Okay, Fluther, do you want to help me buy a car?

I’m very happy with my Volvo XCountry V70 (not sure about the ground clearance though.) Mine’s a 2008 that I got in 2010 and still going strong. Mileage is about 18–20 so not what you’re looking for there either. But the drive is great and feels safe and roomy without being huge and the bells and whistles are lovely.

Subaru Forrester might be one to look at – or one of the Toyotas again.

I think a Honda HRV Hybrid would meet all your wife’s wishes. Ground clearance is 7.3 inches.

I have had a CRV for 18 years, and it has served me well (it is now for my kids). If i were buying a new car right now, I’d get an HRV hybrid.

BTW, a sunroof opens to the air; a moon roof is a glass roof that doesn’t open.

@zenvelo @janbb Thanks. I was actually looking at the HRV when I saw this pop up. I don’t think there is a hybrid model though, or at least I haven’t seen it.

I haven’t looked at the Volvo’s yet.

Subaru will DO YOU! look at the specs and cost. I drove my 1993 until it had 318,000 miles.

We just bought a Mazda CX5. I don’t know if you can get them with heated seats, but it has 4WD or AWD and it has 7.2 inch clearance.

Get her a pick-up. VERY handy!

@kritiper No, we need to be able to seat 5 and we have no need for a pickup. But thanks for answering!

@Tropical_Willie Subaru has a crossover I’m looking at.

@Earthbound_Misfit how do you like your Mazda?

It’s good. The only thing I’m not too happy with so far (and I haven’t driven it a lot yet), is the turning circle. It seems to have a big turning circle. They just brought out a new model too. So they might be doing deals.

We have had a Mazda 3 for years. Touching wood here, but we’ve never had a moment’s problem with it. We love that car so much, we’ve kept it as our second car. I’m hoping the CX5 will be similarly great.

Stick with the Toyota lineup. Maybe look at a Rav4 or Prius (5.9” clearance?) or maybe even the Corolla iM.

We have always had luck with the brand and have had a Corolla for many, many years. (Ok, there was that short few years with the Honda Fit (because the rear seats folded down in a way that gave you a flat cargo, or in our case, sleeping, area) but when we sold it we immediately went back to the Corolla.

I too lean heavily toward the Subaru, but from what I’ve heard it’s tough to get deals on em. Other manufacturers now have inventory backups but they can’t make the Outbacks fast enough. The wife has a 2003 that she bought new and I was skeptical. I was wrong. Nothing but routine maintenance for 200,000 miles, and I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s absolutely spooky. Even the upholstery shows no wear!

I was intrigued by the Subaru XV Crosstrek to replace my current car, but then the Tesla Model 3 was announced and I put down my deposit for that instead. I’ve never driven the XV, but Subaru has a really good reputation for reliability. My sister drove it and said she preferred the Forester. I have no idea about the clearance. Good luck to you.

I’ve been looking at an Audi Q3 (well the other half has) which would probably tick all your boxes ground clearance is just over 6.5” (as long as you don’t do anything stupid like spec the sport suspension), heated seats and sun roof are standard and Mpg should be (just) within your target. Admittedly you’re probably going to get more for your money if you go Japanese or whatever but it’s quite a nice car.

How about a Hyundai Tucson or Sante Fe? I haven’t driven it, but they look good, and I sat in them last week when I was car shipping myself. I’m pretty sure one or both had reclining back seats, which is nice if you often have people in the back seat. Some back seats have a very straight back, and are uncomfortable. For kids it might not matter, but I think in terms of my parents visiting.

My parents have a Suburu, and they like it.

I drove a Mazda also last week, a sedan, but the SUV has the same engine, and liked how it handled, but I would have preferred a 6 cylinder, which I think they don’t make? The 4 cylinder still had goo pick up though. Smooth acceleration.

I have a hard time understanding how folks get by without a pickup truck unless they pay to have everytbing done or delivered. I have not owned anything other than a pickup or sports car since my first beater ford hatchback when I was 16 so take this with a grain of salt. My subaru driving peeps have been loyal to them and they seem like good vehicles. I have heard that they have sold so well in recent years that quality has taken a hit with them. My sister has a nissan rogue and it’s an all round practical car. I have had nothing but nissans since I was like 20. Out of five cars I had one differential seal go bad and an axle sensor die. Other than that It’s been nothing but routine maintenance on any of them for 20 years.

I’m intrigued by the ground clearance thing.

Maybe she goes horseback riding and the horses at the stable leave massive piles of what horses leave.

Or perhaps she goes to a lake or river, and the road there is unpaved and strewn with rocks and boulders.

Possibly she drives across railroad tracks on an incline that would otherwise make her bottom out the vehicle.

