A new air filter should not make the car louder. Take it to a licensed mechanic and ask them about your noise.

The deed is done, almost. I committed to a different Land Rover. I left a deposit check to be replaced with a cashier's check on Monday after I check out the insurance details, etc. Probably not the wisest purchase I'll ever make but Alice is over the moon. While not a perfect human being she is highly responsible and actually I consider a better, more focused driver than I am. I need to commute and be gone at least one night a week, she needs to get to school and to the barn to ride and potentially to a part time to buy her own gas. There is no bus service to the barn and what exists here is spotty. Her father no longer has a reliable car and isn't in a position to get one right now. Her friends with cars are flaky about rides. She has driven SUVs belonging to friends. So is no stranger to the handling. The visibility is great. It has been well-maintained. And the tires are brand new. Being able to keep her dream car, as she knows it is conditional, will motivate her to keep doing the right thing. I will replace my vintage Volvo, which I love but is quite elderly, with a slightly less vintage Volvo in a few months. There seems to be a lot of them out there to choose from in my price range. I told if I have a date (not likely!) I get to borrow her car! Here is a link that might be useful: Da car.

Thanks for the input! I drove a 2010 Forester (liked it--the base model, no bells and whistles: even heated seats don't rock my world!) and an Impreza (really liked that). Decided that I really don't need the heft of the Forester if I can get all-wheel-drive in the Impreza. (D.C.-area snow, if you factor OUT this past winter, is not horrendous! Did you venture to these parts this winter, Stinky?) Still crunching numbers. The 2011 Imprezas are in (or just in) to showrooms, so no real bargaining power there yet. Because my insurance costs will double pretty much with any car I get (my car is old!), I might try to push my current one a bit longer. In the meantime, I get to test-drive other cars and compare them to the Subaru. And I didn't even have the Impreza in mind when I went to Subaru--I just went to see the Forester! So I had done no research on it. But Consumers rates it higher than other similar models.

Socks, not to worry.....I'm still driving my cop car, and still loving it after 17 years. I'm trading in my 4Runner. Both of these vehicles have 8 cylinders, which is why I was thinking I should get a 6. I couldn't imagine adjusting to a 4. But I believe I'll have to adjust my thinking instead. Dees is right....nobody has a 6-cyl. Subaru for sale. I drove two 4-cyl. Subarus on Wednesday--a 2011 Outback and a 2011 Forester-- and liked them both pretty well. Then today I drove a 2011 Outback Limited, and loved it. I like to think I'm a smooth driver, and this car felt like we were in synch. The price was higher, of course, and I'm getting nervous about how much I should spend. I wish I had a firm dollar amount that knew I could work with. This is the first time I've gone car shopping without a job. I also drove a 6-cyl. 2010 Toyota Rav4, and didn't like it at all. Hard to explain, but I didn't feel like I was driving it; I was sort of there to steer. And when I had to back into a parking space--something I'm usually good at--the visibility was so bad I was practically paralyzed. I'm beginning to wish I'd started this process during the summer, because I have a lot to think about. I LOVE driving my big Chevy "cop car," for the comfort, for the amazing steering radius that enables me to make U-turns in tight places, and for the big engine that can handle anything I throw at it. My 4Runner, too, can get me up to speed on a highway in the blink of an eye, which keeps me out of the way of trucks bearing down at ridiculous speeds. But everything's a trade-off, and I can't buy vehicles like those anymore. The Certified Pre-Owned cars (like the ones I've been looking at) come with nice warranties, of course, and they look terrific. The Subaru I drove today has only $28,000 miles. I've seen them as low as 8,000 miles. I find it hard to understand why someone would trade in a car with such low mileage, but that's just me. Mare, I was in W-B this week. Could have gone to MotorWorld, but I get so tired if I do too much in one day. I'll definitely be back. I may have to think about getting an older car with higher miles.....and then I start worrying about getting one that was flooded in Hurricane Sandy. I was right about one thing: Car shopping is exhausting!