Doug score....oh, wait, wrong channel, lol. 😘🤣 My only complaints are the MPG. I know Wizard said they're pretty good on gas. They are Okay for the most part. I get 22/30 and roughly 25 combined with the 2.4 L4, but if you do some top end highway pulls, then this car will start guzzling gas real quick. (The Vibe only has a 5 speed auto and manual.) Not horrible, but not great either, not like a Honda. Also, the interior kinda rough around the edges, but most of the soft touch point materials out of the Carolla will fit, so you can fix that problem. Lastly, the common oil burning issue is a real thing, my car needs a qt. like every 1,200 miles or so. Nothing scary, just an annoyance. Also, the car technically has an ELSD, but it mostly cuts power through traction control, and doesn't actually improve performance. There are Mechanical LSD's that will fit this car through it's Matrix craftsmanship, which I plan to do eventually. If I had to rate my Vibe, it's an 8/10 😊 Overall, it's a fairly fast sport wagon, with great styling I think. If you're looking for a 2nd hand sport hatchback from this era, you can't go wrong here. Off topic, but when I take my car to shows, and people ask me about it, I say "It's like a Civic Si, Focus ST love child, with Carolla reliability, lol. Lastly, the aftermarket is growing for these cars, as well as many Toyota products in general.

Thank you for the hint about the Pontiac Vibe.😀

If I’d realized that a Vibe is really a Toyota I would have bought it instead of the PT Cruiser I ended up buying back in 2011. They were next to each other on the lot…

Amazing how experiences differ. I had 2 Journeys, 1 with a 4 cylinder and one with a six. Now, I did proper maintenance and I never had any issues with either of them, and I put over 60,000 miles on the 4 banger. I also had a compass(and still have) with no issue, BUT I did go with the manual trans. Use it as a commuter and works well for that.

GREAT!!! I been looking at the Pontiac and now you just raised the price. We need some secrect words here.

My grandparents have had a Equinox since 2007, it's an 05 with a 3.4. They haven't had many issues with theirs, mainly just rust.

The Vibes are really great cars. My gf had an 08 for years until it got totaled in a wreck, she very kuch regrets replacing it with a Focus. Although the Vibe did have a weird thing where the left head light would burn out like every 3 months, i swear i replaced the left head light a dozen times in 4 years and only did the right once.

15:04 FYI...picture shown is of a 2009-2010 Vibe. Those are just as good as the 2003-2008. In the '09-'10 Vibes, you could get the 2.4Lfrom the Camry in it (with a manual!!), Base engine was still a 1.8L. They also could be had with AWD (automatic only, though).

My 2013 dodge journey wasn't bad at all. 130k No major issues, regular maintenance, amsoil, KN box filter, at 100k transmission fluid and filter change, and brake rotors and pads one time with new tires. It's the oil that needs to be upgraded. Amsoil is the best in that compartment and ran very smooth to point I thought the engine was off. Lol! 😎👍

YES to the Pontiac Vibe! My 2005, which I bought new, just went past 210k miles with no major issues. I absolutely love this car. Toyota reliability and versatile too. Admittedly, their not much to look at but neither am I.