Welcome to car talk! I have no idea what car to get

[mattkime]

Follow up to https://forums.macresource.com/read.php?...16,3004070

My VW Alltrack is toast and I'm feeling a unique sense of anger and sadness that can really only be induced by the early failure of a car combined with used car shopping. Its not fun.

I'm making it harder on myself. I like the wagon format. Wagons are dead, or close enough.

I like the idea of a small car that drives like a sedan but fits my family of four including long road trips with a lot of luggage. There's a few of us out there but we're a pretty tiny minority at this point.

Maybe I should buy a car like a normal person would. We're a family of four, a one car family, what should we get? Its pretty obvious that this is a question of which SUV / crossover we should get. I'm half tempted to just walk in and take whatever is on offer. They're all about the same at the same price, right?

No CVT. No EV (sadly)

I guess I'm still tempted to go used which is a pain in the butt but we only drive about 10k miles /year - the car is likely to age out before its used up milage wise.

Kind of tempted by the Mazda CX-5 / CX-50 or BMW X3. Maybe I should just get whatever's in good condition and nearby instead of trying to travel to buy a car.

Just tell me what to buy so I can be done with this whole thing.

[Acer]

Everything has SUV bloat these days, even sedans, without added interior room. If you want the "wagon" thing with that sort of cargo area, more than a hatchback, SUV or crossover are all there is. Subaru Outback leans toward a wagon profile over an SUV. Impreza is smaller.

[special]

Mazda CX-5 seems pretty nice. If there is a Mazda available in the "Emerald Aisle" when I rent, that is what I pick over any other brand.

[special]

I would be pissed off at VW if a 7 year old car with 70 k miles (*) died on me.

You didn't say mileage, but you noted "We put about 10k miles a year on it and nearly half of that consists of road trips to visit family."

WTF is wrong with the German Engineering?

EDIT: the spark plug that broke, was that OEM or did you replace it at some point? and if yes, why? most cars should go for 90-100k miles before needing spark plugs.

[kj]

Look at the CX-50. I just drove several of the mazdas, and they are the best deal out there right now. They are way nicer than I expected. I personally liked the cx-30 turbo best, but it’s fairly small.

[mattkime]

special wrote: I would be pissed off at VW if a 7 year old car with 70 k miles (*) died on me.

What does being mad get me? I just want to move on.

Yes, the spark plugs had been replaced. They're every 40k miles, although some recommend replacing them more frequently.

As for why the spark plug failed, there's really only speculation. Its rare but it happens. Speculation about counterfeit plugs and improper install. I haven't found anything authoritative on the topic.

I think EVs are a pretty good solution to the problem, just doesn't seem like a good fit for us at this moment.

[Tiangou]

Going from that car, I'd expect you to be comfortable in a Subaru Outback, though it's not so luxurious as a new VW would be.

[Black]

Why do you need a car?

[anonymouse1]

Maybe a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, the one that can go about 40 miles on battery?

[mrbigstuff]

I would buy used buy then again, I buy everything used.

A6? XC70? E320?