Life in the fast lane…

I’m thinking that with the next year or so I’m going need a new car. I’ve had my VW Passat for about 10 years now and it has served us well. For the most part it is still a solid car. Runs great! But there are a few nagging issues that are making me get ready for the next vehicle. It has about 140,000 miles on it and is going to need some major maintenance very soon.

I’m going into the process with a pretty open mind. Thinking about requirements rather than a particular brand, type or features. I’m a little biased toward buying used since I think that I can get a better value, espcially on recient year model vehicles.

Roughly my requirements are fit, economy, utility, function, style. Fit is the most important issue for me. I’m about 6’5″ and really don’t fit comfortably into most cars and even some trucks. So this limits my choices very quickly. Economy is a big decider as well. I work about 25 miles from my home so I’m thinking that it should get about 30+ miles per gallon. Utility would be the ability to haul people and stuff, my current car does not have a big opening for the trunk door, so even thought the space is pretty big it is tough to get things in and out. I’d love to be able to take 4 people ski/camping or 6 people to the orchard. Functional element include safety and traction. All wheel drive would be great but traction control would work as well. Based on my requirements what do you think I should look at? Anyone have a car that they adore that might fit my life.