Car choices in a bumpy area

Carolyn is a professional and should be addressed properly .

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Carolyn- i was just rummaging around on Hemmings and i found the perfect car for you, a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham with a working air ride suspension and in otherwise excellent condition. V8 engine with 2 four barrel carburetors, 4 speed dual coupling hydramatic transmission and power everything. I’d even do a prepurchase inspection for you, gratis.

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Now see, there it is. All I had to do was ask.

@clueless thank you for your thoughts. I am glad it has worked out for you. My dad has one for far less treacherous driving, but I didn’t find the seats comfortable.

I feel like the roads are getting really really bad, that combined with vehicles that have little sidewall on tires due to style over practicality, creates the perfect storm of excessive suspension issues.

I also question the beating the rest of the car takes. We used to have vehicles that would glide over rough roads, now you and the vehicle get rattled on every bump. Every component, connection and structure gets rattled. That has to be hard on everything long term.

Sure older smooth riding cars still needed suspension repairs, though at least the rest of the car wasn’t being rattled on every bump. And the driver just floated around in smooth awesome comfort.

I imagine your Kia doesn’t have crazy low profile tires and thats good because then you would also be suffering from bent rims. Its getting ridiculous out here on these roads!

That would float over the rough roads in comfort and style!

If she is looking for a slightly more economical smooth riding yet tough car, I recommend the Chevy Caprice.

Not the early 2010s Caproce, Im not sure what those were about, im talking about the 1970s to 1996 caprices. The 91-96 caprices did habe a driver airbag standard and ABS brakes for some modern features.

Get serious !

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That’s the only regret i have for the rav4. The seats are not comfortable at all. :disappointed_face:

With all due respect, how can you recommend someone else buy a car that you feel has uncomfortable seats?

I wouldn’t recommend a car which was uncomfortable for me to drive :thinking:

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Maybe the screen name has something to do with it.

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Because everyoneis different. My relatives find the rav4 seats comfy or reasonably fitting.

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How far we have fallen, uncomfortable ride, uncomfortable seats. No wonder everyone is so mad and grumpy now roaring around road raging. Yet alot seem to chastise the smooth riding, reliable cars that had seats everyone though were comfortable, im talking caprices, crown vics, chrysler 5th Avenues, you know the favorites from the golden era of the automobile

All of those cars are very old, lack safety features,
guzzle gas and probably need a ton of repairs and overdue maintenance

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We can argue those points may be true, maybe not, though we cannot argue that they were uncomfortable. Everyone loved those nice sweet comfortable rides with living room couch rivaling seats.

Since I disagree with your premise, then it’s clearly not the case that “everyone” likes the old land barges, with their too-soft springs and mushy bench seat.

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Not me. My GTI with Recaro style seats was WAY more comfortable than my Duster with bench seats.

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I have suggested that a poster looking for a new car might look at a Camry or Avalon, even thought I found the seat backs uncomfortable. When I suggest looking at one, I say to take a long test drive to make sure the seats are comfortable. I tested an Avalon in 2017 and really like it. Once I hit 20 minutes in the test drive the seat back became uncomfortable enough that I wouldn’t buy it. In the late 2010s I had a couple of Camrys as rentals, and the seats were uncomfortable almost immediately. They are constructed the same way as the Avalon seats and knowing that made me notice the lack of comfort quickly.

They’re a bit lower than cars of the past, which would have had something like 205/65 R15, or 215/60 R16. You’re more likely to get a flat tire from a pot hole. It gets worse with bigger rims which typically have even thinner tires. The two cases of people getting flat tires from a pot holes happened on newer cars lower profile tires.

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Update. Thanks for the consultation, everybody. I went in to one dealer on an exploratory basis and test drove one I liked, but didn’t like the pressure tactics.

Went to another dealer after doing more research and long story short, I got a <500 mile pre-owned 2025 Honda HR-V. It met my needs and financial parameters, and I lucked out to come to the dealer before it left.

Thanks to all who weighed in — Volvo, VDC, Dave, jt, old mopar guy, clueless, John G, and anyone else I’m forgetting.

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Going to make a statement that you already know. :slight_smile: Don’t tell anyone what you paid because someone will say you paid too much .

Also I have purchased Gap Insurance on some vehicles.

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Congrats on the new ride, hope you enjoy and have many many years of trouble free miles with it…

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