Starting to look for a newer car for a mix of commuting and some longer trips in the winter (Central/North Indiana to central PA and Upstate NY). Grew up on very rational and efficient Hondas/Toyotas, but I'm looking for something a bit different. I've been DD-ing a beater '00 Maxima and actually rather enjoying the good V6 power and laid-back automatic transmission. Selling the Maxima this weekend and looking for something that basically captures the Maxima's style: a bit more fun to drive than a Camry with a bit more style, with good power, smooth ride, and all-season abilities. Newer is better, budget is anywhere from $15-20k.
I had a '16 Passat SE as a rental for work, with the 1.8TSI motor, and actually REALLY liked that car. Enough power, supremely comfortable, simple clean styling with some presence on the street owing to its size. Other contenders: lightly used upper-trim Taurus (actually considering an SHO), ex-rental Impala Limited (w-body with the 3.6L 300hp V6), and an ex-fleet '15 Charger SE 3.6L. Charger would be RWD, my hope would be that with snow tires and modern ESP it'd be passable in the winter, especially with how flat it is where I live. A big trunk is pretty important, when I travel I currently fold up two large dog crates (imagine a 47ish flatscreen TV sizewise). The Taurus 20cu ft sounds awesome, w-body has over 18 and is nice and long, also nice. Passat has 16 cu ft, and is probably at the lower end of what would work, although it has enough space in the rear seats to stow them there. Charger trunk is also in the 16 cu ft range, with a high lift-over, another minus in the utility section for it.
Overall what I'm looking for is something like a larger sedan that's a bit more interesting to look at and drive than a Camry/Accord, and somewhat more 'substantial' feeling going down the road: ie smothers potholes, doesn't feel crosswinds.
Any other options I may have overlooked?
John Flores
That rental Passat got stupid good MPG for me, indicated average went over 40 mpg at times in 77mph-adaptive cruise highway driving. Hand calculations yielded 38 mpg, still freaking fantastic.
Like I mentioned above, the power was pretty 'adequate,' but hell I wouldn't mind some more. I've had a few of the Impala Limiteds are rentals and they drive like perfectly mediocre turn of the century Gm products, but they have some undeniable swagger and charm to them in a weird sort of way. Transmission is geared crazy tall, but man the LFX V6 is a beast once it gets the right gear and gets the RPM up a bit. I worry most about how one of said Impalas will age. I've had sub-20k mile rentals where there are already some squeaks, doors slam shut and don't feel 100% aligned, etc.
Leo Garcia
Anyone?
Chase Sanders
Get a granny owned panther. Grand marquis. Not as wannabe cop as the vic and less dowdy than the town car. Taurus is shit, vw could have questionable reliability and the dsg is more maintenance intensive than the manual. Impala is just nigger tier
Parker Bennett
Not a fan to be honest. Not that smooth of a ride considering the poor body control, uncomfortable seating position, poor winter traction (from what I've been told), and sadly would get spanked by said 1.8T Passat from a stoplight. FWIW the Passat has a regular 6spd auto made by Aisin. I don't see this as a super long term car either per se. Maybe 4-5 years tops?
Thanks for the suggestion though.
Jason Clark
Infiniti M45 or q45
William Davis
Hmm bordering on pretty thirsty, and Q45 would be too old and too expensive to find parts for I think. I'm looking to ultimately buy something new enough that I either have a warranty, and/or is just new enough that I have atleast a few years of just driving the stupid thing without having to wrench on it.
I think I'd consider something like a Fusion 2.0T, I've had a rental 1.6T and was not impressed with the motor at all (unlike the VW 1.8T). I hear the 2.0T is quite off the pace of v6 midsizers like the Camry/Altima/Accord, is it even worth it at that point?
Non-SHO Taurus might make a lot of sense, the updated NA 3.5 gets the FWD variant to 60 in about 6.6 seconds, plenty quick I think.
Josiah Carter
Passat tdi with a manual trans
Robert Morgan
Call me prejudiced, but I wouldn't touch a newer VW diesel with a 10 foot pole, nothing to do with the emissions scandal either. If it's Passat, the 1.8T+6A drives just fine IMO, and certainly gets such good mpg that I see no point to go diesel except for the freight train torque factor.
Jason Powell
What's wrong with the maxima? Why not keep it? They're good cars.
