my avocation is such that i have to be able to travel at any point in time though. so if it's in the middle of a snowstorm and the plow hasn't been around in a couple hours it could be trepidatious.

Kia is awesome. Not sure what you need in an suv, but the optima carries a ton and I never slide in the snow.

Get a Subaru.

committed to hybrid to bridge me to the model Y!

Well I'm with you on the AWD thing. Doesn't seem like there are many hybrid+AWD options, though. I'd really love to have an Audi Allroad some day, but in the meantime I'm still as happy as ever with my Subie.

My Acura AWD system is awesome. There is a little display that shows power distribution (thrust vectoring) to each wheel. I have had it pull itself out of snow with each wheel turning differently (wife was driving and I was outside the vehicle thought that I needed to dig her out, but no). The scary thing is what it can do on dry pavement. For such a big vehicle it is nimble. It "flowed up" to the NSX.

Oh, a lot of the time it is in front wheel giving decent MPG.

yeah, the MDX hybrid is on my long list. Not sure I wanna spend that much $ for a 2-3 year car though.

i rarely say this but...maybe a lease? probably could find one for 199-250.

I do 15-20K annually though. And now probably more with a guaranteed 40 miles every school day.

also, seems like the MDX hybrid isn't even available yet. I thought it was going to be for the 2017 model year. Oh well. And the previews only gave it 26MPG anyway.

Bucky wrote:also, seems like the MDX hybrid isn't even available yet. I thought it was going to be for the 2017 model year. Oh well. And the previews only gave it 26MPG anyway.

Yep, not yet. That will be my replacement vehicle when available. I have a regular. MDX. Actually get decent mpg on the highway. My commute is 16 miles RT, so I only fill up every 3+ weeks.

Checked out the Niro today. Much smaller than I expected since it's marketed as a "crossover". Looks tiny next to a Sorrento. Clocks in at 10 ft³ less cargo spaced (around 16.5%) less than my CR-V. I guess what do you expect for 50MPG, eh. It's still on the short list though. 6 months to decide!

FINALLY set foot in the Tesla "store" at the KoPM. Dang those things are nice. Only had two Model "S" in there though (along with a frame with just the drive motors, I guess to drive home the simplicity). Wanted to see the Model E SUV since that will probably be a harbinger of the Model Y.....

Bucky,

Did you decide on your car? I am in the market soon once VW buys back my Jetta next month (need room for the future kids) and looking at a smaller/mid-size SUV.

Also, Uber has driver-less cars available in Phoenix...

The B1G Piece wrote:Bucky,

Did you decide on your car? I am in the market soon once VW buys back my Jetta next month (need room for the future kids) and looking at a smaller/mid-size SUV.

Also, Uber has driver-less cars available in Phoenix...

check out Subaru? guessing AWD isn't necessary in PHX tho..

how about the VW Alltrek? ugly as sin but might fit the bill. VW offering any deals with their buybacks?

BMW X1

jamiethekiller wrote:

The B1G Piece wrote:Bucky,

Did you decide on your car? I am in the market soon once VW buys back my Jetta next month (need room for the future kids) and looking at a smaller/mid-size SUV.

Also, Uber has driver-less cars available in Phoenix...

check out Subaru? guessing AWD isn't necessary in PHX tho..

how about the VW Alltrek? ugly as sin but might fit the bill. VW offering any deals with their buybacks?

Not really offering deals, they just want this process to be over.

My dad has a Subaru and really likes it, but AWD in Phoenix isn't necessary. My wife really likes the Mazda CX-5, anyone success/failure with those or Mazda's in general?

The B1G Piece wrote:

jamiethekiller wrote:

The B1G Piece wrote:Bucky,

Did you decide on your car? I am in the market soon once VW buys back my Jetta next month (need room for the future kids) and looking at a smaller/mid-size SUV.

Also, Uber has driver-less cars available in Phoenix...

check out Subaru? guessing AWD isn't necessary in PHX tho..

how about the VW Alltrek? ugly as sin but might fit the bill. VW offering any deals with their buybacks?

Not really offering deals, they just want this process to be over.

My dad has a Subaru and really likes it, but AWD in Phoenix isn't necessary. My wife really likes the Mazda CX-5, anyone success/failure with those or Mazda's in general?

We looked at the CX-5. Really liked its spunkiness. The Mazda dealers, 3 of them, could not get out of their own way. I will say that in trade from price it did lack features that most other vehicles had, and to get them you needed to go to the top trim level.

WRT VW, the process itself is painless. You will meet a contractor who just wants to help you get out of the dealership ASAP. If you want copies of anything, you need to find a way to make that happen, they will not give it to you. We just took pictures of the documents.

VW dealer who took back my dirty diesel just reached out to schedule a service appointment. F'ing schmucks.

thephan wrote:VW dealer who took back my dirty diesel just reached out to schedule a service appointment. F'ing schmucks.

Good to know, I've been keeping my documentation up to date.