Do you drive a small car now that you are a senior?

I bought a new GMC Envoy in '05. (a smaller SUV) . I like it to haul home large purchases ( like garden stuff ).

In an emergency, I could sleep in the back of it if I had to. It still has only (circa) 30,000 miles on the clock.

NEVER had any problems with it.
 

Ameriscot said:
Smart cars are cute. This one is electric. Would making grocery shopping very difficult though. Someone on our road drives one and he's so huge I don't know how he gets into the car!

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Your bikes won't fit in there!

Have a look at the C4 Grand Picasso. I was able to carry a Class 3 (road legal) mobility scooter, and a manual wheelchair, and a months shopping in mine.
 
I have always preferred a. Smaller car, I did have a Holden station wagon when the kids were young, but for years now I have owned a Toyota Corolla, only last year I sold trusty Holen Nova ( made by Toyota) after owing it for 17 years
Hubby likes bigger vehicles and has a Rodeo which he refers to as the little truck
 

Laurie said:
Your bikes won't fit in there!

Have a look at the C4 Grand Picasso. I was able to carry a Class 3 (road legal) mobility scooter, and a manual wheelchair, and a months shopping in mine.
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No they won't!! We'll just keep the car we have as the bikes fit very well. Cheaper to just fix whatever goes wrong than to buy a new car. We'd rather spend our money on holidays than cars.
 
Ralphy1 said:
Do you drive a small car now that you are a senior?
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No, I drive a small car now that I am commuting to work hundred miles a day, round trip. My Toyota Corolla has all kinds of air bags, is quite nimble navigating insane Southern California rush-hour traffic. And, it gets great gas mileage.
 
Ameriscot said:
Smart cars are cute. This one is electric. Would making grocery shopping very difficult though. Someone on our road drives one and he's so huge I don't know how he gets into the car!

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tnthomas said:
No, I drive a small car now that I am commuting to work hundred miles a day, round trip. My Toyota Corolla has all kinds of air bags, is quite nimble navigating insane Southern California rush-hour traffic. And, it gets great gas mileage.
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I would not feel safe driving a smaller car within the Dallas/Fort Worth traffic!!!!
 
We have an Impala LTZ. I like that size of car because of its large trunk...which we often load up with goodies for the kids on our city trips. Plus, I like the power of that engine, and the ability to pass a slower vehicle quickly on these 2 lane roads. I get 27MPG on the highway, which is good enough for me. We had a Malibu previously, but that thing was just too small, and the passing power just wasn't sufficient for a quick safe pass of slower vehicles.
 
We sold our travel trailer (caravan to you Brits and Aussies) last summer, so we no longer needed the Nissan Xterra SUV to tow it. We traded and bought a mid-size Chrysler convertible, which they don't make any more. We have always enjoyed convertibles, this is our 17th.
 
I've always driven smallish cars. I'm a smallish person.

Me too, I'm barely 5'4 and have had to sit on a pillow or phone book to drive some cars. I can drive hubby's SUV but I prefer my little Altima...way better on gas too.
 
Ameriscot said:
Smart cars are cute. This one is electric. Would making grocery shopping very difficult though. Someone on our road drives one and he's so huge I don't know how he gets into the car!

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Click to expand...

That's a very cute little car isn't it? My daughters father in law had one but he hated it because he was commuting about an hour and a half on the highway everyday and I think he said the wind from the big transports really buffetted him around.

We drive a Ford F150 and both love driving a truck. But I've also had a Volkswagon Golf and I really liked it too. But once we are done with moving then we'll probably sell the truck. My husband was even checking out the new Tesla car that's coming soon. Since we're not into road trips because of the cat, the range on one of those would probably work pretty well for us.
 
Last year we traded in our SUV and my old Hyundai Elantra for a new Elantra. My husband always drove the SUV and I had the Elantra, that was when he wasn't fully retired. Now that he is we only need the one car. I miss sitting higher in the SUV when we travel but my daughter is only about 6 hours from us now so I live with it. Unbelievable mileage though and we got a bright red one. I always wanted a fire engine red car. My daughter told me the cops stop more red cars than any other. Not sure about that but I'll risk it.
 
i drive a Buick La Sabre. My husband, 6'7" drives a Lincoln Town Car. The first requirement for the size of our cars is that my husband has to be able to fit in in comfortably. Most cars are too small for him. I also want something between me and the person who might run into me. These pint sized cars are dangerous.