Ian Wood
Not mine bub. Lower rad support is pretty swiss-cheesed, trans has a sloppy 2-3 upshift, rear trailing arm bushings have leaked out, one front lower balljoint boot is torn, a couple of CELs (exhaust leak and coil related). Honestly yeah if I was set on it i could weld up the rad support, swap in a new solenoid pack, put in new polyurethane trailing arm bushings (sadly that;s the only option), put on a new control arm, fix the exhaust leak and swap in a new coil, etc etc. But I'd be into this thing way too much at that point, for a car with a number of cosmetic issues and body rust.
I have it cleaned up nice and selling it this weekend on CL. I'm ready for something new and comfy. I had actually put new struts on it when I bought it earlier this summer and did the brakes, and a bunch of body work to clean up a lot of the rust. Car looks and drives very respectably actually. But still not a particularly smooth ride when it comes to dealing with expansion joints and such.
I have no problem affording something much nicer (and paying cash for it if I so chose), the maxima was more of a screw-around car. I thought it'd make a good beater, but my OCD just can't deal with all the issues that I'm itching to fix.
Owen Evans
>living where cars rust Sucks to suck
You could keep the maxima and fix it to be a winter beater and then buy an ls430 from the south or out west so it stays nice
Evan Fisher
>selling maxima Where are you? How much?
Cooper Jackson
I already have a second vehicle ('96 4Runner in awesome shape, with dedicated snow tires) so a third vehicle is definitely a non-option. The Maxima was actually supposed to be the winter beater for the 4Runner as funny as that sounds (keep salt off the 4Runner). I previously owned a '12 Civic as an efficient and reliable commuter (5spd, LX sedan) but it was kind of a bore all around. What I'm shooting for is a all-season commuter and comfy highway cruiser. The 4Runner is the current road trip vehicle and it frankly kind of sucks in that regard, aside from cargo capacity. It bounces all over the road, catches every cross wind, and in general is a white-knuckle driving experience in the winter, even with snow tires.
Pic sort of related, 4Runner pre-snow tires.
Julian Parker
No comfier highway cruiser than ls430
Brandon Fisher
As loathe as I am to even consider this, but I'm seeing 15k mile Chrysler 200S (V6, AWD) for about $17k locally... am I crazy to even consider getting involved with one of these Fiat love children with the troublesome 9spd?
Xavier Lopez
Again, we get into the thing where inevitably it'll need a t-belt service when I buy it, some front end suspension work (maybe) and some other catching up that every non-original owner of these seems to neglect.
Jonathan Rodriguez
A dodge durango
Brayden Reyes
Yes. They're shit and the trunk/opening might not be adequate.
Luke Parker
So get one that has had the belt done, with records. Suspension is a wear item so you shouldn't complain about fixing it.
Justin Perez
>not that smooth of a ride >double wishbone and coil over or air suspension >compared to macpherson struts and multilink
Haha ok.
Eli James
Well I've test driven one (an '04 CV LX as I recall) and it was thoroughly mediocre. You want a smooth boat-like ride, try riding in just about any older Russian car (Volga especially, but even a Lada), they blow panthers out of the water for swallowing up road imperfections. Of course at the expense of any semblance of reasonable handling or control.
My 4Runner is a double wishbone front end and solid rear axle on coils (with air shocks no less), are you implying that suspension design simply implies how smoothly it will ride?
Jack Stewart
Well given that I'm comparing to newer vehicles without anywhere as much wear for the same hypothetical money, yes I think I can "complain" about having to deal with something like that. I totally appreciate how well LSs are built and just how far above they are in terms of quality and engineering over the other stuff I'm looking at, but I just don't think it's the best all-season ride. Who knows, there's an '04 LS430 for sale nearby (111k miles, asking $11k, doesn't have meticulous records) perhaps it's at least worth a drive to see what I'm missing out on.
John Perez
Yes it takes road impacts better
Dominic Morgan
You're totally right on the mail-slot trunk opening. Oh well, dodging a bullet on that one anyways.
Anthony Bennett
Well let me take you for a ride in the 4Runner then and see how you feel. No doubt it's very sturdy feeling, no semblance of bottoming out or anything close to it. But it's just stiff and tosses you around as a function of the spring rate and damping. I guarantee you something like an older Avalon would feel MUCH smoother and more controlled at the same time.
Jonathan Reed
Actually looking at 2nd gen Acura MDXs now. Would make a ton of sense (we have two larger dogs to haul on occasion, on these same long trips sometimes). Never driven one, but it seems to fit the criteria, if a bit low on the MPG side of things (not a deal breaker). Anyone have any experience with them? Not crazy about the interior design, and I always worry when a manufacturer bills their SUV/CUV as sporty. That usually means a stiff suspension in an attempt to minimize lean.
Jose Baker
just buy whatever new shitbox you want. we don't give a shit
