Need a New Car - New Hyde Park,NY

I LOVE my GMC Acadia! Has the third row and lots of storage behind it. We chose to get the two captain seats in the second row so it appears a lot like a mini van on the inside. Good luck.

Hi there-
I really like my honda crv. we looked at the toyota rav4 but I didn't like the interior. Prior to this I had a honda accord and suzuki sidekick and was very happy w. both. My big feature though is durability and longevity. I hate cars breaking down at 60 thousand miles. Honda and suzuki seem to have their quality management light years ahead of american cars (no surprise there).
Gas miles average around 23,24 per gallon- still way too low in my opinion. Space in the CRV is good, but now my husband wants to get a minivan, so not sure what we're going to do. good luck!

I just purchased a Honda - not the full SUV but the cross over which really is nice and has alot of safety issue. I purchased it pre-certified with 9,800 miles. We are quite pleased.

I am selling my 2000 red jetta turbo, stick shift car if anyone is interested. It has black leather interior and is in good condition with 92,000 miles. I would have continued to drive it but husband felt a new car would be a nice surprise which it was. It has brand new tires on it as well - body is in good condition as is the interior.

K.

I have a 2003 Ford Explorer XLS and it has been great. I feel very safe in it, I like the 4wd for the winter, and it has been a good truck so far with 86,000 miles on it. The XLT model has the option of a third row of seats.

However, based on what you describe as your needs, you would do far better with a minivan. There is no SUV that can match the storage capacity of a minivan. We rent them regularly for work. You want to get one where the seats stow in the floor, that will give you the most flexibility for passengers and supplies, plus you don't need to drag a big clunky seat into your house or garage. I know the minivans are the least cool vehicle out there, and their mileage has been about the same as the mid-size SUVs, but they really transport a lot of stuff and people, NOT one or the other like SUVs do.

If you are going to buy preowned check out autotrader.com before just walking into any dealership. This site has a nice set-up for comparing vehicle features and prices--can help you narrow down what a good price would be for make and model. They give you prices so you know exactly how high you would be paying for a car prior to getting to the seller/dealer location--and you can still wheel-and-deal lower!!! Also a carfax report is sometimes offered. You might have to drive to a couple towns over or compromise color choice but not a big deal for a great deal!

When I was just looking for a new car, I found that with many of the deals that are available now, it just makes more sense to get a new car versus a pre-owned car. Also, you get the tax back from new cars purchased this year in your 2009 taxes.

call Big Bucks Auto located in Queens. Ask for Bill and let him know that Adrienne referred you. We buy all of our cars pre-owned from him.
good luck

I have a Lexus 400h and love it more than any car I have had (Toyota Rav4, Ford Contour, Ford Ranger, Subaru sedan). I know they are expensive but for us it has been worth it. We keep our cars forever. This one almost has 90,000 miles and I've had it for 3 years. Still looks and drives like new.

It is 4-wheel drive, comfortably seats 3 (for legs and bottoms!) in the back and has a large hatchback for easy hauling. It averages a little over 25 MPG and my commute has both highway and local miles (hybrids are typically the opposite of entirely gas engines that do better on the highway since the electric engine is used more in the stop/go scenario).

We paid $45,000 three years ago, but that took barganing three dealers against each other via the internet and complete flexbility on the color/amenities to get the price. Most everything comes standard anyway except the navagation system, enhanced sound system and entertainment system. We only wanted/got the navagation system. We kept calling around to the three and telling them we got a better offer until we got to what we thought was the best we could do, then we went to the dealer that had the best color and said if you will give it to us for $1000 under the best price we had, we will buy it right now from you. I think we saved about $5000-7000 this way. You can do MUCH better if you by a used one. We would have bought used, but we bought the 400h the first year it was out, which is not advised, but since the Toyota parent company already had such extensive experience with the hybrid engine we thought it would be okay and has been great.
At the same time we were looking at other SUVs (STINKY gas mileage) and mini-vans (also not great gas mileage and almost as expensive) and decided this would be our best bet. Hope you find something you enjoy.

We just got a new addition to our family so we had to upgrade our vehicle too.
We deal with the same dealership and the same salesman each time we purchase a new car. We know we can trust him and he gets us the best deal he can....even goes above and beyond for us.

We ended up with a Chevy Trailblazer EXT. It has 3rd row seating so it seats 7. There is a good amount of area in the back for storage and the seats are roomy. It also has a luggage rack.
We actually had another car given to us for my boys to drive, and we pulled it back on a car trailer using the trailblazer...it handled the extra load with no trouble, even through the mountains. It has a V6 in it.

As for it being a "gas guzzler", we get pretty good mileage with it. It gets over 22 mpg highway and around 20 city. Granted, it's not a hybrid or anything..but I have yet to see one of those that will fit a large family like ours. As it is we actually need 2 more seats for our entire family to fit in the vehicle. 2 of the kids live with their mom, so we don't have them all of the time. When we do, we have to take 2 vehicles for family trips....this would actually use more fuel.

Anyway, I love this SUV, never thought I'd actually own one...but this one is definitely a good one for our family.

I really like my 2006 Dodge Caravan with the stow and go. I find the back seats go up and down a lot with what I do, and the stow parts in front of the middle seats are nice, but do tend to collect stuff and dirt! I got the bigger engine (the SXT, I believe) and enjoy the extra power. Hey, with four kids and a dog, if I have to drive a mini van, it ought to be sort of fun! I got it through Enterprise rent a car. They only sell the best of the bunch, at a set price which is under blue book price. I really liked the no dickering part of buying a car, and you know that it has been maintained reasonably well. I guess just do your research, test drive a few to see which ones feel good and have the features that you like, and don't let anyone pressure you into buying something you don't want!

We have a Honda Pilot and absolutely love it. It's a great car, has a 3rd row if you need it or spacious trunk if you don't. This is my second Honda and I have no complaints with it.

I have a Honda Pilot and LOVE it! We bought it in 2004 and it runs beautifully. It is considered a full size, but it isn't overwhelmingly big. Several friends have purchased the CR-V recently and love it as well.

Hi Celia.

We have a Honda Elemet that we are thinking about selling if you are interested. It is not an SUV and can only seat two in the back seat but is a great car for logging things around and has great space. The back seats can be removed and hung up along the sides in the back for more storage space and the floor can be hosed down as it is like a boat deck!! We have 3 kids and a Honda Odessy but would like something a bit more fun and that can fit the 5 of us. Let me know if you are interested and I can give you more info.

At this point in time I think we should all be thinking about the future of our children and act to help them have a healthy, safe environment. Buying a gas guzzling SUV at this time in history is not the way to help your kids live a long happy life. Climate Change is about our personal actions. We can make a difference and teach our kids to act responsibly. You can add an aerodynamic overhead carrier to a fuel efficient car when you have to carry merchandise.