Need a car recommendation - sales job

My new job is doing technical sales in UT, NV, ID & MT. Presently the territory is just SLC but the expectation is it will grow to Boise, Las Vegas & Reno. So I need a car that is reliable, get's good mileage (probably driving 200 miles/day about 3 days/week) and can transport 4 adults to lunch. AWD would be a nice to have, but not a necessity (yet) as I'll likely be getting snow tires. Ideally, it would also accomodate me & the misses, 2 car seats & 2 large dogs on the weekends, but that's probably asking too much. Budget will likely be $20k so likey buying used, 3-years old max probably and I'd prefer something with a little "character" if possible. "Character" means it's not an appliance (Camry) rather than it needs a mechanic on the payroll (Alfa).

Right now I'm considering:
-Jetta TDI: ridiculous mileage & one of the other reps has one and it does the job, how's the reliability? Seems like I remember complaints about the electrical failing
-Subaru Legacy: decent mileage (23/31 on Limited), AWD and good looking IMO
-Audi Allroad: AWD, best-looking wagon IMO, but heard they're pricey to maintain & mileage isn't great (18/26)
-Acura TL: friend is selling his, last-gen so it looks better, Type-S which is good (fun) & bad (mileage)
-Honda Element: might fit the dogs, but the cargo area looks too small, ugly
-Infiniti 35x: AWD, great-looking car, not great mileage, pricey, small back seat
-Lexus IS250: see Infinity, one of the other reps has one of these

Oh and all costs are on me, no travel stipend, etc.

 

I am an VW/Audi guy, so I would add an Audi A3 (maybe a little small), Audi A4 avant. The 'standard' A6 avant is a nice car, had one for ~3 years, a little gutless, lower on the maintenance cost as not turbo than the alroad, but the allroad is pimp. All of them are comfy and sporty

 

So there's a difference between the Avant and the Allroad?

 

My daughter's boyfriend has an Acura TL with 320,000 miles on it, still going strong. Original alternator, water pump, fuel pump.

 

Suzuki kashi brand new for 20k. It is a very nice ride.

 

Yes and no, "C5" cars so 2000-2007 range, the Avant is like a regular A6 but a wagon. The Allroad has a pneumatic (?) variable suspension and the turbo engine plus it is has lower body cladding/body kit. You can vary the ride height on the allroad. It is more of a sports wagon that you can do some light off roading with (long gravel roads/etc).

I think they may have dropped the allroad designation in 07 and met in the middle between them making a toned down allroad/tricked out wagon, but I am usually about 5 years behind when the cars hit my price targets....

 

I'm interested in hearing people's comments about the VW diesel - I hear that the TDI is an excellent engine and I'm also considering 'going diesel'...

 

I would say Acura. Honda IMO has the best quality out of your list. VW/Audi can be great but I have seen plenty of nightmare cars in their lines.

Good luck and enjoy driving all those miles.

 

Do you have to carry alot of sales stuff? I would go with the legacy if you do. I have a Tundra as a company car, but I have to pull a trailer and such. Also I am in Canada where it isn't uncommon to run into a foot or more of snow at any time.

 

Thought about a wagon? My wife's 525iT wagon gets almost 30 mpg on the road, and has lots of room.

Here is a 3 year old 3 series.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/2263937157.html

 

4 adults in a jetta will need to be small adults. im 6'4" and i need a shoehorn to fit into my brother in law's rear seat in his.

 

Funny, I'm in the same boat. As a friend of mine put it the problem with the Jetta is it seems 1 out of 10 seem to be train wrecks. I'm really close to buying a Subaru but I want one with the H6. The H4 is a good motor but some have had head gasket issues. Might think about a G35x if I can find one for the right price. -Snack

 

passat diesel

 

Don't go Audi without remembering these words: $125 services (oil changes) at the dealership.

Great cars and we're already looking at our next A3 and an A6 but they make your butthole hurt after you leave from service.

 

The Toyota Matrix is basically the current generation of the Corolla Wagon from years ago. I've got a Pontiac Vibe, which is the same thing, built on the same assembly line, blah blah blah. It has about 110,000 miles on it right now with nothing major going wrong with it at all. We replaced the battery a couple of years ago, but ours is an 03... Anyway, we average 28 mpg with mixed driving, and we've gotten 35 with pure interstate a couple of times. It can even pull a small trailer if you need.

As an added bonus, the back seats fold down flat, so you can sleep in the back of it for race days, or if your sales are a bit down a couple of months in a row...

 

what about a Honda Goldwing??

I am sure you can get 4 people on that beast and the heated grips and wind protection will be fine for the northwest.

