"good" vehicle for the wife?

First off, I hope she never finds this thread or I'll have some answering to do

My wife's car was totaled recently, not her fault, this time, so I'm vehicle shopping

let me preface this with her vehicle ownership habits

this isn't really anything that can be avoided by a choice in vehicle but it's a pet peeve, it will not be cleaned inside ever, even if there is caramel from some kind of frilly coffee splattered on the dash it will not be removed, it will be there for the remainder of the vehicle's ownership, the occasional car wash will happen probably monthly in winter when there is salt on the roads here in WI, it will likely sustain damage from being improperly parked, ie too close to the alley we live near, her last 3 cars have sustained damage to bumpers fenders, mirrors and lights because she's too lazy to attempt to parallel park in an effort to stay far enough away from the alley for the apparent drunken idiots that live in the neighborhood

1) Vehicle must have ground clearance, if there is a large chunk of anything in the road, ice rock or otherwise it will be struck, it may damage suspension, rocker panels, under vehicle cooling components such as coolers for the rear transaxle, also it will be parked in parking lots and on the street, if a parking lot has a curb the front bumper will be propped up on it and promptly removed

2) Vehicle must be 4x4 or AWD, snow/rain is a reality and this somewhat mitigates the lack of careful driving and avoidance of larger snow piles on winter days, FWD cars will have zero control over the back end just due to thier nature and RWD vehicles, well she's just not going to figure out how to control them, my tacoma has been spun 180 on dry pavement, not by me and not on purpose

3) Vehicle must be safe, it transports kids

4) I must also enjoy riding in and occasionally driving it, it will be used for road trips as it will more than likely get better MPG than my tacoma

 

I don't have any I can suggest off experience. I'm sort of on the same boat - looking for a vehicle for the wife that's reliable, good ground clearance, decent gas mileage, family vehicle.
We've been looking at a used Rav4 or a used Honda CR-V. Both (I4) get decent mileage & seem to be reliable.

Just my .02 centavos.

 

I pretty much felt the same way but my wife is a little on the picky side....she ended up with an Acura RDX, and I for one love the car/truck/suv/crossover...well whatever you want to call the stupid thing. Anyway it is really comfortable and has heated seats, bluetooth, Nav, and all the goodies. And it has an amazing awd system. Literally when on snow and ice it feels like you are on pavement.
She is happy so I am happy

Happy wife happy life!! Just my .02

 

I see a Subaru Outback in your near future....

 

This is a good choice too, as well as the Forester!!

 

This, I was gonna suggest a Subaru of some kind. They are safe, can haul lots of stuff, and are usually rated the best for handling in snow and ice.

 

yup..a used one..one that has been rhinolined..inside and out.

i've been broken..i wash and clean my wife's car.

 

Lexus GX460

 

Outback is a solid choice. If you want to keep with Toyota while outdated the current Rav4 is a decent vehicle. My grandmother has a 2012 with the V6 and it hauls ass and barely gets worse mileage than the 4cyl. She's averaged almost 24 overall since buying it this spring.

 

Subaru

 

Look at the new Equinox

 

Subie or Hyundai Santa Fe AWD...

Subie is cooler though

 

x2 on the Outback.

Great cars, last forever and have really good crash rating

 

If you want to keep in in the family why not get a Venza Awd

 

I knew you guys would go down the same road.... I've already been checking out subarus

How about a ford escape? there's some amazing prices on used hybrids out there

 

what does she want? does she have an opinion on the matter, or is she simply gonna defer to you?

 

Chevy Camaro with 6 to ground.

 

I've seen some good reviews of the Dodge Journey with AWD. Certainly aren't going to go mudding in the thing, but it's a crossover, so it's pretty small, with good gas mileage and AWD for when less than optimal weather. My dad was looking at one so we test drove one, while it wasn't a tacoma, it handled well enough and is small enough to alleviate some of the problems caused by a female driver!

 

I would stay away from them. We went to look at them and found them to have a "tinny" feeling with them. Didn't feel well made