Buy online!
We went through this last year, replacing Terri's Solara. She wanted four doors, we both wanted something we would want to drive. We looked at the Ford Fusion Sport, Chevy Impala, Nissan Altima, Honda Accord, Audi A4, VW Passat/VW CC, Hyundai Sonata, Subaru Legacy Sedan, Suzuki Kizashi, Mazda 6. I might be forgetting one. We avoided Toyota this time around given the problems and some of our experiences with the Solara.
Fusion. Good car, fun to drive in the Sport version, we nuked it because Ford wouldn't offer 0 financing and the internet price. Our third runner up.
Accord. Second runner up. What's not too like? But when it came to performance/unit of cost, we passed. (And we ADORE my Honda Ridgeline, and Honda in general.)
CC. No more frameless doors for us. Bucket-style seating in back not perfect. Low roofline. First runner up because otherwise it essential is a ...
VW Passat. It remains a German (German-Czech) sourced and built VW. Good lines in the last year of that model rendition (ours is a 2010). FWD. Great ergonomics. Proven powertrain. Performance v economy well balanced. Kick to drive. Gadgets up the wazoo. It's German! An Audi A4 at a big discount; sure, you get leatherette. Hammered an internet price and got 0% so we ended up not cashing it out as we've done with the last few cars. Also got the big cool wheels and Pirellis tossed in.
Did not make the final cut:
A4. Great car. But why spend that money when you can buy a Passat?
Impala. Too cheap-looking inside, cumbersome feel, road noise, way too many (typical GM) pricing/option things to deal with, dated design, too spendy for what you get.
Altima. Cheap-looking interior, 4-banger noisy and imbalanced and the vig for the 6 just didn't resonate. Never have liked the design.
Sonata. Much going for it but it was still a brand new model and it's just too dicey buying the first model year. Excellent power for the plant, and with the turbo out now ...! We also were concerned the design wouldn't age well, and we're tired of it seeing it on the road. Immense bang for the buck (as with the Kia variant, too).
Kizashi. Everyone seems to like it, but a Suzuki, after its track record? Apparently a great car.
Legacy. AWD! Good fit/finish. Bullet proof. Just a bit too cumbersome, tad tight inside, not a ton of value in the pricing relative to others.
Mazda. Great engine with that V6. Big boring staid cavern of an interior. Fender flares just gotta go. Vague feel on the road.
