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My wife has the opportunity to get a new car here soon. It has to be under $25k, and she has narrowed it down to 3.

2007-8 Jeep Compass 4x4

2007-8 Dodge Caliber R/T (AWD)

2007-8 Subaru Impreza 5-Door

She wants something that will be good all-year round, especially in the snow (Northern WI/ Michigan UP), have a good crash test rating (5 stars), and be a good car to keep for 10 or so years (reliable). We will be doing alot of traveling (good on gas), and a lot of off-road (off the paved roads at least, my XJ is for serious off-road). It has to have room for a few dogs/kids and us as time goes on as well. It also has to have a hatch, which all of these do.

I personally like the Jeep, but then again, I am a Jeep owner. She is really thinking between the Jeep and Dodge since the new lifetime warranty, but she also like the Subaru.

We will probably be getting this sometime before winter.

What do you think is her best choice and why?

Jeep since it has the lifetime warranty.

Caliber has got poor ratings versus it's competition.

Subaru is great, but no lifetime warranty. If you're gonna keep it for 10 years, than might as well get the good warranty at no additional cost.

Thats great that the jeep has the lifetime warranty, but in the end, the subaru smokes it in reliability. Then again, my parents have had subarus all their lives and never did anything but daily maitnence

The Jeep and Dodge are pretty much the same vehicle...just changed a little and rebadged. Have you looked into the Nitro? A little larger and I like the styling better.

[quote=""Terry""]The Jeep and Dodge are pretty much the same vehicle...just changed a little and rebadged. Have you looked into the Nitro? A little larger and I like the styling better.[/quote]

Too big for her, and we don't like the styling. She really wants one of those three. Actually, she hates ALL new cars out there, but the deal is that she needs to have one ordered from the factory. She can't buy used. Those are the only 3 she kinda likes.

She is really stuck between the Subaru and the Jeep right now.

How reliable is that new chrysler lifetime warranty? Are they going to revoke the warranty the first time the car gets dirty? Or the first time you change the tires?

Lifetime warranties look great on paper, but sometimes they're a sales gimmick and companies have no intention of honoring them. They'll give you so much fine-print that no one can ever cash in on the warranty.
Just some food for thought.
Personally I'd go with a 5-speed Subaru. I drove my mom's auto subaru a lot and loved it EXCEPT for the auto. I didn't care for it in the snow.

She can't drive a manual, and refuses to learn. So the subaru sucked in the snow?

Being a sworn stick driver I think any auto sucks in the snow! But I know every single person I know that owns a Subaru loves them and swears they will never buy anything else.

I had to break the streak and vote for the Dodge.

Only because my wife drives an 07 Caliber though

Why get another Jeep? I'm sure they are good and all, but you have a Jeep, she should get something else. The Scooby Doo would be a nice littler car. I don't know anything about Dodge, so there's my recommendation.

Scotty

Why get her a car when you can give her a pony? I know I would like giving my (future) wife a sausage pony more than any car

But really, I vote for the Scoobaru. From everything I hear they're good cars.

Wow, thanks for all your input guys. It looks like we might just have to go test drive the heck out of a subaru and a jeep and see what one she likes better.

subaru legacy 2.5gt (turbo)

I voted for the Scooby, Like someone said earlier the jeep is just a nicer rebadged Caliber and the one I test drove before I got the Altima seriously lacked power. They have some nice features but I wasn't to impressed with the overall vehicle.

[quote=""Duck Vader""]She can't drive a manual, and refuses to learn. So the subaru sucked in the snow?[/quote]

Like viking said, any auto sucks in the snow. I drove a WRX, so i don't know what the rest of the line-up is like, but I really appreciated the AWD..it handled very well.
But unless I stayed in 1st gear, it just felt "loose" in the snow..i know, sounds weird, but whenever it would shift gears on slick roads, i felt a temporary loss of control..it may have been all in my head, but it was un-nerving at times.

