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judy's retirement vehicle

The Right Car for Me | TrueDelta

Member618

Long trips, luggage capacity, comfortable

Priorities: Reliability & durability / Fuel economy / Cargo capacity

Preferred Bodystyle(s): Hatch / Wagon

Car Needs: Long trips

Primary Driver(s): Senior driver

Need minimum of 4 seats

Will consider both new and used cars
Maximum mileage: 25000
Maximum age: 2 years

Maximum price: US $ 40000

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Response from jasonmreece

1:29 pm January 4, 2016

I suggest taking a look at the Volvo V60 wagon. It's very safe, comfortable, luxurious and has very good fuel economy. For about $38k, you could get a very nice 2016 V60 with some nice extras like the Climate Package (heated front/rear seats, heated steering wheel), Keyless Drive, Blind Spot Information System and the most comfortable seats in the industry. They're currently offering a $2k Conquest Bonus if you own almost any other competing brand and they're also covering the first three payments of a new car loan. Fuel economy is rated at 25/37.

I'm not sure if you're interested in SUV/Crossover-type vehicles (or if you excluded them due to fuel economy), but I have a few to recommend anyway.

The Mazda CX-5 is rated at 25/33 and it's a great vehicle. A totally loaded CX-5 Grand Touring FWD will run you barely $30k. If it meets your needs for space/size, then it could be the ticket!

If you need something larger, the Acura MDX is an exceptional choice. Fuel economy is 20/28, but it can seat seven (folding third row) and has room to spare. It's also very safe, reliable, comfortable and (a nice bonus) very quick and fun to drive. A CPO (with 7yr/100k Powertrain coverage) 2014-2015 can be had starting around $36k. A new 2016 'base' MDX stickers for about $43,800 and can be had for about $41k.

FYI, Mazda is currently offering 0.9% financing for up to 60 months. Acura is offering 1.9% for 36 months or 2.9% for 60 months.

Also, I'm usually not a huge advocate of leasing, but Acura has some great lease offers on the MDX. You can get a 2016 MDX for $0 due at signing and $500/month for 36 months.

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Volvo V60
Mazda CX-5
Acura MDX

Response from 052516sm

2:45 pm January 4, 2016

Suggest looking at the Subaru Outback wagon. I've had mine (2011) for 5 years/45K miles with no problems. Plenty of space. Very comfortable (cloth) seats. During long rides (5+ hours), very comfortable. Suspension stable and compliant. MPG 22 city/28 highway on regular fuel. The only thing I'd recommend is getting one with a rear-view camera to make it easier when packing up.

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Response from mkaresh

12:11 pm January 5, 2016

Response from jasonmreece

2:18 pm January 5, 2016

The only reason I didn't mention the TSX Sport Wagon is because of the 2-year age limit. They made mostly sedans for the 2014 model year, so a 2014 wagon is a rare bird.

But I would strongly recommend expanding the age and mileage requirements up to 3-4years and mileage up to at least 40k miles. A 4yr old TSX with 40k miles is a more solid, reliable vehicle than 99% of brand new cars that sell for $10-$15k more!

If you get a Certified Pre-Owned 2012 or 2013, you'll have full Powertrain Coverage up to 7yrs or 100k miles from the car's original in service date. That means a 2012 would be covered until 2019 and a 2013 until 2020. And with 40k miles, you'd still have 60k miles of Powertrain (engine/transmission) coverage. You would also get any remaining balance of the 4yr/50k Limitied (full) warranty followed by another 1yr/12k miles as a CPO. So a 2013 with 40k miles would have at least 2yrs and 22k miles of Bumper-to-Bumper coverage in addition to the Powertrain. They also include Roadside Assistance and several other extras until the warranty expires.

I did a quick national search on Cars.com and found about 125 TSX wagons. The vast majority were 2012 models and every one I checked had been a Personal Lease. Acura regularly offers 36-month lease deals, so that makes sense. And leased cars are very well-kept and usually have 10-12k miles per year or less on them. Prices for CPO 2012 models with 35-40k miles run from about $21k to $23.5k. Models with the 'Technology Package' cost about $1200-$1400 more and, IMO, aren't that big of a deal. The Tech Pkg replaces an already great audio system with an even higher-powered one, adds Navigation (that will be more outdated than a Smartphone or Garmin) and the most useful feature is a Remote Power Liftgate. But how hard is it manually open and close the liftgate on a (small) mid-size wagon?

At the very least, go take a look and test drive one of these! Acura is a premium brand, so you get a very comfy and upscale interior. Under the skin, it's the European version of the Accord and 100% rock-solid Honda mechanicals.

Heck, I want to go buy one after looking at them again......

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Acura TSX
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