My girlfriend is looking to buy a car in a few months when the lease is up on her 2013 Focus, which might be the worst car I've ever driven. Seriously, it's terrible. She basically asked me to choose a car for her, and keeping in mind what SHE wants in a car, here's the criteria:
2010 or newer
4-door mid/full size
FWD, automatic
Decent on gas
Comfortable
Reliable (she will probably keep the car 5-10 years)
Under 50k miles (the less the better obviously)
Under $15k
I'll be driving the car a lot, so it can't completely suck. I'm already 0 for 2 with it being FWD and auto, so it needs to have a little power and not look terrible either. We both like Buicks a lot, and the Lacrosse with the 3.6 seems like it would be a good fit. I figure we'll also look at the Impala, Regal, Taurus, Fusion, Accord, Mazda 6, and Legacy. In the end she will pick what she likes best, but I feel like the Lacrosse will probably be the one she likes most in her price range.
I've read a lot on forums but would like to hear what CR thinks. I know most of you typically hate any GM that isn't LS powered, but that's fine, I'm always looking for objective opinions. I know there are GM techs on here too, so any insight you could provide would be cool.
So, what ya got?