People always ask me: What kind of car should I buy? (I guess I have that new-car smell.)
Before I answer them, I ask three questions:
A. How much do you want to spend?
B. Which do you value more: reliability or style?
C. Will anybody in the back seat be eating Skittles?
I test-drive a new car every week for the newspaper (see the Cruisin’ section on Saturdays), so I know what’s out there.
With that in mind, here are my top picks for the best vehicles for different times in your life.
1. Best car to buy after you win the lottery:
If you win millions, immediately write a check for a Jaguar XJL (base price: $78,650). The key fob looks as it if were made by Tiffany. Plus, if you ever squander your lottery winnings, you can live in this car. When I test-drove this Jag, I had a nearly irresistible urge to curl up in the back seat in my pajamas.
2. Best car to buy if your wife is expecting quintuplets:
The GMC Yukon Denali (base price $53,000) is a fortress on wheels. It’s safe, massive and full of creature comforts (including air-conditioned seats, wheee!). As your children get older, the Yukon is a great seven-passenger carpool mobile. If the Yukon Denali is too rich for your blood, the Toyota Sienna Limited (base price $38,500) is a comfy (and bullet-proof) minivan.
3. Best car to buy if you’re having a midlife crisis:
Run, don’t walk, to your Chevy dealer and pick out a red Camaro SS (base price $33,945). For middle-age men, Camaro therapy is as effective as anti-depressants in fighting off midlife malaise. The Camaro SS will instantly transport you back to the summer of ’69. Vroom. Vroom.
4. Best car to buy for your 30th high-school reunion:
If you’re in the mood to show off, choose a black Infinity M37 (base price $50,823). Besides its drop-dead gorgeous exterior, the M37 has some design flourishes that are great for party banter, including wood accents hand-polished with silver dust and an air-conditioning system programed to simulate a gentle forest breeze.
5. Best car to buy to celebrate your job promotion:
Before you default to a German sedan (the safe choice), check out the new Buick LaCrosse CXL (base price $29,645). It will bolster your faith in American ingenuity and perhaps even convince you that the government’s bailout of GM was money well spent. The LaCrosse CXL is a piece of rolling sculpture. Its two-tone interior looks like a gift from the future – say, 2030.
6. Best car to buy for a graduation gift:
The Nissan Cube (base price $15,600) has just the right blend of quirkiness and utility for young-adult tastes. With SUV-like interior room and 30 mpg highway fuel economy, it’s among the most practical small cars on the road. Features like 20-color interior accent lighting raise the fun factor.
7. Best car, period.
If you must know, my favorite all-around ride of the past year is the Volkswagen Touareg TDI (base price $42,800). This SUV hit all the right notes. It’s fast, fuel-efficient, family-friendly and handsome … in short, it’s all that and a bag of Skittles.