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Post by dewryce on Jun 7, 2016 23:14:49 GMT
Wow, so much great information, thanks so much ladies! @formerlytravelagent My husband is too! So glad to hear that about the Kia. caangel ~ Thank you for the warning! We are definitely only going to have one, unless it is twins so that won't be an issue for us. But this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. malibou and raindancer ~ the MDX looks nice, but is priced higher than we wanted to start. We have JUST paid off our last 2 revolving type bills save for house and school loans and don't even want to take on a car payment. So I'm a bit bummed to begin with. But I looked at them and they look nice so I will see when new models come in for Acura and can maybe get a good deal like elaine did with her Enclave. CarolinaGirl71 I will thanks for the heads up! ladytrisha ~ Yes! Yes! Yes! About the gas. I think it was our older Pathfinder that required the premium gas. Right now not such a huge deal, but when gas prices go crazy again? Definitely something to keep in mind, it would be just like having a higher car payment. So glad your friend is okay, how scary! That happens to me with home furnishings, I decide I'm finally ready to pull the trigger and what I had my mind set on is no longer available. So frustrating! My sister has loved both her Lexus Rx and currently has and adores her Volkswagon Tourag (I think that is the name, the more expensive of their 2 small SUVs). They were really rice, just too small. If you are a Toyota family might check out the Lexus.
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Post by kimpossible on Jun 7, 2016 23:17:00 GMT
Love Mazda!
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Post by dewryce on Jun 7, 2016 23:22:24 GMT
We were in the market for a mid-sized SUV in January 2015. We looked at and/or test drove SO many my head started to spin. Lexus, Hyundai, Jeep, Acura, Audi, Kia... We were looking for comfort and like our bells and whistles, but what got me was how little (relatively speaking) room there was in the rear hatch area. Tucker, while tiny in my profile pic, now weighs 80 pounds, and eventually we might get another one of him. So having a lot of space in the way-back was important. Much to my dismay, DH wanted to look at the Volvos. My first reaction was and then . I mean VOLVO? But then I sat in the XC60 and quickly switched to . This car is beautiful inside and out, and the way-back area is HUGE. There are two different engine options. DH, of course, went for the larger T6. The gas mileage isn't great by any means, but the car can hold its own on the road. The T5 engine definitely gets better MPG. But did I mention that the storage capacity is awesome? We recently moved, and with the exception of our large furniture pieces, EVERYTHING got moved in my Volvo. We made multiple Ikea trips with it, and never had trouble fitting everything in it (including 80" long boxes). I absolutely LOVE my car. Yes, that rear room is super important. Hen we travel for Christmas the back of our Highlander is normally filled to the brim, with the middle seats folded down. I literally pack things in there like I'm playing a Tetris Game. DH brings everything out to the driveway and then puts them I the car according to my directions LOL. I really don't want to give up much, if any, space. Have never heard of the XC60. But I see it is listed as an excellent fit for both short and tall people which is perfect for us. Besides DH's near giant stature, I am 5'4" with very short legs for my height. The gas mileage for the T5 is amazing but I couldn't figure out what kind of an engine that is. Does it compare to a V4 do you know? DH wants a V6 and after driving larger cars with a V4 I can't blame him. More money than we want to spend, but again we can go try it out and if we like it wait until they are switching over model years. Thanks!
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Post by dewryce on Jun 7, 2016 23:30:47 GMT
I am looking for my next car. I still don't know what it will be, but since you have PsA and I have RA, I will share my list of features I want: Push button start-my wrist and elbow get stiff, making turning the key hard. Heated seats-built in heating pads for trips. Hip height seats for easy in and out. Cap less gas- no cap to turn; gas caps are hard to turn when I am stiff. Rear view camera-no turning around necessary. Heated steering wheel for those days my hands hurt. Blind spot sensors-safety when i can't turn so far to look over my shoulder. Foot activated liftgate--helpful because I can't juggle things easily. Remote start--because I can't handle being cold or it makes me hurt. Yes, requiring the heated seats initially made me feel so silly, but my husband's car has them and I finally tried them out. Oddly, the cold does not make me hurt, it actually helps numb me, and I hate being hot so I avoided the heated seats like the plague. But I was really hurting one time and he encouraged me to try them. Oh my gosh it made the biggest difference, HUGE. Especially on longer trips. This is perfect, thank you! I am so very fortunate that the PsA hasn't affected my hands. But much grip strength *is* affected by some nerve issues I am having. And while it isn't a problem right now, I occasionally have huge issues turning my head so the rear view camera and blind spot sensors just went on the list. I was considering them as nice to have if they came with the seating options. I've never seen a foot activated lift gate, I hope you're able to find one!
