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Which car to buy for given requirements - first time buyer
Hi there,
I am going to buy my first car and I don't have much prior driving experience as well.
We're family of three at the moment, two of us and our little baby. Mostly the car will be used for shopping over weekends, occasional city drive and rarely for long drives
I don't want to buy very expensive car but yet something that is easy to handle, AWD and safe to drive even in bad weather (snow / rains) with good fuel efficiency and requires less maintenance.
I don't know where to start. Any choices which I can further research before making decisions would be helpful.
Requirements
- typically convenient for family of four
- has good legroom and spacious
- would be used frequently for shopping & limited city drives
- occasional long drives
- safe for all types of weather & terrain
- fuel and cost efficient
- under 25k $ (can stretch upto 30k but would prefer inexpensive)
I am going to buy my first car and I don't have much prior driving experience as well.
We're family of three at the moment, two of us and our little baby. Mostly the car will be used for shopping over weekends, occasional city drive and rarely for long drives
I don't want to buy very expensive car but yet something that is easy to handle, AWD and safe to drive even in bad weather (snow / rains) with good fuel efficiency and requires less maintenance.
I don't know where to start. Any choices which I can further research before making decisions would be helpful.
Requirements
- typically convenient for family of four
- has good legroom and spacious
- would be used frequently for shopping & limited city drives
- occasional long drives
- safe for all types of weather & terrain
- fuel and cost efficient
- under 25k $ (can stretch upto 30k but would prefer inexpensive)
0
Comments
The good news is that, when it comes to AWD, you have a lot more options than you did even a few years ago!
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
CRV and Forester, yep. Also options of Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, Chevrolet Equinox. If you want to save some money and don't mind less space, you have Subaru Impreza/Crosstrek. A little different, but you could go sedan and consider the Dodge Charger. Minivans are always the obvious choice when space is a concern, but you'll only get AWD in the Sienna these days, and AWD puts you into a little more expensive territory when new. Used, though, and you can get down into the $20s if you don't "need" a bunch of options along with that.
Probably a few more that I'm not thinking about right now....
Give the Outback and Forester a good look - you'll love the Subaru!!!
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
- Honda CRV
- Subaru Forester
- Subaru Outback
- Subaru Crosstek
- Subaru Impreza
- Ford Escape
- Toyota RA4
- Chevrolet Equinox
Any comments about Hundai Tucson & Hundai Santa Fe?
Really, I think the one drawback of the Korean cars is that they still depreciate much more quickly than other makes, particularly the Japanese. The positive side of that is you can probably get a great deal on a slightly used car. So, if you buy one and plan to keep it for a while, these are a good way to go.