 

Your friend's TL type S would be awesome.

I would also consider four banger Accord EX - (L).

You can also think about four door Civic Si's and Fits as well. Yes, I like Honda's. The Si and the Fit are fun to drive.

Anyone know anything about the new Tauras-type Ford (500?, 5000?, Taurus?). Looks nice and I hear that American cars are really improving.

 

Here's the deal with the Jetta's... if you're buying new, skip to the timing belt part, otherwise...

Avoid the auto transmissions in the 99.5-2003 (MK4 ALH). They pretty much crap out by 150k miles and require a full rebuild/replacement. 5 spd manual is the way to go, plus considerably more efficient.

Avoid 2005.5-2006 (MK5)'s. They have soft/poorly manufactured cams and lifters that will go bad, some as soon as 100k, most by 200k. It's about 1000$ replacement job. Some 2004 BEW models can have this happen, but it's much rarer. If you let it go, it will drop a valve and wreck the engine.

These problems just aren't rare 'forum' cases, it happens in most of them and is widely documented.


VW didn't sell in any 07/08's in the US due to emissions.


All the TDI's require a new timing belt + pulleys/water pump every 80-100k miles. The kits usually run about 250$ and labor will set you back another few hundred if not more. It's not an easy or beginner job and if it's messed up you'll destroy the engine in a heartbeat.

Jetta's are fairly small, you probably won't seat people in the back very comfortably. Up front is fine and plenty of trunk space. The passat tdi may be a bigger option.

If that hasn't turned you away, then you can reasonably expect to get 46mpg at 75-80 on the highway in the 99.5-2004 TDI's. They handle and ride very well, what you'd expect out of a German car. The new common rail engines, 09,10,11, get considerably less mpg's due to emissions BS, in fact to the point with the added cost of diesel over regular, just get a Japanese vehicle.

If you buy used, try to find a single owner, with as much documentation as you can. Proper oil and maintenance is very important in these diesels. If there's no history behind it, you could be walking into a major headache. Like I mentioned above, if the timing belt job wasn't done on one with ~90k+-, you have to get that done, so add it to your cost (700+$).

Outside of the above and few other misc quirks, they're great vehicles and are built for highway driving. Just need to stay on top of everything like maintenance.

This link may help http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q.htm



(I have an 04 5spd, avg about 46-47 mpg, but have seen has high as 54 on 50-60mph highways)

 

ditto on the Jetta TDI. I've got an 05 (MK4) jetta 5 speed and really like it. I drive about 50k miles a year and mine has 165k on it so far. I did the timing belt at 100k and it was about $900, but I did the water pump, oil change and rear brakes at the same time (and all the fluids changed). I typically drive 75-80mph on cruise and AC in the summer and almost always get 44-45mpg whenever I check. if I drove it more "normal" with an eye towards fuel efficiency, i'm sure I could get higher but I am happy with that.

I just put a trailer hitch on mine and got an older Kendon trailer (about 350lbs). Went to birmingham a few weekends ago with the KTM dirt bike on the trailer. Ran about 80mph on the way home (forgot about the time difference and was late to get home) and still got about 34mpg going 75-80 with the trailer on I-20. nice.

big thing is the oil, they recommend 505.01 spec oil which is very hard to find. seems a lot of folks on the forums are starting to use other oils, and i'll check into that because my supply of Motul 505.01 just ran out.

overall it's a great car. two thumbs up.

oh yeah, my wife had last gen TL-s. nice car but probably not the best high mileage commuter, at least compared to the TDI. fun to drive, but the paddles sucked and the front wheel drive wasn't the best handling (compared to her previous S2000 and now E46 M3 convertible).

 

Samples will be briefcase to suitcase size, nothing too big so anything with a normal size trunk will suffice.

Wagon's are fine, the issue is that most of them are ugly. But that seems like a good solution for the weekends (2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs). Also, the additional weight of the wagon version doesn't help the mileage any. We did stop and look at some Subaru Outbacks tonight and the styling of the latest gen is much better than what I think of for Outbacks so that's a possibility now. But again, the mileage of the Outback is down from the Legacy. I forgot BMW made wagons and they look good, but I'm not sure I could be a big enough douche to drive one.

Since one of the current reps (partners actually) currently uses a Jetta, I'm not worried about the backseat being too cramped. Besides lunch is usually a 5 min journey and it's not a normal occurance.

Good info on the TDI. I was looking at '06-current MYs and wondered if the new emissions standards affected the mileage but the rating on the current gen is still 40 highway. I'll see if there are any '03 manuals around with lowish miles.... assuming documented maintenance, what's the most miles you'd consider on one to purchase?