Shopping for a crossover/wagon/hatchback with good gas mileage, considering Freestyle/Vue. Other suggestions?

We currently have a Jeep Liberty with hideous gas mileage and a Subaru that is close to biting the dust so we're on the market for a used vehicle. We're on a tight budget so looking to keep things under $10k, ideally under $8k. We have 2 forward facing Radians with no clear certainty if we'll be expanding (the answer changes daily, lol). So here are the things I'm looking for:

-Spacious cargo room (it's the one thing I love about our Subaru)
-Good to great gas mileage (anything is an improvement from 13mpg on the Jeep)
-Something reliable and with good safety/crash test results

I've never shopped for a car before. We've been lucky to receive hand me downs throughout the years so this is all new territory to me. Since I've never bought a used car, can anyone tell me what kind of mileage I should look at? If a vehicle has over 100k miles, will it last a long time thereafter?

Two we've considered: Ford Freestyle & Saturn Vue. Would love reviews on those or more suggestions. Thanks so much!

What abt a VW Jetta Sportwagen? We have one and LOVE it. We have the TDI (diesel), which is rated at 29city/39highway, but we get better than that. (We average 37.6 in mostly in-town or stop/go freeway driving). It has tons of storage room.

Can't help you on the 2 you suggested. We looked specifically for a wagon and chose btw the Jetta Sportwagen, the Mazda 5, and the Hyundai Elantra Touring.

When looking at used cars my dad always aimed at the 40,000-60,000 range. I don't know why though. DH always buys new cars b/c we drive them into the ground anyway (our 2001 CR-V, that we just replaced w/ the Jetta, had 200,000 miles and needed major repair work when we sold it).

I would steer clear of Freestyles. They have a CVT (continuously variable transmission) that is no longer being made and very hard to find used. So if your tranny goes, you have a nice paperweight sitting in your driveway. I think the Taurus X (the newer version of the Freestyle) has a "normal" transmission but since they are so new, they might be out of your price range.

The Honda CR-V, Toyota Rav-4, Ford Escape and Chevy Equinox fit within your criteria.

Maybe the Mazda 5?

- Lots of cargo room with the 3rd row folded flat (absolutely dismal with the 3rd row up, though.)

- Gas mileage averages 25mpg

- Not sure about overall reliability, but the crash ratings are good. Mine's got over a 100K miles on it and I've had no issues.

The '07 models are running around 10K right now, though, so not quite your ideal price range.

Firstly, good luck. We were looking for the exact same thing you are and couldn't find what we were looking for, even when we upped our budget to 15k. Though I am in CA so everything is more expensive here. I'd avoid the freestyle unfortunately. Like PP said, you can't get the transmissions for them anymore. The factory that made them went out of business and finding a used one can take weeks. They're prone to crapping out as well. It sucks because they're nice cars. Not much better MPG than you're getting now though. The taurus x is the same car without the CTV transmission but they're more expensive. Ford focus wagons and volkswagen jetta wagons would both meet your requirements but both stopped being made a few years ago so ones you find might have quite a few miles on them. Toyota highlanders are a bit bigger but still get decent mileage. Mazda 5s are awesome but to find one at 10k it would probably have 100k+ miles on it. The pontiac vibe/toyota matrix(same car) are a bit smaller but still have roomy back seats and a decent amount of cargo space. I don't know how it happened but we ended up leasing a 2011 forester because we couldn't find anything in our budget that wasn't too old or had too many miles on it. It ended up being the same monthly payment as buying used would have been. So shop around, drive lots of different cars, don't be afraid to tell them 10k is your absolute max. Some dealers are so desperate to sell cars, they're willing to come down in price quite a bit.

Ford focus hatchback?? My parents have one and the radians install well FFing.

I had a VUE. Gas mileage was awful. And I had difficulty getting car seats installed securely.

I'm in the exact same boat, looking at the exact same cars.. *sigh*

MommaMia said:

I had a VUE. Gas mileage was awful. And I had difficulty getting car seats installed securely.

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I have a 2006 VUE (4cyl, stickshift) and I get almost 30mpg. That's not super, but I don't think it's awful either. It has three dedicated sets of LATCH across the back and everything I've tried (which admittedly isn't all that much since daughter and friends are all in boosters) works well.

We used to drive a Buick Rendezvous and LOVED it. Loved how it drove. Loved it in the snow because I had the AWD version. The headsup display is SO cool...why don't more auto manufacturers do that??? They are not made anymore so finding one is harder, and I'm not sure you'd be able to easily find one without a bazillion miles. Mine had over 80K. One thing to look for - ask if the wheel bearings have been replaced. It was a recall with the '06 I had, actually. Luckily we ad purchased a warranty and got it all 4 fixed for $100 - without it, it was a several grand fix.

I had it when I only had 2 kids, but I did try a 3-across with some seats when I was pregnant with the baby we lost and it worked. I'm sure it would be easily doable with 2 Radians.

We have a Chevy Equinox and love it! We have plenty of space and get excellent highway miles and good city miles, too. I can make a 370 mile drive (highway) on one tank EASILY. We do a lot of stop and start driving here, but I still don't have to fill up weekly.
I would have loved the third row/more cargo space of the Traverse, but that wasn't in the budget.
Good luck with your search. Car hunting can be so frustrating. I hope you find something that will suit your needs!

Amanda

MommaMia said:

Ford focus hatchback?? My parents have one and the radians install well FFing.

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I wouldn't really recommend a Focus unless you're buying a newer one, with headrests all across the rear seat. The older style (i.e. when hatchback/wagon were available) have NO headrests across the back. Not a problem when you have kids in harnesses or high-back boosters, but a huge issue when an older child starts to outgrow high-back boosters. (We're going through this and it's a royal pain.)