# New car buying advice **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/new-car-buying-advice/57835 "2010-11-21T21:12:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bestung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecc23a/32.png) [@bestung](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bestung)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/new-car-buying-advice/57835/1 "2010-11-21T21:12:14Z")
I’m looking to buy a car (95% sure a new, compact or small midsized SUV) and I’m curious to hear which car you feel would work best for me: Not a car guy at all (know nothing), but my 14 year old car got stolen about a month or 2 ago few weeks back, so I’ve been researching like crazy from Consumer reports, Edmunds, Car and Driver, UsNews, etc. ? Live in the city and will mostly drive in the city (parallel parking friendly) ? I’m a single 36 year old guy ? 90% of the time it will just be me and a 110lbs dog, no kids. ? Ideally want dog to sit in the way back, with the back seats up Will that be an issue getting cool air back there? ? Want heated seats, and sunroof ? Want AWD or 4WD for Chicago winters ? Drove a small cars (Toyota Celica and Acura Integra) my entire life and want more roomy ? Not really so outdoorsy, so not taking the car through tons of mountains ? Drive about 6000 miles/year (not many) ? Want something that will last for a long time ? Narrowed it down to the following cars: - 2011 Chevy Equinox ( the leader, but maybe 2 big and worried about chevy resale) - 2011 ford escape (worried about buying a new car with a very old framework) - 2011 Subaru forester (don?t love the looks and don?t see many men driving this) Thanks a ton, Stu ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/new-car-buying-advice/57835/2 "2010-11-21T21:22:43Z")
Single and living in Chicago. My pick would be a Hyundai Elantra Touring, a spacious hatchback with a good reputation. Tons of room for your dog with the seats down. In Chicago you don’t need the expense and complexity of AWD, just a front wheel drive with good winter tires. You can get all that for around $20,000 loaded. Forget what Edmunds says about maintenance and operating costs. Buy the car if you like it after driving it; take the pooch with you! The Toyota Matrix fills the bill well too. I rented one this summer and found lots of room to carry bulky objects. Some cars that may be recommended, but I would not., are the VW Jetta station wagon, or any other European car. ---
**Author:** ![Raghallach5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/48db29/32.png) [@Raghallach5](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Raghallach5)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/new-car-buying-advice/57835/3 "2010-11-21T22:20:17Z")
I’m a Toyota lover through and through and have had a 1998 Toyota Corolla bought new with never a power-train problem. I’ve been thinking about a small SUV or cross over vehicle as well. Does anyone have anything to say about the 2011 Ford Edge? The style’s nice but I’m more concerned with reliability. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/new-car-buying-advice/57835/4 "2010-11-21T22:35:13Z")
If you like Toyotas, why aren’t you considering a Rav4 or Highlander? I wouldn’t worry too much about Edge reliability, or Equinox reliability for that matter. Any will provide long life at reasonable cost as long as you take care of them properly. ---
**Author:** ![bscar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bscar/32/34_2.png) [@bscar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bscar)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/new-car-buying-advice/57835/5 "2010-11-22T01:40:44Z")
If you’re gonna be parallel parking a lot, you should seriously consider one of those back up cameras on whatever you get. Of those 3, I’d go with the Escape. I went with a Mazda CX-7 myself for my new car and love it. Get a lot for the money I think.