CarMax is a great place to compare various makes and models all on the same lot. Let them know if you are just looking around. Hopefully they don’t give you too much pressure to buy from them since they have a no haggle policy.
Scion in general was targeted at the youth market. The median age of Scion buyers ended up being 35.
And a lot more people over 40 started buying them as a second car.
I knew your were way above average, @“the same mountainbike”!
The same has happened to the Honda Fit, a so-called young people’s car. With the passenger’s seat down you could carry your surfboard inside.
My wife has several senior friends who love their Fits.
Older folks care little for styling (that went out years ago) and want practicality. A square box on wheels that’s easy to get in and out of and easy to park is just what they want.
“I knew your were way above average,”
In Minnesota, everyone is above average. Its a math thing.
Y’know, doc, I think you’ve hit on the truth, speaking only for myself of course. I would add comfort, but the point is that most of us older folks have more utilitarian motivations than the younger set.
Thank you all for your kind observations and advice! My siblings and I are just beginning to adjust to the reversal of roles-- helping our parents make decisions. I especially want to thank
VOLVO V70 for suggesting going to new car shows. None of us had thought of that, and it’s certainly something we can do.
@tim2974 if you think about it, can you come back and tell us what they/you got? I would be interested to know.
“Older folks care little for styling (that went out years ago) and want practicality. A square box on wheels that’s easy to get in and out of and easy to park is just what they want.”
Wow, quite the stereotype statement. I’m an older guy and that’s not what I want!
I like styling and I need my vehicles to hold 4 adults and 4 sets of golf clubs or a couple of adults and 2 or 3 Dahon folding bikes. I’m still quite capable at parking larger vehicles, too.
I’m in 3 golf leagues and I walk, no cart. In my Monday Seniors’ golf league there are many players over 70 and 80 years old and 2 players over 90 (and they’re pretty darn good)! None of them drive little boxes. You will see no Asian cars (no dealer support in area) at the club, mostly American pick-ups, SUVs, and sporty cars.
Old guys rule!
CSA
Older folks care little for styling (that went out years ago) and want practicality. A square box on wheels that's easy to get in and out of and easy to park is just what they want.
I rarely see any younger (under 40) drive around in Corvettes or other high-end stylish vehicles. 50+ because some of them have amassed enough wealth to afford them. The average age of
a Corvette owner is 59.
CSA, allow me to suggest that you’re probably not the most common profile. 
Mike, those old guys driving the Corvettes and either guys who’ve always wanted one but can now afford it, or old guys trying to recapture their lost youth. Or both. If I could afford it I’d be trying to recapture my lost youth too. 
If I could afford it I'd be trying to recapture my lost youth too.
Same here. My goal when I retire is to buy a 60’s Vette that needs restoring. Spend a couple years doing it. By then all the kids will have gone through college and on their own…HOPEFULLY.
“Older folks care little for styling (that went out years ago) and want practicality.”
I agree. Specially recent style points like limited rear windows, crazy headlights, very low profile tires, lack of usable bumpers.
What does style mean anyway? The strange ideas of some auto designers who want to increase sales at any expense. There is nothing absolute or definable about style.
b
Nature has saved me from the folly of spending too much on one of the cars I wanted in my youth. I can’t get in and out of them anymore.
"If I could afford it, I’d be trying to capture my lost youth too."
At what age does one lose one’s youth? I think if I bought the car I dreamed about owning over 50 years ago, an Austin Healy Sprite, I think I would lose my youth. When I was starting out, I bought used cars that were unpopular as new cars(Ramblers, Corvair, etc.) I did a lot of my own work, by necessity, to keep them running. I bought a run down house and dd my own wiring, plumbing and dry wall repair. I now apply these skills to help the small church I attend that has a limited budget. I have learned to tackle electrical work and plumbing skills at the same time. That way the fires I cause with my electrical work are extinguished by the floods caused by my plumbing repairs. If I start driving around in an AH Sprite or Mazda Miata instead of my minivan, then I will have lost my youth, because I will have given up music and transporting my fellow musicians to gigs. If I buy a new mower, it means that I have lost my repair skills in keeping the old equipment functional. I am 74 and if I buy the car of my dreams, then I will have lost my youth, because I will have fulfilled my dream and have nothing to dream about.
@Triedaq
"I have learned to tackle electrical work and plumbing skills at the same time. That way the fires I cause with my electrical work are extinguished by the floods caused by my plumbing repairs."
That’s brilliant! I somehow seem to stagger the electrical and plumbing projects and they’ve often either caught fire or flooded in an uncontrolled disaster. From now on, I’m doing them simultaneously… or now maybe I could just put one off for a while…
CSA
@CSA I’m not exactly that kind of driver either, but I have a need to accommodate seniors in my car. My wife and I are both fit, but many of my friends are not. In any case, good trunk space, comfortable seats, room for skis, and easy to park are on my list of must haves, and rakish styling comes in at about number 10.
If I had a 3 car garage, I would probably own a Mazda Miata sports car as my fun car.
This summer I was at the golf course and upon leaving I saw a classic case of mid life crisis. One of the golfers tried to get a folding ELECTRIC golf cart (which he needed to finish 18 holes) into the trunk of a MUSTANG!! It involved first taking out the batteries, then detaching the bag, and then folding the cart itself and shoehorning everything into the trunk. The guy was wheezing by the time he was finished. He wore white shoes of course.
Triedaq, you are a very fortunate man. I realized my youth was waning when my spine started collapsing in on itself. Now, with the addition of arthritis, type 2 diabetes, glaucoma, cataracts (since surgically corrected), and two heart attacks that left me with a weak heart, I think I can say positively that my youth is behind me.
It’s okay, though, it was a good run. Life is good.
Being in my late 60’s, I’m really not interested in a Miata but styling is important to me and I would never own an ugly car with no styling like a minivan. Form before function but I would like something with a V6 and can pull a trailer.
@Bing I am probably the only person on the planet attracted to cars that others think are ugly. As a kid, I liked the looks of the 1949-50 Nash AirFlytes. I liked the square shape of the 1965-66 full sized Fords. I owned a 1975 AMC Pacer. I owned a 1978 Olds Cutlass Salon with the 4-4-2 package (the fastback style) for 33 years.
One thing that makes,“ugly” cars attractive is that they depreciate quickly and are good buys as used cars. The 1959 Edsel was a, Ford under the skin, but as used cars, they could be had more cheaply than a Ford. I came very close to buying a used 1960 Checker in 1964.