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,095
Jun 26, 2014 20:10:29 GMT
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Post by raindancer on Jun 7, 2016 23:31:31 GMT
Have you thought about luxury as a certified preowned? So much better pricing, quite competitive with new toyotas, hondas, etc. We really felt like we got a great car for a great deal going that route and didn't eat the deprecitation costs.
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Post by elaine on Jun 8, 2016 0:18:07 GMT
Wow, so much great information, thanks so much ladies! @formerlytravelagent My husband is too! So glad to hear that about the Kia. caangel ~ Thank you for the warning! We are definitely only going to have one, unless it is twins so that won't be an issue for us. But this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. malibou and raindancer ~ the MDX looks nice, but is priced higher than we wanted to start. We have JUST paid off our last 2 revolving type bills save for house and school loans and don't even want to take on a car payment. So I'm a bit bummed to begin with. But I looked at them and they look nice so I will see when new models come in for Acura and can maybe get a good deal like elaine did with her Enclave. CarolinaGirl71 I will thanks for the heads up! We bought in August and were able to pay $37K for a $52.5K 2015 model simply because the 2016's were coming in. It was certainly worth it for us. I also am a bitch when it comes to bargaining for cars. Buick would give dealerships an extra incentive on one Enclave on their lot per month, but that car, while always advertised, was miraculously sold when we showed up. I finally just somewhat tantrumed and said, "look, if you can sell one car with all these features for $37K, you can sell one to me. If you won't, I'll go to the Buick Dealer across town and get it there." They suddenly were able to trade one of their existing stock with another dealer and get the exact car I wanted for the exact price they had sold that other one for. I don't take anything BS from car salespeople any more and tell them to their faces that they are lying to me when I catch them at it.
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Post by dewryce on Jun 8, 2016 0:20:21 GMT
elaine I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to things like this...do you want to come negotiate for me
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Post by elaine on Jun 8, 2016 0:30:28 GMT
elaine I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to things like this...do you want to come negotiate for me I'd love to! I buy all the cars in our family. Since they feel free to lie to me, I feel free to demand what I want. I know for a fact that I will never be friends with any of the salespeople, so there is no point in being overly polite. I'm willing to give them a huge amount money and if they don't want it, someone else will give me what I want - because I've done my homework and I know what is fair and accurate. It isn't as though I'm asking for something that will cause them to lose any money. My husband is too nice, so I usually negotiate for his too.
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Post by dewryce on Jun 8, 2016 0:30:45 GMT
Have you thought about luxury as a certified preowned? So much better pricing, quite competitive with new toyotas, hondas, etc. We really felt like we got a great car for a great deal going that route and didn't eat the deprecitation costs. Yes, but we are wanting a new car warranty this time. Toyota's precertified warranty is only for 12 months. Nissan's was for the rest of the remaining original warranty and we were looking at some super low mileage Pathfinders to take advantage of this, but the read about tons of airbag issues this particular model has. I don't remember what Kia's was. Now that we have these other cars to look at I will consider this in our research, thanks!
