OT - Car Shopping

[CuseFaninVT]

Currently have a '11 Pilot and an '07 Volvo V50. The Volvo has cost us tons of money over the years so I would not recommend that. I'm growing tired of my Pilot. Honda vehicles, like Volkswagon, allow far too much road noise, and the Pilot I have is really weak on the extras - they do a bad job with the overall electronics experience. I travel quite a bit so I rent cars often. I really like the Fords for their attention to the details for the electronics. Were I looking, I'd take a hard look at Ford's despite bad experiences with them when I was much younger. Their crossover SUVs aren't bad little vehicles.

Also loved the Dodge Durango we got on one trip. That won't help with gas mileage, but it is a beefy fun ride.

My next vehicle purchase will likely be another Audi for the wife. But I live in Vermont and AWD is a must for us. And Audi's are beasts in the snow.

 

[RMH44]

Well, my 16 yo 1999 Acura TL has finally died, at least to the extent that it needs a transmission repair & I have decided not to put $$$ into that old a vehicle. That vehicle owes me nothing.

We are a 3 car family - we have a Honda Pilot that fills the needs for a large SUV and a "dog vehicle". My wife has her Acura RDX selected by her own preference. I need to replace the TL.

I am not sure between a sedan or a small SUV. If I went the small SUV route, I would want AWD. Since I already have 2 AWD vehicles a sedan is a definite option.

So far I have looked at Ford, Mazda, Hyundai, and Honda. Amongst what I have looked at my favorites so far are the Honda Accord and the Honda Crosstour. I am presently leaning towards the Crosstour AWD because I think it will be big enough to serve as a replacement for my 10 YO Pilot down the road and still give me sedan like driveability for my present needs. The negatives on the Crosstour are not as good gas mileage as I might prefer and that it is supposedly not as "refined" as the latest Accord, but other than the new Accord having a slightly nicer instrument cluster I am at a loss to know what those refinement differences might be. I definitely intend to check out the Acura TLX before making a decision.

My price range is up to the low 30's.

If anybody has a Crosstour out there I would really appreciate input on the vehicle. I am also looking for input about any other vehicles that I should be checking out as I hope to make a decision very soon, so I may not have time to check out everything.

Thx in advance for any inputs...

There are many fine makes and models that fit your search criteria and most have been mentioned above. The one manufacturer that hasn't been mentioned is Subaru...the king of all wheel drive.

My son purchased a 2011 Legacy with a CVT transmission and absolutely loves it. He's already racked up over 110,000 miles on it and has yet to have any problems. He gets around 35mpg on the highway. Great car and reasonably priced. Subaru also has a great line of SUV's .

 

[albanycuse]

There are many fine makes and models that fit your search criteria and most have been mentioned above. The one manufacturer that hasn't been mentioned is Subaru...the king of all wheel drive. My son purchased a 2011 Legacy with a CVT transmission and absolutely loves it. He's already racked up over 110,000 miles on it and has yet to have any problems. He gets around 35mpg on the highway. Great car and reasonably priced. Subaru also has a great line of SUV's .

Yup, cant go wrong with either a Honda, VW, or Subaru.

 

[masc23]

I have a Mazda CX-9. Love it. I highly recommend one.

My wife just got a awd cx-5. Really great vehicle, fun to drive and great in the snow.

 

[Stevenson]

Volkswagen Passatt

 

[cusetown1]

Get a silverado with a crew cab.

 

[Frozen]

If you're interested in buying a new car, my brother in law's company might be able to help: http://www.fromcartofinish.com/

 

[DoctorBombay]

I'm looking to get rid of my Nissan Altima & go back to a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Both great cars but I prefer the beef of the SUV.
Fyi- whatever you decide, make sure it's soon. My bil is in car sales & he says prices usually rise by a few grand starting late february. Mostly because of tax return season, spring thaw, etc.

 

[newmexicuse]

Thx to all for your responses. I had intended to do a more thorough evaluation and to not purchase for a couple of weeks, but I came across a great deal on a new 2014 Crosstour . So what happened was that I presented that deal to my dealer of choice & got a similar deal on a 2015 that I couldn't pass up, so I pulled the trigger a bit sooner than I had originally anticipated. I think the deal was so good because the Crosstour is not a popular model as it is in fact a cross between an SUV and a sedan & most people just go one way or the other. However, if anybody out there wants SUV capabilities, sedan like luxury and drivability and doesn't require the space of an SUV then the Crosstour should be considered.

 

[albanycuse]

Thx to all for your responses. I had intended to do a more thorough evaluation and to not purchase for a couple of weeks, but I came across a great deal on a new 2014 Crosstour . So what happened was that I presented that deal to my dealer of choice & got a similar deal on a 2015 that I couldn't pass up, so I pulled the trigger a bit sooner than I had originally anticipated. I think the deal was so good because the Crosstour is not a popular model as it is in fact a cross between an SUV and a sedan & most people just go one way or the other. However, if anybody out there wants SUV capabilities, sedan like luxury and drivability and doesn't require the space of an SUV then the Crosstour should be considered.

Honda , pound for pound best cars on the planet .

 

[HoustonCuse]

Honda , pound for pound best cars on the planet .

Can't argue with that statement, but I still think he should have gone with the 458...

In case anybody is still looking, this one is close to me and I can check it out/test drive it for you if you want:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...FER[458ITALIA[]][]]&listingId=379885972&Log=0

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

I have a Mazda CX-9. Love it. I highly recommend one.

