Car Buying 101: The Right Vehicle

Okay, so you've made your choice and you're heading to the dealer's lot. So far you've decided that you need: a small SUV or Crossover vehicle that can hold five so that you and the family can make the trip to Grandma's in comfort. You've also decided that you'd like to have an intelligent all-wheel-drive system and an engine that will get you great fuel economy. You've also decided that you would like a GPS system and rear entertainment system to keep your two youngsters and one not so youngster from committing mayhem in the rear seat while you and your spouse are blissfully unaware (you're not really, your kids just think you are).

Here are the choices you have: you can choose the Honda CR-V; Toyota RAV4; Ford Escape or Edge, and Volvo XC90.

And here's your reasoning for making the choice you have made:

The Honda CR-V is the right size, with buts! While its lines are spectacular, the redesign that moved the spare under the rear area has actually raised the floor somewhat and the curvier, swept lines have actually cut into the usable storage and passenger space. Plus, the CR-V is actually a full-time front-drive vehicle with "intelligence."

That "intelligence" is a series of sensors on the transaxle and at the wheels that send traction information to a microcomputer that determines whether the all-wheel-drive feature comes on. This, of course, raises the complexity of the system.

The Toyota RAV4, also redesigned in 2006, is a similar situation to the Honda and so it is also out of your game plan.

The Fords are another story. The Escape, whose lines have been rounded and which can carry five or more in comfort is available in six models, two front-drive and four all-wheel-drive and hybrid at various levels of comfort. The Escape also has a four-, six- and a hybrid that gets good gas mileage. It has so many features that it makes your choice easy for you.

You choose Ford Escape Hybrid and get the items you are looking for, including heated seats, moonroof, GPS system and climate control, and leather upholstery, as well as the rear entertainment system. And, since Ford is being generous with its factory incentive money and you are turning in a 1995 Ford F-150 work truck, you are not only staying within a brand you know, you are also taking full advantage of the "guzzler" voucher and hybrid tax incentives, plus you are almost doubling your mileage.

The Edge was in the running for a while, but the Escape Hybrid had the edge on the Edge. The Volvo was just too pricey, you thought.

Where did you get this information to make your decision? First, you are a Ford owner, so, undoubtedly, the dealer sent you special incentive mailings and emails, as well as phone calls, and, maybe your salesperson is still there so you immediately thought Ford.

You did visit the other dealerships and found that all of the vehicles were in about the same price range but you still think the Ford Escape Hybrid had the edge.

You were diligent, though, and before you made any car trips, you did go the Edmunds.com, Cars.com and Autotrader.com sites and looked up the vehicles in which you were interested and you read the evaluations by their testers. And, you even asked some neighbors.

Actually, that's about as much as you can do until you get behind the wheel for the test drive.