My mother needs a new vehicle, what to get?
 

There are some requirements, all are conflicting, I'm having a difficult time coming up with a solution.

1) at least 45 cubic feet internal space.
2) something my mother feels comfortable driving. Aka not tall, not wide, not imposing.
3) impressive fuel economy. At LEAST 20 mpg for larger vehicle, 25+ mpg very much preferred.
4) must tow 1000 lbs without voiding warranty.
5) must be reliable, I can't have a 60 year old mother with any problems.
6) must be automatic transmission (unfortunately so my sister can drive it). Dual clutch/ continuously variable transmission is ok.
7) $25,000 budget.
8) must seat at least 4 comfortably.



Any/ ideas are highly appreciated.


Some things that I though were brilliant that have been ruled out.
1) Mazda 5 seat folding configuration is terrible and killed cargo carrying capability.
2) TDI Jetta wagon. My sister ruled this out because the auto (dual clutch) is do not tow) the 6 speed manual would be brilliant otherwise.

If anyone says Ford Focus she will flip out, she just finished lemon lawing one that wouldn't move under its own power at 500 miles and spent about 90 days at the dealer so far.
And no, focus never towed, didn't even have a hitch.

Again any ideas are great ideas right now.

A bus pass. :rolleyes:
My wife just got the Jetta TDI sportwagon 6 speed manual. Love it. It encouraged my daughter to learn a manual so she could drive it. It only took her one practice session till she had it down. She prefers it over her auto transmission now.

What do you plan on towing, how far, and how fast? Most small cars aren't rated to tow anything (at least in the US), but 1000lbs should be doable with just about any that you can buy a hitch for, especially in at low speeds and distances.

Is the 45 cubic ft of cargo with or without carrying 4 passengers?

Small hatchbacks like the Fit and Prius should easily fulfill all your requirements, with the exception of maybe towing.

I know several ladies that love Tauruses (older ones, not the new ginormous ones) but your Ma might be kinda cool to Fords right now...

Friends don't let friends buy VWs.

Small enclosed trailer with canopy, display screens and steel artwork. Typically towing 500-1000 miles each way.

45 cubic feet of space with only 2 passengers

If the Taurus wagon was available in a recent model year, I'd pitch it for sure.

To be honest, I'm the one more fed up with ford as I'm the one that spent 100 hours (after I started recording phone calls) with them.

She wouldn't go for anything over 4 years old, maybe 30 k absolute max, really wants NEW.

Edit: I LOVE my Dub, I went through an extreme amount of troubble to get this one, last one did 140,000 miles (260,000 miles total) with 1 timing belt, 1 clutch, 1 battery, 1 set of rear brakes lots of little mods, but no real problems. Before being totaled by a hit and run driver.

As far as fords its the post 2000 models that have problems. every pre2000 ford ive owned hasn't had problems as long as it wasn't heavily abused.

as far as a car what would be big for her. As i find suburbans, expeditions to be big big, but you could get toyota rav4 with a 4cyl and get impressive numbers

My dad's had his '04 Passat V6 since '06 and the biggest repair was probably a torn CV boot. Although, apparently Tiptronic was a bad choice, as the transmission hates its life right now. Another reason to buy manual. I stand by my assertion that anyone can learn a manual in about half an hour, especially with modern vehicles.

Maybe a Prius C would be a decent choice, though I don't know if it can tow. Most mid-size cars can probably tow half a ton if the trailer is balanced properly.

Unfortunately, we really don't get wagons here anymore. Has she tried out a Scion xB?

http://www.clubxb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47019

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...4162010005.jpg

Moon Unit handles trailers quite nicely and has good interior volume and a smooth ride. Just a bit thirsty to be a daily driver for me though.

Sven, wait 'til he has to get VW parts or service, then get back to us.

Point is, he hasn't until now. I believe he's had the dealer maintain it mostly, but had to recently take it to a transmission place to get the tip looked at. Just like any car, if you take care of a VW, it will take care of you. I think a lot of the negativity VW's get is from the enthusiast community that installs chips, exhaust, intake, etc. There's a running joke about how the CEL stays on all the time with modded VW's. Of course, the more you mod a car, the less reliable it will be. Keep it bone stock and you'll have a happy car.

I will concede that German parts are not cheap.

I'm still mad at VW for making opening wing windows an extra cost option, "mounting" said window glass by GLUING it to two tiny pads on the hinges, naturally one day when the car is still quite new the glue fails and the glass falls out onto the road and shatters, and VW says "tough noogie". **** 'em. :mad:

That and their rust protection leaves A LOT to be desired.

Whoever likes average product at premium prices, go get a VW.

I do like the size, unfortunately age, MPG, and safety rating all rule it out.

I've got no wing windows

My current car is from Iowa with 0 rust, I've had it way way apart for the swap.
My buddies car has a tad of rust, but VW took care of it under 12 year corrosion warranty.

I drive them because I have similar requirements to my mother, but at a lower price point, all be it with an allowance for higher risk of repair.

