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I looked at some cars with my sister this weekend. We saw the Forester, Rav4, CR-V, Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, Rogue, Volvo S60 & XC60, and a Lexus RX350. She concluded she doesn't like the Rogue and CR-V, probably wants an SUV, wants heated seats, and thinks panoramic sunroofs are cool. That's about it, so we're making some progress
If I had to guess (since she's not saying much), she seems most attracted to the Forester, Grand Cherokee, Rav4 and maybe the Lexus. She is used to a powerful, fairly luxurious Jeep and aside from the Forester, these options had the nice interiors. My vote first vote is the Grand Cherokee- it's has a more durable feeling, attractive ext/interior, nice ride, and good value. That said, it has poor gas mileage and it doesn't have the unbeatable asian reliability. I like the Forester
a lot, however the interior isn't quite as refined as others. In that case, I prefer the CRV despite it's poor AWD.
She's 29, has no debt, and will be finishing her surgery residency in a year. I think she should buy something on the nicer end because soon she'll be earning a salary 3-4x as much as she's making now as a resident. In a few years, she could afford a much nicer vehicle, but then again I'm not sure how much she even cares. I'm not suggesting trying to buy an S-Class, but an entry level vehicle may not be what she wants in a couple years. Right now she's planning on paying cash. I'm sure this is what my parents instructed her to do since they don't believe in making car payments. I'm not sure that's the best course of action, but having no debt is always a good thing.