NS&BR: Car Recommendations?

[preppy]

Tomorrow is my last day at my job thus my last day of a company car. I am going to hopefully buy a new one this weekend. My DH has a large SUV (Q7) so I want something small, good on gas, and fun to drive. I will prob buy cert pre owned and want it under 18-20k ish. I have test driven a mini cooler and liked it but want to look around. Any suggestions?

[love1999]

I really love my Ford Fusion. The SYNC system is awesome, it drives well and gets good gas mileage.

[ElizabethBennet]

We're looking into the Chevy Cruze right now. It's right in your price range, is cute, and get's great gas mileage.

[Étoile]

If you want to keep it in the Audi family, the A3 is adorbs.

[Deleted]

Get a car w/ a turbocharger. My last 2 have been 4-cylinders w/ a turbo and they're pretty zippy while still being easy on gas.

[natablue]

I know it's considered more of a "budget" car, but I love my Hyundai Elantra.

[kris356]

I have a Jeep Patriot, my sisters both have Compasses. Love them. Small with great 4WD which is super nice in the winter. My brother has a Subaru Legacy Sedan and it is nice.

[wineenthusiast]

I love my Mazda6. Its sporty, large enough H is comfortable (hes 6'5") and really good on gas. I go the fully loaded one so I have nav, leather, moonroof, power everything, some cool mirror/lane changing feature, blue-tooth, etc and only paid $16k with 20k miles. It has keyless remote entry/start which I think is like the best feature ever.

I had an Audi A4 (which I did like at the time) but the motor blew up at like 50k miles. I like driving the Mazda just as much and for a lot less money I have better features.

[bonquiqui]

I love my subaru legacy!

[niknik]

Aug 30, 2012 10:00:07 GMT -5 preppy said:

Tomorrow is my last day at my job thus my last day of a company car. I am going to hopefully buy a new one this weekend. My DH has a large SUV (Q7) so I want something small, good on gas, and fun to drive. I will prob buy cert pre owned and want it under 18-20k ish. I have test driven a mini cooler and liked it but want to look around. Any suggestions?

Suburu has some fun little zippy cars that are well priced. There is a new one coming out that I really want but it hasn't been officially released yet. My pick would be the Mini Cooper, I love those cars.

We had an Acura TSX as well and that was probably my favorite car ever to drive. Great fun and well appointed inside.

[bethaboo]

I love my Volvo S40. I paid $22,000 when it was a year old. At the same time that I bought my car, my best friend bought a Mazda 3 with a lot more swag (GPS, sunroof) than my car and I love that thing.

Also, Subarus are the car I would go for if I didn't love my Volvo so much.

[xokell2]

Aug 30, 2012 11:12:17 GMT -5 bonquiqui said:

I love my subaru legacy!

I have a white '11 legacy! Love it!!!

[bimbi284]

I'm a big fan of my VW Jetta! H had a Golf and loved it...another good VW is the rabbit.

Aside from that, I've decided that the mini is my next car...its too cute!

[gringachef]

I've had two Audi A4s that were a lot of fun to drive BUT I had tons and tons of costly problems with both of them. I had a mercedes c-series that was also a lot of fun to drive but the maintence costs were appalling.
I'm now driving a VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI. It's just as fast as any of the other cars I've had but gets 38 MPG & has been absolutely trouble free thus far (16 months).
My sis has a Ford Fusion & loves it. DH has a Ford F150 & we've been very happy with Ford service.
I really did love my Audi's & Mercedes but the cost of upkeep simply wan't worth it.

[redredwine]

I don't have one...but I'd totally get a mini based on what you're looking for.
They're so cute and fun to drive!

[bonquiqui]

Aug 30, 2012 13:00:23 GMT -5 xokell2 said:

Aug 30, 2012 11:12:17 GMT -5 bonquiqui said:

I love my subaru legacy!

I have a white '11 legacy! Love it!!!

Car twins! Well almost. Mine is a 2010 in blue, but i love it so much. The heated seats rock my world too. At the dealership and blurry, but i cant resist.

I have had it for two years now, but it still feels brand new.

[Deleted]

I love the Ford Fusion, especially the design of the new one (2013). The Focus was also redesigned last year and is super fun to drive.

[xokell2]

Aug 30, 2012 13:23:11 GMT -5 bonquiqui said:

Aug 30, 2012 13:00:23 GMT -5 xokell2 said:

I have a white '11 legacy! Love it!!!

Car twins! Well almost. Mine is a 2010 in blue, but i love it so much. The heated seats rock my world too. At the dealership and blurry, but i cant resist.

I have had it for two years now, but it still feels brand new.

The blue is beautiful! Mine isn't quite so fancy... I have cloth seats

[mariafromnj]

I rented a car and got a 2010 Altima and I thought it drove really well and the gas was pretty good... it should fix comfortably in you budget
Acura TSX is a great little car and if it is a few years old you can get it around $20K

[fashionx]

I love our Nissan Altima -- it's going on over 111,000 miles and still running beautifully. We get about 30 mpg give or take between city and hwy.

