Car Buying Help

Deathwing

Deathwing

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Haven't bought a car in a long time. The wife and I are not sure what we want, we just know that her Accent(and likely my Civic) are not big enough for a family anymore. So, we're likely going to replace her Accent.

Is there a website that compares major features, sizes, and dimensions across all brands? I'm somewhat certain we want something like a Honda CRV or maybe something from Subaru, but I want to make sure we're not missing consideration of a model just because we don't know it exists.
 
Palum

Palum

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What's your budget range and what do you need it to do (carry x ppl, y cargo space, winter driving, etc)?
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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Palum_sl said:
What's your budget range and what do you need it to do (carry x ppl, y cargo space, winter driving, etc)?
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Budget is probably low to mid 20's, can maybe go up to 30k. 3 people with maybe guests. Winter driving somewhat. We live in the NE but we're right near trucking routes, so they are plowed usually. We get by just fine 95% of the time with our previously mentioned cars, no snow tires.

The cargo space question is why I was asking about a website...or something, idk. We know we need more space, just not sure how much. It would be really nice if there was a way to quantify this range of cars offers this approximate amount of space and they all cost approximately this much.

Barraco Bisi_sl said:
Get a Vanborghini

No ragrets when you got little kids.
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No vans! We're likely stopping at one kid, so I don't think it will be necessary anyway.
 
Palum

Palum

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So the trick with cargo space is that all the 'comparisons' are completely useless because it really depends on how the cargo area is laid out more than the total volume in cubic feet.

Vehicles in the category of small-medium suv/crossover in that price range (new) that I personally would look at and test drive:

Toyota Rav 4 (Old reliable, less frills, but I can't bring myself to buy a Toyota in the last decade despite their service record)
Honda CRV (Consistent, blah styling, only good for people and groceries)
Jeep Renegade (Cool, surprisingly roomy if small size for city driving is preferred, cargo is OK but otherwise very small)
Jeep Cherokee (Best in class for raw adaptability,ie can tow 4500 lbs; TH model has tow hooks, lift, A/T tires, skid plates, rear locker and inverter; really well appointed even rear seat reclines a bit but nice models are on the top end of your price range though I've seen tons of rebates on these during big sales events since they are huge volume seller for Jeep)
Subaru Crosstek (Only 'wagon' style vehicle worth it right now IMO, AWD)
Ford Escape (Ford CRV)
Ford Edge (Heard really good things about this gen Edge, but I personally ended up going Jeep for capabilities)

If you want to go used/certified you can go up in size a bit.
 
opiate82

opiate82

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I have a '16 Honda Pilot and I love it. We test drove every large SUV on the market (and I was leaning towards either a Jeep or Ford before driving anything) and the Pilot had one of the most well thought out interiors of anything we looked at. Didn't look that close at a CRV because we knew we needed bigger, but based on my experience with the Pilot I would definitely look at a CRV first if I was looking for something a little smaller.
 
Convo

Convo

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Love my Jeep Grand Cherokee. It's like riding on air, might be over budget for you tho.

Have you looked at the Dodge Journey crossover? They look pretty damn sharp for a family vehicle and seem to hit a lot of what you're looking for. Can load them up for under 30k as well.

2016 Dodge Journey - Model Lineup Details
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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We got a '13 Hyundai Sante Fe Sport when we had our kid a few years ago, and I already owned a '05 Ford Escape. Here's why we got the Sante Fe

We looked at virtually every small and medium SUV in the 25k - 40k price range(we ideally wanted to stay around 30k or less).
Ford Escapes, Mazda CX5, Honda CR-V, Toyota Rav 4, Nissan Rogue were all slightly smaller in the interior than the Sante Fe, most had smaller back seats and less leg room, and many were more expensive as well (Toyota, Honda, and Ford can easily go over $30k with just somewhat basic packages)

The medium SUVs were definitely larger (Ford Explorer/Edge, Toyota 4Runner, Honda Pilot, Nissan Murano, Mazda CX9) were all definitely bigger, some even having 3rd row options, but pretty much ALL of them were $40k in price and could even creep up near $50k with the nicer packages(like leather) + 3rd rows.

