Time for a new car but bored with most new car choices (F150, lease)
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My wife has the itch for a new car after having hers for 9 years. She wanted the Porsche Macan (which we were both onboard of getting), but after some thought, she does occasional business trips to lower income rural parts of the country, and doesn't want to show up to the worksite with a Porsche.
We stopped and browsed some Mercedes over the weekend, but nothing excited me to tell her to buy. I used to be a BMW guy but all the new ones look like bland Hondas. Her requirements are 4 doors and that its a car or suv, we don't care about gas mileage.
We will probably look again this weekend, but there is nothing new that excites me on what we should look at. I was thinking of just looking at the 4runners but she probably won't like the truck platform, and they have a new model coming out later this year, so don't want her to get a new, old model car. Any ideas, on some interesting cars?
If a Porche will potentially turn off people in poorer areas she goers to, so will Mercedes or BMW. But you could get the Audi version of the Macan, as Audis tend to fly slightly under the radar.
Check out the Q5 range, including the 362 hp plug in hybrid or even the SQ5 for a more sporty drive. It's based on the Macan chassis, but is more luxury oriented.
If a Porche will potentially turn off people in poorer areas she goers to, so will Mercedes or BMW.
That was my same thought. Audi, Volvo, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes....all the equivalent essentially from the perspective of folks who can only dream to afford such a vehicle.
Really if you want to avoid the stigma, you might want to consider something like a loaded Toyota highlander, Mazda CX-9/CX-90 or some non-premium brand.
Well, if you want to fit in with a rural low income environment, buy a Ford F150.
All the cars you mention are ”status symbol” cars. Just be advised that you're paying, and paying a LOT, for that status symbol experience. The actual function of carrying your butt around reliably and safely is done just as well with a Honda or Toyota in the lowest trim level and least expensive engine option. So keep that in mind.
If it's just ”the 9 year itch” and the existing car is still doing fine, there's a lot to be said for just keeping what you have. I trace the foundation of our financial status to the 18 years we spent without a car payment. We just kept those old, high quality cars; I did every lick of work on them ourselves; and all that money that could have gone into car payments (or, worse, lease payments!) went to paying off our first house. We haven't carried a dime in debt since. When the old cars started getting genuinely rickety, we'd just rent a car for long car trips - no muss, no fuss, and the cost of a rental car for a long road trip a couple times a year was WAY lower than buying new ones.
I also don't understand the aversion to ” a new old model car”. In the luxury makes you're talking about, the longer the particular version's been in production, the better chance the inevitable bugs of such luxury cars have been worked out, at least a little.
It used to be that when you paid up for a luxury make, especially a European one, you expected (and to some extent got) higher reliability. Now it's the reverse and KIA-Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Mazda are the kings of reliability at a much lower cost than the BMW/MB/etc. luxury group.
Won’t recommend a brand or model. I will say don’t limit yourself to higher end brands in your search. Upper level brands include what others have mentioned as well as Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Genesis, Lincoln, and Cadillac. Should also look at top spec entry level brands.
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Try the 2024 Kia Sorento, I swear that interior is nicer than many Europeans cars, which are vastly overrated and over complicated just for the sake of it.
I really like Mazda except a lot of there models have cabins that feel like a jail cell, really bad blind spots and sunken in seat position but they drive awesome.
Try the 2024 Kia Sorento, I swear that interior is nicer than many Europeans cars, which are vastly overrated and over complicated just for the sake of it.
I really like Mazda except a lot of there models have cabins that feel like a jail cell, really bad blind spots and sunken in seat position but they drive awesome.
That’s why I suggested they check out vehicles from entry level brands. Today’s entry level brand vehicles have really stepped up in their midlevel and higher models. If they can afford a Porsche or BMW then they can afford a top trim entry level brand vehicle.
I really like Mazda except a lot of there models have cabins that feel like a jail cell, really bad blind spots and sunken in seat position but they drive awesome.
The CX-90 seems to have much better visibility than the smaller models.
If a Porche will potentially turn off people in poorer areas she goers to, so will Mercedes or BMW. But you could get the Audi version of the Macan, as Audis tend to fly slightly under the radar.
Check out the Q5 range, including the 362 hp plug in hybrid or even the SQ5 for a more sporty drive. It's based on the Macan chassis, but is more luxury oriented.
I wouldn't say quite as much. It depends on the Mercedes or BMW but generally they have lower ego emissions than a P-car. The Q5/SQ5 are definitely lower ego emissions but you can say the same for the BMW X3 or GLB/GLC. I would say the Q5/SQ5 has the lowest and really the almost nothing Mercedes makes is of any interest to me any longer. Q5/SQ5 are great used buys (aside from reliability) since the depreciate so well. Reliability is better on newer Audis than it used to be so I think much of that is just the fact that they are less flashy.
CX-70/CX-90 from Mazda might be worth a look although really that's got as much ego emission to it from afar as any X3/GLC/Q5. Up until you see the badge and realize it's just a Mazda pretty much looks like one of those.
Since sedans are on the table, can't not mention the Blackwing twins. It's a Cadillac and Cadillac's are pretty loud but really to most people they're just going to look like a run of the mill CT4 or CT5. There's the CT4-V and CT5-V (old V-Sport) if you want something cheaper.
Volvo S60 and Volvo V60 Polestar are quieter than even Audis. They're not Blackwings in the driver's department, but worth a look if the Q5/SQ5 are in consideration.
2021 or older E-Class wagon flies under the radar. The lifty version from 2022+ not so much although probably in time it will particularly as the upcoming lifty and AMG versions of the E-Class wagon adopt much more shouty styling. The older ones will emit even more of a scent of comfortably well-off without the need to shout about it and rub the poors the wrong way.
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