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i'm planning to buy my first car as soon as i get a driving license, that's about 4 months from now.
i've read tons of reviews and i got my list ready for selection (Priority included).

1- Honda CR-V 2007

2- Kia Sportage 2011

3- X5 2003

4- Chevrolet Equinox 2005

5- Renault koleos 2008

6- Jeep Compass 2009



you can remark that the only car is 320i all the others are SUV. i'm more interested by suv that are good for snow cz i go to my house in mechmech 1300m-1650m on weekends in winter.

so which one should i buy?
if you want to suggest other this is my basic requirements:
Price under 20k
Automatic / "tiptronic"
good for snow, preferably a 4x4.
good fuel consumption (not below 150km/20L)
googd looking interior/exterior.

I know there are several topic abt first car, but no one discussed these type of cars.
I would vouch for the Rav4, maybe a bit newer model
x5 very bad fuel consumption
May i suggest the 2003 325i ; it's quite good and great - not that expensive either around 15 grand - with low mileage and of course good mechanique.

It hits everything on that list, but the snow obviously, i mean i haven't tried it yet but i don't think any car that isn't a 4x4 should consider snow treks

I don't really like SUV's which is basically 90% of that list, but i would definitely not recommend the sportage at any cost.
@Ngel I would definitely buy the new one if it's cheaper. it's far more expensive than the old one, around 24k.

@Tarek it's around 135, right? maybe i should putting it out from that list but i like its design

@The-MMMs why you don't recommend sportage it got problems? note that this is the latest model.

bmw 320i 2006 out of the list (not good for snow).

what abt equinox and compass?
buy brand new, always a better choice.. unless you are importing the car and you are confident of what you are getting. Cars in lebanon are screwed in all means possible(low quality fuel, bumpy (off?)roads, lunatic drivers, etc)
I don't recommend the Kia in general. My neighbor had it and he had a nightmare problem with his brakes. He was always in and out with the Kia dealer trying to fix it. I'm not sure what model it was exactly, but if im not mistaken it should be the 2008 or 2009 model.

Also i always felt it was a "weak" car especially compared to the others in the list. By weak i don't mean engine or speed, but in a sturdiness sense. Slight hits would cause dents in the rear and front bumper as apposed to scratches which is what would happen to the x5 or rav4 for example. Not to mention it looks fugly. So it doesn't meet that requirement in your list :P It may be one of the cheaper ones but there is a reason behind that fact.

As for the Jeep and Chevy; im not sure i've never tried them or know anyone who has them. My uncle's wife uses a Jeep Cherokee i think. Not sure of model. She always complains about the mileage though.

Also what proners said has a lot of truth to it. Unless you know it's coming from a good owner that takes well of the car then so be it, then again i find it hard to find anyone trustworthy enough.

I know it's a good idea to plan and stuff but really when your buying used you'll never really make up your mind till your actually looking for the car. I advise checking good car dealers and see what from this list they actually have. I'm sure you'll see a load of X5's but at least you can start eliminating from the list and narrow down your choice. That's my advice to you at this point.
go for a volvo suv, for this price range i guess you'll have to go for 2006 models and lower.
I am telling to go for a volvo, because safety should be your biggest concern. Here's a quich search on elmazad, check the first 2 options:
elmazad.com/search?keyword=volvo&search.x=0&search.y=0
or you can with another suv, which also safe and great, the VW touareg:
elmazad.com/search?keyword=touareg&search.x=0&search.y=0
brand new suv aren't very expensive? can someone suggest one under 20k.

@Metalloy i asked one of my relatives who works at volvo company, he told me that the volvo suv is the worst volvo vehicule, the 5 cylinder system is very weak, remember it's a 7 seats car, at least that's what he told me. For the touareg i didn't like it much. note that volvo suv was the first on my list before posting here.

i saw many car dealers they all say x5 is from bmw (BMW and Mercedes dilemma)
i'm eliminating rav4 cz of old model(design).
i added renault koleos on the list.

does anyone knows about equinox, compass or CR-V?
X5 is total garbage. I'm ex-owner of those, and it has very high cost of maintenance, unreliable (a lot of failures of various electronic parts), and very bad fuel consumption.
The only good thing - handling on high speed and effect to people "wow nice car".
@ nuclearcat how much is it fuel consumption is it around 140 for the 3.0l engine? i can't find a real answer they all pretend that their x5 has good fuel consumption.
so i'm changing the order on the list.
volvo has a 6 six cylinder not 5, and it might not be the best performer engine wise, it is in safety, so you should really reconsider them, and if you can find an xc60 or xc70 it would be even.better size wise.
i am with buying a car straight from a dealer, but lets face a 20000$ suv new from dealer has surely used economical choice regarding manufacturing and design, i am a mechanical engineering student and currently taking corse regarding technology in steel industry, i know what im talking about.
@ Metalloy yeah there's a version with 6 cylinder but it has high fuel consumption. xc60 is very expensive and xc70 is really ugly, anyway thanks.

like you said guys, a brand new car is far better (insurance, warranty...). so can you suggest guys a brand new car around 15k (under 20k) but not a small one (picanto, golf, renault...). i like for example this type of cars bmw 320i 2006 but you know the brand new model is very expensive.
renault megane 2008 and above.
for your own safety, buy either a european car, nissan or american. korean and chinese are not that safe yet.