Our Hyundai Santa Fe Sport was $25k out the door, and that wasn't the cheapest, base model, it was a reasonable package with some nice features(like heated seats), but no leather(we didn't want leather with a kid). The Santa Fe is basically priced like the cheaper of the small SUVs, but it's bigger than all of them(just not quite as big as the Medium SUVs that are all $15k more expensive)

We love it so far, coming up on 3 years of owning it and it runs just like the day we bought it. It also gets GREAT gas mileage for an SUV. It's my wife's commuter vehicle for work, so she typically gets 26-28mpg in the city, but when we take it on trips I often get 30-32mpg for highway driving. It's the only new vehicle I've ever bought that got better gas mileage than the EPA ratings. I think the dealership had it listed at 24city/29 highway. We easily beat that regularly in both instances.

Had price been no object, we actually liked the Nissan Murano the best, but at the time a package comparable to our $25k Santa Fe would have run $42k in the Murano. We just couldn't justify the price difference for only liking it a little more.
 
Ritley

Ritley

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We said fuck it very early on and decided on a minivan. Brand new odyssey for ~$30k with most of the bells and whistles (just missing the flip down screens and the retarded built in vacuum).

Leather heated seats, 3rd row that folds down flat, every seat besides front two comes out super easy, including center console, LATCH at every seat position. Drives well and is comfortable, but it's a minivan so people automatically get snooty on you. Back seats are easy to get into and have a good amount of legroom for a third row. With the seats up you actually have quite a lot of "trunk" space too.

I would at least drive one on a test if you are at a dealership
 
Palum

Palum

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joeboo_sl said:
We got a '13 Hyundai Sante Fe Sport when we had our kid a few years ago, and I already owned a '05 Ford Escape. Here's why we got the Sante Fe

We looked at virtually every small and medium SUV in the 25k - 40k price range(we ideally wanted to stay around 30k or less).
Ford Escapes, Mazda CX5, Honda CR-V, Toyota Rav 4, Nissan Rogue were all slightly smaller in the interior than the Sante Fe, most had smaller back seats and less leg room, and many were more expensive as well (Toyota, Honda, and Ford can easily go over $30k with just somewhat basic packages)

The medium SUVs were definitely larger (Ford Explorer/Edge, Toyota 4Runner, Honda Pilot, Nissan Murano, Mazda CX9) were all definitely bigger, some even having 3rd row options, but pretty much ALL of them were $40k in price and could even creep up near $50k with the nicer packages(like leather) + 3rd rows.

Our Hyundai Santa Fe Sport was $25k out the door, and that wasn't the cheapest, base model, it was a reasonable package with some nice features(like heated seats), but no leather(we didn't want leather with a kid). The Santa Fe is basically priced like the cheaper of the small SUVs, but it's bigger than all of them(just not quite as big as the Medium SUVs that are all $15k more expensive)

We love it so far, coming up on 3 years of owning it and it runs just like the day we bought it. It also gets GREAT gas mileage for an SUV. It's my wife's commuter vehicle for work, so she typically gets 26-28mpg in the city, but when we take it on trips I often get 30-32mpg for highway driving. It's the only new vehicle I've ever bought that got better gas mileage than the EPA ratings. I think the dealership had it listed at 24city/29 highway. We easily beat that regularly in both instances.

Had price been no object, we actually liked the Nissan Murano the best, but at the time a package comparable to our $25k Santa Fe would have run $42k in the Murano. We just couldn't justify the price difference for only liking it a little more.
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Going to be honest, someone I know has a '14 Santa Fe. Thing is a junker. Maybe some bad luck but his has been falling apart and having problems quickly. Granted he puts on a lot of miles and he does more than commute with it.
 
Arative

Arative

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Wife and I got a Kia sorento. It seemed when we were looking Kia had the most features for the price.
 
