Upgrade or Different car Options

[brk34]

My mom uses her 96 saturn sw2 to haul a LOT of stuff when I drive it, the body rolls a lot when its loaded. Also the brakes are not strong enough for the load. My question is should she just get a different car? Or is there a cheap way to keep this car from dieing from this use/abuse?

This post has been edited by brk34: Aug 26, 2008 - 7:39 PM

[GriffGirl]

You guys are thinking like guys. She probably won't buy a Subaru because she has a Saturn that works perfectly well and she knows Saturn at this point. If she's really hauling around so much cargo that it's compromising her suspension, it's becoming a safety issue. It's better to address it as a safety issue before it really actually IS a concern - and while it's still somewhat of a viable trade-in.

I'd recommend to her that she look at the Saturn Vue if the Subaru isn't a consideration for her. That way she still stays in the Saturn family but upgrades to something better suited to her needs. If the thought of an SUV turns her stomach because of the gas mileage, there's a Hybrid Vue that gets the same mileage she's getting in her sw2, 25/32 with 172 HP. It runs $26k. The XE (4cyl gas engine) gets 19/26 w/169 HP. IDK how much it is but I'd guess in the $22k range.