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Post by dewryce on Jun 8, 2016 0:32:55 GMT
elaine I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to things like this...do you want to come negotiate for me I'd love to! I buy all the cars in our family. Since they feel free to lie to me, I feel free to demand what I want. I know for a fact that I will never be friends with any of the salespeople, so there is no point in being overly polite. I'm willing to give them a huge amount money and if they don't want it, someone else will give me what I want - because I've done my homework and I know what is fair and accurate. It isn't as though I'm asking for something that will cause them to lose any money. My husband is too nice, so I usually negotiate for his too. I have been looking at fair pricing for our area and this is something I will definitely keep in mind. I will try and channel my inner-Elaine and make them an offer. The worst they can say is no, and it's not like central Texas has a shortage of dealerships to choose from!
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caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,676
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on Jun 8, 2016 1:00:17 GMT
My DH and I are horrible about haggling. We found out after buying my dh's car that my friend's husband loves to haggle. He does it for a living in the corporate world. When he was younger he would go to car dealers just to haggle for fun. See how low he could get them down and then leave. I have already told them that we are hiring him to buy our next car for us!
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MsKnit
Pearl Clutcher
RefuPea #1406
Posts: 2,648
Jun 26, 2014 19:06:42 GMT
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Post by MsKnit on Jun 8, 2016 1:24:27 GMT
we're getting a subaru outback.. our mechanic likes them, consumers reports likes them and they drive very nicely and they have enough flexible room for us. We are thrilled with our Outback. Dewryce, I have Fibro, too. The heated seats are wonderful for easing the fibro pain.
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StephDRebel
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,692
Location: Ohio
Jul 5, 2014 1:53:49 GMT
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Post by StephDRebel on Jun 8, 2016 4:41:03 GMT
I am looking for my next car. I still don't know what it will be, but since you have PsA and I have RA, I will share my list of features I want: Push button start-my wrist and elbow get stiff, making turning the key hard. Heated seats-built in heating pads for trips. Hip height seats for easy in and out. Cap less gas- no cap to turn; gas caps are hard to turn when I am stiff. Rear view camera-no turning around necessary. Heated steering wheel for those days my hands hurt. Blind spot sensors-safety when i can't turn so far to look over my shoulder. Foot activated liftgate--helpful because I can't juggle things easily. Remote start--because I can't handle being cold or it makes me hurt. My 16 Sorento has all of those...maybe it has a gas cap I'm not sure. I love this vehicle so much! The rear hatch thing isn't foot activated, it's just a sensor. If you stand near the back for a few seconds without having to kick anything. I always worried I'll lose my balance.
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StephDRebel
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,692
Location: Ohio
Jul 5, 2014 1:53:49 GMT
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Post by StephDRebel on Jun 8, 2016 4:45:43 GMT
(If you stand behind it and have the key on you that is. It didn't open for random people walking by )
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pridemom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,843
Jul 12, 2014 21:58:10 GMT
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Post by pridemom on Jun 8, 2016 11:54:59 GMT
I am looking for my next car. I still don't know what it will be, but since you have PsA and I have RA, I will share my list of features I want: Push button start-my wrist and elbow get stiff, making turning the key hard. Heated seats-built in heating pads for trips. Hip height seats for easy in and out. Cap less gas- no cap to turn; gas caps are hard to turn when I am stiff. Rear view camera-no turning around necessary. Heated steering wheel for those days my hands hurt. Blind spot sensors-safety when i can't turn so far to look over my shoulder. Foot activated liftgate--helpful because I can't juggle things easily. Remote start--because I can't handle being cold or it makes me hurt. My 16 Sorento has all of those...maybe it has a gas cap I'm not sure. I love this vehicle so much! The rear hatch thing isn't foot activated, it's just a sensor. If you stand near the back for a few seconds without having to kick anything. I always worried I'll lose my balance. Thanks! I was on their site building one yesterday. Of course, all those features add up.
