OK so wife wants a new car. Doesn't have to be new, just new to her. We are looking at new only because we have a decent down payment saved and interest is better, plus some of the models we have been looking at are better if they are 09 or 10 compared to older. So, our budget is 20-30k for new, under 20 if we go used.
Car will be used for: daily commute to work which is about 20 miles weather she takes the interstate or back roads. She picks up the horse grain, dog food etc in addtion to normal grocery shopping type items, so a decent sized trunk does the trick most of the time. It does snow here but not much, but when it does, the drifts can be a problem getting to the main roads which are about 1 1/2 miles from the house.
Mind you all after looking at several brands, I took her to the Dodge dealer and exactly what I wanted her to see was sitting on the lot. It was a '05 3500 SRW 4x4 with every option including heated leather which having butt warmers is the major option she is looking for. It had 78k on the odo and they were asking 27k for it. It threw her for a little loop thinking she could have everything she wanted in a car and budget in a truck package. The only other thing she wants is something that gets good mileage. This is where the truck fell off the list, she wants at least 30 mpg. This kinda ticks me off with the auto industry is the car she has, a '00 Saturn V6 has more power and gets the same mileage as most everything we have test drove. WTH?? 10 years of technology has given us less performance, less power and no better mpg??
Cars we've test drove:
Nissan Altima
Honda Civic
Honda Accord V6
Saturn Vue
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
VW Jetta 5 cylinder 5 speed
VW Jetta TDI w/ automatic

Now, some of these cars weren't the ideal setup as we had to drive what was sitting on the lot. For instance, I wanted to drive a TDI with the 5 speed as I have read very good things about this combo,but the dealer didn't have any on the lot and convinced me I would like their new auto, which I was pretty happy with as it turned out.
So, we didn't like the Nissan or either of the Honda's, we've had 5 Saturns and want to try something different and don't feel comfortable buying a car who's manufacturer is gone ***** up.
We really liked the Jetta and the Subaru's.
The Outback is really nice sized has like 8.5" of clearance and the all wheel drive system is impressive. The downsides are I don't like anything before the 2010 model because the seats were so uncomfortable to me my back hurt just test driving, so we'd have to go new. The other is image, I guess growing up around so many Subaru's gave me a "these are for white knuckled blue hair women who are afraid to drive" cars. But I'm getting over it or at least trying to look beyond that for what it is which seems to be a very well built, safe, durable car. The other downside is the CVT auto tranny which is like riding a snow mobile with not much power and lots of rev. Maybe the 6 speed manual would be better, I didn't get to drive one.
My other fav was the TDI, well it's diesel powered and a sweet car, 'nuff said, but it doesn't come in AWD to get through the drifts.
So what I ask is anything you guys know for fact good or bad about either of these two?

 

I hear Toyota is makin some killer deals right now.

Ok, bad joke. We looked at the Subaru's for a long time and everything I could find them showed them as bein some of the best deals on the road. They hold re-sale value, scored higher then most in reliability, comfort and cost. On a side not those are some quick little cars and that makes em fun to drive. We rented them several times for long trips and always requested them in particular because they were so comfortable. I say Subaru in general because all of the models they offer are so similar in all these same aspects. That little turbo motor they offer in a few models is a little race car.

 

If I was buying a new car, it would be a Subaru.

Little old blue hairs are on to something... Subarus can be made fast for cheap, and they handle on rails. The most affordable dollar-per-fun cars to drive the crap out of on the planet.

And those opposed fours can be made to sound wicked.