Hey all. Over the weekend my girlfriend's '05 Taurus got severely sideswiped by a drunk driver while parked on a city street. I'm not sure yet, but I've got a fairly strong hunch that this one might get totaled. Of course, it's less than two weeks after she replaced the transmission, but I digress.
So assuming that the car is totaled, it's time we find her something else to drive. She is 24, unable to drive a stick (yet...I know, I'm working on it), drives about 20k miles a year between a longish commute and visiting her family that lives 350 miles away, and she's also 6'2" with a 36 inch inseam, which means legroom and headroom are paramount. We would also like something we could put a medium-size dog crate in.
She's not a gearhead (I know, I know) although she has said she would prefer something smaller and more nimble than her Taurus. She has a friend with a first-generation Scion xB and she has mentioned that she likes it a lot. I would not mind finding something in that vein. Reliability is most important, followed by fuel economy, safety, and cargo space in that order.
As for price, we're going to be in the 5k-9k range. Obviously if we could find something good at the lower end of that range, we would go for it.
I'm thinking an xB, Vibe/Matrix, possibly an Impreza or Outback wagon. Other suggestions (or reasons to run away from these) are welcome.
