Forester visibility is excellent, if not best in class. Combine that with blind spot monitoring, lane departure, pre-collision braking, cross traffic alert (for backing out of parking spots/driveways), and lack of visibility is a non-issue entirely.
That was one of the first things I mentioned in my praise for the Forester - the visibility. I have a 2014. Every time someone gets in my car they comment “wow, you have GREAT visibility!” That paired with the feeling you are sitting straight up (instead of slouched in a seat) are a great pairing.
When my friend bought her Subaru the blind spot monitoring was extra. She also found that the price difference on the one to two year old vehicles was almost as much as the new car. Also look into what loan percentage deals are going on. My friend found that at time of purchase that the new cars were offering a lower loan percentage rate.
It’s not the car for you but if anyone is looking for a smaller crossover my D bought this past year the Honda HRV. She is very happy with the gas mileage and handling. She had been driving a full size pick up and she is so happy to have a car that fits in every parking space.
I love my Odyssey. My 84 year old MIL can get in and out with no issues and the sliding doors make it even easier when she rides in the back. It’s easy to park, has a great turn radius and holds a ton. The chassis is the same as the Accord and everyone always comments how comfortable the seats are, even the third row ones.
My daughter loves her CX5, but I’m not sure how practical it would be for transporting a wheelchair on a regular basis.
Thanks all - just checking in real quick from work so don’t have time to read to closely. Thanks for all the input. WIll look closer after work.
@mom60 Do you think you could fit a cello into an HRV? S will be doing this same search soon with a smaller budget and we’ll be looking at used suvs in the rav4, crv size range but was wondering if the HRV would work.
I bought a used subaru outback about a year and a half ago and I love it! Cargo space is great and it’s good for longer trips. I had downsized from a Toyota Sienna and I like that it still has a good amount of space but is much easier to park. I hate car shopping and when I was looking I would go into a dealer, announce up front that I was not going to be buying a car that day but could I test drive one of their cars. I may have just been lucky but no one pressured me then.
Later once I knew what I wanted I did most of my searching on line and used USAA to help me negotiate the price.
If you want an SUV that rides like a car, check out the Toyota Highlander. It may be a bit larger (and a bit pricier) than what you want, but it is built on the Camry chassis rather than a truck chassis.
I second the Rogue - DD has one and I really like it. And, the Nissan dealer was much more willing to wheel and deal than the Toyota dealer. Even her base S model is fairly well equipped. Although, I do think the engine is way too loud.
@cellomom2 - not sure on the cello fitting. My D tends to leave the back seats flat. She can haul several saddles, large bags of grain without a problem. She also can transport her 2 hound dogs. She also seriously considered the Civic hatchback. The hatchback I think had a bit more length but less height. She liked that she sat up higher in the HRV. I think the Civic would have been a bit cheaper as they were more willing to negotiate on the Civic. My D liked the Outback but even used she couldn’t find one in her price range. Plus for her the main criteria was getting better mileage.
@swimcatsmom - when I needed to replace my car I did what @cellomom2 did. I told each salesperson that I was not buying a car that day. I said I had a variety of makes and models that I wanted to test drive before making a decision. I took off an afternoon and went from dealer to dealer. If you belong to AAA they also have a discount program.
One thing we do when looking at new cars is to borrow the car for a 24 hour period. I have only had one dealer not want to do this, so we went to a different one that would. By driving the car for a day on my normal routes and traffic, I had a better idea if I would love the car. Daytime driving is different than nighttime, parking at the grocery store, or hauling kids around, was best done real time. A car I was in love with was so uncomfortable for my back, that I actually returned it within the hour. No amount of adjusting the sit allowed me to be pain free.
I also like to test ride the passenger seat as my car is the family car. If we are going out in the evening or on a road trip, my husband will do a large amount of the driving. While the driver’s seat will have adjustable lumbar support, we found many cars do not include this for the front passenger. Again, had to eliminate some models due to the passenger seat.