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koljec_sl

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joeboo_sl said:
Had price been no object, we actually liked the Nissan Murano the best, but at the time a package comparable to our $25k Santa Fe would have run $42k in the Murano. We just couldn't justify the price difference for only liking it a little more.
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I think you dodged a bullet by avoiding the Murano and Nissan in general. After the five year mark, or so, it's all CVT and 4x4 problems.

Did you consider a Subaru Forester? If so, why did you decide against that?
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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We didn't give much of a look at the Forester(didn't test drive one or anything), as my wife really disliked the looks of them back in 2013. They were still pretty boxy and ugly back then. I think they've been redesigned since then to be a little more rounded/sleek looking like most other modern SUVs. It looked closer to my old 05 Escape than it did most other new SUVs at the time.
 
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koljec_sl

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joeboo_sl said:
We didn't give much of a look at the Forester(didn't test drive one or anything), as my wife really disliked the looks of them back in 2013. They were still pretty boxy and ugly back then. I think they've been redesigned since then to be a little more rounded/sleek looking like most other modern SUVs. It looked closer to my old 05 Escape than it did most other new SUVs at the time.
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Yeah they definitely don't get the style points.
 
Larnix

Larnix

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Deathwing_sl said:
Haven't bought a car in a long time. The wife and I are not sure what we want, we just know that her Accent(and likely my Civic) are not big enough for a family anymore. So, we're likely going to replace her Accent.

Is there a website that compares major features, sizes, and dimensions across all brands? I'm somewhat certain we want something like a Honda CRV or maybe something from Subaru, but I want to make sure we're not missing consideration of a model just because we don't know it exists.
Click to expand...
We bought Mazda5 when our second child was born. I know its bit small for most people but our other car was an 04 Golf so it seems huge to us. I know many people are against vans but once you have sliding doors it could be hard to go back. It makes putting kids in and out of the car so much easier along with loading and unloading day to day stuff.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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I'm pretty sure the Mazda 5 is being discontinued. Either way, grew up in a family of 7, I've had enough experience with vans to last a life time.

I do appreciate the suggestions from everyone, it helped narrow down what to research and test drive.
 
T

Tenks

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Just bought my WRX. I tried really hard to not buy it but I made a checklist of if some certain things happened I'd buy a new car and it all occured.

2016 WRX Premium. 6sp trans w/ Nav + Harmon Kardon speakers. I would have preferred black or charcoal exterior but this was the only WRX in Ohio with the exact configuration I wanted and didn't want to drive 3 hours or wait 3 months just to get a certain paint color. I actually warmed up to the color much more in person than when I was eyeing it online.
 
Vinen

Vinen

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Tenks_sl said:
Just bought my WRX. I tried really hard to not buy it but I made a checklist of if some certain things happened I'd buy a new car and it all occured.

2016 WRX Premium. 6sp trans w/ Nav + Harmon Kardon speakers. I would have preferred black or charcoal exterior but this was the only WRX in Ohio with the exact configuration I wanted and didn't want to drive 3 hours or wait 3 months just to get a certain paint color. I actually warmed up to the color much more in person than when I was eyeing it online.
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I'm actually looking at one also to replace my 2008.Used Subaru WRX For Sale Manchester, NH - CarGurus

It's really I buy another WRX or get a P90D Model S. I can't decide. Cost is not a deciding factor. The largest factor is my anxiety over having an expensive car in the Northeast in the winter. I don't want to own 3 cars (Wife's + Winter + Other Seasons).
 
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Tenks

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I knew I wasn't buying a Tesla so I didn't research but I have no clue how they do on ice and snow. Subaru's AWD was certainly a factor since its balls driving around here in the winter. I also didn't test drive a CVT because I knew I wasn't buying an automatic. I figured if I drove my 5 speed manual Civic for 10 years I may as well continue the manual trend with a far more entertaining car. I've actually never owned an automatic.
 
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