[FormerCityGirl]

DH and I love our Coopers. The cars handle phenomenally we'll (so well that I race mine) and the gas mileage is great. We have a 2005 hardstop with the sunroofs and a 2009 S convertible. The customer service at the dealerships is amazing. The older one regularly get about 35 miles to the gallon and the other is slightly less because of the supercharger, but still close to that number. We got our first one four years ago and plan on Minis for future cars too. Get the S if you can since that one has a little more pick up as far as speed. Also, if you can get one with runflats. Those tires quite literally saved my life. I blew one at 80 mph on the interstate and didn't even feel it at first or lose control of the car. I was surrounded by 4 semis at the time and had I lost control I would have been hit by at least one. My good friend has those tires on her BMW and they save her when she blew one on PCH. She would have gone over a cliff had she not had them. I love everything about these cars. We have fit a 63 inch gas grill in the box in the hardtop and closed the hatch. The space is great for anything. We've got about 120k miles on the hardtop and it's still a great car.

[preppy]

Sorry I post and ran this AM I didn't expect to have such a busy morning!

I love our Audi and I like the A3 and A4, but most in our price range have a few more miles than I would like. A3 is tops my list right up there with the mini cooper but there aren't too many of them. If I can find one in our price range that I like I will be all over it.

My company car was a Fusion and while it was great, ran well, no problems, I am trying to go "anti" company car. They are nice though!

My mom has always had subaru's and thinks we should get one since they are great in the snow and we live in Northwestern CT which gets a fair amount. My husband likes the legacy and also the impreza outback hatchback? If we got that it would be his daily driver and I would take his Q7.

I don't know much about the mazdas or the Acura TSX, I will have to look into them:)

Thanks for all the recommendations! It's always good to hear what other people like to drive!

[FormerCityGirl]

Coopers are awesome in snow, even without 4wd. We took our's out in an ice storm with heavy snow. It started while we were in a hockey game. We had a huge hill to go down that was pure ice. Every other car on the road slid off and lost control at some point except our Mini. It wasn't the driving that kepts us on the road, it was the Mini's handling. They also rock for tight parking spaces. Used Minis have the highest resale value of any car out there. They retain 68% of retail for the first 3 years.

[bimbi284]

Oh and...minis can do this

www.youtube.com/embed/ik9AtJQXaHQ?rel=0

[Deleted]

Acura TSX!! I love mine and researched cars to death before buying. It gets off the charts ratings for quality, dependability, etc. It's a fun, small sedan, and one thing that impressed me is that it comes with so many high end standard features - sunroof, heated seats, leather seats, etc. You get a lot for your money with this car and can drive it a really long time with no problems. Mine just hit 100,000 miles, still looks great, and I've never had a single problem. I also like that it's somewhat sporty looking and is cute, but I have no complaints about this being my primary car for transporting my son - there is more than enough room for a rear facing carseat in the back and a stroller in the trunk, just in case that might become a consideration while you own your next car

[preppy]

Aug 30, 2012 15:12:46 GMT -5 FormerCityGirl said:

Coopers are awesome in snow, even without 4wd. We took our's out in an ice storm with heavy snow. It started while we were in a hockey game. We had a huge hill to go down that was pure ice. Every other car on the road slid off and lost control at some point except our Mini. It wasn't the driving that kepts us on the road, it was the Mini's handling. They also rock for tight parking spaces. Used Minis have the highest resale value of any car out there. They retain 68% of retail for the first 3 years.

This is good to know! Our SUV is 4wd so it handles well but it's good to know if one of us is out in the mini it will still be great:)

[preppy]

Aug 30, 2012 16:09:20 GMT -5 bimbi284 said:

Oh and...minis can do this

www.youtube.com/embed/ik9AtJQXaHQ?rel=0

Fun!

[billysgirl07]

Aug 30, 2012 14:52:50 GMT -5 preppy said:

Sorry I post and ran this AM I didn't expect to have such a busy morning!

I love our Audi and I like the A3 and A4, but most in our price range have a few more miles than I would like. A3 is tops my list right up there with the mini cooper but there aren't too many of them. If I can find one in our price range that I like I will be all over it.

My company car was a Fusion and while it was great, ran well, no problems, I am trying to go "anti" company car. They are nice though!

My mom has always had subaru's and thinks we should get one since they are great in the snow and we live in Northwestern CT which gets a fair amount. My husband likes the legacy and also the impreza outback hatchback? If we got that it would be his daily driver and I would take his Q7.

I don't know much about the mazdas or the Acura TSX, I will have to look into them:)

Thanks for all the recommendations! It's always good to hear what other people like to drive!

Subarus save lives - for real. Those commercials aren't a joke! Many years ago, DH and I got into a pretty nasty accident and walked away with just a few bumps and bruises. His Forrester was totaled and he replaced it with an Outback (just because he wanted a turbo engine and he couldn't find a Forrester with a turbo engine). I love the new Outbacks so that's what I recommend...even though I don't drive it on a daily basis.

I drive a Grand Am...it's nearly a decade old and has 60K miles on it. I won't be getting a new car for a loooooong time

[zimsgirl]

I drive a VW Jetta and like it. My dad and sister have a Honda Civic. I absolutely love those cars. I wish I got a Civic instead. They get great gas mileage

[xokell2]

Wow so many subarus on here! Just like my local trader joes parking lot!!