Vehicle shopping...need opinions

[maillotpois]

Then we drove down to the BMW dealer even though it was closed, to check out the X1. It's certainly attractive, but it's quite small. We couldn't open it up, of course, but standing next to it was not much different than standing next to our old Matrix. There is no way 3 dogs will fit in the back with the seat up. And then we started thinking about leaving a BMW at a trail head for 3 days and we aren't sure that's such a good idea. I kind of still want to drive it, but I think we may have to rule it out on size alone. There was an X6 right next to it and I think I actually drooled on it.

Do go back and look inside the X1 when you can. We thought the back was really similar to our sportwagen, and definitely bigger than the crosstrek. We've only got 2 dogs, but they're 90 pounders and they wouldn't have any trouble in the X1. I do get what you mean about the trailhead, though.

[GLC1968]

We are a manual car kind of family ourselves. In fact, except for one time when manual wasn't an option, I've always avoided automatic transmissions. That said, last year when I had my foot problem and had to buy an automatic to use for a few months, it got me thinking. Sometimes, if you've got more than one car in the family, having one of them as a automatic for emergencies is not a bad idea.

I'm having issues with my husband on all of this. I swear that he is looking for a sports car SUV. He likes the Escape because it had 'balls', so to speak. He didn't like the Mazda for that reason. I assume he won't like the Subaru or the CR-V for the same reasons. He says he understands that fuel efficiency and space are more important in this particular car but I am getting the impression that's not really what he believes. Ugh.

When I left for work, he was watching videos of the 2014 Subaru Forester where they added a turbo option and CVT for better MPG. Men!

[BikeDutchess]

I bought a 2013 Subaru Forester and love it. This is actually our 2nd Forester, we have a 2002 also. I bought the base model because I'm not into bells and whistles (sun roofs and such just seem to me like things that will malfunction at some point), and the price was right at under $23K. I test drove the CR-V as well, and it had some nice touches that the Subaru lacked, but the Forester has the best visibility by far. My DH's Mazda 3 annoys me because of its blind spots. And for some reason the CR-V seemed larger than the Forester, in a way that I didn't like. I got an automatic this time (my first), and while it lacks some of the "oomph" I can get out of a manual, for city driving (and even busy freeway driving) it is so nice. The Outbacks are nice too, but I didn't want to pay that much more. Installing an after-market hitch on the Forester was no big deal (U-Haul).

[Koronin]

My current work car is a hatchback. Being a hatchback it's great for the type of work I do and gets pretty good gas mileage, also needed, as I do a lot of driving for work. (Not a 50 miles each work day, usually more just from store to store in town. However there are times I do drive over an hour to another city for some work, that's around 70 miles or more each way on those days, but that's not a weekly thing). However, mine is an automatic. I do not know how to drive a manual and unless we can afford a Ferrari or or some other European high end car with paddle shifters I have no interest whatsoever in ever learning how to drive a manual. My husband does know how to drive them and the one we were given by his sister we got rid of after a year as he was sick and tired of driving it in Charlotte rush hour traffic. The other issue I get extremely sick riding in vehicles with manual transmissions no matter how good the driver is at shifting. (Yep get motion sick fairly easily, and can get motion sick in automatic transmission vehicles, hence the reason we will never own a van of any type.)

Anyway very interesting thread, fun to read and learn about others looking and testing different vehicles.

[Crankin]

I learned to drive a stick in 1981 when my DH severely sprained his left foot and couldn't drive his 1980 Rabbit. I went out at 6 AM on a Sunday morning and drove to Manhattan Bagels (corner of Baseline and Lakeshore in Tempe, AZ) to force myself to master it.
The next day I had to drive in my carpool, where 4 other adults were forced to squeeze in that car on a 30 mile drive to west Phoenix. One of the guys was so big, I used to call him "the simian."
DH had manual cars until 1999, when DS#1 promptly cracked up DH's first automatic, an Audi A6, when he had his permit.

