cost of upkeep vs gas prices tread...sigh

The past couple of weeks I have been fighting with my mother roommate, my uncle and my mother about getting her a newer car. right now she drives a 96 legecy that I talked her into a couple of years ago. it was cheap at the time. not we have found out the valves need to be redone, the cats are toaste, and somthing in the suspion clunks when you make tight turns. she needs something that will pass emmsionsions before april. here is the differnt issues that I am beating my head agaist with everyone. the roommate is a die hard chevy fanboy.... my unlce wants to buy her a car down in north carlinea and bring it up here cause he says he can find something nice for less money at the actuions down by him. my mom hates going out and looking much less everything looks the same to her. she bitchs about hitting the dealers to even see what they have in stock and even look to see what she can get in and out of cause of her bad back. she is use to driveing a minivan before the wagon and drives 20 minites each way to work at 4 in the morning. i still dont think she has for given me about the subby though...she wanted a blazer and i talked her into it for the better gas milage in the subby.

here is some of the other things that we agree and argue over. the good, we do want awd or 4x4 cause of the snow and winter up here in WI/IL area. need good gas milage so 4 or 6 banger works...sigh

the bad.... cost of fixing the thing down the road. Uncle wants honda or toyota cause they are cheap to fix and very good for lasting a long time. The roommate agress for the honda being cheap. everyone else conplains about subby being a an arm and a leg to fix and known issues with valves and such.

so far cars i have managed to get to at least sit in but not test drive anything that she could like. toy rave 4, chevy small suv..., ford escape...the small suv, the honda crv is iffy, she ranted today about the 2003 outback she sat in. its the same car as her 96 legecy expect it sits up a couple of extra inchs..sigh

so if everyone wants to post pros and cons of differnt cars and small suv's to help settle some ideas for her I would love to have some extra ammo to show her and everyone else to help her decide. she has all ready thrown something for suggesting miata all the time....

her commets so far is an autotragic.....must have legroom in the back seat, cargo room, she carrys a bunch of stuff at times, no red cars, no mini's(trust me she nearly hit me for that idea) good on gas for something 2003 or newer. thanks for any help guys and if you add pics i can show her this tread to help make up her mind......sigh......

Budget?

A Rav4 or CR-V sound like an ideal appliance for your Mom.

Get her an 05+ Outback.

I'd go with the '00-'04 Outback that has proof the head gaskets were done.

I have had 2 subies (1 legacy & 1 forester) and am very happy not to go back.

EVER

The CR-V, Rav 4 are good suggestions. The Saturn Vue would be also.

Get her to go full hippie, get an Element

Yes. Whats her budget? I could recommend a used Toyota Vensa but without knowing her budget, its hard to say. If she doesn't HAVE to have a wagon Id say used toyota avalon. they are big, prestigious and go forever. Maybe mazda6 wagon if needs a wagon? I hear good things about those. If you are looking at rav4's you arent too concerned about gas mileage. They do get good mileage for an SUV...but not for a car.

Let her pick it out and do it on her own. No matter what you do, it'll be "wrong."

Mazda CX5

Front drive with good snow tires should get you around just fine. That idea may open up more options, and save on gas.

Taurus X came with AWD option, it's wagon-like and depreciated badly from what I hear. Might get one cheap.

Small GM vans had AWD option, and they resale for squat. Aztec as well.

Honda CRV.

Thats why I purchased a Mazda2

CR-V awd or CR-V fwd with snow tires in the winter.

gunner wrote: If you are looking at rav4's you arent too concerned about gas mileage. They do get good mileage for an SUV...but not for a car.

I daily drive our '06 V6 AWD RAV4 for a round-trip commute of 65 miles, split 2/3rds back roads, 1/3 highway (mostly stop and go). I average 24-25 MPG on regular gas, which is rare with the combination of power (269 HP), AWD, and the interior space (the sliding rear seat gives a ton of room for rear passengers). The rear seats also fold flat to create a pretty large storage space, as well.

FWIW, I got 28 MPG in the same commute in an E36 328is 5spd, and 26 MPG in a 2000 Saab 9-3 (2.0T/AT). Neither had AWD, neither even approached the space of the RAV4, and both ran on premium gas. So from a cost of perspective, both were the same as the RAV4. The E36 and the Saab are known as cars that get better than average mileage in their segment.

If AWD/4WD is a must and fuel economy is a factor, I'd definitely consider a RAV4. I would argue their real-world fuel economy is on-par with most AWD vehicles. The current gen Impreza is the only exception I can think of, and that's a much smaller vehicle.

If FWD is an option, then you can certainly get more MPG out of a car. However, when driving the roads at 4AM, I would have to think that they might not be plowed particularly well.

I'm suprised no one has mentioned a Hyundai Sante Fe or Tiburon. Our 2005 is approaching 200k with very little other than normal maintenance. 23+ mpg in mixed driving. Decent room for storage and plenty of power with the V6.

Tell them, "Hey, get what YOU want.", then laugh at them for their misguided choice.

My only suggestion is to not buy a car in NC to bring back up north unless you plan on getting it undercoated or rustproofed. Cars from the south (at least all the ones I get to see) are not equipped to battle the salt and snow.

ncjay wrote: My only suggestion is to not buy a car in NC to bring back up north unless you plan on getting it undercoated or rustproofed. Cars from the south (at least all the ones I get to see) are not equipped to battle the salt and snow.

FWIW, the cars in the north are not equipped to deal with the salt and snow either - part of why you don't see much old stuff on the road up here - they rusted away.

Just went through this with a friend - what I came away with was that people around northern ILwho think they need 4wd/awd are not going to change their opinion no matter what the logic says. She doesn't care that much so it's not worth you getting too worked up about it either. Have her pick a budget, pick a short list of acceptable vehicles/colors (or no go colors). Turn uncle loose to pick up cheap auction appliance - go get it for her and enjoy road trip. MIL is sort of the same way - she drives a highlander, before that a pilot. Her short list was highlander, rav4, CR-V. I would add the santa fe too.

CR-V. My mom loves hers and I think it's an excellent vehicle. The AWD works well and it still averages 24-26mpg. Hers is an 04 with 124,000 miles. All it's needed is tires, brakes, battery, plugs, and a door lock actuator. The thing drives exactly like it did when it was new.

AWD = Retarded. FWD plus good winter tires = winning.

thanks for all the advice guys, going to save this tread and show her later today when i get home.

Suzuki sx4 . New you can get an awd one for I think 14 or 15k and used they don't hold their value well at all. My mom has had one fr about 5 years and 60k miles. Averages 28 mpg and has been no trouble at all . They also have long warranties if you get new or close to it

I Agree with the Suzuki SX4, wife has one, we bought an 2007 with 30k miles, for $12,500.

It's on demand AWD only. It has a 3-way rocker switch, for FWD, auto and lock. Lock only works under 30mph.

Wife has the CVT transmission car, and if your mother likes to drive slow, then its the car for her. You won't be winning any speed contests in the car.

Though I'd push you towards the CRV if you can find one that's been well maintained.

Problem with honda's is most people that own them don't bother to get the timing belt, water pump and tensioner changed at 100k, so finding one over 100 that has had the work properly done to them is near impossible. If you keep that in mind when searching for a car though, you might find something that she'll like. The water pump, timing belt and tensioner will set you back about $600, depending on where you go. You should also get the valve lash checked as well...