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Looking for a family car under $30k (1 Viewer)

TheIronSheik

SUPER ELITE UPPER TIER
My current lease is up in about 11 months, but I'll probably try to turn it in a month or two early. That said, I figured I'd start the looking process. Not like the actual "looking" process, but just looking at cars online to see what's available.

For the first time in my life, the car I get will have to be able to carry my family, including all the stuff that comes with families on vacations. I've never been an SUV guy and I'd prefer to stay away from them, although there are a couple I would consider if I needed to and it fit what I was looking for. As an example, I really like the way the new Jeep Cherokee looks, but again, I'd prefer a car to an SUV.

In another first for me, I don't need a sporty car. Or a car filled with all of the newest gadgets. My main concern is a car that will hold 4 comfortably and can carry around luggage.

And since I prefer to lease cars, I'm definitely looking at a new car, not a used one.

Does anyone have a car or SUV like this that they enjoy driving? Or any recommendations as to what cars to look at once I get closer to buying near the end of summer?

TIS

TIA

 
Best car I've ever owned is the Honda Accord. It's not the sexiest, but the thing will run forever. I've learned how to do most of the maintenance myself (fluids, brakes, plugs, etc) without much difficulty.

 
How much power do you need? Snow driving? I drive a subaru outback for work and really like it , but it is no speed demon.

 
My buddy has 3 kids and he bought an '08 Acura TL that he loves.

I have an older TL ('04) that isn't as big but it's also a great car.

 
Wife and I bought a 2013 CRV (EX trim) about 6 months ago. We have a 3 year old boy and a 10 month old boy. You mentioned being a "car guy", which I am too. I've liked how the CRV really seems to drive and ride like a car. Its been a really good fit for us.

 
Look for a Honda Pilot that's a couple of years old and buy it used.

I'm at 10 years and 130k miles on mine and it's awesome. Easy to drive, huge inside, reliable, can carry a lot, inexpensive to own, etc.

My former law partner who has two kids just bought a new one and raves about his.

 
How much power do you need? Snow driving? I drive a subaru outback for work and really like it , but it is no speed demon.
Not worried about power, really. It doesn't have to be a great snow car, just better than a Mustang.

 
Look for a Honda Pilot that's a couple of years old and buy it used.

I'm at 10 years and 130k miles on mine and it's awesome. Easy to drive, huge inside, reliable, can carry a lot, inexpensive to own, etc.

My former law partner who has two kids just bought a new one and raves about his.
Again. A new car that I'll end up leasing. I'm not interested in buying a used car. I like new things.

 
Look for a Honda Pilot that's a couple of years old and buy it used.

I'm at 10 years and 130k miles on mine and it's awesome. Easy to drive, huge inside, reliable, can carry a lot, inexpensive to own, etc.

My former law partner who has two kids just bought a new one and raves about his.
Again. A new car that I'll end up leasing. I'm not interested in buying a used car. I like new things.
I missed the "lease, not buy used" part. Don't know why you'd do that, but whatever.

You could become a lesbian and lease a Subaru....

 
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Look for a Honda Pilot that's a couple of years old and buy it used.

I'm at 10 years and 130k miles on mine and it's awesome. Easy to drive, huge inside, reliable, can carry a lot, inexpensive to own, etc.

My former law partner who has two kids just bought a new one and raves about his.
Again. A new car that I'll end up leasing. I'm not interested in buying a used car. I like new things.
I missed the "lease, not buy used" part. Don't know why you'd do that, but whatever.

You could become a lesbian and lease a Subaru....
I've always leased. Just the way I prefer to do it. It's cheaper and I get a new car every 3 years. But I'm sure we could debate which is better sometime later.

My GF already has an older Subaru and it gets the job done. I always make fun of her about the lesbian thing. :lol:

 
I was very happy with my Nissan Altima when I had it. The thing ran forever. The new body looks a bit better. Can you get a Maxima under $30k these days?

 
My wife wants to get a Subaru. Should I be worried?

Not to hi-jack, Take a look at the Mazda 6. I know nothing about them but it's been recommended to a friend in a situation like yours (family/kids/luggage).

Wife and I love our Honda civic but it's a little small for 4 on a long trip.

 
My wife wants to get a Subaru. Should I be worried?

Not to hi-jack, Take a look at the Mazda 6. I know nothing about them but it's been recommended to a friend in a situation like yours (family/kids/luggage).

Wife and I love our Honda civic but it's a little small for 4 on a long trip.
I would've thought that the 6 was also a small car. I'll have to look at it. Don't know much about it.

 
My wife wants to get a Subaru. Should I be worried?

Not to hi-jack, Take a look at the Mazda 6. I know nothing about them but it's been recommended to a friend in a situation like yours (family/kids/luggage).

