[vj123]

Primary vehicle:
I would highly recommend adding minivans into your consideration, this is coming from a person who purposely stayed away from that segment because of the taboo attached to it. They are extremely practical and also really comfortable for long drives. Couple of years ago, I bought a mid size suv (with captain chairs in the second row) as my family hauler. Even though it was of good size, it wasnt very practical especially getting in and out of the third row. Usable space within the vehicle wasnt that great as well. We swapped it for a minivan and saw a day & night difference. I considered Odyssey & Sienna and ended up getting a Odyssey because as it had a V6 and was fun to drive in that segment. If you are looking at a hybrid, Sienna would fit your bill. Few of my friends bought one recently and are extremely happy with it. I sold my Odyssey last year just because my wife feels its a little big for her day to day usage. Else, it was going to be a long term keeper in the garage. Having gone through 9 vehicles in the last decade, i would not have spend money trying out other vehicles as a family hauler knowing what i know now.

Secondary vehicle:
If you are planning to have a proper family hauler, i would recommend a compact vehicle for your day to day duties especially in SFO. If you look into the traditional options, Civic would be my pick as it has higher driver engagement than a Corolla. Mazda 3 is a great option as well. My wife wanted something small for her day to day driving and we recently bought a Subaru Crosstrek and extremely happy with it.

[Pacific]

Let’s see if I can help you with your car-buying conundrum –
Honda Accord Hybrid – The new one is a looker inside and out; however, the fuel economy is not so great, and it’s a FWD.
Toyota Camry – Comes in both Hybrid and Non-Hybrid variants. Hybrid has excellent fuel economy, however, it’s a FWD. Naturally aspirated has AWD.
RAV4 – Hybrid and AWD, has excellent fuel economy. However, it drives like a truck and doesn’t have too many nooks and crannies to store stuff. Has a waiting period of 2 – 3 months in the Boston area. Doesn’t have a mechanical AWD, only an E-AWD.
CRV – The 2023 model is stretched out even further, compared to the previous generation. So, more space for the driver and passengers. Honda has improved the fuel efficiency of the 2023 model year, however, it’s no match to a RAV4 hybrid. Has lots of space to store stuff, good driving dynamics compared to RAV4. Has mechanical AWD, so it will be sure-footed in slippery conditions. The only cons I can see is, the engine is buzzy when revved hard.
Civic – Not a bad choice, slightly smaller for my taste, (nothing against people who own and drive a Civic)
So, the moral of the story is, if you want driving height akin to an SUV, I would suggest you go for a CRV. Mechanical AWD helps in slippery conditions, (read Lake Tahoe or Big Sur). It’s comfortable and munches miles like a monster.
If you are looking for an AWD sedan, then I would suggest you to for a Toyota Camry, mind you, AWD comes in a non-Hybrid flavor.

Let me add one more car to the mix – How about the new Prius Hybrid AWD?

Also, check out leasing options of a Hydrogen fuel-cell car. Car companies practically give away vouchers for Hydrogen refueling for the three-lease period. The only downside is you would be limited to CA, as there are no Hydrogen fuel stations outside that area.

[Navinprakash]

Originally Posted by karansm4u

Hi All,

So with that in mind I am looking for my "Secondary" car as of now.

* We have four member in family. Me, wife and two kids (3-7 years age).

* I am not too much obsessed with SUV/Compact SUV high stance factor, It might be good to have but I enjoy sedans equally for their drivability and stability.

* Since I do keep cars for long period so reliability and easy maintenance are important. I do not plan to go german brand here. Of course brands like Toyota, Honda, Mazda etc are preferred and please suggest if there are other good brands.

* In India, my criteria would be 5-star rated cars so that would do the most strict filtering but here since all cars are safe so just mentioning this for sake of completeness. I am definitely cross checking and making sure by reading their crash rating so that car safety is not assumed.

* Planning to buy New...

* Need to be only 5 seater. In case someone visit, I can always rent or borrow from friend for time being.

* Budget is as less as needed . I do have an upper threshold of $35K. I can stretch it more as well but then it is never ending as every few thousands $$ more either there is a higher version of same car or a base version of different car.

Mazda fits all your requirements. I owned Mazda for 6 years/70K miles and rented CX-5 it for multiple weeklong vacations and i can vouch for its reliability and maintenance. The driving dynamics is on par or exceed many luxury brands. ( I test drove many luxury SUVs back to back when i was looking for a next car and bought Jaguar F-Pace. The only reason i didn't want to go to Mazda was "I already owned a Mazda" and i will not have time to own other brands i love)

Between CX-5 and CX-50, i would prefer CX-50 as its targeted with a push on luxury market foray and CX-5 will be discontinued.

With your $35K budget, you an still get a NA 2.5 liter and 6 AT which is a gem of an engine/transmission combo. In sports mode, it still drives like a sports sedan (Just don't look at the Mileage indicator )

Though all the cars in your list are all very good, down the line in 10 years, the Honda & Toyota will be still mass-market cars with the luxury market is served by Acura & Lexus respectively.

But Mazda might be a full blown luxury automaker with the price tag might be matching the luxury competitors in 10 years.

Today - you are getting a car that is comparable to best from Japanese / European luxury cars, but paying the price of a Mass market car. More importantly, without any maintenance headaches of European cars.

You Decide!

