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

[rolypolypony.livejournal.com]

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