I’d love to sway you in the direction of a German auto. My username ought to strongly hint at my inclinations. I’m admittedly very biased and stubborn, but I think I it’s warranted.
For external styling and design, and interior quality and ergonomics, most German cars are really tough to beat. (Okay, so exterior styling is subjective…but it’s a pretty widely held opinion. Why else to Japanese makers spend so much time ripping off European styling trends?)
I find that the interiors of most Japanese cars seem, on the whole, cheap and plasticky compared to German cars in the same class. Mitsubishi and Subaru have cheap interiors down to a science, and they make it up by squeezing out higher performance numbers. The WRX is a perfect example of that: it’s fast as hell, but the interior quality makes me look for the little gold oval “Made in China” stickers everywhere.
Mechanically, the only real complaint I have with Japanese cars in general is the trading of torque to get bigger horsepower numbers. There’s a saying: “People buy horsepower, but drive torque.” I agree, and a Honda engine that makes 130 hp but only 100 ft-lb of torque is all but worthless to me. Because they’re tuned for such top-end power, you’ve got to bury the tach past 6000 rpm to see max power. How much time are you going to spend tagging the redline? I like cars that make hearty, low-end torque. Most German engines end up with higher torque numbers then hp. That’s much more useful in everyday driving.
From a reliability standpoint, the differences are slight. I agree that most Japanese cars can keep going forever. But I’ve had a number of German cars with more miles than the Shuttle Atlantis. And an 86 Audi 4000 that I used to own is still going string…the current owner put it over 350,000 miles a couple months back. But I believe that if you take care of any car, you can make it run forever. (Unless it’s Italian ;))
I think a lot of it is that people who buy foreign cars are more likely to be the kind of people that care about them religiously. People who don’t care what they drive often buy American because it’s cheaper, and these are the same kinds of people that don’t know enough or don’t care enough to properly maintain their vehicles. Dont’ get me wrong…not everyone who buys American is clueless and uncaring. I’m just saying the people who are, do. I see plenty of Big Three drivers that do care for their vehicles, and they seem to have just as few problems as any foreign make.
But, as I said before, I wish I could sway you towards a German car. But in your case, that might be hard. There’s not much coming from Europe right now with the kind of cargo room you’re looking for in the same price range as, say, a Forester or a CR-V. Your options from VW might include a Jetta or Passat wagon, or possibly even a regular Golf. The little hatchbacks really are versatile. But to get any of the smaller SUV’s like the VW Touareg, BMW’s X5, or a Mercedes M-class, you’ve got to shell out well over $30k. You get something for all that money; those vehicles are bigger than Forester-sized, as well as more powerful and more luxurious.
But the fact remains, there’s really nothing German that compares. shrug
That being said, a good freind of mine who makes my German car obsession seem small also has a Forester. He loves it, and has nothing but good things to say about it. Based on his recommendation alone (the dude knows cars), I’d put in my vote for the Subie.