Any Ideas On What Car To Buy? Wouldn't Mind Some Tips
 

I'm going to buy a car soon. It's been a while, a good while, since I've actually driven a car as I've lived in the city for a few years now because of my college. As a matter of fact I'm planning on having even more extensive driving lessons from a teacher I used to work with when I first retrieved my license, as I'm a little nervous when it comes to driving in general. I know a good amount of it takes experience, and I'm sure my fear will subside with time. I'm more so a safe driver on the road...maybe a little slow even.

In any case, safety is my primary concern and always has been. I remember telling myself that if I ever were to get a car, safety would be my main focus. As far as price range goes, let's just say I have a good amount of leverage and plan to buy a brand new, unused model. And if I do get a car I'd like to be able to teach my wife to drive one day. She has no idea how.

That being said, I've been doing some research with the safest kind of cars in America. I came across this list here which seemed interesting, but of course I'm taking it with a grain of salt as I'm sure it really depends on the driver in any case. Although that Audi A6 looks nice. An SUV seems warranted for what we would want, as I personally like being "higher" in a car because I feel like I can see more...and the extra space would come in handy with our lifestyle...but of course that are safety risks with SUV's...I'd like to think that they are safer with collisions because they are in nature bigger, but that probably isn't necessarily the case.

Any suggestions on how to proceed with my research?

Volvos have good safety marks historically. I don't know how the new ones are doing ever since they were bought by the Chinese, though. They also make an SUV, so that seems like it would be almost exactly what you're looking for.

The Ford Escape seems to be pretty good. I don't know that much about it, though.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com...s/Ford_Escape/

Reliability/cost: something Japanese (Honda, Toyota, Subaru)

Fun/status: something German (Audi, BMW, Mercedes)

Don't ask R4L. :D

My best friend has an Escape Hybrid. I'm a fan of it, and I don't even like SUVs.

EDIT: Whoops.

EDIT: Whoops.

Volvo is good with safety so is WV.

surprised you dont' want something with good MPG.

Buy a F-150 like I have.

Audi is a subsidiary of VW. I wonder if that impacts it's safety. I like the look of the A6, so I'm going to see Audi Oakland in a few days to check out their dealership.

Bite me!!

At this point Mazda, Subaru and Toyota > Honda. Hell even Kia and Hyundai are starting to become prettier options, Honda is becoming overpriced and their reliability appeal is starting to wane.

European is always a good choice if you can afford to drive it.

In my experience, VW's are extremely unreliable. I know a few people with Audi's. They seem like good cars but the downside is they are pretty expensive to maintain. I currently have a Honda CRV. They are very reliable, get above average gas mileage, have great safety ratings, and hold their value very well. Plus you can get a fully loaded one for cheaper than a bottom of the line Audi.

MSN auto site is a good start to research.

What's your price range? Let's start there.

I want to say $60,000. I think me and my spouse may be a little more flexible than that if we had to.

Are you open to used cars? SUVs? Or just 4 door sedans?

It really depends on your driving preference. Some of us like big cars and like to cruise, some like compact cars with good handling and speed etc. What is your driving style?

Safety is pretty much the same for most luxury cars, if you're spending 60 grand on a car youre gonna get a safe car. Volvo is the safest, but all luxury cars in that range are pretty safe.

I drive a bmw 335xi, it's very safe, it's got great power, great breaks, it's light and can handle very well, and it's safe. Especially in the snow, I was amazed at how well the car performs in the snow.

I think awd is a must if safety is your main concern. If you want a lot of space and a big car, I'd say get an SUV. If you're going sedan I'd strongly recommend an awd sedan.

I'm partial to BMW, so I'd recommend a BMW X5.

Why spend $60,000 on a car when you could spend half that and get a perfectly serviceable vehicle?

I don't plan to spend that much. But like I said, safety is my main focus.

Good. I was gonna say, you can spend 30-35 on a car and get practically the same car you'd get at 60 minus a couple of creature comforts.

Once you start spending that much on a car, you're buying the brand and the social status more than the car imo.

Like I mentioned earlier, I like being "higher" when driving because I feel like I can see more and I feel like I'm more aware. I wouldn't mind a regular sedan though. It would have to be a four-door something. A lot of sedans seem to have a good amount of space now and days from what I've looked at. Although you can't really beat an SUV overall. If it saves some money though, and it's safe...I suppose I could go with a smaller vehicle. Plus the gas mileage would be nicer. We were thinking about getting Prius as it gets fantastic gas mileage and the storage space seems adequate combined with not being that expensive. I might want to go for something a little more higher rated in safety and collision testing though. A BMW would be nice, but I'd have to do more research on their brand of cars. I don't know much about them. They look good at least.

Agreed. Me and my spouse don't want to have to reach that far. Seems like a lot of the high profile SUVs are in that range.

From my experience as a valet, the A6 is a ******* dream to drive.

Dropping $60k on a car does seem a bit extravagant.

Safety? That's 99.99999% on the driver, not the car. "Safety" is an overrated/overmarketed term with cars. The only time it's a concern is if there's a major flaw in the design of the car. If you're buying new, you really can't even begin to gauge a car's safety because there's no history for the model.

Toyota, historically, puts out extremely well-engineered vehicles with extreme attention to detail, but then they had that accelerator issue a few years ago...

The safest route is to get a used car, to be honest. You have model history to go off of, and if you're learning to drive at an older age, you're more prone to doing something stupid/reacting poorly. Why **** up a nice car and have ridiculous car insurance repercussions? I'd ride out the used car for a couple years then get something nice when you're comfortable driving.

I'd save the money if you can, although I can't speak to your financial situation. Hopefully $60,000 is nothing to you!

I can't speak too much on safety, particular because the Aussie car market is so heavily dominated by asian manufacturers, but my family has a Subaru and the thing drives like a dream. I would really recommend you give one a test drive. Great utility vehicle.

I personally believe that the safest car you can drive is the car that you feel most comfortable driving. Not all cars drive the same way, so my recommendation would be to make a list of 5 or 6 different cars/suvs, and test drive all of them, and then decide on which car feels the best, and go and negotiate the best price for that car.

I recommend never buying new cars. I'll never buy a new car. Let someone else take the hit out of the parking lot. You save a ton of money buying used. Even if it's a used car with like 10k miles on it, you save SO much money doing that instead of buying new.

I test drove the a6. I hated it. It was heavy and didn't handle well. Way overpriced for the performance you get out of it. Looks like a million bucks, but doesn't drive like it.

I felt the performance of the 335 and g37 both blew it out of the water.

Me and my spouse don't really have established credit history though. We kind of have the leverage at this point in time to pay for a vehicle in all cash essentially. I'm not sure if you really have to have good credit to be able to lease a car. Plus...I'd like to think that I would stick with a car I choose as long as possible and get used to how it drives. I don't think I would be interested in "upgrading" to something different after a certain period of leasing is over with. I know you can buy a car you lease after a while, but would it just be better to buy the car outright? I heard the buyout option for leasing cars isn't that great.