Car's I wouldn't buy.......

Normally I am very decisive about things, I size up the options, make a choice and stand behind it.  I think I make the right choice about 80% of the time, for the other 20% its easy enough to change your mind afterwards.  But when it comes to car buying I am really struggling with not only if I should get a new car but what type I would get if I was going to get a new one and after which type then which model, options etc....

I think part of it is that once you buy a new vehicle there is no changing your mind for at least a few years unless you want to throw away a bundle of cash.  One of the reasons I have always leased is that after 3-4 years you get to start over and try something new.  You can do the same thing if you purchase but then you have to try to sell the vehicle yourself or trade it in and take a beating that way.  The only sensible way with vehicles is to buy one and keep it for 7 or 8 years but that's no fun.

So I thought I would narrow down my vehicle options for if and when I go to buy a new vehicle by considering the vehicles I wouldn't buy.  Some of the reasons for not buying a certain type of vehicle are good and some are just me being silly but either way it gets some off my list, so here goes.

1. Anything over $50,000 - I just can't afford it, actually I can't afford anything over probably $30,000 but I won`t let that stop me.
2. Any large SUV vehicles - Once I get rid of the Pilot I won`t be getting any large SUV`s, they are just too hard on gas and I don`t really use the extra capacity anyways.  Cheaper to rent a moving truck for that one time every couple of years you need cargo capacity.
3. Suzuki - The local suzuki dealership is absolutely crummy looking and you never hear many good things about suzuki.
4. Mitsubishi - I don`t like the look of them and someone at work just had the engine go in theirs after 160,000 km.
5. Non-certified used vehicles - Had bad experiences in the past with used vehicles but may consider certified used because you get the extra warranty.
6. Gm - Something about Gm that I just can`t get into, the dealership is just too large.  The GM website for car pricing is horrible as well. 
7. Dodge/Chrysler - Never hear anything good about them in reviews although they are getting better it seems.
8. Anything with less than 23+ mpg fuel economy - Most vehicles are well over this now, I get about 15-16 from the Pilot.
9. Nissan - My father wasn`t impressed with his nissan or the service there so that's good enough for me.
10. Compact sedan or smaller - We have a 2010 Mazda 3 2.5 which is a really nice car but I think our family car should be a bit bigger than that, need to be able to fit 5 in a pinch.

I think that's a good start.  If I could just decide between SUV/crossover or family sedan then I would be a lot further ahead.  Part of the reason I like the BMW option is that it is a nice sedan with AWD.  There are not a lot of AWD sedan options out there.  If something like the Sonata came in AWD it would be a great option for us who live up north. All the suv/crossover vehicles come with AWD as an option and some of them look cool as well (tucson / sportage / BMW X1).  Of course the sedans are almost always better fuel economy and less expensive than the SUVs, especially the Sonata and now the new Camry is the family sedan fuel economy leader.

Anyway I think that helps me out a bit, I will have to try and narrow it down a bit more though.

In case you are interested autos.ca has a great article on the new 2012 BMW 3 series, you can find it here:

http://www.autos.ca/first-drives/first-drive-2012-bmw-3-series


Thanks!