Car Recommendations

[Fox]

Re: Car Recommendations

Very nice! My wife like's it too.

[DSpencer]

Re: Car Recommendations

As for the others, welcome to the wonderful world of the car buyer's slippery slope. There's a lesson in here somewhere, so I'll post the logic (or lack there of) for the benefit of the rest of the class:

Original goal: $10K - $14K car no more than 8 years old (in canada btw, 2nd hand cars are more valued than in the US)
Logical Slip #1: well for $16K I could get a new Honda Civic.
Logical Slip #2: An equipped (ie AC and locks) Civic is $20K, for $22K I could get a Sonata
Logical Slip #3: Once the Sonata is equipped, I'm looking at the price of a Fusion or Altima ($28K)
Logical Slip #4: Passat feels and drives like a Full size sedan (what I was use to) for only $30K. Sold!



btw, Dspencer, have your wife sit her butt in a 2013 Altima. That will end her thoughts of an SUV pretty quick. My only real complaint of the Passat is that its not as comfortable as the Altima. I need to buy myself some extra soft seat covers to get myself over my day dreams of sitting in a new Altima.

Even though we are just starting to look we are already feeling the slick ground beneath us. It's definitely frustrating to see a car with a "starting at 20k MSRP" and then when you actually build it on the website it ends up at 33k.

I will have her check out the Altima. The Fusion might also be interesting.

[drumminj]

Re: Car Recommendations

Jumping in late here, but I'm a fan of the Subaru Forester. Got my 2011 for $24.5k (new), so I'm sure you can find a new or gently used in your price range. Prices seem to have come down since then now that the tsunami isn't a factor regarding supply...

* Great visibility
* Great AWD system (2014 is even better)
* Great safety/crash rating (check out subaruforester.org's "Member Mishaps" section to read some stories and see photos of accidents folks walked away from)
* 8" ground clearance
* OK gas mileage (it's higher with the CVT they now use, but I get about ~23mpg mixed driving, 27mpg highway).

Not as plush on the inside as Honda CRV, but still a nice interior.

[DSpencer]

Re: Car Recommendations

Jumping in late here, but I'm a fan of the Subaru Forester. Got my 2011 for $24.5k (new), so I'm sure you can find a new or gently used in your price range. Prices seem to have come down since then now that the tsunami isn't a factor regarding supply...

* Great visibility
* Great AWD system (2014 is even better)
* Great safety/crash rating (check out subaruforester.org's "Member Mishaps" section to read some stories and see photos of accidents folks walked away from)
* 8" ground clearance
* OK gas mileage (it's higher with the CVT they now use, but I get about ~23mpg mixed driving, 27mpg highway).

Not as plush on the inside as Honda CRV, but still a nice interior.

I've definitely looked at those. Seems like a very practical car but I'm not sure the styling will work for the fiance. The new Crosstrek seems interesting. They are about to release a hybrid version which could help with mileage and a bit of extra power. I don't know the price though and the hybrid aspect doesn't add much in MPG so if it's an expensive option I won't see the point.

The Mazda CX-5 also seems interesting. Good MPG for a crossover.

EDIT: Looked at the Forester again and the newer designs are much better looking. I was picturing the pre 2008 version. Pretty good pricing as well.

[drumminj]

Re: Car Recommendations

EDIT: Looked at the Forester again and the newer designs are much better looking. I was picturing the pre 2008 version. Pretty good pricing as well.

Yeah, I didn't much care for the previous stylings...too boxy/frumpy-wagon for me. The 2009-2013 are better, IMO, though still not the most aesthetically pleasing. But, I spend my time on the inside of the car, not the outside

For more power, the XT is nice, and is also capable of towing (which I recall reading further up the thread). Might not be the thing for your lady, but I thought I'd share my experience. I previously had a 1999 Toyota 4Runner, which was hard to let go, but the Subaru has proven almost as capable.

[Fox]

Re: Car Recommendations

btw, I'd say beware of hybrid anything. They seem like a nice techno toy; fun to play with but breaks easily. Has anyone any experience with the repair cost of these things? And just what happens when someone wants to keep the car longer than the "10 year lifespan" of the battery pack? In anycase, lots of bells and whistles means lots of things to fail. I even cringe at all the frivolous sensors my Passat has in it, but I'm a "Keep It Simple" type of person.

And as for mileage, I was getting 45mpg doing 90mph for a 3 hour road trip. Lets see a prius do that. XD

Any decent Diesel SUVs out there?

[DSpencer]

Re: Car Recommendations

btw, I'd say beware of hybrid anything. They seem like a nice techno toy; fun to play with but breaks easily. Has anyone any experience with the repair cost of these things? And just what happens when someone wants to keep the car longer than the "10 year lifespan" of the battery pack? In anycase, lots of bells and whistles means lots of things to fail. I even cringe at all the frivolous sensors my Passat has in it, but I'm a "Keep It Simple" type of person.

And as for mileage, I was getting 45mpg doing 90mph for a 3 hour road trip. Lets see a prius do that. XD

Any decent Diesel SUVs out there?

One of the big problems I see with hybrids is the diminishing returns of fuel economy. There is a big cost savings in going from 10mpg to 20mpg. However, the savings continually decrease as you go from 20 to 30, 30 to 40 and so on. For example, if you assume $4.00 gas and 12,000 miles per year I calculate that the yearly savings would be:

From 10 to 20mpg: $2,400
20 to 30: $800
30 to 40: $400
40 to 50: $240

There's many other variables to consider such as resale value, driving characteristics (sometimes a hybrid version will outperform the non hybrid of the same car due to extra horsepower from the electric motor), maintenance, time value of money etc. But if a hybrid option costs $5,000 more and improves combined fuel economy from 30 to 40mpg, I think it's hard to justify economically.

[plinko]

Re: Car Recommendations

Bumping the opinion of wagons. I drive a subaru impreza wagon myself and have loved it - it's moved furniture that wouldn't fit in a ford escape (CUV). You may want something a little bigger like a legacy wagon or outback. I particularly like the older style (2005-2008ish) legacy wagon.

Also, mazda used to sell the mazda 6 as a wagon.


As far as diesel suv's, still don't see any nice ones unless you're willing to pay for a bmw x5 or similar offerings from audi / mercedes. If you're insane (I am, but don't have time), there is a small company importing diesel subaru engines for older model subarus - google boxeer (note the extra e). There's also the jetta tdi wagon, but no awd is offered.