First BLOG post ever - SUV, Wagon or Sedan?

It is that time again....new car. Yep the Audi (A6 2.7T) will be returned in March (2005). I can't believe it has almost three years we have been driving that. Anyway, back to the title of the article. As some of you may know we bought our first house in July 2003. Prior to that we owned a townhouse for about 11 years. What I'm founding out is that we have more of a need to visit a Home Depot or garden center than we did before and thus....a 2 door car with no fold down rear seat OR a mid-size sedan aren't ideal cargo haulers. So, i thought it would be practical to consider an SUV or Wagon to replace the Audi. Well that idea didn't sit to well for Paula. "Why on Earth would we need one of those?" I then explained the most memorable occassions that we could have had a use for one. Mind you I'm not a typical do-it-your-selfer....nor do I think having an SUV will make me one. However, there are things like bags of water softner, potted plants, garden tools, lattice trim for the deck or that piece of furniture we saw that would look good in the master bedroom that I think an SUV would be handy for. Mind you I'm not a big fan of SUVs but Paula has made it clear to me that "She doesn't want to be caught dead in a wagon or Minivan". I have to agree with her on the minivan (we don't have kids or any plans for those....so really why bother). Although I have driven my parent's minivan out of neccesitity a few times during the year (yet another reason to get something we can haul stuff around with rather than coordinating a pick up time with them). So SUV it is or so I thougt. I kept pushing this idea of a SUV about a year ago. Trying to get Paula used to hearing this and seeing why it could work for us. Now if I had a real choice I would choose a wagon. Better looking (relatively speaking), better handling, better gas mileage and easier to get in and out of.

Just as my persistent hinting of SUV didn't stop...Paula's persistence not to accept this as a practical alternative didn't stop either. So, in November (2004) we compromised and put sedans back into the picture. If she felt that an SUV truly would be out of the question then I had to fall back on something (and that wasn't going to be a wagon) So, when I explain the choices of vehicle selections you'll now know why they are all over the place. Honestly if someone I knew asked me for advice on a vehicle selection and presented me with the choices I have I would tell them "You really 'outta narrow it down first: Sedan, Wagon or SUV....they are so different it shouldn't be hard to eliminate two of those segments". Well I stand here before you stating that YES it is hard to eliminate two of those segments. So here are our list of highly desireable features:


• All-Wheel drive-The Audi has spoiled us. We live in New England-snow/ice about 4-5 months
• Navigation System- The Acura has spoiled us
• CD-Changer-Our last three cars have had them....can't go back without it.
• Bi-Xeon Headlights-The Acura has HID for highbeams but the Audi has HID for both-LOVE IT
• Voice activated controls (Nav, Radio, Climate)-Paula could get real benefit from this.
• Passenger seat lumbar control-The Audi has it and Paula's back loves it.
• Park Distance Control-Once of those things once you have...can't live without.
• Bluetooth-Ties in with the voice activated controls. Would make cell phone use easier.
• Auto down/Up windows-The Audi was the first with both Auto Up AND Down for us...addicted.
• Dual-zone climate controls-Once again the Audi has it...and we love the his/her control
• Fold-down rear seat-So if it is a sedan it should have this at least.

I forgot to mention that Paula really wants a hybrid but there isn't anything available in our buying timeframe. So another constraint is that EPA rated higway must be at least 22MPG. (The obvious constraints: Nothing domestic, nothing with a base MSRP over $60,000, vehicle must be in dealer stock by March 2005)

Those of you who know me know that I begin looking for "the replacement car" almost as soon after getting the new car. So my list was long to start with. Based on the criteria above I have widdled it down to basically 4 vehicles.

SUV:
Infiniti FX35 (Why not the FX45? - Misses the EPA mark - 19 highway versus 22 target)


Lexus RX 330 (Why not the RX400? - Even though "Spring 2005" is the official launch the dealer says more like November 2005 to expect delivery since there are 9,000 plus orders for this vehicle already.


Sedan:
Acura RL


Audi A6 4.2


So there may be some obvious cars that are missing but if you remove those vehicles that don't include the majority of those items in the list above....there aren't many to add. Ironically only 2 out of the 4 vehicles mentioned above have all the desired features. However, buying a car for me/us isn't just a pure numbers/spec decision. Qualatative elements such as style, comfort and service experience also factor in.

So there is my dilema. What do you think? What would you pick?