What's the best car for a Realtor?

[Morristown]

I say first priority is look at what is out there with 4 doors that you can actually afford without difficulty.

I am in the market for a different car to replace my 2003 Nissan Pathfinder. The Nissan has been a good SUV but 16mpg City or Hwy is a little hard to swallow when you go through weeks where you fill the tank 4 times, or gas goes back above $4 a gallon which I strongly believe will happen once the economy is recovering more. Also the Nissan is getting a little battered, and the miles have piled on.

I have been looking at 2007 and 2008 VW Passats with the 2.0T engine. I know someone who has a 2006 and she loves it. Says 2 out of 3tanks of gas will be 100% town driving and on those tanks gets as good as 25mpg, and when out on the Hwy 75+MPH gets as much as 35MPG.

Mileage is one of the reasons I am considering this car, the other is I have a split kind of clientele, probably 30% of them are status oriented and judge your quality partly by the clothing you have, and the car you drive, and probably 30% judge you negatively if it looks like you spend too much on those things.

So I get to try to find a ground.

[SLP-NYCT]

James,

Take advantage of the CARS money. $4,500 is hard to beat and they are discounting the cars on top of it.

BTY: I sell top end. $800-1.2m and low end $125k - $250k. My Nissan Altima Hybrid is perfect for the two groups. Appointed nicely enough for the high end and not to snooty for the low end.

[Jason Painter]

First of all, for liability reasons I like for the buyer to follow me in their own car if possible. Having them in my car might not be the best idea but I do it sometimes if the situation warrants.

For low end clients, I drive a very clean 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 (Hemi) 4x4 Pickup Truck. People looking at homes 150k and under seem to appreciate it more.

For high end clients, I drive a 2008 BMW X6. I think this lends a bit of credibility when meeting folks for the first time...especially on higher end homes. I do think that driving this car hurts my chances of getting sales on the lower end homes, thus my reasoning for driving the Dodge truck on those occasions.

I do take notice about what Tampa4U said...maybe the poorer looking car the better? I really think this might be true in some cases.

[Michael Paul Eau Claire]

I haul my own signs, plus have 2 small kids that are in the car with me often. I bought a 2005 Honda Element for under $10k this spring and I could not be happier with it. 24mpg, full-time 4wd, and lots of billboard space for company logos outside. I don't have to fold any seats down because the signs and posts fit under the seats. A Lexus or BMW doesn't suit me, but I didn't want to be driving an old POS either.

[Toby Lane]

Looks like the one of the best cars moving forward will be the new GM Volt 230 mpg, $40,000 and coming out late 2010. That will save a lot of Gas Money!!!

[RJO Salt Lake]

I like the idea of buying a smaller car with better gas mileage. I find that many of my clients prefer to drive separately when showing homes, so a small, but stylish, car works fine.

[Calgary Agent]

I drive a ski-doo (snowmobile). In the summertime I switch to a jetski (also Bombardier product)

[Joelrunner]

Good point Ron! For anyone who is considering a gas-guzzler, a quick calculation on costofcommuting.com would put things in perspective.

(It's designed to demonstrate that even if you buy a $100K less expensive home that's 30+ minutes from work, you still won't be saving money because of the commuting expenses, but you'll get the idea.)