Car reccomendation for Father-In-Law

DaveH

DaveH

Joined
Dec 2, 1999
Messages
12,249
We may be picking a car, or having input on, a car for my father-in-law. Requirements:

Transports 4 people plus luggage,
Not too low to ground,
No door "sill" to get your legs up and over into the wheel well,
No Domestic manufacture (No GM, No Ford, No Chrysler )
Prefer AWD but not required,
SUV or sedan is OK
Respectable so the golf club buddies don't pick on him,
used, under 20K.

Here's a few we're considering, but haven't looked at yet:

Merecdes ML320, Volvo XC series, Camry, Mercedes sedan, etc.

Thanks
 
Look into the Subaru Forester and the various other Sub models. The Forester is a particularly nice model that has respect from almost everrybody and it sits you up high enough that you aren't having to climb down into it. It also is not so high as a regular truck-based SUV, which improves its handling and its ride.
 
FullerH said:
Look into the Subaru Forester and the various other Sub models. The Forester is a particularly nice model that has respect from almost everrybody and it sits you up high enough that you aren't having to climb down into it. It also is not so high as a regular truck-based SUV, which improves its handling and its ride.
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I second the Forester recommendation. Can't think of anything better.
 
Once you get past the looks, the Honda Element is a great car. You would not believe how much interior room Honda built into it.

The back seats swing up against the sides in a couple of seconds, or can be removed from the car in 30 seconds, leaving a big empty box. On the road it handles nice, has room for 4 adults on a long trip, and gets 25 mpg easy. Just after we got ours in 2003, we had to got to Atlanta for a funeral of a family member. Myself and my wife, and her two sisters drove strait through in a 12 hour run with no problems. There was enough space that with the luggage arranged right, the back seat passengers could recline thier seats to take a nap.

We've transported our bicycles in it for rides on the C&O cannal trail, moved pieces of furnature in it, and traveled in it out west to visit the Grand Canyon and other National parks out west.

I'm 65 years old, and my wife is 62, and we both have some arthritus issues so we don't like a car thats hard to get in or out of. We love our Element!:thumbup:
 
I should add he's 6'3", the last time I tried a subaru it seemed built for 5'6" people.

Thanks for the Element plug.
 
I was also going to recommend the Forester. It's a bit more roomy than Subarus of old, and has the other qualities you're looking for. If that's out though, the Element is a good choice too, although it's kind of funny looking in my opinion.
 
DaveH said:
I should add he's 6'3", the last time I tried a subaru it seemed built for 5'6" people.

Thanks for the Element plug.
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Subbies are as big as the Hondas and Toyotas. If he can't fit a Subbie, he won't fit any of those. My wife has a Pilot; love it, but if I was 6'3" instead of 5'11" there wouldn't be enough leg room.

If he won't buy a domestic, and the Japanese big three will be too small, he's going to have to look to the German cars. Stay away from the VWs. On second thought, the Volvos would be great. Don't know if you can get a good one for less than 20K, though.
 
Dave, was the Sub that you tried a Forester or an Outback or other model. The Forester is a taller version of the Subs and it should easily fit a 6'+ person. I am 6' with shortish legs and a longish body and I have sat in them with plenty of clearance. The other Subs are very much lower than the Forester.
 
Add Lexus RX300 to the list. Don't know for sure, but used prices should be close to your requested range. Lexus was #1 in quality for something like 11 consecutive years (finally beaten this year by Porche), and the RX consistently ranks in the top 3 for it's class. AWD, rear seat folds flat, five passengers easy, fair clearance for a highway vehicle.

I don't like the RX myself (a big ugly station wagon), but Wife loves it, and it sounds just like what you're looking for.

Also, the Hyundai brand vehicles are ranked very high for quality this year. Great warranty, low price, and look as good as any other station wagon. My brother just bought a Santa Fe, but I haven't ridden in it yet.

Happy shopping,
-Bob
 
I think it was an outback I tried about three years ago,

Lexus sounds like a good tip. I rented a Santa Fe and liked it alot, don't know if it's uh "traditional" enough for him.
 
