Results of Weekend Shopping for a New Car For My Mother

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C. E. White - 18 Oct 2009 16:38 GMT

Earlier this month I asked for advice regarding a new car for my Mother to
replace a Ford Freestyle that was totaled in an accident. I mostly was
looking for advice regarding the Toyota Venza and Highlander. Well we
finally went shopping and my Mother is getting a new Highlander.

We visited dealerships for Toyota, Honda, and Ford. We eliminated Nissan and
GM from the shopping trip before we began, Where my Mother lives there are
not any other choices within reasonable driving distance.

We started out at the Toyota Dealership. First car was a Venza. I really
liked this, but my Mother seemed completely uninterested. I am not sure why,
but it was pretty much out of the running immediately. Next was the
Highlander. This seemed to be an immediate hit. My Mother didn't want the
third row seat, but it seems that is almost a universal option. I still
preferred the Venza, but I wasn't the buyer.

Next we visited the Honda dealer. The Pilot was immediately eliminated as
wildly overpriced. My Mother liked the CR-V but it seems that dealers load
them all up with options that jack up the price. To get one equipped
reasonably you ended up with a sun roof my Mother didn't want and a price
higher than the Highlander.

The Ford dealer was last on the list. We immediately dismissed the Flex as
too weird. My Sister liked the Edge and tried to find reasons why my Mother
should get it. Unfortunately the dealer had none properly equipped for my
Mother. The MSRP on the Edge was the highest of the vehicles we considered,
but there were rebates that made the price competitive with the Highlander
and the CR-V. I was really impressed with the new Taurus and thought my
Mother should consider it, but She was firm in wanting something taller.
I'll add a few comments oon the Taurus later.

So in the end we finally settled on the Highlander. The Highlander was the
cheapest of the vehicles (4 cylinder, cloth seats, third row seats). The
CR-V was the most expensive, noisiest, smallest, but best equipped (leather
seats, sun roof, electronic temperature control). The Edge had the best
seating, biggest, most powerful engine, most attractive (to me), but got the
worst gas mileage, and was hard to find properly equipped for my Mother. All
the dealerships were very co-operative and none were busy. I believe my
Mother will be happy with the Highlander. It is a little dull, but it has
good room, decent gas mileage and the reliability is likely to be comparable
to the Fords she is used to (can't be better, since she hasn't had a problem
with a Ford in a decade). I was in agreement with the Highlander as the best
choice. It was the closest of the vehicles to the Freestyle (aka Taurus X)
that she owned. Too bad Ford decided to stop making those, I think if they
still made them, we would have just got another.

While the salesmen at the Ford dealer were trying to find a suitable Edge, I
sent a long time looking at a new Taurus. The one I looked at was a very
expensive Limited model with almost every option. It was $35K....way more
than I would consider paying for the car. Still, it was very nice. Looks
great, well assembled. My only gripe is with the width of the center
console. I can't figure why companies (not just Ford) have to install
consoles that eat up a third of the front passenger space. Because of the
ridiculously wide console, the hip space available to front seat passengers
is no better than in my much smaller Fusion. Other than this, I really liked
the car. If I was in the market for a new car, I'd definitely be interested
in a new Taurus - but not a Limited!

Ed