Oh, and one big voter for the last SUV were the dogs; they had to be able to get in unassisted 
One car did not have a running board and my older dog refused to get in; guess which car we did not buy? 
We finally decided on a Honda CRV-EX-L. Really love it - meets all our requirements - good cargo area, really nice comfy interior, good mileage (a lady I work with has one and she says they really do get that mileage), nice ride and way quieter than our current vehicle which has a lot of road noise. We will probably finalize a deal tomorrow, just depends who with - we got a very good deal from a dealer in one of the nearby (100 miles away - we are what a friend once described as “centrally remote” - about 100 miles away from 3 largish cities - largish round here meaning >500k population). We called our local dealer and told them if they match the deal we will buy from them so we will be buying either from them or the other guy. The 2 dealers I have been talking to in the other 2 largish cities could not meet the deal (we asked them if they had my preferred color and would have gone with them if they did and if they matched the deal).
I did most of the pricing via internet and texting. The websites had a “get internet price” button which I did and they emailed me quotes and also texted me (I told them not to call cause I won’t answer cause I can’t talk on phone in work hours). Then I did the Sam’s club auto thing in My husband’s name and we got offers that way. I had not even looked at the local dealer because our local dealers don’t ever seem to try and give you a good deal. They were not even on the Sam’s club list but some other dealer called them and the owner called our house and made us a better offer than anyone I had been talking to. We went and test drove the one we were interested in and really liked it. I was ready to bite then but my husband wanted to wait. Plus they did not have the color I wanted (I actually really love the color we tested but I usually get silver because it doesn’t show the dust and dirt like a darker color and living out in the country a darker color looks dirty all the time - plus I’m lazy about washing the car) . We were going to the city for an event Friday so decided we would check a dealer there Saturday and see if they had silver. They had a 17 silver but it had a couple of things we weren’t particularly interested in that added more to the price than we were interested in even though it was a 17. They had the 18 in the same color as our local dealer and made an offer below theirs. No silver though. Called the other 2 city dealers to see if they had silver (both said no but could get it but could not match the price). Called the local dealer and the salesman seems to think they will match it - has to talk to the owner first).
The doing all the initial part by email and texting and Sam’s club worked well for me. I absolutely HATE the process and it made it less awful and I didn’t get steam coming out of my ears because of the games. I think the fact that all the dealers knew from the outset that we were talking to numerous dealers helped. The only thing I would do different the next time is buy a burner phone and set up a dummy email so I can close them down once it is all over.
In the end the Hyundai dealership did us a huge favor by playing all the mind games and not offering us a good deal. I much prefer the CRV EX-L to the Hyundai I was thinking of. It is so much more comfortable and quiet plus we tested both on some rough roads and the CRV was definitely better on them. The price we are paying for the CRV EXL is about $3k more that the fake internet prices the Hyundai dealer advertised but $3k less than the price they were trying to sell us at (yes, their fake internet price was over $6k less than they were trying to sell to us at). The CRV is a much more luxurious trim (leather seats etc.) and the mileage is also much better than the Hyundai. I’m really excited.
We had actually purchased out little Hyundai Elantra from that same dealer 7 years ago and it was a much different experience. Back then they did not play the silly games (we had gone to another Hyundai dealer and they did and we walked out the door) and we did all the dealings with this one on the phone and it was a good experience and good deal. We have liked the Elantra a lot - not luxurious but very reliable (no repairs in nearly 160,000 miles)and are actually keeping it for my husband to run around in when he doesn’t want to drive his big Ford F350 (trade in offer on the Elantra was $1000 from the Hyundai dealer and $2500 from Honda. We had talk about what we wanted to do after the $1000 offer and decided to keep it as a run around - it still runs really well, but it was interesting the difference in the Honda dealer offer). The reason we looked at Hyundai and that dealer again was because of the good experience with both them and the vehicle. Their shenanigans not only cost them a deal but ultimately moved us away from the brand. Not good business practice it seems to me.
