Car search is on. Help!

[ironhat]

I got rid of a perfectly good, '97 Accord two years ago (I could still cry when I wish that I had kept it) on the wife's wishes that we get a Dodge van to hold all the grandkids. Well, the lease is up in a few short months and we're not haulig kids like she thought and there are soon to be more than we can fit in there anyway - never really cared for the van - hard to put a finger on why. Anyway, I was looking at Vibe/ Mirage cars to go back to better mileage and have enough room to haul the kitchen sink to the cabin but I soon realized that they are under powered and oly get slightly better mileage than the Accord did (great mileage and zoom but not enough room for 'sink' hauling). I'm open to at least being pointed in direction for my hunt. The field of vehicles is overwhelming but my specs seem to be in short supply. Here's the list of wants:
1. Mid 20's mpg
2. Close to 3.0 liter engine
3. Hatchback or wagon cargo capacity
4. Decent seats for my crapped-out back!

[fbrend123]

The wife just got a new Dodge Caliber R/T w/AWD. 2.4 liter engine, avg 23.5 MPG, but not broken in, yet. Seems to fit your criteria, and has lots of other goodies. She loves it!

[burrellski]

The wife has an '06 Toyota Matrix. I was pretty hesitant at first, but I really like the car now. Very comfortable. VERY surprising amount of back seat room. 32-34 MPG highway. Tons of room to haul stuff in the back. Everything has had the feel of high quality so far. Its not quite a V8 in acceleration, but it definitely holds its own. Its all we ever drive on trips now. Can't afford to drive the V8 gas guzzling dakota anywhere.

[ironhat]

Hey, thanks, fbrend123. I've been kind of looking sideways at them but they haven't been around enough to get much data on them. It's still worth a look. Oh yea, ~~WELCOME~~!

PS. Oops, my bad. There's lots of info on them. I was srprised. Like anything though, you read all day but you have to get some seat time and road testing to see if you will be satisfied.

[Knottscott]

My mom bought a Vibe last year....she loves it. I drove it for about a week last winter while she was in FLA, and I loved it too. My understanding is that it has a Toyota motor and tranny. Nice car. Her's has a small engine, but I believe there are some options...

[cabinetman]

I was reading an article about the Hyundai Veracruz vs. the Lexus RX series, and the Hyundai came out higher in points for a lot less money. One of the reports is here.

[jziegler]

My mom bought a Vibe last year....she loves it. I drove it for about a week last winter while she was in FLA, and I loved it too. My understanding is that it has a Toyota motor and tranny. Nice car. Her's has a small engine, but I believe there are some options...

I have a Vibe that I got in January, and have been very happy with it. It doesn't meet the close to 3L engine, but the engine in it is good. It is designed by Toyota (not sure who actually manufacturers it) and is the same basic car as the Toyota Matrix that was already mentioned. It can handle 3 people and 2 greyhounds very well. 8ft boards fit if you fold both the front and back passenger seats, with room for 2 people left in the car. I get around 33-34 MPG most of the time, so that exceeds your requirement by quite a bit.

Jim

[justaguy]

My wifes Subaru Outback Wagon's have been good to me. The LL Bean edition has a 3.0 six cylinder and is epa rated at 17/24. Real world I get similar milage.

The AWD is great when winter arrives.

You might want to take a look..

[germdoc]

I second the Subaru Outback or Legacy. You don't really need the 3.0 L; the 2.5 L is very peppy and gas mileage is excellent.

I would love to have a Baja, but they stopped making them. They're pretty hot in the used car market as well.

Toyota Highlander would be a more expensive option. This can be gotten in a hybrid version, which will give great gas mileage.

Don't give me heck for saying this, but I have had great luck with Japanese cars and crappy luck with American cars, so I would be hard-pressed to buy an American car. Many Japanese cars are made in America anyway--my former Subaru was made in Indiana.

[HarmsWay]

Personally I'd go for a used Toyota Matrix or any of the Subaru's before a new or used Vibe. The AWD makes them very useful in all seasons although a used AWD Matrix will be more difficult to locate. All the Sub's are AWD.

Bob

[Hoakie]

I looked at and liked the Mazda 5, however, having two kids required us to go with a full sized minivan. Haven't looked at how they stack up against newer models in about 1.5-2 years tho.

[ironhat]

Subies! See, that's why I posted this. I should have come up with that myself but I've been haveing a bit of brain constipation lately. I also saw a Sturn VUE while out to lunch so I'll check there as well.
Thanks all!

[paulstenlund]

I 2nd the Subies I have 1 2000 Outback wagon gets 27mpg (manual trans, 25 auto) talked to many owners and the milage is the same for all, very peppy. We now have four in the immeadiate family after the kids drove ours. Currently have six 8' boards in mine for Mom's screen door that I will assemble this evening.

Paul

[gerti]

VW Passat/Jetta wagon...

[Kristofor]

Well... I recently bought a new car because I wanted a back door on the driver side (Baby due in 3 months, and the '98 F150 only had 3 doors).

I looked at lots of different models including several mentioned here (the Dodge Caliber is the same platform as the Jeep Patriot and Compass if you're looking for other options there, but the CVT tranny and smaller engine didn't seem zippy enough for me).

I ended up buying little Toyota RAV4 SUV, and I still recommend it. With the 3.5L 269HP V6 it's really peppy, but still gets decent mileage 21/28 (all things are relative, that's going up from 12MPG on my Truck, but if you really want to average 30MPH plus it's not quite going to get there). It's really more fun to drive than I was expecting, and while lower than the truck by a fair amount, it's still high enough when driving in traffic.

There are optional 3rd row seats (only usable for kids really, but don't take much space if you want to use them infrequently..) Lots of storage with the seats down, and the ability to tow 3500Lbs so a utility trailer is an option for other hauling needs.