Auto shopping baby!

So as I'm sure everyone on the planet knows...i'm officially FED UP of my car.

I've been eyeing the Nissan Murano, but it's out of my price range so I had to scope out other cheaper small/midsize SUVs. I did some research, and the redesigned Rav4 (Toyota) and CRV (Honda) had the best reviews (and got Best Buys from Consumers Reports).

Let me tell you...I can't STAND driving. Really. Seriously. So test driving is not something on my list of priorities. Heck, thanks to the internet, I'm blown away by how I ever used to spend my youth at the mall for hours and hours...i get annoyed when the online checkout process takes too long. Can't i just buy a car online and have it delivered?!

Well i guess i could, but i still needed to test drive it.

The Rav4 comes in a V4 and a V6, plus a base, Sport, and Limited version of each...that's alotta combos. Which already makes my head hurt. I absolutely love it...my only major gripe is that visibility is kinda hard and my fear is that I'm going to back into someone at the grocery store.

Yes, the grocery store...any other time backing out is no big deal but people walking in the parking lot at the grocery store seem to be especially retarded

What I'm not used to is looking in the rearview mirror and seeing WAYYYY back...my car is a compact car and so the view back isn't far at all.

Anyway, otherwise, i love it.It's got this double glove compartment situation, MP3 player, the base dials for temperature are a bit gay compared to the Limited version but i can manage, and shoving the seats down in the back is a snap.

Thing is, it's a LITTLE bit pricier than what i wanted to spend (and when i say a "little", i mean, $2K-$3K). Well, for the Sport and Limited versions anyway...i haven't scoped out the Base one yet.

The 2007s aren't in yet, so until those come in I'm not getting the Rav4.

Last night I test drove a CRV. I was really hoping that I would fall in love with it, because it's cheaper than the Rav4. Well, you can easily tell the diff between the V4 CRV and the V6 Rav4 (obviously)...i wish they had a V6 version. The automatic shift thingy was SO bizarre...it was on the console by the radio (as was the parking brake)...that's just weird to me. Although that leaves room on the right for your purse, which is always good, but I was much more aware of how much bigger of a vehicle it was compared to my car.

The only thing i DID like about it was that the windows are strategically placed...no blind spots, easy viewing, I felt MUCH better about that than the Rav4. Which, for all it's downfalls (which also includes a stereo/temp console that I couldn't reach), it's a pretty important thing.

I'll end up test driving both again i'm sure. Next up: the Murano. I know, I know, it's out of my price range, but I gotta just TRYYYY it. Maybe i'll hate it and then I won't look back with regret. And if i like it, well, i'll donate a kidney or something.