New Car!

[Anamodiel]

So, my mom is getting a new company car next summer, but she has to put the order in now for it. The lease is three years, and then she gets a new one. However, she also has the option to buy it after the lease period and keep it. So, that means that, if everything works out, this car could potentially be mine in summer 2014.

The models:

2011 Volvo S40i
2011 Buick Lacrosse CXL
2011 Dodge Journey Crew
2011 Ford Flex - SL
2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid
2011 Ford Taurus Ltd

Now, because it's a company car, it's not going to come with a ton of extra features, unless my mom decides to pay for those herself.

I honestly have no idea which one of these would be the best car to drive. I currently drive a 2003 BMW X5, so I guess you could say that I'm a little spoiled in regards to performance and space (and in general ). I really, really like my current car right now. I don't really care too much right now about gas mileage, assuming gas prices stay at about where they are. By 2014 I'll have a stable job and I'll be 23. I'm really just looking for the best car in terms of performance and space. I'm alright with driving a sedan; I'm not totally attached to SUV's.

What other sort of things should I be considering? Am I missing anything? Any questions I need to answer to help narrow down the list?

Thanks for the help!!

[Lits]

Dude get a volvo... if nuclear apocalypse happnes, the only things that would survive would be cockroaches, twinkies, and freaking volvos. Those guys run forever and have great performance.

[Da6onet]

I can attest to the Volvo's greatness. Tires lasted 80k+, rear rotors lasted 70k, everything else is still what it rolled off the lot with (even the freakin wiper blades).

edit: sorry, misread your original post. If you're already used to driving a 5 series, you probably wouldn't want anything smaller than an S60.

That said, Volvo's don't come with tons of extras like a BMW or Mercedes, what you get is a very well engineered car (that means there is virtually no difference between the base models and the "decked out" ones, which would be good in this case).

[ExternalError]

Yep I also am a Volvo owner my 1998 s40 t4 is still running good today no major repairs and the only real costs have been the standard servicing points where I had the cam belt and such replaced.  My dad has a 2005 S80 T5 also and is still running as good as the day it left the show room.  Dagonets right most volvo's arnt the high point of technology but if you want a car that will stand the test of time and also has the power and performance id go for a Volvo. Oh and the boot space isnt to bad in a volvo either

[Da6onet]

Oh and the boot space isnt to bad in a volvo either

For those of us on the west side of the Atlantic, that means trunk space. And yes, you can fit a couple dead hookers in the trunk.

[Anamodiel]

Volvo it is! Thank you.

[Ash]

So was it the "dead hookers" that sold you on the Volvo?

Honestly though, from a "survivability" standpoint, if you're ever in a car accident, in a Volvo is where you want to be.

[Da6onet]

So was it the "dead hookers" that sold you on the Volvo?

Honestly though, from a "survivability" standpoint, if you're ever in a car accident, in a Volvo is where you want to be.

Actually it was what sold my wife on it (she nixed the Accord hybrid because it had a small trunk).

On the safety note, in the past 10 years most other car manufacturers, like Subaru, have caught up with Volvo in their safety standards, so Volvo can't claim to be the "safest" in the world when everyone is getting 5 star ratings, but lead the pack in innovative safety designs and features.

[Paitryn]

Dude get a volvo... if nuclear apocalypse happnes, the only things that would survive would be cockroaches, twinkies, and freaking volvos. Those guys run forever and have great performance.

That reminds me of a short run TV show in the 90s called Woops where the guy survives nuclear holocaust by being in his volvo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woops!

my memory is almost too good.

Admin Edit: I guess that's a bug... you can't have a '!' in a url or it just kills your entire post. But if you don't use the url tags it will link properly.

[Tecknik]

Taurus.