[GardenOfDarwin]

We were in an accident (not major but caused a good bit of damage; not our fault) on Saturday and are expecting that our 11 year old, 186,000 mile Jeep Grand Cherokee will be totalled. Anyhoo, we also have an 95 Acura Integra which is basically jewelery for the driveway - we both work from home and homeschool (and live in a small town) so we don't need two cars. In fact, it hasn't been driven in over 5 months. We plan to sell the Acura and use the funds from both the sale and the anticipated settlement on the Jeep to purchase a new used vehicle. We don't want a car payment and don't want to pay for the depreciation that happens in the first year. We're not really that picky.

Desires in a vehicle:

• Economical and low emissions - diesel convertable to bio-diesel or hybrid would be ideal
• 5 star front crash rating & high on other safety ratings
• ABS and passenger airbags - 2nd row airbags would be cherry
• Leather...oh how I love my leather seats!
• Adjustable height seats (I'm so, so short)
• Seating for 5 - us, 2 kids and a Grandma
• Cargo room for a potentially largish dog
• CD player/changer - radio out here is patchy at best, don't want to pay for XM
• Exterior mounted full-sized spare
• Less than 50,000 miles - the lesser the better
• No previous accidents/body damage
• Ability to tow; roof rack would be nice
• Other things I should concern myself with?

So...anyone have any suggestions? We've been poking around on cars.com and ebay, but we're not really comfortable buying a car we haven't seen. We're willing to travel a bit to look at/purchase a car. 50 miles takes us to the closest city, 100 will get us to a number of metropolisii. We'd be willing to buy privately locally assuming we can get it checked by our local mechanic. We'd rather not deal with a dealership, but a certified vehicle or a program car have their appeal. Rental company sales are also somewhat attractive.

Experiences? Recommendations? We are most definitely NOT minivan people. We're currently favoring a Jeep Liberty CRD (2005 or 2006), and can rent one for a bit and see how it drives, but we're open to other options. Any help and advice is thoroughly appreciated!

Susan

[DesignDiva]

If the exterior mounted spare is optional, I'd say look into a minivan, preferably a Toyota or Honda that was driven by an elderly couple, NOT a mom with many kids. They get decent gas mileage, have fantastic safety ratings, and the room you'll need. I'm amazed at how many elderly folks drive minivans around here!

For five seaters, we just bought a Jeep Patriot, again no exterior spare but nice and roomy and relatively cheap! And I should also mention the Scion xB, a fantastic car with even better gas mileage (nearly 35 MPG) and tons of room for a smallish car, especially for the passengers. I drive a Toyota Matrix and it's pretty nice, too, good mileage and good safety rating as well and seats 5 fairly comfortably.

[dafogle]

Here's a good site to check for ratings, equipment options, values, etc.
edmunds.com (they have a section for new cars and one for used cars too). They'll help you understand what the true market value of the vechicle is in your area.

Doreen

[woodswell]

Eva,
I found my current car - a GMC Suburban - through cars.com. It was at a small car lot not far from my parents' house so I combined a visit to them to look at it. I did use carfax.com to get the history on it before I purchased it. It was an off-lease vehicle, so only one "owner". The entire experience was very pleasant and positive.

I do recommend CarFax - for a low amount, you get a very complete report on the car's history. You do need the VIN number to run the reports, which may be hard to get from some sellers. I was up front with the dealership and told them I was going to run a CarFax report. They were intrigued - this was the first car they sold through Cars.com and thought offering CarFax reports might be a good way to show the quality of their merchandise.

[DulcineaK]

i used to sell cars

honda minivans are vastly superior. the toyotas are good, however before 2002 had drive train issues. in the world of minivans honda reigns supreme.

ok, i'll come back after nighttime and give you some actual tips on negotiation, if you care....

[GardenOfDarwin]

Oh, I forgot to mention that we are oh so NOT minivan people, and I'm going to go update the original post - we need to be able to tow. Sorry for neglecting to mention those important factors.

Susan

[DulcineaK]

well, minivans tow up to 3500lbs... if you own a honda

but my tips have nothing to do with type of car, they have to do with buying a used car from a lot... if that's the direction you go.

guess i'm a "minivan person"....

[DesignDiva]

I'm not a minivan mom either, so I hear you on that! The Patriot can tow, but I think it's like 1500 lbs., similar to the Matrix and the Scion xB.

[GardenOfDarwin]

I'd be thrilled to have tips on negotiating. I feel like I'll be vastly better at it than I was the last time I had to - 16 years ago, but still...I'm no professional. We bought our Acura from a no-haggle dealer, and the Jeep was a deal at 5K from my MIL's neighbor. I haven't bought off a lot in a LONG time!

Hints, tips and advice VERY welcome!

Susan

[Tigratrus]

I'll own up to being part of the non-minivan equation. I honestly respect them, and they probably have *the* most widgeted interiors of almost any vehicle on the planet, but I just can't go there. On the practical side we're a bit spoiled by the 4 wheel drive in our jeep, we've actually *needed* it a few times, and it's the sort of thing that you don't need often, but when you do need it, there really is no substitute.

I'm very intrigued by the diesel engine offerings, especially with the possibility of using bio-diesel. I really like the inherent superiority of the diesel engine from a simplicity/efficiency standpoint. I actually really like the idea of a Beetle TDI (turbo diesel), but I'm not sure about the available space and I've read some disturbing things about the build quality?

The Subaru Outback/Forester comes fairly well recommended by Car Talk, and my mom's been quite happy with her Subaru impreza, so that's another possibility.

James