The 2017 Ford Escape should be on the test drive list.
@choices If you trade cars every 4 years or so, a Jeep Cherokee would be OK. These vehicles have less than sterling genes and will require more repairs as they age. Fiat’s ownership of Chrysler did not improve the breed!
For long term ownership I would stick to Japanese or Korean makes.
The Escape is an anemic little slug of a wanna-be truck. I’d avoid it, personally, even if I didn’t have personal experience with having a fleet of them at work and having amazingly stupid reliability problems with them.
The CRV should definitely be in the running. It’s a very good vehicle. You can option it out very nicely, and if you need even more up-scale interior/etc, check the Acura RDX, which is the luxury version of the same car.
If you’re not going to keep the new vehicle for more than 5 years or so, the Cherokee would suffice. I will say I drove a Cherokee for work years back and it was one of the best snow cars I ever drove – but that was before Chrysler decided to let the Italians have a go at making it, so I can’t say if that still holds true.
@choices
Which part of Oregon are you moving to? The climate differs between western and eastern Oregon and can affect car choice.
Look at Consumer reports for reliability ratings.
Jeep products are near the bottom.
Ok…so jeep is off the list… Moving to western Oregon, near Portland… Just came back from Carmax with the Volvo. Car has no accidents, good condition, single owner, up to date maintenance, fairly new tires, garaged and raised in Florida.
Anyone want to guess what they offered me? I know, I know… annoying guessing game, but I’m just curious because I respect your input…
$500 if that for the Volvo, I am sure even if it wasn’t that you found the offer offensive.
Your best bet on what to buy is to spend some time at your new location. I agree that Jeeps are fun and good looking, but that is about it. I even asked the question once on allpar forum which is the place for Chrysler fans and they steered me away from the Jeep.
Your family has had good luck the the CRV, the new ones have CVT transmission, so you have to test drive one, they do have AWD CRV’s too.
Just in my view but some cars should only be owned while they are under warranty. That would include VW, BMW, Volvo, and Jeep.
Sorry didn’t see the third page before butting in. I would guess $500-1000 for the Volvo too but suspect they do not want it.
Ordinarily I would guess they’d give you trade-in value, which would be somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand depending on what options your vehicle has and what kind of shape it’s in.
But Carmax likes to lowball their offers because they offer an all-inclusive bumper-to-bumper warranty which they tend to take a bath on with unreliable vehicles. Based on that I would guess somewhere between $1500 and 2 grand.
You guys are so good! $1,200. Honestly, I was stunned. His explanation offered reasonable points, and I had already factored in their profit margin, etc., but still… So, I’m going to sell it privately. I don’t like the process, but it wasn’t too terrible when a family member did it recently… so we’ll see.
It could be worse! They lowballed Doug DeMuro over at Jalopnik by somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 grand when he tried to sell them his Ferrari 360 as a joke. 
The Carmax locations in my area don’t sell cars that old, they would have to send that car to the auction.
So that’s probably why so low. They’d send it to the auction and maybe get $200 for their trouble.
gallant: Oregon=Sales Tax Zero. Vehicle Registration 2 Years $86, Vehicle Title $77, Driver License 8 Years $40. No state inspections. Emissions inspection Multnomah County.
On undesirable cars the dealer usually does you a favor by taking it off your hands. I found the wholesale and retail value for my wife’s friend’s 1997 Taurus, still in good condition with 125,000 miles on it. The wholesale value was $100 which it would probably bring as scrap if it did not sell at the auction.
SOP (Standard operational procedure) for me is including as is in the sales receipt. No warranty unless one is transferable. I don’t recall exactly what I had to do to transfer the extended warranty.
I wish I had found this forum years ago! Can I keep all of you for additional house advice after my move: electrical, roofing, plumbing, a/c etc.? This has all been so informative and entertaining. Yes… I recently discovered that Oregon has no sales tax, so that will be the location of any new purchase. Thanks for all the additional data sgtrock. And yes, Docnick, Bing, and Nevada… the Carmax guy explained they would have to handle it through a wholesaler…so private sale is the way to go… or just pull a “Thelma and Louise” and drive it off a cliff…
Well some of us do all that stuff but if it is not car related the overlord shuts down the thread. so I can’t use my battery charger because the gfi keeps shutting out might be acceptable.
Yeah, its tough. I’ve had two good boards now go defunk. I particularly miss my wood workers board where the guys (and gals) pretty much could answer any cabinet making, electrical, plumbing, welding, and even computer questions. Didn’t know much about cars though. Its hard trying to find and break in to a new one.
@sgtrock21 I think I have to move to Oregon, here in CA we pay close to 10% sales tax, registration on an average newer car could be $300-$400 a year.