Smooth ride required

Back in the early 1960s, I had a college classmate that came.from a very wealthy family. He had severe congenital back problems. His parents gave him permission to buy any car he wanted. My friend, after test driving almost every car available bought a VW Beetle. He said that the seats fit him better than anything else he could buy. I guess it worked for him. He transferred from our small Midwestern college to a California institution and drove out there in the VW.

Besides wanting great seats, I would also want easy in/out. So Iā€™d be looking at a CUV-type vehicle, easier to get in and out. The old Beetle was good in that regard, too.

Citroen hasnā€™t used that hydropneumatic suspension design forā€¦many years.
Following their government-forced merger with Peugeot, there isnā€™t really a whole lot of difference between those two marques.

Ah, too bad. That was one sweet ride. Not for everybody, but if you wanted a soft ride I mean. I recall hearing Car Talkā€™s Ray if he was going to choose a car for the best ride, and ignoring everything else, like mpg, heā€™d choose a Lincoln model of some sort. Forget exactly what model he suggested. But it apparently has a very nice ride quality. And eats gasoline.

And the higher trim models do NOT always have the most comfortable seats.

Back in the 60ā€™s when French cars were sold here, they always had the thickest padding and most comfortable seats. Even my mothers 67 Simca had very plush seats, the rest of the car was a POS though, but the seats were nice.

That is my recollection alsoā€“with the exception of the Citroen 2CV.
Even crappy low-rent Renaults had very thickly-padded seats.

I suspect that db4690 was referring to much more recent French cars, as almost all of them from the '60s had very good seating.

I was referring to French cars from the 1990s

Depends on your budget to some extent. Mercedes are usually cited for having a very smooth and quiet ride, as are the upper-end Lexus (Lexi?), as someone else mentioned. Buick may be a good choice, donā€™t know - have not been in one for years, but most modern cars of a given nameplate do not ride as well as their ancestors from the '60ā€™s and '70ā€™s.

My sister-in-law also has a medical condition that requires a smooth ride for her comfort; she had had big Caddies for years, but the current ones were too rough-riding. She ended up with a Lexus SUV, which to me, rides very stiffly - but she likes it.

We shopped for a new car late last year/early this year. I also wanted a smoother, quieter ride than the Mercury Mariner (Ford Escape) we have had for 11 years. Tested all new similarly sized vehicles and they were no better than what we had. Tested a Volvo wagon and it was a very nice, good-riding, quiet vehicle, but they are quite expensive to maintain (repairs & insurance).

Finally, we settled on a Subaru Outback, and I find it to be extremely comfortable on all road surfaces. We have the Limited, which has slightly softer shock valving than the less expensive models, and the seats are superior as well. Took a 3200 mile road trip this summer and I could drive all day with no discomfort - Iā€™m 70 and have often had trouble staying comfortable on trips in various rental cars. The Outback is great: reasonably priced, AWD standard, and good gas mileage. Try it.

A Mercury Grand Marquis with air-ride suspensionā€¦They have no equal for comfortā€¦

As for your bone problems, ask your doctor if Zometa would be of any benefit for youā€¦