Best new car for....

[sontakke]

I am not the person to justify FCA products but personally at correct level of incentives I would be doing real research on predicted reliability of a particular model that I would be interested in aka rather than just going by the internet wisdom.

 

[tsupersonic]

I am not the person to justify FCA products but personally at correct level of incentives I would be doing real research on predicted reliability of a particular model that I would be interested in aka rather than just going by the internet wisdom.

Regardless of incentives, you should research a car pretty thoroughly before purchase (be it an FCA product or not). FCA has pretty bad reputation and their rankings are not the greatest...

 

[pauldun170]

The problem is then you own a Dodge LOL.

OP is coming from a 15 year old Passat and I'm guessing they plan to do the same with the follow up car.
A year Dodge with FCA penny pinching may not be the best place to be in 8 years much less 15.

 

[woodman1999]

I showed my wife pics of the avalon and she detested it. Not sure why, but she did. She like the lexus and the genesis a lot, but not as much as the Impala.

 

[pauldun170]

Just so I'm clear,
When you say 35K-45K do you mean MSRP or OTD?

 

[woodman1999]

OTD

Also, I am definitely looking at long term ownership, like paul said. Maybe not 15 years again, but a minimum of 7-8, depending on when we get flying cars.

 

[woodman1999]

Brief update, test drive the Impala on Saturday. V6, no leather, but most of the upgrades i want. Was extremely smooth on the acceleration, and more than powerful enough for driving around here. Wife liked it a lot as well which is a plus. Got quoted 35k for fully loaded, including my Passat for trade in. T,T,L extra, price is good for 2 weeks.

Going to try and test drive the Avalon, Azera, and Mazda 6 when I am "working from home" friday, but they'd really have to amaze me as the dealerships are farther away than Chevy, and the car was great.

 

[Yuriman]

Looking at Chevys on the road, they're certainly making some good looking cars lately. I still prefer "imports" (nevermind that the Corolla and Camry have the largest percent domestic parts and labor of any car) but the gap seems to be closing.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Infiniti Q50 CPO is not a bad choice. 2015 AWD premium model with 15,000 miles runs about $28k - $30k. Still have ~4 years original factory warranty on them (6 years from date of first service of car).

 

[sontakke]

That looks like insanely bad price :-(

 

[woodman1999]

What makes you say that?

 

[sontakke]

You are in the Japanese car price territory! I paid less than that for my Acura TL Tech pkg with no trade (few years ago!) If the Impala is MSRP'd at $40K+, how come it has no leather? At that price you could get a fully loaded V8 offering from FCA!

 

[Bubbleawsome]

You are in the Japanese car price territory! I paid less than that for my Acura TL Tech pkg with no trade (few years ago!) If the Impala is MSRP'd at $40K+, how come it has no leather? At that price you could get a fully loaded V8 offering from FCA!

Right it's FCA. Right now I'd buy anything American/European/Asian over them. Not including British obviously because a) Brexit b) they might be the only ones with reliability less than FCA

 

[woodman1999]

It's fully loaded, leather, upgrade sound, navigation, lane departure, adaptive cruise control, all the bells except the Midnight Trim, because frankly i don't care about black rims...

 

[sontakke]

You had said no leather

 

[woodman1999]

Sorry, car I drove was the V6 without all the trimmings. The car I got quoted was the fully loaded version. Sorry about the confusion.

 

[sontakke]

May be I read it wrong! In any case, the price is competitive given you have a fully loaded version. Congratulations!

 

[Demo24]

I would really recommend looking at the Accord. For that price you can get one loaded (with room to negotiate).

We just picked one up and have this far put over 2k miles on it in a short amount of time. It's quiet, powerful with the v6, quite comfortable for long trips with 4 adults, I find there to be a lot of rear room, the trunk is large, good visibility, and even with the v6 Ive managed 36 hwy before. Over our recent 1800 mIle trip we averaged 33, so happy about that. Plus the 'lanewatch' feature that puts a camera in the passenger mirror to show you down that side of the vehicle (activated manually or with turn signal), is a seriously great feature, especially in city driving or busy highway trying to merge.

I often struggle for comfort on most cars on long trips, but this one has surprised me. The memory seats definitely help as well.


Also, I can't recommend Volvo to you. The s60 is simply too small for your purposes, so you're only alternative is an SUV from them.

 

[woodman1999]

Thanks for the suggestion Demo. Will take another look at Honda when I get to work.

So many choices, so little time.

 

[Yuriman]

I would really recommend looking at the Accord. For that price you can get one loaded (with room to negotiate).

We just picked one up and have this far put over 2k miles on it in a short amount of time. It's quiet, powerful with the v6, quite comfortable for long trips with 4 adults, I find there to be a lot of rear room, the trunk is large, good visibility, and even with the v6 Ive managed 36 hwy before. Over our recent 1800 mIle trip we averaged 33, so happy about that. Plus the 'lanewatch' feature that puts a camera in the passenger mirror to show you down that side of the vehicle (activated manually or with turn signal), is a seriously great feature, especially in city driving or busy highway trying to merge.

I often struggle for comfort on most cars on long trips, but this one has surprised me. The memory seats definitely help as well.


Also, I can't recommend Volvo to you. The s60 is simply too small for your purposes, so you're only alternative is an SUV from them.

Maybe an Accord Hybrid instead? Same Accord interior and driving dynamics, but arguably the most sophisticated hybrid on the road - it doesn't have a transmission at all. Some specs:

212hp peak available to the wheels
232ft-lbs torque available at 0rpm from the 180hp electric motor
49mpg city / 47mpg highway

Runs full time as an EV with the engine acting as a generator, so it drives like one. No shifting gears, peak torque available instantly, can operate silently so you can sneak up on people. The engine has a clutch which engages to give it direct drive to the wheels at certain highway speeds where it's more efficient than converting back and forth to electricity, but below that it's 100% electric to the wheels.

 

[agent00f]

I showed my wife pics of the avalon and she detested it. Not sure why, but she did. She like the lexus and the genesis a lot, but not as much as the Impala.

Ever wonder if she picked you that way?

The Garage is not OT. This "joke" is not suitable here, and you should know that.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[pauldun170]

Thanks for the suggestion Demo. Will take another look at Honda when I get to work.

So many choices, so little time.

Any updates?

 

[woodman1999]

Impala purchased. More updates coming when I get to work as phone typing is not my strong point.

Edit:

I drove the Avalon, Mazda6, and Accord on Saturday. All 3 cars were nice, but didn't matchup to the Impala in my mind. The Mazda and Accord were to small in the rear and the Avalon was just a more rigid ride than the Impala. Not by much mind you, but enough to notice.

The Genesis was in contention but after looking and seeing what it would take to get the options I wanted, it priced itself out of the competition.

And another small item which somehow became important in my head was that the Impala is an American Brand car, and it made me feel warm and fuzzy buying one. I am the first in my family to get an American car since my dad had one when he was in college, a LONG time ago.

We'll find out Wednesdayish when we can expect the car to arrive at the dealership. Will provide more updates once car is in hand and has been driven more (though that may require a new thread)

 

[Yuriman]

For what it's worth, more of the Avalon is American than the Impala. Chevy may be an American brand but it has a lot of outsourced parts and labor.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

grats on the new ride. Impala is a sharp looking car. Co-worker has a loaded one in black. I find myself eyeballing it every time I wander through the parking lot. Something about the rear quarter panel treatment with the "haunches" makes for a really nice 3/4 butt view.