I drive a Mitsubishi Lancer...it's white and looks great with my black outfits! LOL.

I know nothing about cars! DH assessed practical suitability and I chose the colour...hanging my head in shame. It's a nice car and is very reliable and appears to be fuel efficient.

I drive a Nissan Juke and my fiance drives a matrix. We are very practical when it comes to cars as a rule. His lease is almost up and we were out test driving vehicles a month ago. We test drove the Kia Rondo with a panoramic roof, and all the extras and if I hadn't leased my Juke I would have traded it in for the Rondo. It was a dream to drive and had the nav system and power heated seats and heated steering wheel. I was tempted to take the hit and buy out my lease. I love the Juke and it is an extremely fun car to drive but my last car was a fully loaded Altima and I miss some of the comfort and smoothness you lose when you get a sportier car.

Another Honda CRV here. 10 years old and still is fantastic - despite winter salt!

Have you checked out Nissan? DH drives an Altima, I find it pleasant to ride in and to drive. I've seen some newer ones and they are very nice inside.

Oh, Echo I forgot to mention that before I bought my 2 Nissan Muranos I drove a Nissan Maxima, I would say a step up from the Altima. My husband had both the Nissan Pathfinder ( that SUV drove like a car it was so comfortable) he got that one in 1994 and had it for 10 years and it had a ton of miles on it and traded it in for a Nissan Xterra and he sold that after 7 years because he got a company car and we did not need an additional insurance payment just to keep it in the garage. The guy who bought it for his daughter constantly asks his daughter if he can use her car.

Just go and test drive some cars to narrow your choices down and then compare the incentives and financing, if your going that way.

If you're looking at higher end sedans, Lexus and Audi are really nice, too.

You might check out the Toyota Avalon a step up from the Camary. They are basically a Luxus without paying for the name. I am on my second one and love them.

Sorry Lexus!

i have a subaru legacy 3.6 for the pick up. mil had the 2.5.

i'll also driven ford foci and have been impressed. peppy with reasonable reliability ratings.

used to drive acura tl type s before the big redesign in 2007(ish). good pick up, nice interior, handled like a boat--wheel base too wide. also used to have a honda civic with a manual tranny--i still mourn that car.

Just chiming in to say beware of the European cars and the brake dust that makes the wheels filthy. That drove
Me bananas.

I am on my second Honda CRV and I love it. It is 10 years old and has never given me any trouble. It has leather seats (a necessity when you have dogs). I will be so sad when I have to say good bye because the new ones have changed. DH has a new Rava 4 with all the bells and whistles and he loves it. We need 4 wheel drive in our part of the world.

If I were looking at a sedan I would try out the Hyundai Sonata (or maybe even some of their others). I know not everyone likes them but I known some people who love them. The Sonata feels very luxurious without spending the same amount as a true luxury car. Plus they have a great warranty.

I'm on my second Lexus GS and love it. The first one we bought in 2002. It was a certified preowned...a 2000 model with 42,000 miles. I wasn't hot on the idea of paying more for a used car than many new ones, but that car is still going strong. My son has it now and it is getting ready to roll 200,000 miles with no end in sight. I'm sure the new cars we were looking at at the time would have died long ago. So, do look at certified preowned cars.
My DIL drives a Honda Accord. I love this car. It is very roomy and comfortable. The interior is beautiful. I wouldn't mind driving one myself. Whatever you get, do get a backup camera. After having one, I dislike driving cars without it. I can finally parallel park.
Good luck!

I'm in a Juke like Dianthus. Finally took it on crazy curvy roads driving from Tahoe to Santa Cruz to see my mom. Handles great. No chugging getting over the grades either. Zippy with the turbo.
My SIL had Nissan Maxima and Altimas she drove and loved for over 300,000 miles over the Santa Cruz Hwy 17 commute from the south bay for decades. Recently got a Honda Accord and is loving that even more than the past Nissans.
BF is in love with Audi's (the S5 is the dream car) but we went more practical with the Juke. It should be noted that we need 4WD or AWD due to the snow.

One of my duties as HR Director is acting as fleet manager for our company vehicles. We have Nissan Altimas and Rogues in our fleet. The location of our employees (lots of snow vs not) determines which one they drive. Overall, these have been excellent vehicles for us with very few issues. And the resale value has been strong. I don't hesitate to recommend them.

