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Hubby and I went to test drive cars yesterday; we're thinking seriously of trading in his Mini Cooper S for a SUV/crossover.
These are the few contenders:
We also looked at the Mitsubishi Outlander (which hubs really liked), Subaru Forrester (which I really liked) but they were ruled out for the most part because I thought the Outlander was too manly and hubs thought Subaru was too girly.
We are considering either new or certified pre-owned. We're pretty open to suggestions if you know of a vehicle we didn't check, thse are our main considerations:
Thanks for any help or advice, bees!
We recently got a new car, but at first we were looking at SUV's. We ended up getting a car because I used to have a Ford Explorer and just wanted a car again since my FI has a truck, and we didn't think we needed two large vehicles. But, if we had gotten an SUV, we would have gotten the Ford Edge. He and I both fell in love with it.
We ended up getting a new Mitsubishi Galant. We love it.
@Puggy - thanks for the input...I have a Honda Civic and of course, with his MINI we just have two small cars and are looking at a possible move so we do need one bigger one! That Ford Edge was really nice and we found some really great pre-owned deals.
Well, I'm a little biased having just traded in my Ford Explorer, which I loved so much. Also, my family is very much a Ford family. But, other than the fact that they are very good vehicles, I think that the styling of the Edge is just beautiful. Personally, I wouldn't go for the Mercury version, because it's pretty much the same car only nicer interior materials. And, I know in my personal situation with two dogs and hopefully trying for a baby next year, I didn't really want to shell out the money for high end leather.
Have you tried Edmunds.com? They have a feature on there that lets you do side by side comparisons of vehicles. If you are on the fence, maybe one of the features will stand out to you and help you make the decision.
@Puggy - thx for the Edmunds suggestion! I was trying to rack my brain of all the places I looekd at cars the last time I went car shopping and I couldn't remember that one for some reason!
my friend got the edge about two months ago. i LOVE it! i always volunteer her car for girls night out! lol ... very roomy inside and runs so quietly! i think it also has awesome safety reviews.
I see yall are in Orlando,the Nissan Dealership on 436/Semoran between Colonial and University is where my FI got his Titan and his mom got her Murano. They have great customer service and I believe have some pre-owned vehicles there as well.
The Hyundai Santa Fe and the Hyundai Veracruz are two to consider. The Veracruz is bigger and fancier, but I really love the Santa Fe. The new ones are really stylish, and it's won Consumer Report's Best In Class before. Definitely worth a look IMO. :)
thanks mmaurcio...as the night has gone on, i think it's narrowed down to ford edge and the kia sorrento
@gr8grl1020 - i liked the nissans, too, but hubs didn't like them all that much for some reason. the murano is gorgeous!
@blueshoes - thanks! we actually didn't look at hyundai at all so definitely I will take a look!!
Have a CX-9 and love it, i waited till 2008 close out and got $10,000 off on one of the last ones they had on the lot.
I'm a big fan of the Ford Edge (they look so sleek and stylish) - and the Ford/Lincoln brand in general. My family has always had a great experience with our Ford vehicles and their overall customer service.
@miss frenchie - how's the mileage? that was our concern about that vehicle.
@miss pinot grigio - thanks for your input! we really love that edge look, too!
Mileage is OK, its what i expected, says about 22 miles to the gallon HWY and thats about what i get, i dont drive it every day, we have work trucks for our business so i mainly drive those. I have the Grand Touring model and i LOVE the styling. I have had 2 mazdas and they are great cars. Something to think about as far as long term maintenance goes, the low profile tires can get expensive.
We just rented an Edge last week - i liked it! i would get upgrades for it, though - the basic model needed a little more zing.
I agree....splurge for the Ford upgrades! We just bought a Ford Fusion about 3 months ago, and I must say that the SYNC package is super handy and quite a nice feature! =)
I have a Mazda 3, first non-American car, and I've been very pleased with it so far.
My two bits of advice for buying a car (only 3000 miles on mine!) are to check out financing before going to the dealer (I got a MUCH better rate through my credit union, like 6% interest compared to 9.5%! I was able to change the terms from 60 months down to 48), and to not buy the same day you test drive. I failed the second one, and only got out of there with a good price because I'm a decent negotiator. It is much easier to negotiate by phone or email. Figure out what you want, send it out to the dealers, take the best price you get, see if anyone else will match that, etc.
I have a Nissan Murano, and LOVE it. It is the perfect car! Not too big, but big enough! :) FI thinks its a good car too and hasn't seen them come in very often for problems. (FI is a mechanic!)
From your choices though, I would pick GMC Terrain/Chevy Equinox. I'm not a Ford fan, Lincolns are super nice, but you pay a lot for nothing really special (they have the same engine as a Toyota)
Good luck! Let us know what you pick!
we're looking for an suv too. i hear the mazda cx-9 is nice. how bad is the gas mileage?
