Parents need a new car--what car?

Needs to have a backseat for Woodrow the wonder dog. They'd prefer a wagon or hatch, but in the sense that they prefer kettle one vs grey goose--they're not that picky. 

It needs to to be nice inside, it needs to get good gas mileage (30 highway, 35 would be better). 80mph

No CVT's, unless there is one that really doesn't suck. 

Quiet on the highway is also a priority. 

No no real budget here, but let's say keep it under $45k new or used. Gotta be good enough of a car that they could keep it for 10 years and not get bored with it--and dads last cars that lasted more than three years have been a G37, e34, e30, W124, and a turbo-bird. So suggesting a Cruze diesel probably won't go very far. 

Rav4 or CRV are hard to go wrong with.   If desire for more upscale then Highlander or Venza.  

If willing to pay more for mpg then there is a Rav4 hybrid or Highlander Hybrid.  

Edit: are you asking for 30-35 mpg while traveling 80mph?

If that's the case then your looking at the Prius or Kia's two new Prius competitors. *whatever their names are

What about the Mercedes CLA class - do they sell a hatch?

I just played a similar game with my parents. They're long time Honda people (explains my love of EF civics I guess), but didn't dig the new CR-V/HR-V whatever that Honda's making. Tried talking them into a civic wagon which they test drove and liked, but found it to be really too small for their needs. They ended up with a Prius 5 which they're thrilled with. My dad's been using it to haul the dogs and make home depot runs and still commutes 100 miles a day with it. Maybe not your folks' cup of tea, but might be worth considering.  

Having just done an extended test drive of the Golf Alltrack with the auto I was very impressed. Drives like a luxury car in all honesty.  Quiet and very solid feeling.  

I am not an auto guy but I feel like I would almost be satisfied with one.  We are going to be ordering a 2018 in manual for the wife to replace her Forester XT.  Averaged mid 20s driving very spiritedly all weekend. 

Lightly used ones are going in the mid low $20's but the 2018s are getting a 6 year 72k mile bumper to bumper warranty which makes me feel better about the reliability factor. 

Isn't this the land of the Camry (with the 3.5 V6)?  Reliable - check, comfortable - check, decent gas mileage - check, reasonably priced - check, surprisingly quick - check...not a hatch or wagon, but has a decent backseat for the attack dog.

Docwyte has an answer.........Porsche Cayenne  Diesel............ good night .........

Volvo v90 gets 34mpg highway and is all kinds of awesome. I bet you could get a very lightly used one for <$45k. Looking on Cargurus shows some new Cross Country v90 models for $49k.

Someone looking for some fun and that was happy with a G37 isn't likely to be jumping into a Prius or Camry and being happy with it for 10 years.

Buick Regal wagon comes out this year.

Actually, how have we not talked about this yet? I guess it kinda misses in the mileage category, but  it seems like there's decent used examples for mid 40s to low 50s right now. 

If fuel economy is important, they'll want to stay FWD based, I4 powered, and probably a hybrid.  Per fueleconomy.gov, the top fuel economy cars from the last few years that I would consider in the 'premium' style they're looking for are:

Audi A3 e-tron

Lexus CT 200h (CVT)

Volvo S90 PHEV

Lincoln MKZ Hybrid (CVT)

Lexus ES 300h

BMW 330e

BMW 530e

secretariata said:

Isn't this the land of the Camry (with the 3.5 V6)?  Reliable - check, comfortable - check, decent gas mileage - check, reasonably priced - check, surprisingly quick - check...not a hatch or wagon, but has a decent backseat for the attack dog.

I own a camry with that 2grfe 3.5. Quiet and comfortable for sure. I also have pretty light feet and struggle to near 30 mpgs on thi open road. Usually about 28 doing 80 with the air conditioning in the off position. Also the 3.5 has well documented issues with oil leaks from the vvti solenoid and the timing case, once they've been fixed you're good to go but it is an engine out kind of fix...