I guess I’m dim here, but why would someone buy a Sports Utility Vehicle instead of a minivan if they didn’t want to take their car on rough roads? Why pay for the capability of driving on rough roads if you don’t want it?
A mini van would cost more, not less. The SUV is a crossover - just seats 5. The Honda mini van at the same trim is several thousand dollars more than the Honda SUV we are purchasing (MSRP is about $7k more - We did actually have a quick look at the dealer after some of the recommendations in this thread but didn’t try and do any deal on it because couldn’t think of any reason why we’d pay so much more for a mini van when we really don’t need one - except maybe once every 2 years when my brother and his wife visit from the UK). They are actually similar looking from the outside (my husband was looking a silver one at the dealer thinking it was an SUV at first and thought he’d found the color I wanted) but I can use that $7k elsewhere. It also has much poorer mileage than the SUV so really nothing to tempt us.
As mentioned above, we live out in the country. We travel both dirt (well gravel) roads and some pretty rough roads though do not have any need for off road as such so that wasn’t really a consideration. The SUV also is very easy to get in and out - the perfect height for us both and the doors open nice and wide of which was one of the reasons we were looking to change.
I had both, a small SUV and a minivan. I really liked my minivan, Honda Odyssey but it was totaled so I had to look for another car.
The small SUV is so much easier to drive around town and park. It was a big difference. The minivan is a lot of car to drive around every day. It was great on trips and great to haul stuff. But for everyday driving the SUV wins hands down.
@deb922 I don’t like to drive big vehicles - I can drive my husband’s 1 ton truck if I absolutely have to, but I hate it. The SUV is definitely bigger than the Elantra which is a little car. But it drives like a car and I didn’t feel uncomfortable driving it at all.
It’s going to take a while to learn all the techy stuff they come with now. The Elantra had no tech at all other than a radio and a CD player. I’m kind of excited about the dual air control more than all the fancy stuff - my husband likes the car like a freezer in the summer and an oven in the winter so I end up carrying a blanket in the car in the summer and suffocating in the winter (hot air bothers my rosacea and my sinuses). I like it just a pleasant temp all year round. Never had dual air control before so it will be interesting to see how that works out.
@swimcatsmom - I like your decision to go with the Honda. It’s a great vehicle. Did you look at the Mazda CX-5? Personally, I don’t like the way it looks, but it’s got a incredible engine with a lot of power and great fuel economy. But the clean look of the Honda would have sealed the deal for me. Just curious if you considered the Mazda.
I didn’t in the end. We had planned to look at both Mazdas and Subarus and possibly Nissans. In the end, when I looked at the Honda CRV at the local dealer I really liked it a lot and it checked all the boxes on what we were looking for plus was a lot nicer in the inside than I was expecting to find in our price range… Also, having a local dealer for repairs and maintenance was a plus (even if we don’t buy from them it is handy to have them so near for that). The nearest Mazda or Subaru dealer would be 100 miles away - not a deal breaker but the local for repairs is a plus though hopefully will not be needed. If I hadn’t liked the Honda so much I would have gone and looked at those for sure.
I wasn’t looking at Hondas originally because when we looked 7 years ago I was not that impressed by the interiors - very utilitarian (the elantra was very basic but at a lower price point). I was surprised how nice the Hondas are inside now.
@swimcatsmom Enjoy your new ride!
Congrats @swimcatsmom . I am looking at replacing my getting very old Lexus RX330. DH wants me to get Japanese and aa hybrid. I like the car, but hate the big grill on the new models. Ideas?
we didn’t look at anything as upscale as a Lexus… I’ve seen the ones in the adds and have definitely noticed the huge front grill on the ones they are advertising. I don’t care for that look either. One of my bosses had a BMW and his wife has a Toyota Highlander - it is lovely. not a hybrid though.
Highlander hybrid. Made in Japan, no big ugly grill.