I gotta ask, though, why does she refuse to learn stick? My best friend is the same way..keeps saying "I'll never learn stick"..I ask him why and he says "why drive a stick when you can drive an auto?"
Personally, I think he doesn't like the thought of having to learn something like that from someone else. Makes him feel inferior or something.

I like none of them. Good post about the warranties. Suzuki is shitty regarding my warranty but my Grand Vitara has been good.

The Caliber is the cheapest most shitties vehicle I have seen in a while. Kia/Hynd's build quality is through the roof. I kinda like the Nitro but I don't want American.

[quote=""moffman93'""]subaru legacy 2.5gt (turbo)[/quote]

We looked at the legacy, but she wants a hatch back for easier access to the back for when we have dogs in the car.

[quote=""Zentelis""]Like viking said, any auto sucks in the snow. I drove a WRX, so i don't know what the rest of the line-up is like, but I really appreciated the AWD..it handled very well.
But unless I stayed in 1st gear, it just felt "loose" in the snow..i know, sounds weird, but whenever it would shift gears on slick roads, i felt a temporary loss of control..it may have been all in my head, but it was un-nerving at times.

I gotta ask, though, why does she refuse to learn stick? My best friend is the same way..keeps saying "I'll never learn stick"..I ask him why and he says "why drive a stick when you can drive an auto?"
Personally, I think he doesn't like the thought of having to learn something like that from someone else. Makes him feel inferior or something.[/quote]

I will admit, my silverado was bad in the snow and it was automatic, but my XJ is awesome in the snow and it is automatic. Only slipped once and that was because I hit a patch of ice going 45 around a bend. Nothing can stop you from sliding on something like that.

She won't learn to because driving is hard enough for her. She is not the worlds best driver, so anything more she has to think about while driving is a no no. That is why we want something with a good crash test rating.

I have tried to talk her into learning it, but I don't think it would go to well.

[quote=""Shawn96VR-4""]I like none of them. Good post about the warranties. Suzuki is shitty regarding my warranty but my Grand Vitara has been good.

The Caliber is the cheapest most shitties vehicle I have seen in a while. Kia/Hynd's build quality is through the roof. I kinda like the Nitro but I don't want American.[/quote]

I used to work at a Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Subaru car lot as a salesman. I can honestly say that the Jeeps tend to hold up really well compared to the Dodges. I don't know why, but about 75% of the cars in the shop were dodges, 15% Chrysler, 6% Jeep, and the last 4% were Subaru.

She needs a small car. Heck, she even wrecked a toyota camry a few years ago because it was too big. That is why we are looking at shorter, smaller cars.

[quote=""Zentelis""]How reliable is that new chrysler lifetime warranty? Are they going to revoke the warranty the first time the car gets dirty? Or the first time you change the tires?

Lifetime warranties look great on paper, but sometimes they're a sales gimmick and companies have no intention of honoring them. [/quote]

From what I've read, it's a great warranty. Of course it only covers the drivetrain, so after 36k miles you're not going to get the broken door handle fixed or a bad power window motor or something, but having peace of mind that the engine and rest of the guts are safe is great.

Besides, federal law prevents any dealership from revoking a warranty due to silly things like "wrong air filter" installed. There has been so much shit about this lately that I doubt they would want to even try it...and if they do, the bad press would put such a negative spin on Chrysler that they would go back into the stone age.

They are simply doing what Hyundai did in the 90s...a brilliant marketing plan. "You think our cars are going to break because they are cheap korean pieces of shit? Well, I'll warranty them for 10yr/100k" Dodge is saying the same thing, just have to step it to the next level. They can't offer it and not honor it, the whole thing would backfire. I couldn't imagine them even trying to void a warranty for anything less than owner stupidity, the company is hanging by a thread as it is.

The catch with the Lifetime warranty is that it's non-transferable. For people who buy new cars how long do they keep them on average...3, 5 years? If you look at it that way it's not much more than any other warranty. Of course the people that do keep the brand new car forever are going to benefit from it.

We want to keep it for at least 10 or so years.