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Re: wagon advice. Take a look at some of the small crossovers out there. They are basically small wagons with a little added ride height and AWD. Right now I would look at a Nissan Rogue. They are cheap, effective and reliable.

I was on a trip once with my then-girlfriend's family, from Tucson to the a Grand Canyon and back. This trip included several adults as well as two kids. My gf and I were in the middle seat, her two nephews in the rear seat, and all four of us played MarioKart on the DS with the connector cables, if that helps pin down the year. Man that thing was great. Just a crazy amount of room in there and very luxurious feeling for what is essentially the modern day take on the Suburban. From the outside it doesn't look as big as it feels on the inside. I was looking at the Pilot and the Murano when I bought my 4runner. The forester was in there in the early stages but the combination of looking goofy (10+ yrs ago) and being so low to the ground, being a car and all, put me off of it. The Pilot was the one I liked best for cargo room (seating PLUS cargo room for a band), but the price was just too much for me. Ended up getting a barely used 4runner for a good price, which was really still ok but needed a little love 10+ years later when I traded it in on the CRV. Used fighting chance to get the CRV based on recommendations here, great experience with that especially since we bought just a couple days before the end of the calendar year.

Gantry wrote:Thanks so much for that info! That isn't too bad considering the cost of a new ride, plus you will extend the life of your non-winter tires. Yes, it was totally worth it to me, but I was thinking it was going to cost around $800, so the $1300 was a bit surprising.But if you have time to do a lot of research, you could order the tires & rims online and put them on yourself. Or pay Ashland Tire to do that part.

I also kinda like the idea of the Subaru XV Crosstrek. I mean, I know it's basically the Impreza wagon but a bit higher off the ground and maybe with tougher looking cladding on it. And it looks like it has way less cargo space than just getting a CR-V. But for some reason I am into that stupid car. As you may notice, there is a hybrid option for this car. Same highway MPG and only like 4MPG estimated more in the city than the regular gas engine. But way more money. That is pretty dumb!

bigc wrote:Tom wrote:dontfeartheringo wrote:Wagon advice, PRF?We got a Subaru Forester a couple years ago and love it. In michigan the AWD and high ground clearance is awesome in the winter (especially this one we're in). Good mileage lots of room withouth being awkward and massive. And there is a manual model if you're into that sort of thing.On the recommendation of tmidgett, i used the "fighting chance" method and can't say enough things about it. If you're thinking about buying a NEW car, do this. It's crazy stupid easy and saved me about 3,000 compared to every other "best offer" i got.here:http://www.fightingchance.com/I'm considering a Forester, and see that they get around 22 mpg. Is your experience better?We get a hair better (around 24), but it's almost all city driving. We also have a Manual Transmission, which used to mean better mileage, but it would shock me if today's auto's are comparable or a little better. I tend to drive in lower gears too. So 22 might be a little low, but it's in the ballpark.

tbone wrote:I also kinda like the idea of the Subaru XV Crosstrek. I mean, I know it's basically the Impreza wagon but a bit higher off the ground and maybe with tougher looking cladding on it. And it looks like it has way less cargo space than just getting a CR-V. But for some reason I am into that stupid car. I was just looking at these on the internets this morning. This thread and absolutely brutal winter has got me thinking...

Tom wrote:tbone wrote:I also kinda like the idea of the Subaru XV Crosstrek. I mean, I know it's basically the Impreza wagon but a bit higher off the ground and maybe with tougher looking cladding on it. And it looks like it has way less cargo space than just getting a CR-V. But for some reason I am into that stupid car. I was just looking at these on the internets this morning. This thread and absolutely brutal winter has got me thinking...After reading a couple of reviews, this thing does not sound very impressive. It looks like a drastically inferior Forester that is a little bit more expensive. Am I missing something?

So...I started my car buying adventure today. I'm pretty much set on the base version of the 2014 WRX wagon. However, I haven't driven one in 6 years and that was automatic. I want a manual and I want to see how it drives. I'm 99% sure this is the car I want to buy.That being said, I walk in to the Subaru dealer and I see a hippie woman in a down vest with her dog buying a car. I think "OK, this place is different." The first person to greet me is the manager, who is friendly, and directs me to a sales person who is friendly but apologizes that he has to deliver a car and hands me off to this obese dude, who is fixing his chair that appears to have broken under his weight. He greets me then disappears, and I'm sitting there waiting. After a minute or two he finally waddles over and says they don't let people test drive the WRXx, because they are high performance. I turned around and walked out.Now the moment I got handed off from one sales person to another, I should have realized and just walked out.We'll see how the other dealers act.

Did he try restarting it?