I used to have a red car and got no tickets at all, nor did I get stopped by the police.
 
I now have a Kia Forte, a little bigger than my old Saturn which passed away this year, but it's still smallish. As a bonus, it's easier to get into than the Saturn because it's a little higher off the ground. I feel swallowed up by great big cars.
 
When I was young the biggest cars (Caddies, etc.) were driven by the most elderly women. The older men, too, seemed to prefer full-size sedans.

The seniors I know now drive mostly full-size cars too. A few drive mid-size ones, but I only see a couple of compacts in my building's parking lot.

I have never heard of people moving to smaller cars as they get older. Men in midlife crises stereotypically buy little sports cars, but that's a different thing.

I don't have a car right now, but I have found in recent years that the bigger a car is, the more comfortable it is. Last summer I went to the beach in a Lincoln. Wow! Road-trip car to the max!
 
Phoenix said:
i drive a Buick La Sabre. My husband, 6'7" drives a Lincoln Town Car. The first requirement for the size of our cars is that my husband has to be able to fit in in comfortably. Most cars are too small for him. I also want something between me and the person who might run into me. These pint sized cars are dangerous.

I used to have a red car and got no tickets at all, nor did I get stopped by the police.
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My husband drove a red Dodge Stealth for a year and he got stopped once by a cop who I think mainly wanted to talk about how fast the car was. The reason for stopping him was because Don didn't want to put a front plate on (because it looked better without) and in BC you're supposed to have a plate front and back. Not a comfortable car really. Hard to get into if you had to sit in the back, so the kids hated it.
 
Earlier this year I actually traded my Acura TL Type S (a nice sporty car) for a Volvo XC90. I love it. Easy to get in and out of, plenty of space for when we travel, drives like a dream and packed with safety features.
 
My 1996 Saturn sedan seems to be serving me well. I don't know why they stopped making 'em. Gee, I guess it will be a "classic" pretty soon. It goes forever on a tank of gas; 'course I don't go very far in it these days. I bought it to tow behind my 34 ft. motor home because even tho' it has an automatic tranny, you can still tow it on the ground. I still have only 42,000 miles on the odometer. (The first 7 years of its life it was usually towed and the towed miles don't count.) I still would like a nice big car, but this one is nearly free these days. Why take on a car payment, big insurance, high registration cost, etc. etc. when I can still get where I'm going quite satisfactorily?
 
I still drive a largish car. A Ford Mondeo 2.0 diesel. I am not at the stage where my reactions have been affected by my age, although as I do drive so infrequently now, they have probably been affected by lack of practice! However, I love the large hatchback and do make use of the space in it quite often. I would not like to lose that.
 
I drive a Peugeot 307 diesel estate. A lovely smooth ride, ideal for rural Scottish roads. It was also useful for transporting home two recent purchases. A dishwasher and a large capacity washing machine. Both fitted comfortably in the tailgate. Though not at the same time!
Back to the original question though. I am over six feet tall so appreciate adequate legroom, particularly on an extended drive.
I have driven everything from Smart cars to Range Rovers and definitely prefer the internal wide open spaces.
 
Once a person retires, and no longer has to drive much, and has a good reliable car. buying a new car is more of an extravagance than an necessity. Most cars/trucks made in the past couple of decades can last many years with proper maintenance. Given the prices of new vehicles, it often makes more sense to put a couple hundred dollars into an older car, than to spend many thousands replacing it. I get the "itch" every now and then, and if/when I decide to get a new car it will probably be one of these smaller crossover SUV's...Ford Escape, Subaru Forester, etc. They have plenty of passenger/cargo space, are easy to handle in traffic/parking, and get good fuel mileage.
 
Yeah -- I had resisted the urge until my Saturn's transmission went out beyond repair. I didn't buy a brand new car, though; I found a two year old Kia that was in showroom condition and with very low mileage. Thousands less than a brand new car.
 
I drive a big old dodge ram 2500, it is also my farm truck. It has the v-10 set up so it is real good for hauling just about anything you want. I also just picked up a 2015 Impala off a lease with low miles for a great price. I like big Impala's, they are a very comfortable automobile. I would like to find an older convertible so I can cruising in it.
 

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