car opinions invited

[winterbadger]

So, I'm getting more interested in this idea of replacing poor old Harper the Gree Geo with a slightly less old and slightly less weary car.

I've reupped my Consumer Reports subscription, and I've been looking through reviews there. I've been pawing through the search functions at Carmax. And I think I have culled the list down to five finalists.

Axed so far have been

• the Ford Escape Hybrid (its good mileage was counterbalanced by a couple of poor or unenthusiastic ratings and my inability to think that American-made cars can ever really be quality vehicles)
  
• the Nissan Murano (its good rating for acceleration was not enough to triumph over a mediocre overall rating, mediocre ratings for ride and noise, and below-20mpg rating by CR)
  
• the Jeep Compass (see Ford Escape)

Remaining contenders

• the Mini Cooper (I would really *love* to have one of these; they're sporty and British--kind of--and they get excellent mileage; they actually have better front-seat legroom than most of the other cars on my list, and they have top scores for acceleration and handling. But they are more expensive, harder to get in automatic, and most of those available from CarMax are the less relaible pre-2007 models).
  
• the Honda CR-V EX (Hondas are solid and reliable, good but not great mileage, good but not great ride, acceleration and handling are... yes, good but not great)
  
• Subaru Outback (good ratings for comfort, acceptable mileage and handling, not great acceleration)
  
• three different Toyota models: the Prius, the Matrix, and the RAV-4 (All get excellent overall ratings; none get high marks for acceleration, but all get very good or excellent ratings for their transmissions, and the RAV-4 actually gets very good rating for emergency handling; all get very good or acceptable ratings for comfort, though the RAV-4 gets mediocre marks for ride and noise; the Prius of course gets amazing mileage, and the other two are among the best in my options).
  
  So, anyone have opinions to voice? Anyone have experience with any of these cars? My heart says Mini, my head says Toyota...

Comments

[azbound.livejournal.com]

The Murano is a nice car, no issues with noise in my opinion, but yeah, the mileage is a bit problematic. It's why I didn't buy the Murano from Dad's estate.

That being said: the Outback. Great vehicle, extremely comfortable, very durable.

[winterbadger]

There seem to be some strong arguments in favour of the Outback. Besides, I can talk like Paul Hogan when I drive it! :-)

[peaceful-fox.livejournal.com]

Of all the cars I have owned and all the cars that I know that lasted the best, Toyota and Honda were similar in value. I have owned three Tootas and my next car will be a Toyota. I LOVE the look of the Mini Cooper, but I wouldn't get a pre-2007 model. I have no experience of Subaru.

[winterbadger]

Yeah, it sounds like the pre-2007 Minis were a bit of a disaster. Plus I certainly can't ever offer to take more than one passenger if I'm driving it. :-) What I've been driving for years in basically a rebranded Toyota, and Chris and I had a really good Honda, so those would be choices I'd be comfortable with.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

My friend jhetley lives in Maine and is on his second Subaru Outback. I think the last one was about ten years old when he traded it in last summer. He's a believer in them, and for good reason.

I have two friends who own Minis. They both love them, and the cars seem to be holding up well with the years.

I have one friend who had a Honda CR-V for a while and ended up trading it in because it just wasn't what she expected when she bought it. Nothing major was wrong with it, just lots of little "nibbled to death by ducks" sorts of things.

On your inability to think that American-made cars can ever really be quality vehicles, I'll note for the record that I've owned four Saturns and they've all been good, reliable cars. Three of the four are still on the road, and the one that isn't died saving the life of the guy I sold it to. I'm seriously considering the Ford Fusion hybrid for my next car, because I think Ford is bending over backward to make sure it's good.

[winterbadger]

That's good to hear about your Saturns; my secondhand experience, from a friend who had first one then another was that they were less reliable. And I probably am being too harsh on American carmakers; their work just never seems to score all that well in CR compared with the foreign competition.

Interesting thing--I noticed when playing with the sorting function on the CarMax site that if I clicked on "import only", all the Toyota Matrixes (Matrices? ;-) went away! Turns out it's a joint Toyota/GM venture, built in Canada and using the same platform as the Toyota Corolla. My current car is a 1997 Geo Prizm, which is essentially a renamed version of the Corolla, so I imagine the Matrix may feel familiar! (Possibly too familiar--it might be nice to have a bit of a change...)

