Car Buying

[Phoebe]

Some of us are in the market for cars, eh? Driving the same car for a long time and it starts to have problems I can tell will cost money... I drive by the new Jeep Grand Cherokee, a crime against humanity and eyes everywhere. A Jeep is not supposed to look like an ugly bubble. I think of getting a Toyota... Maybe Nissan Pathfinder? I looked into the Tesla thing and it doesn't seem doable.

[Tahlvin]

It’s a bit higher end, but our Toyota Highlander Hybrid works really well. Seats up to 7 without being a minivan, has all wheel drive for the winter, and gets decent gas mileage for an SUV.

[Phoebe]

Sounds good to me. I looked into the various classes of Subaru which appealed to me but they seem kind of pricey compared to their counterparts. If I can't have a Tesla or a jeep that has right angles on it anywhere, I'm not sure I really care which stripe of blobcar it is. I used to have feelings and years of driving a filthy beat up vehicle have driven them out of me.

[bralbovsky]

Decide what you really need, and the make and model will be pretty obvious. How many passengers? Do you really need all wheel drive? Cargo space? Get one size up from the smallest one you like. Drive the car first, maybe rent one for a trip if you can.

If you look at the niche you need, pretty much every one has a clear leader or two. Folks like subarus because they're well put together these days. Honda is solid.
Tesla has really only two issues: availability (you prolly can't get one) and range. If it's a realistic option for you, it will cost much much less in the long run, so it's absolutely worth a look. (Most all electrics will do, but Tesla pwns in this dept)

[Phoebe]

Range a big problem for me on that. I know a guy who has one and it's kind of awesome but the problems were laid out to me as well.

[FlameBlade]