s/o: so what are must haves as far as cars go?

[AnnieW625]

brand? mileage? # of people it seats? accessories? color?

for us it's got to be a reliable brand; we love Honda and are on our second one; dh is seriously thinking about a pre owned Acura for his next car, a new Hyundai Sonata or Genesis, a new Honda Accord (or maybe an Element), or still on the back burner depending on reliability a VW Jetta TDI wagon.

good mileage is a must for us; no less tha 19mpg; which is what I get with my Pilot when driving a mix of city/highway. We'd like DHs next car to get a min . of 25 to 30 though as we both commute and don't need two large family cars.

as long as it seats us, and takes two car seats/boosters we don't care.

we love leather, power doors/windows; an ipod hook up/accessory jack would nice but not necessary

we could care less about back up cameras, nav., and dvd

DH will not own another dark colored car; his navy Corolla shows too many scratches he says.

[brittone2]

Power doors. Can't imagine living without them now (have had our Ody for 5 years).

Leather

power windows/doors

wish our tethers were in better locations (flaw in the 05; never thought about it as we only had 1 kid when we bought). With 3 kids the tether locations are a PITB for us.

skipped nav and DVD player.

I like having the ability to take my parents places (will be an even more important feature to us as my parents age) which the minivan allows us to do.

eta: oh yeah, after reading smiles33's post, definitely the safety stuff...side curtain airbags, etc. I think when we bought our Ody side curtain airbags were standard on all models but required an upgrade if buying some of the other minivan makes out there.

[hillview]

I'll play
2 needs
1 car that holds 6 (my parents, kids and us) with 2 car seats that is reliable -- we have a toyota sienna. With leather.

1 car with AWD in leather (we went with a Subaru although there were several other options).

/hillary

[smiles33]

When I bought my first car 9 years ago pre-kids and pre-marriage, I picked a VW Passat after a lot of research. It was a CR Top Best Buy, was solidly built, great safety features, and fun to drive! Sadly, there were major safety issues (e.g., coil pack recall after fires!) and the recalls were not handled well so it turned me off VW. Our subsequent purchases have been Hondas.

For us, reliability and safety are key. I want all possible air bags (e.g., rear passenger, curtain airbags, etc.), 5 star crash ratings, and a brand known for being reliable. We both like silver as it hides dirt pretty well.

We don't care about leather, heated seats (we're in CA), a sunroof, or the standard luxury packages. We do like to "upgrade" to power windows and remote key access. An off-the-shelf GPS system is fine for our needs, as the built-in ones cost thousands and require that you upgrade to the luxury package.

We need two cars, as we're both WOH, and it needs to fit 2 carseats. One of the 2 must be able to tow DH's bass boat, so we currently have a Honda Pilot and a Nissan Altima that DH's grandparents gave us for free 2 years after they bought it (as they can no longer drive). It wouldn't have been my choice, as they are loyal to Nissan, but it's been a good reliable car.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I really don't need much. Any frill we will have will be a bonus as we have a '99 Civic. We have power windows. I am completely fine with our car. I can't think of any must haves aside from good brand and good mileage. I get 34mpg highway and 25ish city.

Dream list? I have no desire for leather (I hate sticking to the seat). I would love even just keyless entry and kick myself for not waiting the 2 days it would have taken for them to get that model in stock. Sliding door on a Mazda 5 would be sweet. A/c that reached the kiddos better in the back would be nice. No desire for navigation. Wish On Star or similar was available in Hondas and other ones we would likely buy- that looks neat.

I do enjoy sunroofs. Oh, I thought of a must-have (common now, I think) MP3 dock.

eta- small enough that I can easily fit in parallel parking spaces in the city. A large car would be utterly impractical for my lifestyle.

Beth

[HonoluluMom]

Love keyless entry and parking sensors.

[AnnieW625]

wish our tethers were in better locations (flaw in the 05; never thought about it as we only had 1 kid when we bought). With 3 kids the tether locations are a PITB for us.

LOL! How could I forget accessible top tethers....and even more important easy to access latch; one bad thing about having leather; latches can be a pain to get to; much easier in the Corolla, than the Pilot!

[Kitten007]

Not sure if this crossover will fit what you are looking for, but I have to say that I am loving my new 2010 Ford Flex Limited (just got it 3 weeks ago). Even though we are in California I have to have my Vista roof. DS1 loves being able to look outside thru the roof. I have the leather and the cooler/freezer (which is pretty cool for milk for the kids when we go out). Mine is the 6 passenger design, latches were super important to me, power folding second row seats for when I have a little one and my arms are full, love the Sync system, and I can keep going on and on but I will not bore you. Just thought I would throw out another option to check out.

[pinkmomagain]

#1 is reliability. And safety. I've gotten used to a pretty luxurious car - so power everything, leather, not too plastic-y, navigation, back-up camera, great stereo. I'd like my next car to have bluetooth for phone, ipod capability, and XM/Sirius. No longer need/want dvd. Seating for 7+. Black or Silver exterior and grey or black interior.

[dotgirl]

For us, it's reliability + safety rating above all. We currently have a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder, and while it gets good scores with all the various companies (Consumer Reports, etc). I don't know that I would get another one - the interior has some things that annoy me, but they're mostly incidental (driver seat is too high up so I hit my head on the sunvisor when I sit forward, etc.)

We also wanted a navigation system because we do a lot of road trips, and heated seats were a must for me - we live in Seattle, so I use them probably 8 months of the year.

We also needed something that can seat 6 for when DH's parents are in town - we wanted an optional back row, though, not a permanent one. And it had to be able to tow a boat.

Mileage is less of an issue for us as we live 4 miles from our offices.