Currently drive an '06 MS6 that gets the wife around while I'm in an '02 Dodge Ram quadcab 5.9. The Dodge has been shitting little $20 and $100 things since I've owned it, and it's only a matter of time before the tranny or ECU or something lets go, so I've gotta sell it.

The only option I'm considering is to trade it in on a used vehicle at a legit dealership. The question is... on what?

I'm a firm believer that the more room you have to haul ****, the more **** you'll find you NEED to take with you. This will be a daily hauler for a 2 year old and a 3 week old for the next 4-5 years. It doesn't need to take the whole team to soccer practice nor go on vacation for a week. It just needs to DD us with a stroller and a few bags. I don't need an Expedition.

An 09+ Forester XT checks all the blocks for me... fast, big enough, reliable, looks good. What else you got for me to consider

Oh yah, keep it under $20k.

 

I thought you already pulled the trigger on the Forester? It gets my vote just because I keep wood thinking about owning one in place of my current Miata as a daily. Forester XT pushes all of my right buttons.

 

Any year Audi S4 Avant quattro. Forester is a good one too.

 

do you fit in a MINI? you wont haul much in there.

 

If you're thinking Subaru I've always liked 04-09 Legacy GT wagons, or their outback equivalent. They can tow 3000lbs if need be as well if mtx (says the guy at Subaru). I'd probably get rid of my truck for one at the right price.

 

Audi wagon. I have an a6 and the thing is great. If an a6 is too big you could get an a3.

 

The A3 will be too small. He's also looking for something super affordable and a Passat Wagon is going to hit his price mark much more easily.
The newer Passat wagons make plenty of power, fit plenty of kids and strollers, and really don't look bad at all.
Then you can take it to an APR dealer and get it flashed

 

dude you might shoot me onsite for this but have your tried a nice Toyota siena? ours has been awesome roomy, good on gas and over all just a hell of a vehicle. Drive one and see for yourself before you dismiss them off hand.

 

Pick up a few year old mitsu lancer sportback. They go for less then $20,000. Lots of space, reliable, good on gas.

 

Check out an 05-06 Saab 9-2X. One of these will likely replace my Allroad in the future.

 

I like cx-7's. They are fun to drive for the room they offer, and definitely below 20k. I had a Saab 9000 turbo, they are hatches. You can get a 95-98 9000 aero, the engine management in those is unbelievable, you can get some serious power just by changing the ecu. Plus after you bought a really clean example, you would have bank to play with it.

 

^Consider yourself shot... in the face... by my wife. She refuses to drive a minivan. Unless the Sienna comes in a 300whp RWD version, it's out.

How are the Audi's in reliability? What's a brake job cost?

Legacy GT Wagon... had glanced at a few before... will take another look. That might be the ticket. They're rare in a 5mt though.

The wife actually mentioned Passat Wagon the other day. There are a few engine choices over the years... which one? 2.0T? They seem kinda big and whale'ish to me.

Hmmm... Lancer Sportback. I'll check.

The Saab 9-2x is a WRX in better plastic. I need more back seat for baby seats and more cargo room.

The CX7's I have looked at and once you get up close, they really squeeze off the interior space... no more room than a Forester, but am looking

 

Yeah I want a Saab or a Volvo or a Audi with a roof rack for my bicycle.

One bad thing about the Audi's and others like it. You have to remove the whole front end to change a belt or something. For real, I've seen it.

 

Honda Odyssey. We picked up our '06 used for just a tad north of your 20k target. Since you're in the SoCal area, finding one from a lease return from Honda Finance should be easy (that's what ours was), and it will be a single-owner rust free SoCal car.

Prior to the Odyssey our haulers were: 2000 Forester (still have), and a 1995 Caprice Classic wagon. The wagon had the LT1 and the towing package, and a rumbly exhaust, and was awesome. Still is, but we sold it to a friend.

Dude. Buy a minivan. Remote powered side doors for the win! The rear seat folds into the floor. The kids will love loading in and out of the van through the rear hatch. It's like troop deployment with a Bradley! They love it.


So you say to yourself, yeah, but it's a minivan, and I don't need to haul a bunch of crap. Well, my friend, drink the koolaid. One taste and you're hooked. There is nothing better for parents of young children than a modern minivan. It is sooooo much easier to load/unload them through the side doors, with the captains chairs, than in any other vehicle. And they will love it too.

Ours has the dvd player, the nav, and the backup camera. All useful.

And if you become involved with Carpools with the other parents, trading off taking the squads to preschool, that third row and ability to have 5 carseats plus 2 adults will be there for you.

 

Save money on the vasectomy, just put your ***** on a cinder block and wack 'em with a spatula.

 

As for cars, the FXT is great (I have an 04 auto) but it is somewhat small. Check out the following subies:

Outback XT
LGT Wagon!
WRX

I think all of those are actually bigger than the forester. Again, I have an 04 and I drove equivalent year LGT sedans, wagons, and WRXs. I did also drive a non turbo'd outback. I think for everydayness for four I would definetly choose the outback XT. It is a lot bigger than the forester and can haul more **** and is spiffier inside.

I went with the forester though because it was a lot more fun to drive. For a suv looking vehicle it sure is quick and handles very well. TTU

I also went with the forester because I typically only drive me or my girlfriend and me around because I was smart and had a vasectomy when I was 19

 

NO ******* MINIVANS!!! Even if I snorted straight KoolAid powder, the wife flat refuses. I know what everybody is saying, but it's not going to happen. Maybe when they're both 5-6-7yrs old, we'll start thinking that way, but for the next half-decade, not happenin'.

Doing lots of research on LGT's now... seems like too good to be true.

 

Lgt waggy!

 

I'm liking my new Jetta wagon, it has plenty of space and torque, gets 42 mpg on the highway (rated at 41 but I routinely see better than that), goes 10k between oil changes, and gets 600-700 miles to the tank (hwy). I drove San Angelo to Houston (7 hours) without stopping for fuel and drove around in Houston after that, and just filled up before driving home.

The only bad part about it is that it doesn't meet your under 20k requirement. :(

 

Audi's aren't bad to maintain at all. You need to get on audiworld, audizine, or audiforums before you start looking. You can get an 03 a6 below $10,000 and as long as you know what problems may exist when you are looking at them you'll be in like sin. They are a bit spendy to maintain if you don't have the time to diy but they imo are sweet cars. If you want power get the 2.7t, chip it, and get/make some sweet exhaust. Also with all vag cars you will need some new specialty tools. You can get every one of them from ecstuning or similar though.