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10 months till we need a new car.... Starting to research

aphex

Moderator<br>All Things Apple
Moderator
My wife's lease runs up next Feb, Nissan Murano.

Going to be buying next since she switched jobs and now drives quite a bit each day. We were very happy with the Murano, but are going to be looking for something smaller with better fuel economy.

Lightly used would be fine as were gonna be raking up the miles (my 2005 Mazda3 has 115,000 miles).

Thinking about a small sport ute (CR-V, Rogue) or small/medium sedan (Used A3, Jetta, Rabbit, etc..)

Suggestions?
 
The CR-V is a nice choice if you go for the small SUV, but for sedans, the ones you mentioned are pretty small. Also, were you looking for a bit more luxury? You mentioned an Audi, so I'm not sure if you were making for entry-level luxury.
 
Take a look at the TSX too, if you're going to rack up the miles. Nice little entry level luxury car. If you can swing it, and/or need to cram kids in, a used TL would be nice too.
 
The 2009 Ford Escape I4 gets pretty good gas mileage, 20/28 like the Honda CR-V does, 20/27. Or if you want a bit more HP, their V6 isn't too bad either, 18/26. The 2008 and older Escapes I have no idea.

2009 Murano has their listed as 18/23 for comparison, what was your wife getting in that?
 
If she's going to be driving a good bit more then you might want to consider a diesel jetta.
 
CPO 330i 😀

Hmm... the CR-Vs are nice and so are the Rav's, but I'm a car kind of guy so those would be out of the question. Maybe look into the new I4 Ford Fusion or I4 Accord. But if you had the dough I would take a shot at a new VW Jetta / GLI if she likes the VeeDubs.

Good luck!
 
Originally posted by: aphex
My wife's lease runs up next Feb, Nissan Murano.

Going to be buying next since she switched jobs and now drives quite a bit each day. We were very happy with the Murano, but are going to be looking for something smaller with better fuel economy.

Lightly used would be fine as were gonna be raking up the miles (my 2005 Mazda3 has 115,000 miles).

Thinking about a small sport ute (CR-V, Rogue) or small/medium sedan (Used A3, Jetta, Rabbit, etc..)

Suggestions?

cr-v is nice. friend has one. interior is very nice for the money.
rogue is good too. love the intelligent key.
 
I bought a 2008 CRV EX AWD last year. It's been a great little SUV. It does everything right, and I haven't had any problems with it yet; I've owned it for more than a year now.

I test drove a bunch of new cars, and despite the lack of power with the CRV (166 HP), it was the most comfortable and pleasant to drive. I was impressed with the interior, and I liked the looks of the car from the outside as well.

I average about 23mpg city and highway combined.

 
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
my parents just got a hyundai santa for a steal of a price (30k MSRP, 23.5 OTD). they seem to like it a lot

I didn't know hyundai had a santa model?!?! :laugh:

Of the models you mention the A3 is very similar to your Mazda 3 in size, are you going to miss some of the size of the Murano? Do you have any kids? Budget?
 
Let's see, last month the forums was hot and bothered over the Genesis and now the perma-wood is for the Camaro, I think, so I say CAMARO
 
The rogue is horrible, I test drove one because I was interested in it but that CVT transmission is garbage, it never knows what to do correctly, and when it does it takes about 3-4 seconds to figure it out
 
Originally posted by: mc866
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
my parents just got a hyundai santa for a steal of a price (30k MSRP, 23.5 OTD). they seem to like it a lot

I didn't know hyundai had a santa model?!?! :laugh:

Of the models you mention the A3 is very similar to your Mazda 3 in size, are you going to miss some of the size of the Murano? Do you have any kids? Budget?

haha santa fe, i'll fix it 🙂
 
Originally posted by: vshah
whats your budget, roughly?

Not sure yet, 15-25k preferably. Don't want too much of an econobox due to the amount of time we will spend in it, but also don't want to spend too much since we plan to drive it so much.
 
my family had a 2nd gen CR-V a few years back and it did everything we needed. was very comfy on road trips and came in handy hauling stuff around. we had it with the 5spd manual...don't know if they make that anymore. was actually pretty fun to drive.

if i were you i would get a small suv or a wagon. right now you have the murano for those times when you need to haul stuff. wouldn't be nice to be stuck with two sedans if/when you move something
 
just FYI, AT Garage is pretty biased towards american. i suggest you go read up on some cars to learn about their features. then do some of your own digging on reliability. its hard to find reliability data on new cars that have just been released (no prior reliability data is avail) so i'd naturally suggest against that and wait a few years for those new named, new designed cars to mature a bit to learn their reliability & problems.

For now i'd suggest go with the safe and trusted. go with cars that have been around for some time (3+ years) and have reliability data on it. another way you can do this on your own would be to see if you see older models of that car around on the street. if its a popular car and has good reliability, you should see many of them. if its a popular car and has poor reliability you'd see much less.

just FYI, the CR-V is a huge winner. it is the best in its class (compact SUV) hands down. it has been #1 selling for 3+ years now with 2nd place far behind (rav4) and 3rd place even farther. you cannot go wrong with buying a cr-v new, or even slightly used.
 
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