Looking for a new DD... Suggestions?
 

I'm starting to get in the market for a new daily driver. I will soon have another driver in the family and I've got to start making some plans to accommodate that.

Right now I have a 2-car garage and 3 cars. The 911SC fun car occupies 1 bay, my wife's car occupies the other and my truck parks outside. The only way I will be able to accommodate 4 cars is to pour a new parking pad to the side of the garage (teenager's car will park there) and install a 4-post lift (911 goes up top and some yet undefined car goes below). I've been planning for the lift for a few years -- only thing I need to do there is actually buy and install the lift. I will be selling my truck.

That means one of the requirements is that the as yet undefined car has to fit under the lift which means it probably has to be a sedan or coupe.

I also need the ability to haul passengers so it needs to be a 4-door. I'm a tall guy so something like a 3-series BMW is usually too small. But I'm worried that a 5-series is too long to fit in the space under the lift. I'll have to get some measurements.

Since I'm a 911 guy, I tend to prefer German cars but I have owned plenty of Japanese car toos. I've never owned a Subaru but am considering that because of the good things I've heard about them. I'm pretty open to ideas of things I haven't considered. I would prefer something sporty.

First thoughts that come to mind...

- BMW 5-Series
- Acura TL
- Audi ?
- Subaru ?
- Something else?

BMW maintenance costs are a turn off for me. Changing water pumps at every oil change is not cool. :) I love BMWs but I'd want to be careful to avoid something with absurd problems. I wrench on the P-car plenty so I'm generally not afraid of doing my own work/maintenance.

As a general rule I prefer to buy used cars but if I can get a deal like 0.0% financing I will consider new.

Ok -- hit me with your suggestions.

We had a 2005 TL. It was OK. But we sold it at 8 years because after 7, little things started to go astray (just after our ext wsrranty ended): starter, Bluetooth Hands Free Link, engine mount, central door lock actuator. Even those HID headlamp bulbs (granted a "wear" item) aren't cheap, at about $140 each.

I have a little bad taste in my mouth when it comes to Acura. We used to have an MDX that my wife loved but there was a known transmission issue that Acura did not stand behind their product in my opinion.

One of the things I hate about recent cars is the user interface for nav and other systems. I travel a lot on business and drive a lot of rental cars. Granted they are most compact/economy cars but most of them just plain suck. Wife's car is a Toyota Highlander and it just flat out pisses me off. I do like the interface on BMWs.

We didn't have the dreaded transmission problem with our TL, but that worry always lurked i.n the back of my mind. Sold the car so it wouldn't be a problem of mine one day.

What is it about the highlander you don't like.......Just curious.

Price range?

I used to have an Acura TSX many years ago. Bought it with 20k on it and sold with 145k (I drive a lot). No problems whatsoever.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

It drives fine. It is a kid hauler.

Annoyances:
- Once the car is moving you can't change anything related to nav and some (most) other controls are locked out. Most cars seem to have a "press this button if you're the passenger" to override, which he really when we use it. If we want to listen to music on someone else's iDevice for example.

- Lack of power ports in the back seat (I should've noticed this when looking at the car)

- Roof rack rails are some kind of faux chrome finish that is already hazing after just a couple of years

- poor gas mileage. Again this one is on us. This was the car my wife wanted, but my old 911 gets better mileage.

Not that far in my thinking yet. Just spitballing right now.

This is where hopefully Kaisen (Eric) might drop back in and make some suggestions. Always appreciated his input and also info on future models on the horizon.

My brother commutes to DC in a Mazda 3 hatchback. I've ridden in the back seat and at 6' tall it's pretty comfortable. I'm a Suby fan myself but the Impreza hatchback isn't very comfortable for a taller person and the legacy outback I don't think is much better.

That's interesting... I have never considered a Mazda. I haven't looked at one in years. Maybe I should give them a look.

I'll tell ya, my brother is pretty picky about cars. He's one of those over analyse everything types. The only knock on the car is they used a fluid filled motor mount IIRC and his was bad but he knew it going in so it didn't bother him much. I think it's a pretty nice ride with nice creature comforts. BTW, his is a manual shift and I think he gets about 32 on the highway average. The other thing I just thought of is you have to be careful of the year because some are prone to rusting if they come from a high salt area.

Another truck?

Mazda 3 and Mazda 6. Both are pretty awesome cars that are often below the radar (cheap and plentiful). Way more fun to drive than Corolla/Camry.

Won't fit under the lift or in the garage lengthwise.

Not enough data.

What more data do you want?

If you look at the Mazda hatchbacks, go drive a Ford Focus ST as well. Brilliant litte car.

I could provide all sorts of suggestions, but price is pretty much the top criteria to narrow things down.

You could also tell us things like stick vs automatic, hatchback vs sedan, practical vs luxury, etc.