Subarus: The last car I almost bought, after doing a thorough selection process like this, was a Subaru Forester, and it sounds like several of my friends think highly of Subaru's work. Top Gear rated the Outback as one of the two top cars of 2007. And their American assembly plant is in Lafayette, IN, where my dad was born. :-)

[silme.livejournal.com]

I drove Hondas in the US from '84-'00. I traded in my '84 (bought new) in '88 for a brand new model and kept that one until I moved. The friend who bought it when I emigrated still drives it. Now, it was a Civic hatchbook (manual transmission because I despise automatics), and I got over 50 mpg on the highway, so the mileage wasn't bad at all. I've owned VWs in the UK, but that's only because they're so much cheaper here than Hondas. I'd love a Jazz, though!

[winterbadger]

Chris and I owned a Honda Accord wagon, and it was still going strong 10+ years after we bought it when she got T-boned in DC (sadly, because she had inadvertently passed through a signal she should have stopped at). They make good cars!

[rolypolypony.livejournal.com]

I really wanted a Matrix, until we test drove one. I hated it. It felt way more bulky than it is, if that makes sense. One of my friends though has it and loves it.

(it's not on your list, but I highly recommend a Hyundai Elantra - our 9 year old one is still going strong and I still adore my almost-1-year old (how fast they grow!! ;) ) (if you've already ruled them out for any reason, sorry for bringing them up! I know how when your car shopping everyone always thinks their car is the best! ;) )

[winterbadger]

Goodness, you needn't apologise for offering other suggestions! :-) Thank you! Interesting about the Elantra; I was curious to see why it hadn't come up on my list. Turns out it's because the nearest one that CarMax can offer me is in Raleigh NC--nearly 300 miles away! Alas, since I specifically *do* want to do just as you suggest and test drive any car I consider buying, that puts the Elantra out. I suppose I could go to a Hyundai dealer and test drive one, then get CarMax to bring one here (the other three they have on offer currently are in Miami and Clearwater, Florida, and Irvine, California!) But that sounds like a bit too much work...

[rolypolypony.livejournal.com]

Egads! Yeah, that sounds like way too much effort!! :)

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

A friend had one of the new Minis when they first came out, and hated it. Things kept going wrong. Maybe she was unlucky, maybe they've improved, I don't know.

My last round of car-comparison ended up with a Renault Clio. Leg-room is something we have to watch, since Dave is 6'6" and mainly leg, and the Clio is better than most cars of that sort of size. It's not as nice as the Audi A2 I had before, but sadly they're no longer made.

Test-drive a RAV4 before buying. I did, and then didn't. When it grows up it wants to be a Landrover - but it hasn't grown up, and all it's managed is to feel agricultural. "mediocre marks for ride and noise" sounds about right.

"harder to get in automatic...." Why on earth do you want an automatic? Especially an automatic Mini Cooper? The whole point of a Mini Cooper is that you drive it!

"my inability to think that American-made cars can ever really be quality vehicles..." Oh, so it isn't just my prejudice based on the two American cars I've hired while over there, then?

[winterbadger]

Test-drive a RAV4 before buying.

I have. Friends of mine had one, and I've driven it several times. I found it just fine; there was a bit more road noise than would have been ideal, but that's a trade off with other issues. Gee, yes, I'd love to have a Land Rover, but I can't even come close to affording one, so that's hardly in the picture.

"harder to get in automatic...." Why on earth do you want an automatic? Especially an automatic Mini Cooper? The whole point of a Mini Cooper is that you drive it!

*I* have decided that I want an automatic drive because that is what I have always driven, I feel comfortable with it, and I don't feel like learning a whole new system on a new car. When I live in the UK, I'll need to take driving classes to get a license anyway for sure--plenty of time to learn then, without having to unlearn a lot of behaviors from a left-drive car.

Moreover, Jane, while I've often found your responses acerbic and in-your-face, up to now I've just put it down to it being your nature to be testy and combative. But, you know, while it may be your nature, that doesn't mean I need to put up with it in my journal. Please adjust your attitude and try to be a bit less rude and confrontational, or you'll be banned.