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I've not driven one with the 3.0-liter six-cylinder; perhaps the extra power would have made me happier, but I think the car really needed a stick.  
tonyroberts09

Hey:  With the way the American economy is,buying a car from a local manufacturer is the way to go.  If you travel to South Korea, they mostly drive Korean cars, in Germany, they mostly drive German cars so why don't most Americans drive American cars instead of imports?  Other citizens are loyal to their own country so should Americans.  Suffice to say, some American cars are a bit shabby but things seem to be improving on that front no?

Why don't you be a patriotic guy and go to Ford and order the 2010 SHO Ford Taurus AWD that is on this week's website.  It'll be fast and furious at a price under $40,000.00.  

With the lineup you are currently id say go with the subaru legacy. Subaru offers one of the best if not the best AWD system.  With the symmetrical AWD it offers a side to side balance to the vehicle putting forth more stability. With the turbo-charged GT it offers 245hp, plenty of get-up.  Further more, its a cheap buy.  

Go with the BMW 335xi!  

I'm positively amazed that no one has mentioned the Acura TL. It's an amazing car in that it competes directly with the 5 series, E class and A6 at a price that undercuts their smaller siblings. The car is very spacious inside, comes with either a 280hp 3.5 (fwd) or 305hp (sh-awd) 3.7 engine that's good for about a 6.1 0-60 time. Acura's pricing policy is really a breath of fresh air too. Just two choices: fwd/awd and tech package or no tech package. The amount of technology and features in the cars with the tech package is amazing. You get real premium leather, xenon headlights, seat memories, maual tilt telescope steering wheel, heated seats, dual zone climate control, full ipod integration, 440 watt ELS 10 speaker sound system, real time traffic and weather, bluetooth, a built in hard drive that you can rip your CD's right onto, etc. All at an out the door price of about $35,500 for the fwd and about $39,500 for the awd.  

I've been trying to find the same car (AWD sedan, fun, uo to around $50k).  

So far...
- BMW 528xi - best drive (excluding 535xi) but the sales guy said "you look like BMW people" which made us throw up...my problem or BMW's?  Also - sticking with Idrive and those cup-holders tells me that BMW hates their customers.
- 3 series - nope..need a back seat.  Bummer
- A4, C class - see above
- A6 - very nice cruiser but no passion, expensive, lumpy
- CTS - too bling, too bad
- g37x - ugly inside and out (to me), back seat not much, good price though
- S80 - surprised me..fast and comfy - pretty nice but it really does not like to be pushed in corners. Future orphan?
- TL - tip of the hat for being different...I'll pass on the spaceship though.  Lots of gear that I'd trade in a heartbeat for better weight distribution and less shock and awe.
- RL - like it a lot, Acura does not want to sell it, not worth the money. Old.
- Lincoln MKS - could have been great, floats like a butterfly, does not sting.
- M35x/45x - Not buying another thrashy nissan v6, v8 costs too much to buy and feed.  Old.
- E350 4-matic,  Don't live in Palm Beach, drive around corners.  Next generation looks like the best Accord ever.

Guess I'll wait...but for what? SHO -won't it be tacky?  Anything else???

Damn I'm way too picky.  

I haven't been back in a while.

Interesting suggestions, but a new car (AWD or otherwise) has become a backburner item...the health--or lack thereof--of the economy has seen fit to that. Not good to be part of the construction industry right now. And even when we're finally ready to committing heavy blocs of cash to buy, I suspect that we'll be looking somewhere closer to $30k than $50k.

