My wife's car, a 2004 Nissan Sentra 1.8 automatic, has started having a few quirks that make us uneasy. With 100,000 miles on the odometer and the car nearly paid-off, we're thinking very seriously about starting the hunt for a new car now, before any big issues rear their ugly head. She has about 65 miles of commute everyday, and we work different shifts (she's on second shift, I'm on first) in different towns, so she really needs something dependable. Plus I don't want to spend weekends working on her car, as I increasingly find myself, instead of spending time with her.
We've been making a list of possible candidates that we want to whittle down over the next year or so. With that said, bear in mind we'll probably be looking at lightly used or "program" cars that are a year or two old, and we won't be doing any serious shopping until late 2010-early 2011. Here's our list of cars to check out so far:
* Ford Escape (2.5 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Chevy Equinox (2.4 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Nissan Cube 1.8S (1.8 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, CVT automatic transmission)
* Hyundai Elantra Touring (2.0 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Scion xD (1.8 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Suzuki SX4 Wagon (2.0 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, CVT automatic transmission)
* Chevrolet HHR (2.2 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Mazda 5 (2.3 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
Which do you like, and why? Are the others you'd include on the list?
We've been making a list of possible candidates that we want to whittle down over the next year or so. With that said, bear in mind we'll probably be looking at lightly used or "program" cars that are a year or two old, and we won't be doing any serious shopping until late 2010-early 2011. Here's our list of cars to check out so far:
* Ford Escape (2.5 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Chevy Equinox (2.4 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Nissan Cube 1.8S (1.8 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, CVT automatic transmission)
* Hyundai Elantra Touring (2.0 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Scion xD (1.8 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Suzuki SX4 Wagon (2.0 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, CVT automatic transmission)
* Chevrolet HHR (2.2 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
* Mazda 5 (2.3 four-cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic transmission)
Which do you like, and why? Are the others you'd include on the list?