[RSM_TorqueZoner]

I was in your exact position 5 years ago. And having traversed the journey, here are some insights -

An SUV offers much more flexibility and convenience in this country. I will stay away from a mini-van. Yes, it's practical but also as boring as it gets. Personally, I'll not touch it.

Used car prices are astronomically high. I would otherwise have recommended a sparingly used model eyes closed. It will take at least a couple of years, or maybe even more, for the prices to normalize. So buying new is the way to go.

If I were you, the new Mazda CX-90 (Unveiled on 31st Jan & available from March) is a beast. It will be slightly above your budget, but that's a car you can buy with your eyes shut. The best handling midsize SUV - period. The interiors are at par with the luxury marquees. Mazda truly feels premium, minus the brand image. It also has a hybrid version, but I'll stick with the inline 6. Cost savings, considering what you'll be paying upfront, are negligible. The next SUV I recommend is the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Further, if budget is the issue, the good old CX-9 will be available at amazing discounts. If you want to stick with a 5-seater, CX-5, or CX-50 - they are the best. Period. Gas mileage isn't bad at all. And CX-30 for a compact suv!

The popular ones like CRV, Rav-4, etc are okay. They don't excite me one tiny bit. Mazdas will leave you grinning every single time you get behind the wheel.

As for the sedan, Honda Civic and Mazda 3 are the best compacts out there. While the 3 has incredible driving dynamics, the back seats are cramped. The Honda Civic fits your bill to the T. But you may also want to look at the Kia K5, such an underrated yet gracious performer. You get a much larger car with more creature comforts without stretching your budget too much.

Feel free to inbox me if you want to discuss further

[GutsyGibbon]

Just want to add one data point (personal experience) about people with 2 kids buying 7 seaters like the Mazda CX90 (in the US). I bought my Mazda CX9 in 2012, thinking we would have visiting family, and we could all go together. In the 11 years of ownership, I have used the third row twice. Once when my parents visited, and once when my brother's family visited. Although we have had hundreds of visits from parents/relatives/friends, we always took 2 cars as nobody likes to be cramped. People have lots of stuff, baby seats, strollers, dogs, etc. It is much more practical to take 2 cars, than struggle to fit everyone in one car.

You can buy a 7 seater, but dont expect to use all 7 of them. Even at work when I announce, I can take 6 more people, only 3 people would ever join me. There are always more cars/drivers available, people really like to be spaced well in the US.

[carthick1000]

As much as I like Mazda's kodo design philosophy, I would recommend Civic over Mazda 3 for the following reasons which I think are important for a family:

- Mazda 3 has torsion beam suspension in the rear. Whereas Civic has multilink independent suspension. I guess Mazda put too much money into the cabin and too less under the body. IMHO, that is not so Mazda but it is what it is.
- The visibility from within the cabin of Civic is much better all around as they brought the shoulder line much lower and the glass area of the green house is much larger. So driver and passenger all get good visibility and the driver enjoys good view out front due to thinner A pillars and lower dashboard. In contrast, Mazda 3 has raised dashboard and poor rear visibility and the rear windows feel cramped because of the raising shoulder line towards rear. Kids in the back may feel claustrophobic in Mazda 3.
- I find the civic's infotainment system much faster than Mazda 3.

[arunrajk81]

Please try Subaru Forester for your second car. It’s reliable and an all-rounder and less costly than comparable Rav4. Its CVT has least rubber band effect among other CVTs.

It fits your budget and do well in snow as well wet conditions (If you are relocating a state that has lot of Snow)

[mazda4life]

As a satisfied owner of Mazda CX-5 , I would suggest that you give it a serious thought or indeed CX-50 which is much more butch looking. I did drive Toyota RAV 4 recently and man, it cannot hold a candle to the drive dynamics of a Mazda. Mileage of CX-5 is around 27MPG that too in dense traffic downtown Phoenix area and as long as you are primarily with 4 people to ferry around , space should not be a constraint.

[oyyeani]

Keep two things in mind before selecting a car, as I just got my new car (Canada). First is total car cost including cost of borrowing and second check the insurance cost. Insurance cost varies from car model to models. Honda civics and Toyota Corolla has very high insurance cost here in Toronto.

What I suggest is to keep cost as low as possible because this will be always a secondary car not primary. Unlike, India we gets cars in North America fully loaded with all essential features.
Compare bi-weekly cost and lease cost.

And I got myself a Kia Forte, it's a good car with good gas mileage and all feature. I wanted car very quick and all cars had long wait time. Honda civics have minimum 6month wait time here.
Other options, I considered were
1. Toyota Corolla hybrid
2. Hyundai Elantra hybrid luxury pack
3. Kia seltos LX AWD ( only if you have lot of snow to tackle).

[aditya_rao]

in the SUV category, New CR-V, CX-5 are good 5 seaters. CRV has lot of space, time tested engines and more like a no frills but no stress vehicle (nothing to worry about). There is a CX-50 also from Mazda

if you are ok with a slightly smaller SUV, the new HRV is also a good option.

Someone suggested minivan's so that is also a good option (Chrysler, Honda, Toyota have got good options). The budget 7 seater SUV's don't have enough space in the 3rd row, but good in terms of space if you pull down the seats.

The new Honda Pilot also seems to be a good 7 seater SUV, but cost will go up once you start adding the good options. Or you can look at the Highlander Hybrid (but cost will go up)

have you decided if you are financing or leasing? With lease you can experiment with a non Japanese brand, but keep in mind restrictions on mileage, wear and tear.