As for the suggestions themselves:

a) the Heico is utterly ridiculous. For that sort of moola, I'd rather forget the rear doors and buy a new Gallardo. Or save almost 50% and buy a lightly USED Gallardo.

b) I was close to pulling the trigger on a DFI RWD CTS back in the fall (before all of the snow), but GM's problems did indeed hold me back. And now that the architecture business is currently in the dumps, I'm not about to commit a large chunk of savings towards ANY big ticket purchase. Plus I'm not convinced that GM is anywhere close to being pulled out of the woods, but I do feel better about them since Wagoner was shoved out; never really liked the dude as a car guy, though to his credit he DID give us the Blue Devil. Now if only they would do something about those wretched UAW commitments...and this Obama idea of wringing them through bankruptcy.

c) Audi anything: once bitten, TEN TIMES shy. I know they've purportedly improved their quality control, but unless someone GIVES me an Audi with FREE UNSCHEDULED service for life, I won't be going back there.

d) BMW: I test drove a new AWD 3-series in January...wasn't that impressed even though the handling was nice. What's up with that stupid turn signal operation??? For everyday driving, I liked the CTS better, bling and all (though I admit the stitching in the dash is a bit much).

e) Volvo: something my DAD would drive. 'Nuff said.

f) Acura TL: too fugly for its own good.

g) C-class: don't like the restyle, but my wife thought it was nice. Drove kind of banal, and now it's judged "too expensive" anyways.

h) G37: I already posted about the looks of that car.

i) Ford 500, er, I mean...Taurus: excuse me while I gag. Why in blazes would I want something that looks like the heir apparent to the Crown Vic?

j) Subie Legacy: a respectable choice; drove one in late December and I have to say that I was quite impressed with the strides that have been made since the last Legacy that I drove. Definitely a possibility, especially if we're looking to save some cash.

k) Ford Fusion: since I've had some experience with the previous Mazda6 line, I have to say that the Fusion definitely has possibilities. I drove a FWD version last year for a few days, and didn't think that it was all that bad, though some of the cabin materials were a bit cheezy.

I didn't see Saab listed in any of the suggestions...I admit that I kinda like the 9-3 Aero but they're in the same boat as the Caddy, plus I didn't think drove as well as the CTS when pushed hard. And it's a fair bit higher in price than where I'm considering we need to be these days.

That's it for now...I'd like to say that I went out and bought a new ride, but reality doesn't permit such things for the time being. If it changes, I'll try to remember to update.  

monoblocks:

i) Ford 500, er, I mean...Taurus: excuse me while I gag. Why in blazes would I want something that looks like the heir apparent to the Crown Vic?


Surely you're not talking about the 2010 Ford Taurus? IMHO, it's damn good-looking car.  We'll have to withhold judgment on everything else until later, but it's styling is miles above the current Taurus or Five Hundred.  

monoblocks:

i) Ford 500, er, I mean...Taurus: excuse me while I gag. Why in blazes would I want something that looks like the heir apparent to the Crown Vic?


jduval74:
Surely you're not talking about the 2010 Ford Taurus? IMHO, it's damn good-looking car.  We'll have to withhold judgment on everything else until later, but it's styling is miles above the current Taurus or Five Hundred.

Um...considering that I originally was looking at buying a car in late Dec '08/early Jan '09, a July '09 release would not be on my radar, even had I known that the Taurus was getting makeover...which I didn't. Even here in April the '10 Taurus is still vaporware, assuming of course that I would've actually BOUGHT something now.

As for its restyle: I played around with the 360° model on Ford's website. From some angles I think it looks ok, perhaps even good, but the side and 3/4 front profiles read "chunky" to me, particularly in the front box section with that sculpted hood and the rather blunt and heavy nose (akin to something a cut-down F-series pickup would wear). Plus, Toyota and Honda have already gone down this road with their own midsized cars. The short trunk box looks a bit off to my eye as well; to me it seems out of proportion to the rest of the car, or that the '10 4-door is trying to mimic a 5-door, although I admit the c-pillar's shape and slope is actually pleasing to my eye though I kept wishing that it was moved a little more forward.

The flatter roofline of the '10 is better and more individual in character IMO than the current car's Audi/VW-like bubble profile, but those 'character' blips on the rear quarter panels seem stupid to me; did someone already sideswipe the car before it left the showroom? And yet another car with tarted fender vents; yeah, that's original (not). Personally, I think Nissan's latest Maxima carries off the 'sculpted for the heck of sculpting' theme a lot better.

As for my own personal tastes...I truly tend to go for "svelte" proportioning instead, as "1990s" as that may be these days. If someone would only make an AWD $35k rip-off of the Rapide's styling...I could indeed hang with that.