I haven’t read the previous. A friend at work, a few years ago bought a Subaru. She said it was one of the cheapest cars that had heated leather seats. Just a thought.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Reasons against buying a pick up truck:

Pickup trucks that are not four doors don’t carry more than one passenger well.
The ones that carry sufficient passengers are way too big for normal city driving.
They don’t have a lockable trunk,
There is no real weight over the drive wheels unless you are carrying a load.
They are less-than-desirable in the snow.

I get needing a car or suv for those reasons. I don’t see though how folks go about day to day stuff without a way to move large bulky and even just dirty items. If you live in an apartment in the city perhaps but outside of that….

@ARE_you_kidding_me: I have an SUV but have on very few occasions needed to put something big in it (like a patio umbrella stand, for example). For me, with a 50 mile each way commute to work 5 days a week, a pickup truck would not be practical or necessary. A compact car would be just fine for me except I wanted the SUV for bad weather. For 99% of the people in my area (NY/CT rural and commuting), a car or SUV is just fine.

My first thought when seeing this question was that the OP was asking about starting a GoFundMe account to buy a new car. LOL.

@elbanditoroso She volunteers for Meals on Wheels and her route, which she’s been doing for years, has some steep hills with bumps as she goes up and down the hills. In the Camry it keeps bottoming out and scraping.

@jca LOL No, but I’ll be happy to take your money!

@ARE_you_kidding_me We’ve done all of our moving. And my Rav 4 holds a surprising amount of crap. And if worse comes to worse, my nephew has a bright yellow chevy truck I can borrow. :-)

Try a Mercedes GLK . It’s pretty high off the ground, seats 5 and has heated seats. The storage in the back is amazing and the hatchback opens on your keychain. And closes with either the keychain or a button thats on the thing that closes down on the back ( I don’t know what it’s called. The hatch?? ). You could look at the 2017 models or even 2016.

A Subaru. It’s what multi-millionaires drive.

@ARE you kidding me I’ll tell you how people get by without owning a pickup. Simply put, when they need one, they try to borrow yours. In fact it’s worse than that. They ask you to haul their shit around and hump it for them. The wife owned a little Toyota pickup when we met, and at first I thought she was a cruel hard-ass for bluntly refusing requests to borrow the truck. But I caught on quickly.

@Rarebear If the issue is terrain, I again say the Subaru is tough to top. More than ample ground clearance and all wheel drive.

Thanks. The Subaru dealership will be our first stop.

@Dutchess III It’s a funny thing. But here in San Francisco the Subarus had this rep for being the preferred car for rugged butch lesbians. I didn’t know anything about em except for those commercials with that Crocodile Dundee guy barreling over terrain that would wreck a tank. I would watch those things and think “what fool would watch this shit and believe it?” Anyway, one Xmas eve, we were sitting at a stoplight and rear ended so hard by some drunk teenagers (who somehow managed to back up and flee the scene so slowly we got the plate numbers) that the insurance company totaled the car. Ok. So now I figure, we can replace the 5 series BMW stolen from in front of our house the night we left it outside when we were moving in. But the wife wanted something to haul her girlfriends, along with sewing machines, quilting fabric, musical instruments, etc. I came home 2 days later to find a Subaru Legacy Outback with. the wife and a salesman parked in the driveway. The wife was gleefully exuberant. The salesman was a good deal less ecstatic (probably from the look on my face). It really bothers me that the wife is immune to any expression on my mug. But the car turned out to be the most reliable machine I’ve ever owned.

Here ya go!

@Rarebear Get a pick-up with a crew cab.

Had a ranger friend who opted for a Subaru Outback. Hit a jackrabbit. $500 – $600 in damage to get the front end repaired. Six months later hit another and another half grand to replace parts. Hit a third, left the damn thing alone and lived with the damage until she moved out of the desert. Lousy clearance, expensive plastic parts.

@rojo No problems like that back when my grandmother had her ‘60 Olds Dynamic 88. But she would almost run off the road to keep from not hitting jack rabbits. I had a different method. When the rabbits ran out into the road, I would start swerving. At the last moment I’d run that sucker over. thump*thump “Ah, the poor thing!,” I’d say. (“That’s one” I’d think.)

I want to know what you wind up buying.

@Rarebear ^^ Please tell us what you get ! ^^

Will do! It’ll be awhile. That’s the thing, I’m in no rush. So it’s good to buy a car when you don’t absolutely need to buy a car.

My kid doesn’t even have her drivers license yet. I’m just thinking ahead.

If you want to save a little money those Dodge Journey’s are pretty cheap to buy brand new.
Pretty good clearance and mileage, seats 5.
Look’s and drive’s great for the price.
I don’t know if they come with a sunroof, but probably.
Good luck.

I have just the vehicle for you.

@rojo lol
No, she doesn’t need that much clearance.

But….......the price is right!

I know where there is a Hemi for sale for $11,000.

Ended up with a Rav4 hybrid limited. Got a good deal on the internet.