Needed: new car suggestions
 

Hey guys, le gf and I are trying to sort out our car situation and it's looking like we'll be selling something(s) and getting a new vehicle for her soon. She can be a bit particular when it comes to these things so I need as many options to look into as possible. We'll be replacing either her Prelude with a newer car or my Cherokee with a newer small SUV/crossover.

- Must be LHD
- Must be auto
- Must be reliable (she hates my ongoing projects)
- Must be fairly quiet and comfortable (comparable to the Prelude)
- Cars shouldn't be too big, SUV's around the same size as a Rav4
- SUV's must have change on the fly 4WD
- budget is under $10-15,000
- Preferably still somewhat sporty and fun to drive/moddable
- Doesn't need to be overly powerful, she never once hit VTEC in the Prelude

Right now I'm looking at things like the Nissan XTerra and Toyota Rav4 V6 for SUV's, and the Lexus IS**0, 7th gen Toyota Celica and Infiniti G35 for cars, I'm wary of early-mid 2000's Honda's due to the auto tranny bullshit we went through with the Prelude (it's now a manual which she hates driving).

Warning on the Xterra they are absolute pigs on Gas. And also many people find they ride weird, they are off-roaders after all, so it wallows in corners, and some bumps and dips can be jarring and weird.

Add to the list perhaps a CX7?

I was thinking CX5 at first until I saw the budget.

Meet's your criteria and at the same time keeps a sporty look.

Mitsubishi Lancer GTS automatic transmission

IS250?

Yeah I have a feeling she wouldn't like an Xterra any more than the Cherokee, my problem if we replace the Jeep is that I like having a utility vehicle that can get beat up a bit on camping and ski trips without me worrying about it.

I'll look into the CX7, good call on the Lancer and the IS250, any Lexus IS would be considered (but they're damn hard to find it seems).

As a side note, I've only bought cheaper, older, higher mileage vehicles, she bought her Prelude at 90k (it's at 133k now) and she wants something with less than 150k on it. I'm worried that a lot of vehicles tend to have a major maintenance interval (timing belt and such) somewhere in the 90-150k range, so are we better off going for slightly higher mileage so that the big interval is already taken care of? Or am I being stupid?

If you're looking at the turbocharged CX-7s, make sure the turbo has been replaced under warranty. The 2.5L NA is only available in MY2011-2012 if I remember correctly.

If you want a slightly older crossover to take skiing and camping maybe like an 07-09 Santa Fe? Buddy has one and it seems like a great vehicle, as long as you can get over the fact that it's a Hyundai...

I'm in the same boat, looking to replace my wife's car (Echo HB) in the next year.
I think especially if you want kids in the future, or just more utility, you'll want more space. An IS250 is REALLY tight in the backseat, and the trunk is the same size as a Civic.

Also, since when was a Prelude comfortable?!? I thought they were low and ride rough. Anyways, I guess it's all relative.




This is my list (all used):
Subaru Forester
Subaru Outback
Mazda CX-5 (probably outside your price range)
Mazda 5
Toyota RAV4
Honda CRV

Kids won't be for another 5-7 years, I want to have fun, impractical cars now since I know we won't be able to have them later on. For utility there's the Cherokee (if we keep it) or we can borrow her parents Expedition + trailer.

I don't think the Prelude is overly comfortable either, but it's a lot smoother than my Celica or the Cherokee which are fairly harsh over bumps.

G35 sedan
Accord sedan

My girl has a Mazda3, and it's a great car.

Buy an new car and lift the cherokee

xterra also super slow.

i suggest r50 pathfinder or honda pilot at least honda is realiable everywhere but the tranny

Yeah I'm not dealing with any more Honda tranny BS. I put a ton of time and effort into swapping this Prelude, I'm not dealing with that again.

If we keep the Cherokee it'll definitely be getting a 2" junkyard lift and bigger tires, maybe a few other goodies as well.

Hate to say it (cause it's pretty boring) but the Rav4 ticks all but one of the boxes.

^ yeah if you just want something you can get in and go everyday without giving a crap, I'd say get the Rav4, give to the GF and keep the Prelude for yourself


Stay away from 4wd systems with solid axles -- both my brothers ford explorer and my jeep have had leaky axle seals which, depending on the truck, are $$$ -- plus solid axles generally ride like crap in the city and it doesn't sound like you'll ever take advantage it (rock crawling/stuff that requires crazy suspension flex)


Nissan Rogue comes to mind, but I have had no experience with it so I can't comment. A friend of mine recently picked up a ford edge sport for ~$17K + taxes -- has navigation, panoramic sunroof, backup camera, etc - and its built very well IMO, and for the price it's miles ahead of anything else in its price bracket

http://onsurga.com/wp-content/upload...port-White.jpg

http://www.ford.ca/resources/ford/ed...2_int_full.jpg

New input from her is that she wants something "professional looking" (she's an accountant) but not "too old man" (not keen on the G35 sedan) and something that we could keep until we have kids is a plus (but by then it'll be at least 12 years old...). Like I said, she's a bit particular.

She's liking the Lancers, Accords and IS series the most so far, Lancer seems the best bang for the buck with 08's around $10k, IS's seem to be $3-5k more but they're supposed to be reliable as all hell, Accords landing around the same as the IS but we're wary about the trannies. So it looks like I'll be doing some more digging into the reliability/cost of ownership on those three, but definitely keep suggestions coming.

Her parents have an 07 Rav4 V6 which is very comfortable and great on the highway but boring as all hell and a bit garbage off road despite the fancy diff lock and downhill assist. Or maybe the ability to blast down gravel roads with the Cherokee without giving a shit about bumps has spoiled me. But in reality I only do that a few times a year so I guess I could adapt to the Rav :okay:

edit: oh and I've also thrown the Matrix into the mix, not terribly exciting but it's a Toyota.

Theres so much variety in your options that it seems you dont know what exactly you want.

Lancer is economy car IMO, interiors all hard plastic, ride is loud and engine is noisy

Accord is definitely more premium than the lancer, 4 cyl accords are supposed to be fine in transmissions

IS is entry level luxury car so its comparable with the likes of mercedes and bmw for comfort but with japanese reliability.

Dont know anything about SUV's so cant help you there :lawl:

Kinda have to figure out what exactly you want before u can narrow it down

3rd gen 4runner 96-02 is similar size to xterra. Comes in at half of your max budget. Available with actual locking diff before 2001. Lots of them with over 400k so I would consider reliability good.

2009 civic ;)

infiniti qx4?
i love my 01
3.5L V6
a spruced up pathfinder but looks a lot better and fits under your budget well
mine has been reliable as hell!

Are you interested in a BMW X3 by any chance? Low mileage and its been very reliable in my 4 years of ownership.

Take a look at my ad and PM me if your interested.

2007 BMW X3 3.0 - Black - Panoramic Sunroof

My biggest concern with anything German are the higher maintenance costs, I'll definitely run it by her though.

Honestly I don't know exactly what we want yet, long story short we've got all the vehicles in my signature at the moment and everything is a manual except the Jeep which she hates to drive. My problem is that I like all of them and HATE selling things, and she wants to sell everything and get newer cars. I think my only real option is to drag her out to test drive those three for starters and go from there.

Golf?