How about a related question for everyone. Is there a style or brand of car you would NOT drive? It seems everyone I know has at least one off-limits brand for which they have an irrational dislike. Like I mentioned, DH won't drive a Ford or a Subaru (whic doesn't mean I can't). My sister doesn't actually hate other brands, but definitely prefers VWs. Another friend of mine will NOT trust Hyundais, despite them having one of the best warranties. Most of DH's relatives have an irrational dislike of Fords, and another friend of mine thinks a Lexus is "just" a fancy Toyota (though it looks plenty fancy enough for me!).

My mum frets endlessly that I should not buy a European car because no one will be able to service it (nevermind that she bought Japanese and has a Toyota dealer nearby!). And I have to admit that I find the Chevy or GM symbol out-of-place on some otherwise beautiful looking vehicles, simply because I have a preconception about them being basic and dependable, not something a person would choose to drive, if that makes sense. Which doesn't mean I would not drive one, just that they weren't a brand I thought of first.

I've been doing a lot of reading and research, and I am still leaning toward a Mercedes, but maybe an E class 350. A little less sporty than the c class and many come standard with 4 wheel drive (better on snow than their standard RWD). And everything I can find says they run forever with little servicing outside of the normal oil changes and tire rotations.

To answer your latest question, I will not drive an American made car. DH has had lots of company cars American made only and has hated each and everyone. He loves the weekends because he can drive the Murano. I have only owned non American made cars. My first was the VW beetle in the 1970s, then a Toyota Corolla, then a Toyota sports car which model name escapes me. From there I had a Nissan Maxima, then the Nissan Murano, and now on my newest Murano. DH used to own American made cars before he met me and had nothing but problems with all his cars. Also, I got great resale value on my cars when I either sold them or traded them in.

Good question. Part of it is preconception about a car's poor quality in past decades (which might not effect the quality of the brand new models if they addressed the problems). So Kias and Hyundais would be in that category for me.

There seems to be a big difference between the cost of getting parts for and servicing a European car versus a Toyota or Honda -- which are inexpensive, omnipresent, and tend to be low on issues in their mainstay models anyways.

I admit to a strong personal bias against SUVs. Unless it is a hybrid or something and someone lives or works on gravel or dirt roads or has to haul equipment or regularly deal with snow. Part of it is living in a dense city where these cars can really limit visibility on roads or when parked on corners. I also have uncharitable thoughts when they wedge into 'compact only' parking.

I would have a hard time buying a Chevy or a Dodge or other American manufacturer like those. My family had Plymouths and Dodges when I was growing up, and those darn things were one problem after another (oh, and we won't even talk about the awful Malibu that my dad briefly owned!). After I bought myself a used Toyota Celica in college and my mom's Plymouth stalled out in an intersection for the umpteenth time, I took her to look at Toyotas. She bought a Camry, then dad bought a Camry, and that's what they drove until each of them passed away. Even though reliability might be better now, I'm biased. I do pay attention to Consumer Reports ratings. I've had wonderful experience with Mazda and Toyota, so I tend to stick with what I know works well.

The exception is my husband's Tesla. It's such a new car, it's not without issues, but it really is a pretty exceptional vehicle.

I've always driven Japanese cars and have always been very happy with them. It would take a lot to convince me to buy anything else, although my new house is on a street with the same name as a non-Japanese car brand so it's tempting to buy a car to match the address...

anything with poor reliability.

Sorry no suggestions. But at the age of 80 I love my metallic blue, camel top convertible Mustang, and they call me Mustang Sally. These are two colors that I love to wear. LOL

I also have a Prius and love it. It is a good dependable car and the gas mileage is just awesome.

You go Bridgie !!!!

Another happy Honda CRV driver here. After years of driving a minivan with kids, I still wanted to sit higher than a sedan. My CRV, to my eye, is cute and kind of sporty. It's a reliable car at a good price.

Isabel, Thank you! I do "go " quite a bit.

Echo, have you decided what your next car will be? Personally, I think the Mercedes you mentioned would be a nice car for you. Versatile and dependable.

bridgie, it will take my DH FOREVER to decide to pull the trigger on a new vehicle. We may not buy until late summer 2015, after we test-drive everything on the planet. But I am pretty well sold on the Mercedes 350 E. DH may consider other cars, but it will ultimately be my decision, as I will be driving it.

But looking for a new vehicle makes a person hyper-aware of other cars, so I have been eyeing everything up lately. I saw an interesting SUV the other day. The grill looked nothing like anything I'd ever seen on an SUV. I let him turn in front of me so I could get a look at the back, and it was a PORCHE. I didn't even know they made Porches in an SUV model. Given that Porches are designed to be performance vehicles, what's the point?

In the area I live, I see mostly domestic car brands and pickup trucks. Unfortunately, for me to even take a look at anything other than those, I need to drive a minimum of 45 minutes away.