I bought my first brand new car in 2002, a VW Passat and it lasted until this past month. About a month before I got married my car was having difficulties, especially the transmission. We left on our honeymoon and came home to a dead battery. We got it jump started and my mechanic originally that maybe the low battery was causing the transmission problems, WRONG. He then cleaned it, nothing looked wrong and put in new oil (he didn't charge and said it was a wedding gift). It still had problems, once not shifting above 3rd gear until I turned off and restarted my car.
We test drove cars for about 2 weeks and we chose a Honda CR-V. I was surprised that I liked as much as I do. We would of bought a VW Tijuan because it handled awesome but had a really small cargo space which would make basic shopping difficult.
We love our new car!!!