What Would You Buy?

[reed067]

Originally Posted by SubconsciousMe

Let's play a game. I'm not going to explain our situation, but rather, our preferences to determine if we are missing any cars/models that fit our needs.

About us: My spouse and I live in Chicago (downtown). Most of our parking outside of at home is parallel parking, we rarely ever park in an actual parking space unless it is our parking space at home. It is just my spouse and I -- no kids. We are only a 1 car family. We have an indoor parking space, with electric spaces if needed. I am 5' 7" and my spouse is 5' 3" -- so not incredibly tall.

Budget:
Car itself: $25k +/-
Out the door: $30k +/-

What we prefer/what we are used to:
Leather, blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist, smart cruise control, GPS, heated seats, sunroof.
We do not have any issues/preferences with any specific body styles.
Sometimes, in our current vehicle, gas and maintenance can become overwhelming so an affordable to maintain vehicle is a must.

About our lifestyle:
I'm an active bicyclist, and have a hitch mounted bike rack but being able to put my bike inside (even with wheel removed) is a must.
My spouse has significant arthritis in their knees.
We do not haul anything outside of my bicycle and do not go on large shopping trips as groceries are usually delivered via AmazonFresh/Instacart.

Subaru pick one.

[NC211]

Originally Posted by 28079

I support that, awesome cars can also be used haul stuff including bike and long tripps

I'd support the VW sport wagon as well! Only thing of concern I would think of (and why I mentioned the Tiquan instead) is the road conditions in Chicago, especially downtown. Not speaking of the weather (which is tough but addressed via 4Motion AWD with ease), but the potholes and raising/lowering bridges with the heat. In the springtime as the heat and humidity comes back, I've actually seen chunks of concrete the size of large grapefruits just come popping out of the road due to swelling pressure. I've also seen (and hit) overpass bridges where they heaved up about 2 inches from their connecting points on the road due to the changes in temperature and humidity. It just beats the snot out of cars sometimes, but SUV's tend to handle it a little better. Low profile tires? Expect bent rims every year.


I witnessed a lady in a brand new Volvo convertible going down the road in April at say 50mph, when a piece of concrete popped up out of the road and she had no time to react. She went right over it, and it tore the friggin oil pan right off the bottom of the engine. Car was dead, while it still had the sales sticker on the window. When I drove our GTI, I was always scanning the road for potholes and whatnot, and even then had constant bent rims (but no rattles, go figure).


I think a small but nice SUV is a the ticket for that town. Easy to park and drive, can handle a few potholes, the weather, and haul gear. I think the ground clearance of the AWD sportwagon would be fine, just don't know how stiff the ride would be and the wheels holding up.


We also had an 05' 4Runner while we lived there. It did fine, but had to replace a seized caliper due to road salt issues, and repair two rims on it too that got bent via a Chicago Pothole (also known as Squirrel Jacuzzi's)!