Comments | cos: Car advice or suggestions?

cos

Car advice or suggestions?

Jan 12, 2017 18:35

I'm going to keep my used VW Passat wagon here in Cambridge so I have a car when I'm visiting home, and planning to buy a new car in Seattle. I don't know that much about cars, and haven't bought a new one in nearly 20 years (the VW is a 2004 I bought used in 2009 from an acquaintance) ... so I don't know much about the cars that are out there now ( Read more... )

Comments 23

_nicolai_ January 13 2017, 08:37:35 UTC

I would still get a diesel estate (wagon, in American parlance). I think my Mercedes E350 Bluetec is the perfect all-rounder. Good (very good, in fact) acceleration, enough self-driving technology to be helpful, large boot space, very comfortable to drive and sit in, very reliable (so far, 2.5 years in), holds 4 large people or 5 ordinary size people, etc.

The E250 is also said to be pretty good, though it won't have quite the effortless go in any situation that mine does. The E220, if you can get it, is underpowered - don't buy.

(if any of these are available in the USA, of course).

Another Passat might be a totally reasonable choice.

cos January 13 2017, 16:07:45 UTC

The main drawback of the Passat I have is its poor gas mileage. Rarely get better than 27 for highway driving, and in the mid/high teens in the city, whereas the Saturn I had before it got 35+ on highways and around 23-26 in the city. Perhaps a diesel Passat would do much better. But you may have heard those have a pollution problem and they all got recalled in the US...

points January 15 2017, 01:17:49 UTC

I have the latest model Volt. I think it fits most of your criteria. Let me know if you'd like to stop by and take a look, maybe test drive it - and say goodbye before you go.

andrewfeland January 27 2017, 16:16:16 UTC

My absolute favorite car I've ever owned as a 2006 Scion xB. Limited electronics, limited pickup, but amazing gas mileage (I was getting 35+ mpg combined) and more interior space than even its bigger brother, the 2008 xB. I wish you could still get them. It was a perfectly utilitarian box on wheels. I got hit twice in that car--the exterior is practically Tupperware, and it sprang back into space with a simple push from the inside in both cases with barely a scratch. I put over 80,000 miles on it in four years, and didn't have a single mechanical defect. Now that Roo is 16 and will be driving soon, I'm even looking for a used one for him ( ... )

totient January 29 2017, 13:41:46 UTC

If you're looking for sometimes hauling gear, sometimes hauling people, and you're coming from a small wagon, your category is "5-door hatch". There are a lot of these and most of them are imports but don't overlook the Ford Focus which is a very good car (the current model was designed in Europe so it's only sort of domestic anyway; stay away from years that were designed in the US ( ... )