My mother needs a new vehicle, what to get?

[dremd]

Originally Posted by 02ws6

Element??

One of my very favorites.
Highly unfortunately She finds the ride unacceptably harsh. I took her to drive one when she got the vibe maybe 03-04.
And she really wants a new car. The element is out of production.
I'd prefer one over a cute ute for sure.
That said, I probably only spend 150-250 miles/ year in her car so I shouldn't care 2 much.

Anybody know if certain trims rode better than others?

[H-Man]

I know that my car should be able to tow 1000 lbs, but it has a manual. I switched to a manual because of fuel economy. A new car is a bad investment IMO since it loses a few thousand dollars in value when you drive it off the lot.

[Frank Lee]

Women do not care whether cars are bad investments or not. They want what they want and they shall have. Look around- if there's a new car- er, excuse me, SUV, there's a woman in it. You'll find precious few women driving beaters; that's what the men end up with.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Women do not care whether cars are bad investments or not. They want what they want and they shall have. Look around- if there's a new car- er, excuse me, SUV, there's a woman in it. You'll find precious few women driving beaters; that's what the men end up with.

And since most of the members on this site are guys, you're preaching to the choir, sir!

[PressEnter[]]

You can't tow with a TDI Sportwagen with DSG? I am positive my regular Jetta is rated for 1500 lbs, and I thought the DSG was 1,000

And for reasons I don't understand the 5-cylinder gasser model is rated to tow 2,000 lbs.

[dremd]

Originally Posted by H-Man

I know that my car should be able to tow 1000 lbs, but it has a manual. I switched to a manual because of fuel economy. A new car is a bad investment IMO since it loses a few thousand dollars in value when you drive it off the lot.

Very true.
Best I understand it is those with little mechanical skills feel helpless when something breaks, and the best way to avoid that is a new warrantied car.

That said the times I've felt helpless in regards to automobiles are listed below.
1) when I had an automatic transmission rebuilt at a shop and they never ever got it right, this was before I could service such things myself.
2) waiting for police/ insurance during my hit and run. In hind sight, I'd have been much better off just dealing with it myself and loosing the $.
3) dealing with Fords inability to repair her Focus.

So, yeah, I'd prefer NOT having a warranty and being setup so I can deal with everything, however I'm no place near normal.

[dremd]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Women do not care whether cars are bad investments or not. They want what they want and they shall have. Look around- if there's a new car- er, excuse me, SUV, there's a woman in it. You'll find precious few women driving beaters; that's what the men end up with.

Agreed, I'd word it different, but 100% agreed.

[dremd]

Originally Posted by PressEnter[]

You can't tow with a TDI Sportwagen with DSG? I am positive my regular Jetta is rated for 1500 lbs, and I thought the DSG was 1,000

And for reasons I don't understand the 5-cylinder gasser model is rated to tow 2,000 lbs.

You certainly can as long as you don't let VW find out, or don't care about the warranty.

Best I understand it, VW is worried you will slip the clutches on a boat ramp and overheat/ kill them.

If it was me / someone else, I'd just tow with it, try not to beat it up from a dead stop while towing, and pull the hitch/ wiring if I had a warranty claim. Unfortunately, that's not acceptable here

[Sporty Modder]

Originally Posted by dremd

That's looking like only option at this point to be honest.

I'm opposed to the concept of taking a wagon and ruining its handling, increasing its frontal area and making it more difficult to enter, but it looks like all that is sold to our country.

I am with you there, but I recently rode in a late 90's rav4 and they do not feel like a suv. They feel like a car, my buddys subaru felt taller, probably is lol. My friend claims 26mpg out of the rav. Personally I would never own one but my wife tlks about them all the time, so I know they have the female draw. What is it with females and suv's lol.

[Sven7]

The Australian market Scion xB (Toyota Rukus) is rated for 500 kg (1102 lb) towing capacity. If I were you I'd walk into a Toyota dealership and ask point blank if towing will void your warranty. If it's just "not officially recommended", it might be worth a test drive.

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