After a discouraging start, we found a car we liked! We took a 2001 Audi quattro allroad for a test drive. It has great handling! We were surprised that an all-wheel-drive car would be that smooth, but Audi did start that a long time ago (early 80s? late 70s?) and apparently they got it right. The power, while not necessary, was very smooth and impressive. Comfort, check. Safety, check. Reliability (my favorite mechanic recommended an Audi wagon to me, and he drives one himself), check. Very encouraging!
The down side is the fuel economy. Economy drops for AWD, but also for the ride height (I hope the EPA measured at the highest height so that I could get better mileage by dropping the car). But we found a newer wagon we like!
We also managed to knock some other contenders off the short list. Volvo is off the list based on reliability and service. My friend Heather bought a brand new Volvo, and she was driving down the highway on a pretty day with the sun roof open a short time (3 to 6 months?) later when the sun roof shattered. Luckily she had the sun roof open so she didn't get badly pelted, but that's not cool. She was right next to a Volvo dealership, so she pulled in for service. New car, it's under warranty, even if she bought it at a dealership 45 miles away (she was visiting, and about that far from home; I am assuming she bought it closer to home though). The Volvo dealership gave her so much trouble, assuming that she did something to break it ("It was open, and I was driving; how am I going to break the sun roof when I'm nowhere near it?) that she traded it in for a Mercedes as soon as she got it back from that repair. And she's been happy with the Benz ever since. We had thought a Saturn wagon might be a contender, but they don't make wagons right now, and the older ones have an appalling safety rating, so Saturn is off the list based on safety. The list shrinks! But has one serious contender!
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