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:confuse: Maybe because you were looking at an "infinity" rather than an Infiniti"!???! To some people, though, they look the same!! :confuse:
I'm a 22 year old man; trust me, incidents are going to happen at a young age, no-matter how careful the driver. I've never been ticketed or at-fault in an accident, but growing up driving my 6 year old Accord (now 14!) was the best thing that could've happened.
And they have a new non-turbo model, which is more affordable.
I agree that a compact crossover ought to be plenty for a teenager. To pick among the safest ones, here's the IIHS 2010 Top Safety Picks:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx
You could even just get a small wagon. Soul, Cube, Impreza, and Golf still make the Top Safety Picks list and are generally suitable for a young teenager's driving needs.
Best of luck shopping, whatever you end up with.
Personally, I think the perfect vehicle for a teen would be a big, ol' Buick station wagon. ;-)
Also, these crossovers aren't exactly small. Small would be a Mazda3 hatchback.
Off my soapbox now.
When I was 16, my grandmother gave me her 6 year old Accord, with 120k miles on it. My folks said they'd pay insurance and gas as long as I kept my straight-A's. I did, so they did. Pretty good setup to me; kept me focused in school to the point I got a full ride to college. Because they didn't have to pay for college, they bought me a car (my '06 Accord). They just used "incentives" to help me help myself. They did tell me, however, the first accident I caused or the first ticket I received would revoke it all, and I'd be left holding the bag and bill for everything.
Maybe try an older TDI wagon. They're slow as heck and will keep you out of trouble.
The old 80s wagons (I learned to drive in one) are RWD and may be tricky for a newbie. Ours also got about 8 mpg. Plus they're so big and don't track straight, so it's impossible to stay in a lane. IMHO not a good beginner's car.
Pick from the IIHS Top Safety Picks, and you'll get stability/traction control, plus a rigid structure, and all the airbags you can shake a stick at.
I test drove a Vue a while back. If they added some steering feel I'd consider one. Even then, the Equinox looks so much nicer, plus it's more fuel efficient.
$7 grand buys a lot of gas, I suppose.
""With the large incentives GM is apparently providing to sell remaining Pontiacs and Saturns""
""$7k is quite a bit""
Since last month, after ten minutes of negotiation, I received a $6,100 discount on a new 2010 Infiniti EX35 sport wagon, that was not on the lot, I would consider the $900 less discount as 'money well spent'!!!!
:surprise: :shades:
.
I bet it drives real nice, though.
Heck, I'd reconsider a Saturn Outlook with that sort of discount, but I'm not in the market right now.
I have owned 3 Hondas inc. a S2000. Why am I being pulled towards a Sante fe.....what am I missing?
The depreciation is indeed something to consider. Especially if you trade/buy often. However financing differences, payment differences just might offset the/any depreciation differences.
I personally like the looks of the Santa Fe. It looks to be a lot more expensive than it is. The Crosstour is somewhat "different" looking, but beginning to grow on me.
FWIW: I didn't care for the "LOOKS" of the Honda Ridgeline when it first emerged. But now I own one!
Could be mistaken , but I'm thinking the Santa Fe 10 year 100K mile warranty is on the drive train only and the bumper to bumper might be the same as most other vehicles at 3 year and 36K miles. Honda is 5 year and 60K miles in the drive train. and 3/36K bumper to bumper. Please correct me, if I'm wrong on that.
That 10/10 warranty is a good thing for sure and important IF we keep a car that long.
With our '03 Pilot and '03 CR-V, the little things like sensors, various electronics and modules, window motors, AC controls and compressors, shocks, switches, and such were problems. Especially after the 36/36 ran out. While the mechanical parts of the drive train itself, were flawless. So, for us, the bumper to bumper Extended Warranty payed for itself on both vehicles.
Before purchasing, you might want to spend some time driving both and really paying attention to the feel of the seats, ease of entry and exit, road noise at highway speeds, ride and handling, various controls, space we may or may not really need, sitting position in both height and in relationship to the steering wheel and pedals.
