Car shopping

Car shopping... there are a ton of choices out there and everyone has an opinion on what you should buy.  Mix in an opinionated husband/wife duo and a disagreement is bound to happen.  Karen's 2001 Mazda 626 has been a great car, giving her over 175,500 miles and it is still going, albeit with a check engine light that constantly reminds us that the transmission is threatening to bail on us at any time.  The car has been in the shop and the tech said to drive it until it breaks, then R.I.P.  Replacing the transmission, even with a used one, will cost more than the car is worth.
It has been very quiet around here lately, so I suggested that we start looking at cars now.  My theory is that we will be prepared when we see a good deal OR when the 626 gives up on us, we'll be ready to buy. Makes sense, right?

If you ask me what we should buy, I would focus on versatility, fuel economy, possibly all wheel drive  (AWD) and a car that is fun to drive.  If I had my pick (and I don't), I would buy a Mazda3 hatchback, tint the windows and go zooming around while getting almost 30mpg around town.  Throw some snow tires on it and I think it would drive just fine in the snow.  One of several subarus with all wheel drive would be a close second. 

As you might guess, her priorities are a bit different.  She wants to sit up high while the seat heaters warm her behind.  Good looks and a nice interior also fit into her priorities, and AWD might be nice after slipping around one icey morning a few weeks ago.  The Lincoln MKX (she sat in it at the autoshow last year) is her idea of the target car, although it is 2x our budget and can't even get 20mpg in town.  It looks like we have a bit of a gap to bridge,  this should be fun.

Before I go any further, don't forget that I am a bit of a car buff and that I sold Mazdas for 9 months.  I tried my best to not push my agenda and let her provide her opinions first.  To start, we went out and drove through all the dealer lots on Sunday, since they are all closed on Sunday.  Evaluations on style and her brand knowledge were applied and she narrowed it down to a top 5:

After the "walk around review" the order for her was: 
1.  VW Tiguan
2.  Ford Escape (the old boxy body style)
3.  Mazda CX-7
4.  Subaru Forester
5.  Toyota Rav-4
I expected all but one of her choices, the VW. I had never really considered it as an option, but Karen spotted it in the lot while we were looking at the Subi, so it went on the list.

Pesonally, I ranked them more like this: 
1.  Forester
2.  CX-7 (no AWD)
3.  Tiguan
4.  Escape (boxy)
5.  Rav-4

Of course, you have to remember that my opinion doesn't rate much, since it isn't going to be my car.  You might be surprised to see me put the forester above the cx-7, but for basically the same price the forester has AWD, which would be nice while we live in snow country.

While doing some online research after our drive thru, the VW quickly feel out of contention because we found out that it's turbo engine required premium fuel.  That left  4 cars to drive.  Last weekend, we ventured out and drove all four last weekend.  Since I had been on the other side of these exchanges, I kind of enjoyed watching the sales people.  As for Karen, it was like watching a modern version of  "Goldilocks goes car shopping." One didn't sit up high enough (Forester), the other had a transmission that refused to downshift without counting to three first (Escape) and another was just a bit boring (Rav4).  The fourth one might be the right one, but it doesn't have AWD (CX-7).  To top that off, we were offered a screaming deal on a "left over" 2011 CX-7 so that made it very tempting.  However, we didn't bite on the deal but thought about it all last week.

The story doesn't end there, although it could because the CX-7 is a great vehicle. There was a redheaded step child who wasn't invited to the initial dance: the Honda CRV.  Karen hasn't been a fan of the previous versions (visually), but it was redesigned for 2012 and looks much better.  After some discussion, we decided to give it a chance, so we went out and drove one today. 

Not surprisingly, it drove like a lifted version of our Honda Accord and it did pretty well on her check list.  Sits up high:  Check.  Transmission shifts when you ask and provides needed acceleration:  Check.  Doesn't look boring:  Check.  We must have a winner, right?  Not so fast, because it doesn't have bun warmers.  X.  We decided to head back to mazda to look at last week's victor in a back to back comparison.  We spent some time in the 2011, discussed the deal that was still available and then headed home without it.  She isn't totally sold on it.

Over dinner tonight, she decided that since the CX-7 doesn't have all wheel drive in our budget range, it is probably out.  So, does that make the CRV the winner?  I'm honestly not sure.  To add a twist to the equation, Mazda has a new small SUV coming out this spring, the CX-5.  It is supposed to get much better mileage, sit up high, drive well and looks cool.  The only "X" is that it doesn't have heated seats without getting the maxed out loaded version.  Ugh, I should have known there wouldn't be a clear winner.  Our dealer is supposed to get a CX-5 soon, so we will drive that and see how it places.

For now, we are putting our faith in the old green 626, hopefully she gives us more time to make a good decision.  On the other hand, I hope we don't end up kicking ourselves for passing on the great deal on the CX-7.