[Jolt]

I never did learn to drive a stick...might not be a bad idea to know how just for emergencies (having to drive somebody else's car if we're out together and they get into a situation where they need me to drive, and they have a stick) but don't think I'd ever be interested in owning one. Too much multitasking, which I am not good at. There's enough to worry about when driving without adding shifting and trying not to roll backwards on hills to the mix.

[GLC1968]

I never did learn to drive a stick...might not be a bad idea to know how just for emergencies (having to drive somebody else's car if we're out together and they get into a situation where they need me to drive, and they have a stick) but don't think I'd ever be interested in owning one. Too much multitasking, which I am not good at. There's enough to worry about when driving without adding shifting and trying not to roll backwards on hills to the mix.

Our MINI has a sweet feature where when you depress the brake, it stays engaged for a few seconds once you release it or until you move forward...even on a hill. It makes hill starts ridiculously easy!

OK...so we bought a car! I cannot believe it because we had no intention of doing this until after we'd closed on the house because our debt to income ratio is lousy right now (two mortgages) but they didn't even run our credit. Just based on salary alone, they gave us the lowest rate. We actually considered leasing it, but when we did the numbers, it just seemed like a mistake in the long run so we financed it.

So...drumroll please....

We ended up with a 2014 Subaru Forester in the 2.5L engine, Touring trim. We really both are really happy with it!

On Friday, we drove the Outback and the Forester with the turbo. We ruled out the Crosstrek on size alone. We just didn't want to have to always put down the seats for the dogs. We liked both cars well enough. Then on Saturday, we drove the CR-V. The CR-V was nice, but kind of boring. I can see why it's the most popular crossover for people with families though - it had a lot of good features for managing kids in the back seat. Good solid car, but not the one for us.

We went to BMW and looked in the X1 and it was just too small. We didn't even drive it because we didn't want to compromise on size just because we loved how it drove! Really, the X3 would have been the best option for us, but it was out of our price range. Considering how little we will be driving this car, it just didn't make sense to spend that kind of money.

So we went back to Subaru that afternoon and drove the Forester without the turbo. At that point, we both agreed that we liked the Subaru's the best so then we proceeded to hem and haw for quite awhile about which one. We ruled out the Outback when we put both cars side by side. The Forester was taller with more dog space vertically, but it was shorter than the Outback in length which is good if we ever want to put it in our overly utilized garage! They got similar MPG and when we were honest with ourselves, driving the Forester was more fun. I also loved the incredibly visibility on all sides that wasn't quite as good on the Outback. My DH liked that the Forester seats were a bit longer, giving him better leg support (my hobbit legs didn't care one way or another!). Then we spent entirely too much time trying to decide on color and if we wanted Turbo or not. We ended up without it just because it wasn't THAT much better and it cost quite a bit more. The non-turbo version had plenty of pep and still got better MPG. The two versions had slightly different grill configurations as well and we liked the look of the non-turbo one there, too.

We balked pretty hard at the upcharge for living in the PNW, but there didn't appear to be any way around that. We did get them to throw in the paint and interior protection treatment for free because of it, but it was still a little painful to swallow.

For those that don't know, if you buy a Subaru in the PNW, you pay (in this case) $3500 more than MSRP just because of where we live. They are the most popular type of car here and they sell better here than anywhere else in the country, so they can rape you for it. He tried to tell us that we were getting a 2014 for the up-charge early in 2013, but when we pointed out that we'd happily take a 2013 except that they had none available, he didn't have an answer for us. When I asked how being the best selling car maker in the PNW cost them more (therefore justifying charging us more), he visible squirmed in his seat. Unfortunately, there was no budging and he basically let us know that if we didn't buy this car, someone else would, so tough toenails (he as clearly nicer about it than that, but you get the picture). If we hadn't spent so much time shopping around and if we hadn't been so thrilled that we both settled on the same car (finally!), we might have changed our minds. But, we knew that we couldn't agree on what would have even been the runner up option, so we figured that $3500 was worth a happy marriage at least.

We do love it. It's a beautiful pearl white with light grey leather interior and we got them to throw in the plastic covers for the backs of the back seat to protect them from dog paws/fur/slobber. It drives like a dream, too.