I am thinking of "downsizing" from my 2006 Toy 4runner to something that doesn't guzzle as much gas, is overall less expensive but still has 4wh, high clearance and is as safe as my toy as I am living in the mtns and have to commute to town quite a bit - any suggestions?
Are you looking for new or used? Do you have a price range in mind? What size car?
I just got the April Consumer Reports auto issue. There are too many choices unless I know more details of what you are looking for.
In general, you can always look for the Subaru's. I'm pretty sure they are all AWD. For new cars, CR likes the Subaru Impreza Outback at about $21,600, the Outback 2.5i at $30K, and the SUV Forester at $21K (2.5X MT) or $29K (2.5XT). Among small SUVs, that $21K Forester looks like the best buy (and 24 MPG too). There are other brands too, but need more info.
For used small SUVs, they like the Honda CR-V, Acura RDX, Toyota RAV4. Midsized SUV used they like th Toyota Highlander. They like the Highlander as new too (including the Hybrid version), the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe too.
You could always go with a compact pickup, but you probably won't get much better mileage than you are now.
thank you pineinthegrass. My ideal would be to "trade in' my toy, or even getting some money back. I was thinking about a subaru, I hear good things about them. New would be great, but I probably would have to come up with extra money, which I don't want to do.
