Buying the right car, truck or SUV.....???
 

We will be moving soon back to the States and are looking into buying an used vehicle. Most likely we will buy a SUV, due to my husband's bad back, it will be easier to get in and out the car for him. And of course it should has fairly good gas mileage. We like the Chevy Equinox.
So, my question to you, what do you recommend? Thanks for all your input.

I have an older Chevrolet Tahoe...a beast, but I love her. She has the big engine and doesn't get great mileage in town but does well on the road. They are also available in a hybrid version...don't know what kind of mileage that one gets but it might be worth a look. Mine has heated seats,leather, AC, sunroof, Bose stereo and all the luxuries you could ask for. And,like I said, I love her. I also have back problems but it doesn't bother me in this SUV...

I just bought a 2012 Silverado, crew cab LTZ really loaded with remote start.It has all the things momto5's Tahoe has and more. I love it and love a pickup because it is so easy to get in and out of. We drive 32 miles round trip to and from work. Gas mileage is good and it is driven short distances and don't worry about gas prices. We bought it in April. Our Granddaughter in law bought an Equinox, not much higher than a car.

Ive had nothing but Honda's for the past 20 years and have never needed a repair. Very good cars.

don't know your age. but i see a lot of seniors are buying vans. the height is right for getting in and out, without bending or stooping. love my chrys van.

Toyota 4-runner!

I also have a bad back, the only thing that I make sure any vehicle I drive has, is a seat heater (they are wonderful!)

Take a look at the Kia Soul - not a big vehicle, but so easy to get in and out of. One of the reasons that I selected it (besides the 28-30 mpg) is that I need to transport my 83 year old mother. It is a very comfortable car to get in and out of - no climbing up into it, or flopping down into it. Just the right height. Great vehicle - we have had it for a year and we still love it!

Toyota Rav4-great all around, not to big or small, great fuel mileage 28-30 mpg- plenty of space, fold down back seat, and our 4 cyclinder model can get up and move when needed. Toyota's seem to last forever.

I currently have a Kia Sorento which replaced my Kia sportage. I had my Sportage probaby around 12 yrs or so. Never a moments trouble. In fact it had over 150,000 miles on it, and was still using the same brakes from the factory. The few minor things that did go wrong the dealers were so great. I could not have asked for better service. I only replaced it because of the mileage and I wanted another Sportage, but they are very much in demand here because I could not find one that I liked. So we went with the Sorento. I love it!!! I have had her 3yrs now, and she has never been to the shop. In fact, well I don't drive alot, but she is due for an oil change. I just got the 3000 miles on her that they suggest for oil changes. I know alot of folks want to buy American, and honestly I would not disagree. But give me an American car for the same price with all the bells and whistles and I will go that way, and of course the dependablity. So far, my Kia's have been great and I would not think of changing.

My friend had a Ford Escape and traded it off for the Equinox. The Escape was a six cyl. the Equinox is a 4 cyl and doesn't have much pep, she is sorry she traded. I myself would not buy a Suv or crossover that is a 4 cyl. Don't know where you are moving to but I suggest a front wheel drive as opposed to 4 wheel drive, unless you're going to Alaska!
Have another friend with back problems, she bought a Honda CRV, high enough, and very reliable.

Try looking at Hyundai. We bought a Santa Fe SUV in 2008. We looked at many vehicles before settling on this one. It is manufactured in the US (the Chrysler we also looked at was primarily manufactured in Mexico). We now have a 2011 model. It is a very comfortable car, allows the driver to sit higher up than many (good if you're short). Excellent service wherever we have driven it. With both cars we've only had one item repaired and that was a minor fix so they are very reliable. Santa Fe is the middle size SUV. The smaller one is the Tucson, the larger the Vera Cruz. Take a look at their website.

A big question is where you will live and what kind of driving you will be doing? Also, with his bad back, it may end up what he can sit in. There are many lovely vehicles on the road I can't drive. My feet will not hit the pedals no matter how far the seat is pushed up, and I refuse to drive laying down!!

I'll second that. I just had the transmission repaird on my '94 Chrysler Town & Country van. It has over 200,000 miles and I love it. It needs a paint job now. It's very easy to get into and out of and you can carry lots of "stuff". There is better road visibility with a van or SUV. They sit higher than a car. I really like that aspect of the van.

I agree with this one

we had the same problem 4 years ago when we returned from Australia. We had been out of the country for 14 years and had no idea of prices. cars or anything. Search the internet, Consumers Reports and Edmunds.com for info on reliability, problems and features you might like.
We ended up with a Toureg by VW-I was a nice SUV but expensive and bad gas mileage We has since bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee and love it. Good mileage not great-comfortable and reliable. I had a Honda in Australia and nothing but problems-but that being said-all companies have a lemon or two in the millions of vehicles that produce. My prior Honda's were great.
Good luck and welcome home

I agree Toyota's are the way to go!

Just be aware that alot of the SUV's are lower than they used to be. When I went car looking I had problems getting in and out of them like I do with cars. It's a safety issue, they don't roll over as easy as the higher SUV's did. So be sure your dh tries them out before you make a decision.
I do know the Rav4's are big enough for a tall person as my neice and her husband have one and they are both tall. However it might be too low to the ground for your dh's comfort. Try renting the type vehicle you think you might buy and drive it around a few days, it could be well worth the money for the rental.
Kat

I love, love, love my Ford Edge!! easy in/easy out...heated seats... best of all, perhaps, is the computer with the camera for when I'm backing... I can see behind the car!! ok mileage in town, pretty good on the road...

