replacement for Honda CRV? 30K and under?

[TahliasMom]

My beloved CRV (2003)was totaled on Friday. :( Some ding dong rear ended me at 60 miles an hour while i was going 20. I'm just thankful that DD was not with me. I'm so upset as I only had 8 more payments to make!!!! And now I need a new car. I don't even know where to start. I loved my CRV, a bit noisy but over all great, but i dont' want to get another one. Two bad accidents over 10 months. Time to change.

So any suggestions? Im trying to find something under 30K. More quieter than CRV, leather?, decent gas mileage, would prefer to stick with SUV (like space/cargo room).

I'm most concerned about stafety over looks. And it's just DD and I, so nothing too big.

I have to get a car this weekend so I prefer not to drag DD from car dealership to car dealership...:(

TIA!!!

I'm in San Fran Bay Area (south bay)...

[LD92599]

If you want to stick w/ Honda the newer CRV's are larger (I believe) than the 2003. You could also price out a Pilot - though not sure if you can get one w/ leather for < $30K. And the MPG sucks on that!

Glad you're OK - that must've been some hit :-( So glad Tahlia wasn't with you!

Laura
Mom to Will

http://b4.lilypie.com/BhyBm5.png

[cvanbrunt]

I'm glad you weren't hurt. My hubby ditched his CRV because of the noise. We replaced it with a Toyota Highlander (hybrid). He's very happy with it. Good luck!

[Lolagirl]

Yikes, sorry to hear about your accident yesterday! Thank goodness your ok.
As far as a replacement car is concerned, we got a Saturn Vue http://www.saturn.com/saturn/vehicles/vue/overview.jsp
a few years ago for around $24K and have been very happy with it. We bought it in part because it handled so well, and I was especially nervous about driving a bigger car after driving a Honda Civic for ten years. It has latch connections and tethers for all three rear seats, and there is plenty of room for my E3 and groceries in the rear. The Vue also gets pretty good gas mileage (around 30mpg highway), but they also offer it now in a hybrid version if that is also something you might be interested in.

Good luck!

[hellokitty]

How about a subaru wagon? They have the forrester and legacy/outback. DH and I are loyal subaru ppl, but now I have a honda odyssey, b/c my parents offered to switch cars with me (they gave me their honda for my subaru, b/c they don't really need the space of the minivan... they are empty nesters) and b/c we live in a small town where the closest subaru dealership is over an hr away (but we do have a honda dealership). I do not know anyone who has ever had a subaru that hasn't loved it. It's a brand that doesn't advertise as much as the bigger brands, but once ppl buy their cars, they are like customers for life. You may want to test drive the new CRV's anyway, b/c they might have improved the noise issue since you bought yours. I know that I have a 2001 odyssey and it is very noisy in the back, but they fixed it when they remodeled it a few yrs later (that has been my only complaint about my odyssey, the road noise while sitting in the back seats). I have to admit that think the new CRV's are snazzy looking compared to the older models.

[BillK]

We have a 2001 Subaru Outback Limited wagon and really like it a lot. Sadly - it's a bit too small for us - and will definitely be too small once our second adoption goes through - so we're planning on trading it in for a Honda Odyssey later this year.

All in all our Subaru experience has been great - however if you want a SUV why not check out the Subaru Tribeca? It's pretty slick looking SUV and now that they changed the fugly grill it's much better. Even the "Limited" version stickers around $33k so I'm guessing you could do much better once you start bargaining with a dealership.

[lmintzer]

I'm so glad you weren't hurt!

We have a Nissan Murano and love it (I am not sure you could do a brand new one for $30K, but you could definitely do one that's just a year old or so).

Another car we are interested in (if we decide to go up in size) is the new Mazda CX9. It has 3 rows, like the Honda Pilot, but a MUCH bigger and more usable third row.

Mazda makes a 2 row SUV, the CX7, that is a nice looking "little brother".

You also can't go wrong with a Subaru Outback wagon! Those are great cars.

Those would be my votes.

[pb&j]

I love my Subaru Outback. I get ~25 mpg mixed city/highway. Great safety features (side/curtain airbags, VDC to prevent skids/rollovers, ABS, AWD), comfortable, reasonably roomy, and an aux jack for my iPod. :)

[trales]

We got a 07 Outback Wagon for 19K. Bought on two days notice to replace our legacy that was totaled 1 week before DD was born. If I had to do it again, I would spend a few grand more for the Legacy wagon and get the leather seats, it is a little lower and a little quieter. The outback is kind of a tank. My sis has had the brand new CRV for 3 weeks and just drove it cross country. She says it is way quieter than the old one and really nice. Friends rave about the Toyota Rav-4 and the Highlander. Another friend really likes her Mazda wagon.

Good luck, buying a car after an accident on short notice is so stressful and not as much fun.

[jhrabosk]

Ditto on the Subaru!

My mom has an Outback wagon that's really very roomy. We bought a Forrester a few years ago...went high end and still only spent $25K. (It was this time of year, too. They're looking to unload the 07 stuff.) Big sunroof, leather seats, etc. When I got pregnant, we realized we couldn't afford it and sold it to my MIL who gave us her 99 Forrester.

Subarus are really highly rated in crash tests and all that jazz. I'm very likely to buy another.

Good luck!

[TahliasMom]

Thank you ladies!!! You rock!!! Now I have a good list of cars to test drive. My parents also have the Subaru Forester and love it. That's on top of my list. I am going to also check out the Mazda, I hear a lot of good things about it. I rather not get another CRV, I did test drive it last night and it's quieter but I don't feel good Karma. The Pilot was nice but a little big for just the two of us. They do have awesome prices on the 2007 models right now if anyone is looking for a car. :)

Tonight I'll check the Subaru and the Mazda.

Tomorrow at lunch it's Saturn (it looks really nice) and Toyota.

I have DD Wed thru Sunday so I'm going to have to make a final decision by end of this week. Yikes...

Thanks again. You ladies saved me a lot of leg work!!!

TIA

[niccig]

I drive a Subaru Tribeca. We do like the car, wish the mpg was a little better. I get about 18 mpg - but a lot of that depends on terrain/how your drive. There is a trick though for the back seat if you get a 7 seater. You push the 2nd row back and you think that's as far as it goes, but there's a 2nd lock that you have to unengage to push the 2nd row all the way back to where the 3rd row is - it's a safety feature so you don't ram into someone's leg sitting in the 3rd row. I didn't know about it for 18 months and that meant the passenger was jammed forward because of DS's RF carseat. Silly me. Know that the row is all the way back, plenty of leg room for everyone.