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Post by cade387 on Jun 8, 2016 13:44:10 GMT
I am looking for my next car. I still don't know what it will be, but since you have PsA and I have RA, I will share my list of features I want: Push button start-my wrist and elbow get stiff, making turning the key hard. Heated seats-built in heating pads for trips. Hip height seats for easy in and out. Cap less gas- no cap to turn; gas caps are hard to turn when I am stiff. Rear view camera-no turning around necessary. Heated steering wheel for those days my hands hurt. Blind spot sensors-safety when i can't turn so far to look over my shoulder. Foot activated liftgate--helpful because I can't juggle things easily. Remote start--because I can't handle being cold or it makes me hurt. I love my Ford Escape and while mine has most of those features, I believe the new ones have all of them. I have driven a Ford Escape since 2004 and have no intention of changing (not the same car, but same model )
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pridemom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,843
Jul 12, 2014 21:58:10 GMT
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Post by pridemom on Jun 8, 2016 14:59:30 GMT
I am looking for my next car. I still don't know what it will be, but since you have PsA and I have RA, I will share my list of features I want: Push button start-my wrist and elbow get stiff, making turning the key hard. Heated seats-built in heating pads for trips. Hip height seats for easy in and out. Cap less gas- no cap to turn; gas caps are hard to turn when I am stiff. Rear view camera-no turning around necessary. Heated steering wheel for those days my hands hurt. Blind spot sensors-safety when i can't turn so far to look over my shoulder. Foot activated liftgate--helpful because I can't juggle things easily. Remote start--because I can't handle being cold or it makes me hurt. I love my Ford Escape and while mine has most of those features, I believe the new ones have all of them. I have driven a Ford Escape since 2004 and have no intention of changing (not the same car, but same model ) The only problem is I need to fit six people on occassion with adult legroom. Sorento will fit seven. I wish the Outback did. We are going to sell our Ford Expedition and give me something a little smaller.
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Post by cade387 on Jun 8, 2016 15:11:35 GMT
I love my Ford Escape and while mine has most of those features, I believe the new ones have all of them. I have driven a Ford Escape since 2004 and have no intention of changing (not the same car, but same model ) The only problem is I need to fit six people on occassion with adult legroom. Sorento will fit seven. I wish the Outback did. We are going to sell our Ford Expedition and give me something a little smaller. I don't about the Explorer as well because of the fact that I test drove one once and it was huge for me.... LOL.
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StephDRebel
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,692
Location: Ohio
Jul 5, 2014 1:53:49 GMT
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Post by StephDRebel on Jun 8, 2016 15:13:37 GMT
My 16 Sorento has all of those...maybe it has a gas cap I'm not sure. I love this vehicle so much! The rear hatch thing isn't foot activated, it's just a sensor. If you stand near the back for a few seconds without having to kick anything. I always worried I'll lose my balance. Thanks! I was on their site building one yesterday. Of course, all those features add up. They do. I bought a few days before Christmas and got a pretty good deal but it can get pricey. I felt like for the price kia gives a lot of perks that were more with other brands. I'm 20k miles in and no problems yet, still looks and smells new
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Post by cmpeter on Jun 8, 2016 15:46:58 GMT
I love, love, love my Acura MDX. DS is 6'4" and finds it plenty roomy for him. We don't buy new though, only used...so I have all the bells and whistles at a price I can afford.
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Post by peanuttle on Jun 8, 2016 15:50:49 GMT
May not be your cup of tea, but we got a Ford Flex a couple years back and I love it. It is so roomy and very comfortable. We've owned a Volvo and a Tahoe and it is by far more comfortable (i.e. back support, seat adjustment, etc) than either of those.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Jun 8, 2016 17:41:43 GMT
I'm curious if you no longer want the Toyota brand? We have a Toyota 4Runner and I absolutely love it. I did not want an SUV and drug my heels as long as possible. But when we got our third large dog I had to give in. Just no more room in a car for them I love that the back window rolls down instead of flips up. That is an awesome feature for the dogs, I can keep them in the back and give them air at the same time. We keep a dog crate in the cargo most of the time and put our German Shepherd Dog and our Samoyed in there. We also have the third row seats, they just stay in the garage I didn't think the third row would be very comfortable with the low seats. But dd and her bff sat back there when we drove from Seattle to Idaho. Dd's bff was 5'6" at the time and they were very comfy even with a cooler and all our stuff for a four day mini vacation. My 4Runner is a 2007, so not sure what features the new ones have
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Post by compwalla on Jun 8, 2016 17:50:05 GMT
I bought a (slightly) used Lexus RX350 last year because now I have a giant dog who didn't fit in my sedan. I love it. It's quiet, comfortable, reliable, and was priced right when I bought it.