Edit: my 1966 Type 2 did have wing windows, they slid in to a steel Chanel, and had a latch that was pot metal and broken when I got it, I replaced them with some super cheap ones that lasted until the bus met its maker.

My sister is 100% unwilling to try. It really ruins it and it bums me out majorly.
You know, makeup and all.

Tell her beggars can't be choosers! If she wanted to use the car that badly, I'm sure she'd learn the stick shift pretty quickly. ;)

Yeah, not a productive comment. Oh, well. Scion xB.

I forgot about your XB comment, a buddy had one(gen2) I wasn't a fan, but it was hard to fault.

Off to research.

My sister often travels with my mother and my mother doesn't want to drive 100% of the time. If it was a borrow situation, I'd tell her worse tan begers can't be choosers.

Edit: no towing http://www.clubxb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24643
Yeah, I'm sure it would be fine, but not for warranties and mothers.

How about a crv, or rav4 or other cute ute's

^^ Think this guy is on to something....

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.

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?

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.

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!

:)

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

source

The 2013 Subaru Crosstrek is rated to tow 1500lbs. Not a bad looking vehicle, and 33MPG hwy 25MPG city. Probably one of the smallest and best mileage vehicles that is actually rated to tow anything in the US.

Toyota Matrix 2.4L
1) if you fold back seat you got 49 cf
2) Test drive, its free
3) EPA city 20 mpg(US)
EPA highway 26 mpg(US)
4) 1500lbs
5) as reliable as Toyota can be
6) it's avail in automatic
7) under $24,000
8) 5 place should put 4 persons confy

did I told you that I'm driving a Matrix.

Saw a few of these Subaru Crosstreks around and they're way better looking in real life than the pictures, particularly in white & dark grey paint colors......I got no idea why they'd lead with the Great Pumpkin Orange model you see in most articles about it. Blech.

http://mimg.s-msn.com/imageadapter/p...a5c0f09c63.jpg

http://www.japanesesportcars.com/pho...hite-pearl.jpg

http://www.fyidriving.com/blog/wp-co.../010012xv3.jpg

I know you're not a fan of Ford's but have you looked into an Escape hybrid? It's within budget, new(ish), CVT, seats 5, has the cargo space you want, the towing capabilities, and has above and beyond your FE wants. Of the Ford brand, the Escape is probably one of the most reliable. The only thing is of course if it would be comfortable for her to drive; I don't know if it would be too big for her taste.

Otherwise, it sounds like a crossover of any kind would be your best bet.

Cross tech is shockingly appealing.
There are very few subarus around here (no snow) so I usually don't think about them.
I'm going to find a dealer and check them out.

She had one as a rental and did like it.
I'll consider pitching it for sure

Why not just get a Suburban and be done with it? Let's face it, fuel economy is really not important in this scenario. So get a tank and then everyone's happy.

I'm not but who cares what I think.

And that's the reason why it (I group Tahoe/ suburban as same) is by far the most popular vehicle in my area.
I can't stand them.

I spent my afternoon at
1) toyota
2) Mazda
3) Hyundai
4) Subaru
5) Nissan
6) Volvo

1) Toyota
Rav4 much much nicer than previous generations. I no longer find it painful to drive which is a plus. Room pretty good, mpg totally adequate, towing good. Mother factor expected to be solid.
Tacoma, yeah, I'm a little surprised this was floated as well.
Room is good, but exposed, a cover would have to be built (plasmacam aero cap anyone?) MPG just adequate enough, towing is way more than needed, mother factor unknown, but she reccomended it so who knows.FYI She HATES the Ram 1500 that's in my driveway.
To be continued via edit.

2) Mazda: CX5 to small, CX9 to big

3) Hyundai: which would be a mother preferred brand if they sold something reasonable.
Tucson room a bit small, but is dead in the water due to rear seats that fold very poorly.
Santa Fe: looks to big, but is apparently about right size. MPG is very good for perceived size, but for actual size it is adequate, towing is way more than required, mother factor unknown, she likes the brand, but isn't going to like the perceived size.

4) Subaru: The surprise in the bunch to me
The Xv Cross treck is my favorite of the bunch MPg is best in bunch, towing is adequate, space is adequate, price is lowest in bunch, roof rack from factory, nice interior. My local dealer offers a lifetime power train warranty that I have to research (they have been doing it for about 7-8 years, but have been in buisness 30+) that I need to research.
The 2014 forester is noticeably larger, a tad less mpg, but still not unreasonably high. Towing is more than adequate roof rack is optional, just a few hundred dollars more than the VX. I'm guessing this would have the highest mother factor.
Subaru reliability is unknown to me, so I'm a tad hesitant.

More coming with next edit.

5)Nissan: Available at same dealership that sells Subaru also with the same lifetime power train warranty.
Rogue: outclassed in most ways by any of the other cute utes, off of my list.
Frontier: you have to get a thirsty V6 if you want the big cab, off the list.
Nothing against Nissan, just not what I'm looking for.
BTW: if you are in the market, check out the NV200 (aka transit connect competitor) very nice setup.

6) Volvo: also same dealership as Nissan and Subaru, only thing in my moms size range is $35,000 simply out.