Wife and I love our Honda civic but it's a little small for 4 on a long trip.
I would've thought that the 6 was also a small car. I'll have to look at it. Don't know much about it.
They don't look bad. I think I was thinking of the Mazda 3.

 
My wife wants to get a Subaru. Should I be worried?

Not to hi-jack, Take a look at the Mazda 6. I know nothing about them but it's been recommended to a friend in a situation like yours (family/kids/luggage).

Wife and I love our Honda civic but it's a little small for 4 on a long trip.
I would've thought that the 6 was also a small car. I'll have to look at it. Don't know much about it.
They don't look bad. I think I was thinking of the Mazda 3.
My wife drives a 3. She loves it. Treats it like crap, but it's never let her down.

 
My wife wants to get a Subaru. Should I be worried?

Not to hi-jack, Take a look at the Mazda 6. I know nothing about them but it's been recommended to a friend in a situation like yours (family/kids/luggage).

Wife and I love our Honda civic but it's a little small for 4 on a long trip.
I would've thought that the 6 was also a small car. I'll have to look at it. Don't know much about it.
They don't look bad. I think I was thinking of the Mazda 3.
My wife drives a 3. She loves it. Treats it like crap, but it's never let her down.
Is it a smaller car? I'm not looking for a 1970's size Cadillac, but I do want something fairly roomy. The Mazda 6 looked more size appropriate.

 
I have a 2007 Lincoln MKX and I love it. I know that a new one is over $30k, but I really like the crossovers. It rides really nice and has AWD, so great in all conditions. It fits 4 really easily and still has a very nice amount of room in the back, far more than a car. Also, the seats in the back fold down with a button, so with that, there is a ton of room. I fit a 50" TV and an assembled corner TV stand in the back of it at Costco with no issue. It has 112k miles on it right now and runs really well. I plan to keep it another few years and let my son have it when he turns 16. It is decent on gas mileage. I am a bad example, so I get maybe 20 mpg since I work from home so city type driving and we drive my wife's new Highlander (love that one, but probably more expensive) on highway trips with the kids.

I just checked a local Ford dealership and the Edge (same car - the MKX is a Limited plus a little) has a $4k rebate and they had 2013 Edges as low as $22k. The Limiteds were just over $30k.

For instance, this Limited is $32,772. It has a power liftgate, leather heated seats, navigation system, @270 HP V6 (assuming based on my engine), etc. If you don't need all the bells and whistles, it would probably be under $30k easily.

 
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My wife wants to get a Subaru. Should I be worried?

Not to hi-jack, Take a look at the Mazda 6. I know nothing about them but it's been recommended to a friend in a situation like yours (family/kids/luggage).

Wife and I love our Honda civic but it's a little small for 4 on a long trip.
Wife owns a Subaru, hatchback 4 door Impreza and she loves it. Not enough power for me but they make them with bigger engines. The 4 wheel handling in rain down here in South Florida cannot be undersold. I feel much safer in my wife's car even though it doesn't have the take off speed of my V6.

 
Ford edge -

Fast as ####

Roomy

Best interior in its class

The only negative is there are tons of these out there so you'll see yourself coming and going a lot.

I'm a fan.

 
Telling you, Fusion. Give it a shot.
This is actually my frontrunner right now. I really love the way it looks. Do you have one? How is it on the inside?
Yes, but a 2010. Currently has 145k miles (I drive a little) and runs/looks like new. Very comfortable ride. Love Sync. I thought it would be some BS gizmo I'd hardly use but I'd hate to be without it now. Handles well and good on gas.

 
Subaru Tribeca. Best car I have ever owned hands down. Got a certified pre-owned with around 30k miles for 20k.

 
Telling you, Fusion. Give it a shot.
This is actually my frontrunner right now. I really love the way it looks. Do you have one? How is it on the inside?
Yes, but a 2010. Currently has 145k miles (I drive a little) and runs/looks like new. Very comfortable ride. Love Sync. I thought it would be some BS gizmo I'd hardly use but I'd hate to be without it now. Handles well and good on gas.
Oh, it's also what I transport our Great Dane in so fairly roomy.

 
Wife and I bought a 2013 CRV (EX trim) about 6 months ago. We have a 3 year old boy and a 10 month old boy. You mentioned being a "car guy", which I am too. I've liked how the CRV really seems to drive and ride like a car. Its been a really good fit for us.
HEY!
My bad. Missed this somehow.

Yeah, that looks pretty sweet. But an SUV will really have to blow me out of the water if I get that. I may take a look and/or test drive of this.

 
Wife and I bought a 2013 CRV (EX trim) about 6 months ago. We have a 3 year old boy and a 10 month old boy. You mentioned being a "car guy", which I am too. I've liked how the CRV really seems to drive and ride like a car. Its been a really good fit for us.
HEY!
My bad. Missed this somehow. Yeah, that looks pretty sweet. But an SUV will really have to blow me out of the water if I get that. I may take a look and/or test drive of this.
That's better.