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Post by ladytrisha on Jun 8, 2016 20:46:22 GMT
re haggling over new car prices - don't ever negotiate sticker price down. Instead you ask to see the invoice and then start with $100 over invoice (don't laugh, it works). You'll be told "oh we can't do that" ... but sometimes, if its a hot model, you may end up with $300 over (still a deal) or if there's a lot of them out there, then you'll pay less than invoice because of incentives being offered to move them. And you want to be careful of the extras - my hubby worked for a dealer - we got all the goodies after we bought our used car (they wouldn't certify it because it was missing a mat and the dealership didn't want to put it in the car!).
And also remember that extended warranties are just like car prices - all hugely negotiable!!
And don't act like you can stay all day while they haggle. We got our Ford in between soccer games for our son - loss leader in the ad, and they had 30 minutes to get us in and out. And it happened! My friend says "give me your best price - I don't haggle" - when they gave a price she rejected, she stood up and they said "oh wait we'll see if we can lower it" and she said "I told you no haggling" and walked out. She likes the game - me not so much LOL
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Post by dewryce on Jun 8, 2016 22:33:50 GMT
I'm curious if you no longer want the Toyota brand? We have a Toyota 4Runner and I absolutely love it. I did not want an SUV and drug my heels as long as possible. But when we got our third large dog I had to give in. Just no more room in a car for them I love that the back window rolls down instead of flips up. That is an awesome feature for the dogs, I can keep them in the back and give them air at the same time. We keep a dog crate in the cargo most of the time and put our German Shepherd Dog and our Samoyed in there. We also have the third row seats, they just stay in the garage I didn't think the third row would be very comfortable with the low seats. But dd and her bff sat back there when we drove from Seattle to Idaho. Dd's bff was 5'6" at the time and they were very comfy even with a cooler and all our stuff for a four day mini vacation. My 4Runner is a 2007, so not sure what features the new ones have Oh no, we love Toyota. Drove his first truck to over 300K, and both have Highlanders now. As does his mom LOL. Actually, I think one of his sisters and Dad drive Toyota's too. But he feels like the Highlander is a 'mom car' and he's tired of them. Of course, he wants whatever I'll be most comfortable in, but he wants to look as others rather than just go in and buy what we already have and I'm fine with that. Our Pathfinder was a graduation gift from his parents, they asked what he wanted which was 4Runner but they got a better deal on the Pathfinder. When we bought his Hughlander we stI'll wanted the 4Runner but were very surprised that he fit better in the Highlander and there was much more room for the car seat behind his seat. We brought one with us and the car seat wouldn't even fit behind him in the 4Runner. Boo.
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Post by dewryce on Jun 8, 2016 22:40:34 GMT
re haggling over new car prices - don't ever negotiate sticker price down. Instead you ask to see the invoice and then start with $100 over invoice (don't laugh, it works). You'll be told "oh we can't do that" ... but sometimes, if its a hot model, you may end up with $300 over (still a deal) or if there's a lot of them out there, then you'll pay less than invoice because of incentives being offered to move them. And you want to be careful of the extras - my hubby worked for a dealer - we got all the goodies after we bought our used car (they wouldn't certify it because it was missing a mat and the dealership didn't want to put it in the car!). And also remember that extended warranties are just like car prices - all hugely negotiable!! And don't act like you can stay all day while they haggle. We got our Ford in between soccer games for our son - loss leader in the ad, and they had 30 minutes to get us in and out. And it happened! My friend says "give me your best price - I don't haggle" - when they gave a price she rejected, she stood up and they said "oh wait we'll see if we can lower it" and she said "I told you no haggling" and walked out. She likes the game - me not so much LOL Oh, I thought about 2% over invoice was good, and I didn't realize warranties were negotiable, that is awesome news!
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