While the outside "Looks" of our vehicle is important to us, we have to "LIVE" with the inside. Depreciation can be a concern if we trade often. But we might not trade as often if we test and consider a vehicle like we are going to be stuck with it for 10 years.
Good luck.
Kip
WOW! Definitely better than the Honda Bumper to Bumper.
Thanks,
Kip
Crosstour is more of a competitor to the Toyota Venza and Subaru Outback, so you may want to consider those as well. If you overlook the styling, what bothers me about the Crosstour is that is only has 31" of width between the wheel wells in the cargo area, very narrow. The Outback is a whole foot wider there. Honda compromised utility for style, and I'm not a fan of the style.
Santa Fe got some nice powertrain upgrades, but the design itself is a bit dated. You may want to check out the new Kia Sorento instead, it's cousin.
Good luck and have fun shopping.
Hmm. Tough call.
Was the beach condo FWD?
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd
I'd want ABS - A Beach Scene.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-fast-is-the-earth-mov&topic- - ID=2
We appear to be hauling some serious butt!
On the other hand, if you're the center of the Universe, then you're not moving at all! :P
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Considering purchasing a used vehicle larger than our '06 Outback. Top contender right now is 2007 Pilot, also thinking of checking out an '08 Taurus X. If we install 2 LATCH carseats in the 2nd row outboard positions, can these vehicles' 3rd row be accessed by kid-sized humans? (The Taurus X would have a 2nd row bench seat, BTW, not 2 buckets.)
On the other hand, my little ones are so spry, they often just hip-hop over the rear seat back anyway. It depends on your kids.
A used Taurus X seems like a particularly good value, with a 2-year-old Limited AWD nearly 1/3 off of new. Drat. I wonder how well the 2nd row would handle 2 carseats & a booster.
I'll wait to hear from anyone else on an '07 Pilot.
I'd look at a minivan, but I want something AWD with a bit of ground clearance, and don't want to drive a massive SUV. My thinking is that for normal travel we'd have 2 carseats in the 2nd row and the booster in the 3rd, but for trips where we need the cargo room we'd move the booster up to the 2nd row center position to allow us to pack everybody's gear. (I need a crossover with a sliding door to access the last row!)
It's looking like I may have to settle for 3 kids across the 2nd row all the time, rather than just for trips. Though I suppose with Pilot I could also put car seats in the 60% portion of the 2nd row, leaving the 40% portion available to fold & allow access the 3rd row. I assume the bench-seat-option Taurus X would allow the same then. Hmm... I wonder if their LATCH anchors would accommodate 2 car seats in the 60% portion of the 2nd row... anyone know? :confuse:
That may not be enough, but I thought I'd mention that.
I considered Sienna and, if I went the minivan route, it'd probably be the one I choose though I favor Odyssey's looks & handling. I've tested the limits of my Outback's ground clearance and think the Sienna would still be too low for what I want to do. The high price of the AWD version and the run-flat tires are also big negatives. I'd have to keep a spare tire in the cargo area in case I damaged a tire on a Forest Service or logging road... certainly don't want to be stuck in the middle of the woods with the kiddos in tow.
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd
How did you like the Freestyle otherwise (taking into consideration that Taurus X has a different engine and transmission)?
How about a Sienna with a lift kit? :P
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd
The Taurus X has about 8" or more clearance everywhere except right under the engine , where the larger engine on the T-X has a manifold that sticks down a little lower right in the front middle of the car under the engine. There, the clearance is maybe under 7". I suspect it could go lower with a full load.
When riding over big (~6") rocks with a full load of 4 of mountain bikers and all our camping gear and bikes at Moab, Utah, and Goosbery Nevada, we were just careful to go over the rocks slightly off the center of the car and did fine.
The issue being it could still cause you to high-center in deep snow/ice.
Pilot needs some bigger wheels to help the clearance... it's got 16s but both the Taurus X & Outback both have 18-inchers. I wonder if I could upsize the wheels 1-2" comfortably on Pilot? Certainly seems like enough clearance in the wells, but I don't know much about that.
I don't even want to ask the MPG, though!
In any case, remember that increasing the overall circumference makes your speedometer inaccurate.
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd