How to select a new car (for non-car nuts) (vehicle, sedan, fuel)

[victimofGM]

Will try to give a brief list that I'm sure others will expand upon. This board regularly gets request for help selecting a new vehicle.
First you need to know how much you can afford. Go to your bank or credit union. Bring with you your proof of income, SSN, and amount you have available to put down on a vehicle as well as the year, make, mileage of the vehicle you wish to trade in. These all factor in deciding what you can afford.

Knowing what you can afford will automatically exclude different vehicles from your search. Next you must look at your needs. What do you need in a vehicle? Is performance more important than fuel economy? Is large cargo/people capacity important? Do you have kids or will it only be you and maybe one other? Will the majority of your driving be highway or in town? Do you live in areas where it snows at least once a winter? Would you need AWD for the area you live? Once you've answered these things you can narrow it down by vehicle catagory that falls within your price range.

Let's say for example that because of having 2 kids and some highway driving you decide that a midsize to large sedan fits your needs and your price falls below the upscale brands. If fuel efficiency is most important, you list them from most to least efficient for standard base engine models. If power and acceleration is more important then you list them from most to least powerful/fast. At this point you narrow the list further based upon appearance (interior & exterior) as well as knocking out those at the bottom of your list.

What's next is test drives. Some dealers will let you test drive a vehicle overnight. Take it on roads you drive frequently to get a feel for how it handles corners and bumps. How does the controls feel from the driver's seat? How comfortable was the seat? All these things will be used to further narrow down your list.

Once you've narrowed it down to two or three vehicles then it's a matter of which one looks best to you and best meets your needs at a price you can afford. People here have their favorite brand to love and hate. They'll cite recalls and other problems as the reasons for their hate. Use such information cautiously because even the most reliable brands have produced lemons while some unreliable brands have produced long lasting trouble free vehicles.