I traded a CX9 for the Lexus GX460. The Lexus is nice, comfortable, a smooth powerful V8 and with some nice interior features, but the back tailgate swinging open like a barn door instead of like a hatchback sucks, and the cargo is not as useful as the Mazda. The CX9 is easily the better value and I would go back to one.

 

[Marsh01]

I traded a CX9 for the Lexus GX460. The Lexus is nice, comfortable, a smooth powerful V8 and with some nice interior features, but the back tailgate swinging open like a barn door instead of like a hatchback sucks, and the cargo is not as useful as the Mazda. The CX9 is easily the better value and I would go back to one.

It even looks like lexus

 

[pearl31]

 

[Ghost]

Currently have a '11 Pilot and an '07 Volvo V50. The Volvo has cost us tons of money over the years so I would not recommend that. I'm growing tired of my Pilot. Honda vehicles, like Volkswagon, allow far too much road noise, and the Pilot I have is really weak on the extras - they do a bad job with the overall electronics experience. I travel quite a bit so I rent cars often. I really like the Fords for their attention to the details for the electronics. Were I looking, I'd take a hard look at Ford's despite bad experiences with them when I was much younger. Their crossover SUVs aren't bad little vehicles.

Also loved the Dodge Durango we got on one trip. That won't help with gas mileage, but it is a beefy fun ride.

My next vehicle purchase will likely be another Audi for the wife. But I live in Vermont and AWD is a must for us. And Audi's are beasts in the snow.

I've had a couple Accords, and agree with all that you say. Fantastic car, wouldn't discourage anyone from getting one, but it's not the smoothest ride overall imo, and they do miss the mark with electronics/interior styling.

I rent all the time and the worst car I ever ended up with was a VW Jetta...dear god. I thought I was sitting in a 1985 Chevy Celebrity. I hear the Passats are well done, and I used to like the Jettas interior for that price point, but this one was garbage. I returned it after one day for a Chrysler, which shockingly (to me at least) was a fun car to drive/nice inside.

I hate the Fords...I refuse to take them now as rentals. Someone said it's because of a dual clutch transmission - but who knows. I'd rather drive a lawn-mower.

 

[albanycuse]

I've had a couple Accords, and agree with all that you say. Fantastic car, wouldn't discourage anyone from getting one, but it's not the smoothest ride overall imo, and they do miss the mark with electronics/interior styling. I rent all the time and the worst car I ever ended up with was a VW Jetta...dear god. I thought I was sitting in a 1985 Chevy Celebrity. I hear the Passats are well done, and I used to like the Jettas interior for that price point, but this one was garbage. I returned it after one day for a Chrysler, which shockingly (to me at least) was a fun car to drive/nice inside. I hate the Fords...I refuse to take them now as rentals. Someone said it's because of a dual clutch transmission - but who knows. I'd rather drive a lawn-mower.

Older accords didnt really have any options you may want in a luxury brand thats why you would buy a Acura. As well as any other car it competed with in the same class. The newer ones are loaded and quite nice looking, they are solid vehicles. The Jetta is a womans car and id rather drive a lawn mower myself. I dislike all american cars for they are junk.

 

[Ghost]

Older accords didnt really have any options you may want in a luxury brand thats why you would buy a Acura. As well as any other car it competed with in the same class. The newer ones are loaded and quite nice looking, they are solid vehicles. The Jetta is a womans car and id rather drive a lawn mower myself. I dislike all american cars for they are junk.

Yeah - but they did screwy things. You would have USB in a Civic around 2007 or 2008, but none in a Pilot or an Accord. They were all over the place with adopting technology into their cars.

The Jetta still didn't have a USB...which is insanity.

 

[albanycuse]

Yeah - but they did screwy things. You would have USB in a Civic around 2007 or 2008, but none in a Pilot or an Accord. They were all over the place with adopting technology into their cars. The Jetta still didn't have a USB...which is insanity.

I cant confirm or deny that so i dont know seems idiotic lol.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

My mother had one of those. For like a month and then got rid of it. What an awful car!

 

[pearl31]

My mother had one of those. For like a month and then got rid of it. What an awful car!

yeah I don't think the French were meant to make cars

 

[NashvilleOrange]

Yeah - but they did screwy things. You would have USB in a Civic around 2007 or 2008, but none in a Pilot or an Accord. They were all over the place with adopting technology into their cars.

The Jetta still didn't have a USB...which is insanity.

Yeah I looked at 2015 VWs yesterday and they still don't have a USB which was the #1 must have for car buyers in 2014; talk about being out of touch with the consumer. They do have a SD slot in the glove compartment but I was a bit surprised.

 

[tbonezone]

honda builds a great engine. VW's are great but only if you drive stick.

 

[IthacaMatt]

The 99 to like 01 had bad trannys im surprised it lasted you that long. Cant go wrong with a Honda. The VW Touareg are good too .

VW is like Jeep - they look pretty nice, but they always have problems. I had a Volvo 940 for 18 years and 164K miles before it died. Since then, I've gotten two Hyundai Sonatas - a 2007 six cylinder and a 2011 4 cylinder turbo. I have had great success (knock wood) with both cars - no rust, no problems. The 2007 has 102,000 miles on it. Both get good mileage. The 2o11 gets 35 MPG+ on road trips, and around 26 MPG in town.

 

[cusetown1]

Craigslist has some good deals on El Caminos.

 

[tbonezone]

not only a great car but great black keys album as well.