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Anvilbrother

What kind of vehicle would you get if your wife totaled hers?

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I would like your opinion on new/1-2 year old vehicles for my wife. She was hit by an uninsured person that ran a redlight and totaled her Nissan Murano:(

So we are now in the market for a new vehicle. Im gonna google and check safety crash records and all, but want opinions from friends. She is 30 yrs old drives about an hour to work after dropping off our 4 yo daughter.

We dont want a car, or anything like a tahoe or suburban, so something like a crossover like her murano was, but cheaper, we paid 35k for the murano and was paying like 565 a mo for it, too much for the unstable economy of today.

I want a reliable brand that is safe, her murano had side seat an curtain airbags, that pretty much saved her life, so safety is a plus for her and my daughter. Thanks for your input it would help us alot:)

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drives about an hour to work



With gas prices heading up and up and up, sounds like good gas mileage should be on your list of required criteria.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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Should have clarified, the hour is in traffic, which leads to me wanting a comfortable interior and features for her. The actual mileage is about 15 miles, and any crossover is going to have reasonable well mileage anyways.

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I would like your opinion on new/1-2 year old vehicles for my wife. She was hit by an uninsured person that ran a redlight and totaled her Nissan Murano:(

I want a reliable brand that is safe, her murano had side seat an curtain airbags, that pretty much saved her life, so safety is a plus for her and my daughter. Thanks for your input it would help us alot:)



A three year old Honda Accord EX. The worst of the depreciation is past, it'll be good for 200,000 miles, you get a V6 and the side curtain airbags, and it'll cost you less than half what the Murano did.

Personally I'd buy something older, nicer, and a lot less expensive. My 13 year old Audi has side air bags and has depreciated to around $5000.

$20,000+ invested in your retirements and/or daughter's secondary education (getting more expensive at 4X the rate of inflation for the formal part, and with the unpaid internships that follows you'll probably be supporting her through her late 20s) will do more for you in the future than spending it on the depreciation and carrying costs on a nicer car.

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drives about an hour to work



With gas prices heading up and up and up, sounds like good gas mileage should be on your list of required criteria.



Gas is a pretty small part of vehicle operating costs unless you drive reliable old cars that are inexpensive to insure (liability only) and done depreciating.

According to AAA the average cost to drive a car in America is $.56/mile once you factor in maintenance, insurance, and depreciation.

In 2008, the average passenger car (of any age) got 22 MPG which is under $.14/mile at $3 a gallon.

$4 gas is just a 7% cost increase, $5 14%, etc.

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if a n 8yr old can drive it, i bet your wife should be well off. also, if she runs into something, damage will be very likely to be minor, if any at all on that model..

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Should have clarified, the hour is in traffic, which leads to me wanting a comfortable interior and features for her. The actual mileage is about 15 miles, and any crossover is going to have reasonable well mileage anyways.



HOLY SMOKES! That's some serious traffic!

FWIW, my wife LOVES her 2008 Rav4.
Sincerely,
Kevin

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Last year my wife was in a bad accident in whiteout conditions, rear ended by a subaru station wagon and a gm minivan, her 03 Malibu was a write off. we replaced the malibu with an 04 Impala, comfortable, bigger car, gas mileage is pretty good, runs good on the highway with the 3.8 l v6. we only paid 6000 for the car and we have had no complaints. I would recommend a Malibu or the Impala.

Cheers

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." - Michelangelo

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I just got my wife a kia rondo. it is a decent crossover (minivan with the 3rd seat cut out) Gas mileage is not that great, but it was inexpensive. We went through enterprise car sales. ... It is what one would expect from a kia.
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I would still get my car. She would get a pair of VFF:P

Sorry to hear about the vehicle loss, and glad she was unhurt.

I don't understand the "uninsured" thing... I live in an insurance country, and if you don't pay your insurance, next thing you know your car doesn't have license plates anymore (or blocked by the police), and to be able to drive it again you need to go to the police station with a proof of insurance.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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She was hit by a camry or accord that was way more damaged, said it before but we don't want a car, too many trucks rolling around and 18 wheelers on the interstate. I am a firefighter so I know the value of being in a slightly larger vehicle when it comes to being seen in mirrors and the outcome in collisions. She had a murano, were now looking at the slightly smaller but half the cost Nissan rogue. It's basically the same vehicle as far as features.

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We would buy another VW Jetta Sportwagon.

Couldn't be happier with ours.



Or if they needed slightly larger, the VW Tiguan.


Yeah, what we found with the Tiguan is that the storage/trunk area was significantly smaller than the Sportwagon. I fit a twin mattress and box springs in the back of the Sportwagon a couple of months ago by laying down the rear seats! That and the MPG on the gas Sportwagon is better.

We didn't do the TDI since the 2010 TDI had a new fuel management system and there had been some reports of it reacting VERY badly to lower quality fuel (needing to get the injectors replaced at around $3000). So the 2.5 gas version fit our needs very well.

After a year and 20,000 miles (including a road trip to Alabama and a road trip across Texas), our 2010 Sportwagon has served us very well. Especially with the dealer installed roof mounted bike rack.:)
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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My ex-wife was really hard on cars. I was trying to find her a Mercedes (well built. Last), wagon (practical. Not a sports car), diesel (good mileage. Not a sports car. Long lasting), leather interior (easy clean. Long lasting), in stainless steel.

I couldn't find one in stainless. :(

I gave her the Volvo Wagon with leather interior in the divorce two years ago. Last I heard, it was on it's last leg. So sad.
I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet..

But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course.

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Should have clarified, the hour is in traffic, which leads to me wanting a comfortable interior and features for her. The actual mileage is about 15 miles, and any crossover is going to have reasonable well mileage anyways.

At 15 mph, I think a good bicycle would suffice. :P Maybe a golf cart with turn signals.

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