@Rose - I flubbed on the Lincoln model up there...it was supposed to be Lincoln MK-X, which is basically a fancy Ford Edge - we threw that in the mix in case we found a nice pre-owned one. I really like that Nissan too but for some reason hubs was not a fan. At the moment, it's pretty much narrowed down to the Ford Edge or Kia Sorento. The Edge would likely be used, the Kia would be new.
@monitajb - thanks for the tips! I am SO fortunate this go-around with car buying because hubs is a great negotiator. I know when it was me and my mom a few years ago purchasing my Honda it was not too pretty. haha.
@Miss Pinot Grigio - totally agree! Sync is such a cool tech upgrade!
@Melissabegins - Definitely agree with you as well! We were interested in the Limited in particular, I would love it if we could get the GPS and Vista roof.
Thanks everyone! I love the hive's endless knowledge and handy tidbits of advice!!
I'm biased...
But I definitely think you should take a look at what Subaru has to offer. I just bought an outback, and absolutely love to drive my baby!
Oh and, I'm not sure if they're still doing it but Subaru had 4.5% financing.
Hey Hey!
We're looking in the same range of cars as well.
We currently have a CX7. Similar to the CX9 but smaller. The 9 is huge!!! Which probably plays into the MPG.
Our top contender right now is the Chevy Equinox. We looked at that a couple years back because we liked the overall style and good MPG. But. It had a lot of consumer reports for people bringing the car in for servicing. The 2010 seems like it has taken care of a lot of those issues. We have a friend of a friends who's a mechanic at a Chevy dealer and he mentioned the issue with the older model. But not as much for the 2010 model.
I also really liked the Edge but the MPG is not as good as the Equinox.
GL!
I LOVED the Subaru Forester! Hubs thought it was too girly though =( He said maybe when we get another car I can get that one =D
This is the one I fell in love with:
Sage Green Metallic...love this one.
@Gerbera - I love the CX-7 too, we originally went to look at that one when we were at the dealership, but they told us the towing capacity is less than 1,500 which won't do for our particular situation.
I like the Equinox, too, but hubby wasn't interested for some reason. He thinks it looks better packaged as the GMC...*shrug* It's the SAME THING! And Chevy's cheaper, too.
@Gerbera - We were looking at the Equinox too. Do they seem to be better on resale value now? The older models seem to be worth so much less than the compitition. Which of course in buying, is a good thing, but we were worried about trade in value. Did you also see the Pontiac version? I can't remember the actual name of it, but since Pontiac is being discontinued, I'm sure you could get a good deal on those, and they are still easily serviced at any GMC dealership.
@krissycake - Your husband thought Subaru Forester looked girly? I always think of them being so tough! Like, they are the only SUV you can actually take off the road. haha!
@Puggy - yeah, he said it looked like a mom car. Haha...I guess I am excited about that step in the future...and I did comment, "wow, this could hold a lot of groceries in it!" LOL, but really, I think his gripe was the power in the base model. If we got that one, we would definitely need the higher-end model with the Subaru Boxer engine.
@puggy
Hey!
I'm not too sure about the resale value. We're planning to buy this time around instead of lease so we're hoping this is a car we'll have for a long time. So resale wasn't something we were too concerned about. Sorry!
And there are some great financing options out there right now for Chevy.
We also really like the Traverse! But it's a bit big for us right now.
And we are only looking into US cars this time around. Supporting our own economy!
@Gerbera - when it comes to supporting our economy, make sure you do your research as to what cars are actually going to support the US economy if that's a concern of yours. Lots of "import" brands are actually manufactured in the US.
@Puggy I know! I got the Forrester because I rock climb and needed a car to get me to crags that don't have roads to them!
@Gerbera - oh don't be sorry! It was just something I was wondering if you had noticed or not, we really liked the Equinox!
@Miss Biner - That's awesome! Yeah, the Forrester is exactly what I think of when I think of people actually using their SUV to go out to the woods for camping or hiking/climbing.
@krissycakes - Have you looked at the Jeep Compass? We have some friends who just got one and they love it! Plus, it has an awesome price tag!
@Puggy - I actually really liked the Jeep Compass, too, but we didn't get around to a Chrysler/Jeep dealer the other day. Thanks for helping me remember that one!!
I'm a loan officer, and I've heard some not-so-great things about Kias in general. I've never driven one though. I'm a Jeep or Dodge girl all the way!
@captainsgirl - yeah, I wasn't the biggest fan of Kia when hubs brought it up, but the 2011 Sorento is a total redesign - done by a designer who used t work for Audi - plus the new models are all built in the USA and look great, too. It is a hard choice!
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