 
My wife wants to get a Subaru. Should I be worried?

Not to hi-jack, Take a look at the Mazda 6. I know nothing about them but it's been recommended to a friend in a situation like yours (family/kids/luggage).

Wife and I love our Honda civic but it's a little small for 4 on a long trip.
I would've thought that the 6 was also a small car. I'll have to look at it. Don't know much about it.
We have a Mazda 6 (probably around 7 years old at this point) and I absolutely loathe it. They may have made improvements since then, but my biggest issues with the car are that the ceiling profile seems low (and I'm not a tall guy), I don't seem to be able to easily see the road around me, and the controls for heat / air and radio, etc.. are very non-intuitive.

I am on my second CRV and love it. Am advising my wife to go Honda as a replacement for the 6 -- Hondas seem to last forever.

 
VW Passat. We picked one up two weeks ago and love it. The "new" body style (2012 and newer) looks really nice and the thing drives really smooth. The rear seating area is huge - much bigger than the 2012 Altima for example - and the trunk is cavernous. I'm more of a XXL kinda guy and fit comfortably in the driver's seat.

We went with the mid-level SE model, and it came standard with alloy wheels, Bluetooth connectivity (iPhone syncs directly to entertainment console), heated front seats, and a whole bunch of other bells and whistles. MSRP was around $24k, and got a good deal on a used 2013 model. The higher end SEL model will come in right around $30k if you want wood trim, Navigation system, etc.

This car rides like you might think: a little heavy but feels solid. Turning radius is better than I would have guessed and it does move pretty well when you hammer the pedal. Road noise is decently muffled at freeway speeds. My only two knocks would be a lack of adjustments for the front passenger seat (it's not power) and vision out the rear window is somewhat mitigated by the rear seat headrests (they're not adjustable or removable).

Might be worth at least a test drive and VW does have a Sign and Drive offer for the Passat which is zero down and zero % on leased vehicles IIRC.

 
New Honda Accord is real nice, reliable, & roomy... Def falls in your budget. My MIL has one and it really is a great car.

 
I liked the Passat a lot when I drove it... but did not love it (and not sure why, there was just something about it). I would have bought it if I could have gotten the price I wanted. I had no problem walking out on it though.

 
New Honda Accord is real nice, reliable, & roomy... Def falls in your budget. My MIL has one and it really is a great car.
Also, we took their car for a road trip to Cape May, then Philly, & back to NY - Prob a solid 8 hours of driving it this summer... Really liked it.

Lexus also has a great lease on the ES you might be interested in. $3k down, $350 a month... Compares in monthly payments to a lot mentioned on the list.

 
Best car I've ever owned is the Honda Accord. It's not the sexiest, but the thing will run forever. I've learned how to do most of the maintenance myself (fluids, brakes, plugs, etc) without much difficulty.
+1

I have had mine for going on 14 years now. 185k+ miles. Very comfortable ride - even for those in the backseat. Good sized trunk.

Let's put it this way - when this one dies, I'm going to look to buy another Accord. (Mine is a 4-cylinder.)

 
Look for a Honda Pilot that's a couple of years old and buy it used.

I'm at 10 years and 130k miles on mine and it's awesome. Easy to drive, huge inside, reliable, can carry a lot, inexpensive to own, etc.

My former law partner who has two kids just bought a new one and raves about his.
My wife had one of these that just died with 250k+ miles on it. She loved it. Bought a Honda CRV this time and she loves it. One thing that she likes a lot about the CRV is the huge savings in money for gas over the Pilot. Huge.

 
If you want a car, go for the Accord. Similar to an Acura TL at a smaller cost.

I just traded in my 08 Accord for a CRV because I wanted to be a little higher and wanted AWD. That is another good option.

 
My wife wants to get a Subaru. Should I be worried?

Not to hi-jack, Take a look at the Mazda 6. I know nothing about them but it's been recommended to a friend in a situation like yours (family/kids/luggage).

Wife and I love our Honda civic but it's a little small for 4 on a long trip.
I would've thought that the 6 was also a small car. I'll have to look at it. Don't know much about it.
They don't look bad. I think I was thinking of the Mazda 3.
My wife drives a 3. She loves it. Treats it like crap, but it's never let her down.
Is it a smaller car? I'm not looking for a 1970's size Cadillac, but I do want something fairly roomy. The Mazda 6 looked more size appropriate.
Yeah, the 3 is smaller than the 6. It's still a good size for 4 adults, though.

 
Sweet. This should give me an idea of what to start with. Thanks, everyone.

Has anyone driven that new Jeep Cherokee? Not sure why, but I'm really liking the looks of that car and was just wondering what it's like inside.

 

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