Car Hunt: Part 1

My search for a new vehicle has been going on for about a month now, and until last weekend had consisted entirely of online research. Having never bought a car before, I found myself unexpectedly intimidated by the prospect. After all, it's not difficult to end up with a car that you didn't really want, or that you can't afford. There are a lot of options out there, so I wasn't sure where to start. Thankfully, I had friends and family who had significant experience in buying cars, and they were able to point me in the right direction.

One of my main goals in getting a new car was that I wanted to feel like I was moving "up" in terms of the kind of vehicle I drove. Currently I'm driving a red 2000 Toyota Camry Solara (named Stormin' Norman). I love that car, and I knew it'd be difficult to beat, especially since if it were brand new, it'd be out of my price range. I looked around at some of the options available, and I found that there weren't many cars that actually appealed to me, at least in the mid-size range. I think most of the compact cars would be way too small for me, and a lot of the big contenders in the mid-size sedan category (such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord) are just kind of boring. I'm not looking for some high-performance car that's able to go 300kph, but I want something that's reliable, fun to drive, comfortable, and comes with certain amenities, such as an iPod hookup and Bluetooth phone connectivity. With those things in mind, I started looking at the options in terms of small SUVs that would be available, and I came up with the following list (in no particular order):

• 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
• 2011 Honda CR-V
• 2011 Kia Sportage
• 2011 Toyota Rav4
• 2011 Ford Escape
• 2011 Ford Edge
• 2011 Mazda CX-7

Some random thoughts about the list:

1. There are a number of cars on there made by dealers that don't have quite as good of a reputation as others (most notably Kia, but also Chevy). I've done a fair bit of research, and despite past experiences, it seems as though the quality of these brands has increased significantly, and they are now close to being on par with some of the more respected brands (Honda and Toyota, specifically).
2. If I had to choose based on style alone, the Kia Sportage would definitely be my first choice. It has been completely redesigned for 2011, and is (in my opinion) the best looking car on this list.
3. Some of these options might be out of my price range. My parents are helping me with this purchase, but I still don't want to put myself too far into debt. The Mazda CX-7 and Ford Edge, while both great looking cars, are also on the pricier end of things.

So far, I've been able to test drive the Chevrolet Equinox and the Honda CR-V. Here are my thoughts on each:

Chevrolet Equinox

Initially the Equinox was my first choice. I really like the styling of this car, and it's got a lot of the features I'm looking for. It's in the middle of the road in terms of price (starting around $25,000 or $26,000), and it's received good reviews from the sites I've used to research (primarily Edmunds.com and the Kelley Blue Book website).

The people at the Chevy dealer I went to were friendly, but the guy who ended up helping us didn't seem to know too much about the vehicle. He gave me some info about a few of the features, but his knowledge seemed to come from brochures, rather than any real familiarity with the Equinox. He gave me 20 minutes to test drive the car, which I thought was fair, but he wasn't clear on whether or not he was going to be coming with me, which left me sitting there, confused, until we finally cleared it up (he didn't come along).

In terms of comfort, the Equinox does have all the bells and whistles that I would want, but the seats were somewhat hard. The lumbar support in the driver's seat was more annoying than anything else, as it didn't seem to do anything to improve the comfort of the seat. The headrest sticks forward a bit more than I'd like, but other than that it's a very comfortable car to ride in. There was a TON of legroom, which is something that's very important to me (I always find it odd when I have to push the driver's seat all the way back to fit into a car; I'm tall, but I'm not THAT tall, and if I'm having trouble fitting into a car I can't imagine what taller people have to deal with).

There were two problems I noticed with the Equinox, in terms of its actual performance on this test drive:

1. It's kind of a bumpy ride. Both BC Millionaire (who was along as a second pair of eyes) and I noticed that we were feeling every crack in the pavement, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because we were on a bad road.
2. The engine is nowhere near strong enough to handle that much car. Even on slight inclines the 4-cylinder engine was roaring as it tried to pull the weight of the Equinox. It had absolutely terrible acceleration, and it just felt like it was having to work way too hard to drive around the city streets.

Conclusions: The only way I'd consider getting an Equinox is if I could get a good deal on one with a V6 (and even then I'd have to go back and test drive it to make sure).

Honda CR-V

The CR-V was one that I had slight apprehensions about, as I wasn't sure about the styling of it (sometimes when I saw them on the street I'd be reminded of a minivan, and that bugged me). However, upon being able to get up close with one, I wasn't bothered by the exterior styling at all. The salesman was very helpful, and knew a lot about the vehicle (apparently his last 4 vehicles had been CR-Vs, so he knew his stuff). He gave us 5-10 minutes to test drive the CR-V, which I thought was pretty short.

Driving the CR-V after having driven the Equinox was like going from night to day. The CR-V's engine is much better suited to the size of the car (I don't know the exact specs), and it actually felt like it had more kick than Stormin' Norman's V6. I test drove a model with all-wheel drive, and had no problem zipping around in the snow that was covering the streets.

My only issues with the CR-V are aesthetic. The interior feels a bit dated. This may be because I was only driving a base model, but the interior is styled a lot like a minivan, and the centre console seems a bit bare-bones. The iPod hookup is there, but you have to control it using the iPod, rather than being able to control it with the buttons on the console or the steering wheel. It's not a dealbreaker, but if I found another car that was as fun to drive and had better interior controls, I'd almost certainly go with that (depending on price).

I did have to have the driver's seat all the way back in order to really be comfortable in the CR-V, which is a bit disconcerting, but then again, I'm fairly certain that my growing days are over, and I won't have to worry about needing more legroom anytime soon.

The salesman at the Honda dealership went over some pricing with me, and described some of the deals he'd be able to make (it looks like before any real dealing I'd be able to get a CR-V for around $33,000). Overall it was a much better experience at this dealership than at the Chevy one.

Conclusions: Having only test driven two vehicles, the CR-V is definitely the front runner. It is a blast to drive, but the interior styling is something I'll have to think about before I actually make a decision.

I'm supposed to be going test driving again on Saturday, and I'll be going all day long, so hopefully I'll get through a much bigger chunk of the list this time. I've also spoken to my dad, and he did point out that I can get an almost-fully-loaded Hyundai Sonata for about the same price as the lower-model CR-V. It's certainly something to think about (I drove a Sonata as a rental car for two weeks when I was in BC in September, and I enjoyed it then). I'm still definitely leaning towards a small SUV, but it's food for thought.

Stay tuned.