The Search for the Aldo Company Car Begins

We've come to the realization that neither of our cars is very "catering friendly".  We recently did a gig at the Pittsburgh Golf Club requiring two cars to get all the equipment, coolers and ceramics delivered.

Not to mention our current rides are 16 and 13 years old respectively. 

Right now we're torn between the utility and "chick's SUV" styling of the Nissan Rogue, the funky urbanness of the Scion XB and the utilitarian appeal and reliability of a Honda Fit.

Our goal is to stay under $20K with this purchase.  We're putting function over form and performance.  Cargo space and reliability are the keys.  Any automotive geeks out there with an opinion, let it fly.

Comments

[Chris M]

The Scion will do you well. They have a lot of room and you can get them for almost half of your budget. Although, I think it might be mildly embarrassing to drive a car worth as much as a few local espresso machines ;)

Honda's will do very well for you in the long run on maintenance fees and general reliability. It should feel like another world to you, coming from the cars you're driving. Plus, the ergonomics are amazing.

If it matters, you can get Volvo wagons in your price range. We certainly did.

I think the newer Xb's are heavier and have worse mileage. Check on that vs the older models.

Thought about an Element? Very easy to clean, easily configurable as well.

[Alex G]

I do some catering on occasion, I own a coffeehouse, and two cars: a Honda Fit and a Ford Focus Station Wagon, so I feel well qualified to help with this decision. We love our Fit, we use it as our main family car and it is everything that it appears to be. However, when it comes time to do some catering, we use the station wagon. While the Fit is well proportioned, fairly spacious, and cleverly designed, that's only relative to small cars. It just can't compete with a wagon. So, I don't have an opinion about the other two cars you mention, but I would say that the Fit isn't big enough for the job.

[Steve]

You should also consider the Honda Element: http://www.edmunds.com/honda/element/2009/index.html

I agree about the fit - I'm concerned that it's not going to have the cargo room you need.

Volvo is a GM product. Be wary.

From talking to my favorite Pittsburgh mechanic, I can assure you that the Ford Focus's build quality and reliability are pretty bad. Don't bother.

The Nissan Rogue may be overkill, and that sloped rear door will lessen your cargo capacity. That said, Nissan makes a good vehicle.

I actually like the beefiness of the new scion. The last one was like driving a go-cart. For me, it'd be between the Scion and the Honda, and my budget would determine the choice :-)

[Rich]

We drove the RAV, Scion and Matrix yesterday. The Scion will do the job, the RAV might be overkill, but the Matrix has the best lease options by far... a significant enough difference in payments that we have to consider it.

Raining and tied up with other stuff today so we won't get to the next test drives, but we hope to be visiting Honda (Fit) and Subaru (Forrester) in the next couple of days. The Rogue might be out of contention, but we'll still look at it.