You don't say how old or competent your parents are. If they are still seeking thrills in life, then for sure I see one path, but if they are at the point where driving is just a "need to do" activity when they must, then I would go looking for that Cruze with an Auto gearbox. Panoramic visibility is king as we get older and less attentive.

Pete

NOHOME said:

You don't say how old or competent your parents are. If they are still seeking thrills in life, then for sure I see one path, but if they are at the point where driving is just a "need to do" activity when they must, then I would go looking for that Cruze with an Auto gearbox. Panoramic visibility is king as we get older and less attentive.

 

Pete

58 and 64. Dad is in the worse shape of them, but that is due to injury mostly. He's still pretty active. A Camry likely won't work; he'll get bored with it and sell it. Sent him pretty much everything on this thread though. 

They're both retired, but they take about 3-4 200 mile trips a month. Don't bother talking about car payments vs. gas prices, it is a different conversation. Dad is a guy who has owned (or bought for his kids) more or less the entire gambit of GRM vehicles--off the top of my head, he's hit USA, Japan, Germany, Britain, and Sweden with his purchases in the past, 4, 5, 6, 8 cylinders, 3, 4, 5, 6 speed manuals, and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 speed autos. And he'll tell you exactly what he did and didn't like about all of them. 

Oh, must be automatic now. He has his fun car, but mom can't drive stick. 

30+mpg at 80mph...  For new options I agree with Greg, VW wagon is the obvious choice. The gas turbo is efficient too and makes nice torque.

Or for under $45k  used..  Maybe a nice S Tesla?  It would be something different if they have only ever driven gas cars. Should take a while for that accel to get old.   Or 328d wagon maybe? 535d wagon?  Is that a thing?

We bought a used 2012 XC60 3.2l AWD with ~30K miles for $20K a couple of years ago.  Very reliable and  comfortable.  Can seat 5 in a pinch and has lots of room for our Golden in the back.  Not going to get 30 mpg, though.  We average about 24...

Chevy Volt?

Still young enough to be whistling at the girls, so style and thrills matter.

Since your dad seems kind of car-fickle, doubt that much of what the hive thinks is going to matter. In the interest of not having my parents broke down on the side of the road, I veto all of Germany from the last 15 years due to them seeming to have lost the thread on electron wrangling. Kinda leaves Japan as the only option in my books.

Pete

NOHOME said:

Still young enough to be whistling at the girls, so style and thrills matter.

Since your dad seems kind of car-fickle, doubt that much of what the hive thinks is going to matter.

But I need suggestions for him. 100% of his car decisions in the past 15 years have been influenced by me. Hell, I found the E30 15 years ago. He still owns that. 

Sound like they would like a 328iX Touring, I would avoid the diesel due to some pretty wicked repair costs.  The German's are dropping diesel due to high warranty repairs related to poor quality gas in North America.  The lower operating cost is all good until you get a $6k cat repair bill. The N20 2l turbo motor is better after 2015 due to improved timing chain guides.

May want to look at a BMW 3GT as well.  It is a very functional design with lots of rear seat and hatch room while looking like a sedan.  It is surprising how much room there is once you remove the stowable parcel shelf/cover.  Depreciation is your friend on these things.  They are not well loved by sedan people and wagon people think they lack wagoness.  Good ingress/egress for older people due to sightly higher seating height while out handling a crossover.

The Lexus CT200h is a great car, but pretty small.  It's CVT does not suck.  I hardly notice it is there.  The biggest complaint would be the loud engine sound if you go over 4k RPM which isn't all that often.  The next biggest complaint would be lack of power at highway speeds.  They are uber reliable.  There is a courier with 570k kms on one and he replaced some fog light wiring for $70 and put his first set of front pads and rotors on 536k km.

MINI Clubman might be worth a look see.  Reliability can be sketchy, but an interesting package and good on gas.

Subaru lots of wagons.

BmW 3 wagon

Buick regal.

Mazda CX9