First Looks

Well, we did our first round of car shopping today. Talk about tiring. We only hit two dealerships -- Honda & Nissan -- and we were spent. (Having to wrangle Parker didn't help. Not to mention, we also need to get goods for his birthday tomorrow.)

Here are the two cars we checked out...

2008 Honda CR-V EX-L w/Navigation System Front-wheel Drive 2008 Nissan Rogue SL 4dr Front-wheel Drive Overview MSRP * $27,200 $20,790 Invoice * $25,285 $19,386 Engine 2.4L I-4 166 HP 2.5L I-4 170 HP Transmission 5-spd auto w/OD Xtronic 2-spd CVT w/OD Fuel Economy City 20.0 mpg 22.0 mpg Fuel Economy Highway 27.0 mpg 27.0 mpg Bumper to Bumper Warranty (months/miles) 36/36,000 36/36,000

Of the two, so far, we're favoring the CR-V. It was a lot nicer than the Rogue. Plus, the Honda dealer didn't do the hard press sell that we got at Nissan.

If we have time tomorrow, we're going to try to head over to the Toyota dealership in Valencia (because there's not one in the AV...go figure) to check out the Rav4.

There's still time to weigh in if you have any other car suggestions for me. Here's my criteria:

NEEDS:

• Automatic Transmission
• Cruise Control

WANTS:

• Good gas mileage
• Seats at least 4 adults and a dog
• Deep tint windows (no more vinyl clings to shade Parker
• DVD Player (Lil' P has his needs.)
• Light on the outside, dark on the inside (essential to hide dirt)
• Roof rack (for snowboards)
• iPod hook up
• Phone bluetooth (got to be hands free in July)

WOULD BE NICE:

• 4WD/AWD
• Concealed storage

DON'T WANT

• Sunroof