Another SUV that is a couple of sizes bigger than the Sub Forester is the Nissan Murano. I know a couple of folks that have them and use them for toting around armor and other re-enactment gear. They love them. They are tall inside and come with a V-6 and an infinitely variable automatic transmission. The Murano is the less expensive brother to the Infiniti V-6 SUV that uses the eame engine. It is the same V-6 that is in the 350Z and the Maxima, so it is a well developed engine.
 
Personally, if I were forced to buy a four-door for under $20,000 it would be a Lincoln LS, Towncar, or Cadillac STS. Both Cadillac and Lincoln are generally high ranking in quality, often placing in the top-5 of all brands. And since American cars seem to depreciate rapidly, they are very affordable on the used market.

He did prefer non-American but...

My Lincoln Mark VIII was the nicest and most comfortable vehicle I've ever driven, loaded with toys, great mileage, and very reliable considering the high mileage. I test drove a Lincoln LS last year - not nearly as comfortable as the driver-oriented Mark VIII, but lots of power and tons of goodies including a THX stereo system and touch-screen GPS system. I'm a sucker for the toys...

I also test drove a Toyota Avalon. The interior was very nice, but only on the high-end brand-new model year vehicles. Previous years are rather bland, like an up-sized Corolla or Camry.

-Bob
 
DaveH said:
I should add he's 6'3", the last time I tried a subaru it seemed built for 5'6" people.

Thanks for the Element plug.
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I test drove a Forrester, and had room(barely, though). I am 6'6" and about 250 lbs. Really, the only reason I didn't buy it, was because the wife broke down and let me get the 2005 Toyota Tacoma I REALLY wanted. ;) :)
 
You might also check out the newest version of the Toyota RAV4. It's a lot bigger than before, and comes with a V6 that has 269 hp that supposedly gets over 20 mpg City and over 25 mpg Hwy. :thumbup:
 
Honda CRV. I just test drove one yesterday. I'm 6' and it was very comfortable to drive. I was impressed with it's cargo capacity. It looks smaller from the outside than it is. The AWD was nice as well.
 
The problem with the CRV is that the new one is what you all are talking about and it runs $25K and up. The various Lexus SUVs, even used, run rather more than the $20K price that Dave H cited, at least in the Yuppie dominated Washington DC area.

Any Mercedes that you can find for less than $20K is a Mercedes that you do not want as it will be beat to Hell and gone or will have been such a pain in the butt to the owner that the price is knocked down to get rid of it. These cars have a bad reputation for being very "needy" in that nothing serious ever seems to go wrong, but they are constantly needing to go in for electronic gremlins and such. That is why J.D. Powers knocked them and the BMWs down in their last ratings.

You might, repeat might, find a decent Volvo for less than $25K. I wish you luck in that effort.

I really believe that your best bet will be to look at a car that runs around $25K-$30K new and then look for a good used one. That was why I was suggesting the Subaru Forester and the Nissan Murano. Of course there are others, but Hondas seem to stay more expensive, just as Toyotas do, and you have eliminated any American cars. You might try the Hyundais, as they are about the only Korean cars that are real automobiles even if they are still basically a generation older Mitsubishi, well built but a bit dated in design. Or at least that is what they were a couple of years back, I haven't looked at them in the past year or two.
 
The various Lexus SUVs, even used, run rather more than the $20K price that Dave H cited, at least in the Yuppie dominated Washington DC area.
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I think an early-model RX300 should be touchable for $20,000. Wife paid over $20k, but that was a year ago.

Any Mercedes that you can find for less than $20K is a Mercedes that you do not want
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That is likely true, since Mercedes ranks very low in both the Initial Quality and Long Term Dependability surveys.

Subaru also ranks very low, below most American brands, even lower than Ford and Dodge.

-Bob
 
Bob W said:
Subaru also ranks very low, below most American brands, even lower than Ford and Dodge.

-Bob
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I don't know what source you got this from, but it's obviously spurious. Subaru vehicles are very highly rated.
 
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