Pick a new car for my mom

LeVeL said:
somehow I doubt that most people would go from an S6 to an Outback...
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Lots of rich people have Subarus, they just buy a good, functional car, which is what an Outback is. Then they get their eccentricities and bombast out with a backyard peacock farm or a Tunisian headmask collection they can flaunt to all the friends they've met at NPR fundraisers.;)
 
Toyota Rav4, V6. It just won a comparison (again) of 8 small CUVs (Honda CR-V, Mercury Mariner (and Ford Escape, essentially), VW Tiguon, Suzuki Grand Vitara, GMC Terrain (and Chevy Equinox, essentially), Mitsubish Outlander, Subaru Forester).

In their test, it tied for 1st place with observed fuel economy, had the fastest 0-60 (6.4 seconds...for a long while, this was Toyotas fastest accel model), highest top speed, had the most hp and torque, held the most cases of beer both with the seats up, and folded down, had the widest cargo bay, and only 2" away from the longest while being in the middle with total vehicle length, highest towing capacity, was only 1db away from the quietest at 70mph, and 2 away from db at idle.

"By day two of our four-day drive, no one knew which vehicles would finish in second through eith places. Yet everyone knew where the Toyota would finish."

toyota-rav4-v6-2007-776828.jpg
 
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Friend of mine has a 2.2l diesel Rav4, full spec. I don't like it at all, the interior is really plasticky, the seats are bad and the ride is horrible, and it's not that fun to drive. There are much better cars to choose, and if the price isn't a prolem, I'd pass the toyota in a heartbeat.
 
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If anything, we'd go for the 335d. It's just that she kinda wants something slightly smaller, as well. Grey imports, especially to CA, are so incredibly difficult that it's totally not worth it.
 
On the topic of grey-imports, I saw a Nissan X-Trail with Texas plates today (Canadian dealership badges).

Back on topic:

Has she test driven anything yet? I'd say have try the 328xi wagon and look at '08 Merc E-Class wagons. A4/S4 Avant would be sweet though.
 
Jacobfox said:
If anything, we'd go for the 335d.
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Go fo it, you wont be disappointed with your decision. It's a fantastic car with propably the best performance-diesel engine that you can get, and it gets pretty good mileage aswell, and goes like stink. And if the 290Hp/580Nm isn't enough, you can always get it chipped ;)
 
B33R said:
why don't you consider a VW Passat wagon R36?
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Having driven my brother-in-law's R36 wagon, I can certainly recommend it.
 
nsx_23 said:
Having driven my brother-in-law's R36 wagon, I can certainly recommend it.
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It's a good car, no doubt about it, but there's always better options, especially when the money isn't problem. My cousin bought one while back, he's loving it, but still he's dreaming in the back of his head about a 335i touring :p
 
Agreed, the 335 touring isn't a bad car either.

However, here in Australia the 335 touring is a good chunk of money more than the R36 ($110k+ base price VS $68k base price respectively), and you get way less kit in the BMW as standard. The 335, IMO, just isn't worth the extra over the R36 here down under. I could buy an insanely fast motorbike or a 2nd sports car and still have change left!
 
C3Vette said:
Friend of mine has a 2.2l diesel Rav4, full spec. I don't like it at all, the interior is really plasticky, the seats are bad and the ride is horrible, and it's not that fun to drive. There are much better cars to choose, and if the price isn't a prolem, I'd pass the toyota in a heartbeat.
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it's amazing how same car can differ from continent to continent.. :?
 
_dexter_ said:
it's amazing how same car can differ from continent to continent.. :?
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Well, those were only my thoughts about it(which my friend who owned the car, can verify from his own experiences and thoughts). I've spent several hours and hundreds of kilometers in one, and I just don't like it, that's all there is to it.
The ride was hard and bouncy, the road- and windnoise was loud at around 60-70mph and the back seats were hard as hell, and there wasn't that much legroom. The whole car made strange noises when going over speedbumps or when driving on a grave road, and the car had lots of small problems, there was also problems with it's electrics and gearbox in the past and the undercarriage started to rust (the exhaust was totally rotten in the end before he traded it to another car).

He had the car for a little over a year, and traded it to a W203 C-Class. He never regret that decision.
 
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C3Vette said:
Well, those were only my thoughts about it(which my friend who owned the car, can verify from his own experiences and thoughts). I've spent several hours and hundreds of kilometers in one, and I just don't like it, that's all there is to it.
The ride was hard and bouncy, the road- and windnoise was loud at around 60-70mph and the back seats were hard as hell, and there wasn't that much legroom. The whole car made strange noises when going over speedbumps or when driving on a grave road, and the car had lots of small problems, there was also problems with it's electrics and gearbox in the past and the undercarriage started to rust (the exhaust was totally rotten in the end before he traded it to another car).

He had the car for a little over a year, and traded it to a W203 C-Class. He never regret that decision.
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i'm reading this and keep thinking "are we talking about the same car?" :lol: my mum drives one and despite the fact that i hate it (because it's a SUV), i can't say it's bad at all.. nice ride, no noises, cumfy seats.. if i liked suv, i'd really like that toyota.. it has a surprisingly good handling as well.. and it has done some off roading (rather successfully), unlike 99% of SUV out there.. i think that reason of such difference is its price - limited spec 2.2 d4-d here costs $ 52 000.. thus it can't be the same car..
 
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