That means something new. Or new enough that it's factory certified warranty wise.
Requirements are: Auto transmission All wheel drive/4 wheel drive station wagon/small SUV
I gravitate towards european cars, so I've been thinking Audi A4 avant, BMW 325xi/535xi touring, X3/X5, VW Tiguan/Touareg.
Anything else I should consider? My Dad has a RAV4 that he loves, it's a decent car, but the interior is nowhere near as nice as our current Audi A4 avant...
MINI Countryman ALL4, Cadillac CTS Wagon V6/AWD, Mazda CX-7, and the Volvo XC70 Wagon are 4 options you haven't named.
New-ish German SUV's are nearly as expensive to own as English ones. What's your wife's minimum threshold of nice-ness? The Passat/Jetta wagons may fit her bill.
FWIW - My wife is a euro-snob, but I've been trying to sell her on the idea of an off-lease Genesis when her 530i eventually meets its maker. She was surprisingly impressed by the newest CTS-V, but that aint gonna happen on our budget.
Hence the need for extended certified warranty! The audi's and I think the bmw's are covered till 100,000 miles if they're certified.
I didn't think of the Volvo's, how are they reliability wise? There's the XC90 as well, right?
New CX-5 with the diesel?
XC90 is a gigantic-ass SUV. Seriously, it's roughly the size of Utah. The XC70 was their last actual wagon, very nice. The XC60 is a small-ish SUV roughly the size of Rhode Island that's actually pretty good.
Javelin wrote:XC90 is a gigantic-ass SUV. Seriously, it's roughly the size of Utah. The XC70 was their last actual wagon, very nice. The XC60 is a small-ish SUV roughly the size of Rhode Island that's actually pretty good.
I strongly disagree. It's not a huge SUV, it's roughly the same lengthy as an XC70, just up on stilts. Nothing at all like the size of a Yukon or similar. I've owned an '06 XC90 V8 for 2 years and have been very very happy with it. Fully optioned as 3 year old 22k mile CPO it was $32k out the door from an out of state dealer since my local dealer is completely worthless. We have the 7-passenger version, I recommend the 5-passenger for slightly better rear seat room unless you have kids between 5-11 who will sit in the rear, no adult will ever last more than a few minutes back there. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a mid-sized SUV.
Talking the new 2011's here Pigeon. And any 7-passenger SUV is big.
The 2011 is the same vehicle all the way back to 2003, just with a facelift to the front and rear facias for 2006. The only change since then is Volvo spread out the lettering on the rear hatch. It's 189.3 inches long, vs 186.4 for an XC70 vs. 202 inches for a current Tahoe and 202.5 for a Grand Caravan. Yes, it's big relatively speaking but I don't consider it to be a big SUV, definitely mid-sized.
Javelin wrote:XC90 is a gigantic-ass SUV. Seriously, it's roughly the size of Utah.
My only contribution to this thread is to say that what Javelin said is freaking hilarious!!!
on the XC90
No 2003s of any type
No T6
Other than that T5 or V8 and 2004 or newer, have fun! I think they look frickin awesome.
"Give me your children, I will protect them from your incompetent driving."
If you like the euro feel you should test drive a ~2008 Subaru Legacy wagon. It feels a lot like an Audi.
David
There's a Subaru tax here in Colorado. They're resale is insanely high compared to other similar makes, so I tend to shy away from them as you pay more for less.
My in-laws have a CTS4 sedan with the 3.6L. It's surprisingly nice, though you can feel the AWD doing its thing in an odd way once in a while. Turning on a wet street sometimes gave me an odd sensation as power got transferred around.
A wagon body would make it a very nice car.
