Now that my poor car's theft has a final conclusion (totaled car ), I'm going to be looking for a new car. I know we have a few people on here in the industry, so I thought I'd ask here and see if there is a particular brand that is better suited to what I need than a Civic would be.
Non-negotiable:
- good gas mileage. AT LEAST 35mpg. My Civic got 50+mpg on our last 900mi road trip, although averaged a commute of around 34-36mpg. Don't really want to go much lower than that, although I may give up some fuel economy for more storage.
- four doors
- I refuse to have rear wheel drive
- I can only afford to pay a max of around $350 for monthly payments. Cheaper is better. The initial price I was quoted for my Civic was around $380 a month, but we got it down to $335 after haggling a bit, so I'm not above giving up "perks" to lower my payment.
- I'm not putting premium gas into anything.
Preferences:
- Prefer a high resale value in case we need to trade it in for something bigger (ie, multiple kids) down the line
- big enough for two adults, two crate-less dogs, and potentially a wee one in the next year or two.
- bonus points if the trunk space is bigger than the Civics'. We couldn't even fit Abrams' collapsed crate back there, I can't imagine touting baby stuff around in it. That was the one downside to the car.
If the trunk space isn't bigger...that's okay. I was under no illusions that my Civic was going to be a comfortable ride with dogs and a baby, nor that it would be able to tote around a ton of stuff. We would have survived. And things like playpen/cribs/etc. will likely be kept in duplicate at my parents' house (just like a crate for Abrams LOL), so big ticket items won't need to be hauled, just baggage.
This car will be driving thousands of miles a year. Not just 12,000. More like 20,000. I need it to be reliable, I need it to be comfortable, I need it to be economical, and I need it to hopefully be able to tote around human/baby and dog crap.
I don't need a ton of extra stuff. I liked that my Civic had bluetooth capabilities, but beyond that, I'm good. I don't need a built in GPS, butt warmers, or anything like that.
I'd like to buy brand new due to the amount of miles I'm going to be putting on the thing, but if someone has a suggestion for a newer, reliable used car, that would be just fine, too. I have had an awesome experience with Honda, and wouldn't mind sticking with the company. I'm also very familiar with the Subaru company, as we had a plant in my hometown and my parents drive Subaru vehicles.
Annnnnnd...GO!
Non-negotiable:
- good gas mileage. AT LEAST 35mpg. My Civic got 50+mpg on our last 900mi road trip, although averaged a commute of around 34-36mpg. Don't really want to go much lower than that, although I may give up some fuel economy for more storage.
- four doors
- I refuse to have rear wheel drive
- I can only afford to pay a max of around $350 for monthly payments. Cheaper is better. The initial price I was quoted for my Civic was around $380 a month, but we got it down to $335 after haggling a bit, so I'm not above giving up "perks" to lower my payment.
- I'm not putting premium gas into anything.
Preferences:
- Prefer a high resale value in case we need to trade it in for something bigger (ie, multiple kids) down the line
- big enough for two adults, two crate-less dogs, and potentially a wee one in the next year or two.
- bonus points if the trunk space is bigger than the Civics'. We couldn't even fit Abrams' collapsed crate back there, I can't imagine touting baby stuff around in it. That was the one downside to the car.
If the trunk space isn't bigger...that's okay. I was under no illusions that my Civic was going to be a comfortable ride with dogs and a baby, nor that it would be able to tote around a ton of stuff. We would have survived. And things like playpen/cribs/etc. will likely be kept in duplicate at my parents' house (just like a crate for Abrams LOL), so big ticket items won't need to be hauled, just baggage.
This car will be driving thousands of miles a year. Not just 12,000. More like 20,000. I need it to be reliable, I need it to be comfortable, I need it to be economical, and I need it to hopefully be able to tote around human/baby and dog crap.
I don't need a ton of extra stuff. I liked that my Civic had bluetooth capabilities, but beyond that, I'm good. I don't need a built in GPS, butt warmers, or anything like that.
I'd like to buy brand new due to the amount of miles I'm going to be putting on the thing, but if someone has a suggestion for a newer, reliable used car, that would be just fine, too. I have had an awesome experience with Honda, and wouldn't mind sticking with the company. I'm also very familiar with the Subaru company, as we had a plant in my hometown and my parents drive Subaru vehicles.
Annnnnnd...GO!