My sis only drives Toyota's and loves em...

I have a 2008 Chevy Equinox I purchased when DH had a stroke as he couldn't get in and out of my low riding economy car. The gas mileage is not terrible but I understand they revised the model and newer ones are supposed to get better gas mileage. That being said, I love my Equinox! Warning: check for blind spots before you buy any SUV as there are some areas that are not the best. DH likes to sit with the back of the passenger seat tilted back to the point that between the seat and his head it blocks out almost all of the back seat window. (Not that I'm saying DH has a big head .... LOL)

Consumer Reports puts out an April auto issue, including recommendations for used autos and price ranges, or at least they did the last time I read it carefully:). we're still driving out '96 Infinity G20 that we bought used in '99 and it has under 100,000. It's comfortable and except for out annual alternator purchase (part covered under warranty, we pay the labor), we've liked it. Getting pretty bored with it.....but trying to hold on until it dies. Can you tell we're kids of Depression kids?

Be careful not to buy a new car, ie one that it's the first year, they can tend to be troublesome. Most Credit Unions will help you with car finder services, don't know maybe banks will. With the economy the way it is, it seems auto loans are pretty reasonable. You might want to make sure any auto you buy did not get drowned by Sandy, a friend from the bayou mentioned that to us after one of their big hurricane events. And we always take the auto to our auto repair guy to have them check it out to make sure it hasn't been in a wreck or have problems if it's a used car. They charge for it, but at least once the car had been in a serious accident and the dealer didn't give us any grief about getting another car. In fact, when we bought the G20, the motor mounts were bad and we were given a choice since the car was still under warranty, so we let the dealer do it.

We recently bought a new car after our old Dodge lights on the dashboard quit working. A/C had quit working years before, passenger front seat window couldn't be rolled down due to it coming off the track and wouldn't go back up. So In June we went looking at new cars. After looking at American cars, we knew they were out of our price range so we looked at imported Brands. We test drove a Honda CRV here in Lakeland but there were only 3 on the lot and neither one had on it the add ons we wanted. So hubby saw an add for Brandon Haonda. We drove over to Brandon and found one there that had every thing on it that we wanted. So he said if they would put a hold on that one, we could be back the next day to buy it. So we bought it. Drove it to Va. a few weeks later and we love it. Gets great gas mileage in town and one the road. My favorite item on it is the USB plug . I converted our favorite music to MP3s and loaded them onto a thumb drive. I plug the thumb drive into the USB plug, turn radio on and choose AUX on the radio dash board and it plays the MP3s. Heated seats are good when it is cold, moon roof is nice when driving at night in rual are with no light pollution.

We have the Chevy Equinox - absolutely love it - for around town she is so easy to get in and out of, great back for storage, and minimal blind sports. On the road (dry pavement with no slipping) we get 32 miles per gallon - for a small SUV that is NOT bad. 2 1/2 yrs old and she still runs just great. We have lots of extras, sun roof, AWD, etc. but if I couldn't have all those options, I would return to our dealer and buy another one without all the bells. Our family rig is a Dodge Caravan 3 yrs old and has 30,000 miles. With these two rigs (both of which my teen son and daughter don't think of as "cool" enough to want to drive, yeah for us!!!) we take care of almost all household needs, landscaping, etc. I love both of them equally but lean towards the Equinox because of gas mileage. HOpe this is helpful.

Thank you all for your replies. My hubby is almost 52 and had three back surgeries and is looking at another one.
He is more comfortable getting in and out of an SUV. We are driving a Honda CRV here in Japan. Not a bad car and
has good gas mileage. Looking at retiring in California, close to family. My husband would love to buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but it has horrible gas mileage.
We will have to do our homework and check them all out before we make a decision.
thanks again for your input.

I suggest a Subaru Outback..they run well with little maintenance for 10+ years and come with all wheel drive...comfortable to ride in and a good bit of room for hauling. I suggest you read some of the car websites that talk about the cars and what is good and bad about them. Carmax is one...Truecar or something like that is another...here is a forum I read for months before I bought my new one. http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/ Reaserch is the best for finding out about problems and good things.

We bought a Hyundai Tucson about 6 months ago and love it. It is relatively easy to get in and out of, gets good gas mileage and is very comfortable. I compared all the vehicles in the Crossover class and felt the best buy was the Tucson.

I drive a 15-year-old Volvo wagon, so I am in no position to recommend a new vehicle. But I suggest you do your homework at Edmunds.com. It is a fabulous site with lots of reviews and very down-to-earth advice. There are multiple reviews by professional car reviewers at major newspapers across the country (both men and women.) In some of the reviews, they recommend competing cars to look and mention the pros and cons of each. I have been studying for the inevitable time when I have to replace my car in a few years and feel I will have the information to make the right decision for me.

I realize I sound like an advertisement, but I assure you I am not associated with the site or with any of the writers. I just appreciate their thorough reviews.

for info your KIA is made in USA in Georgia --not all models I also have KIA Sorrento had the van before -great
milage and low repair ---everybody has different needs

We have a Nissan Rogue. Love it EXCEPT there is a blind spot on the right side. We noticed the newer SUVs have those sloped back windows which means much less visibility for changing lanes to the right. We got a blind spot mirror but it doesn't help much. We learned how to adjust the side mirrors but there is still that pesky blind spot if we want to change lanes in a lot of heavy traffic. So, with any car you consider, make sure you can see well enough to change lanes.