I need help picking a new car. I love the Honda Element, my husband wants something more truck-like, he's looking at the Nissan X-terra. For a middle line between us we've settled on Subarus. Forester, Outback, or Impreza, they're all pretty nice. And a friend showed us the Nissan Leaf, its a cute little thing but most of the info I can get on it is all hype about how awesome it is, nothing really concrete. We're all over the place and are open to anything I think, so long as it fits what we need. We are very active people and tend to be hard on our cars. We need something with a cargo area for our dog so any passengers wouldn't have 100lbs extra on their laps, plus we've got tons of gear for various things. Camping, fishing, kayaking, building materials, furniture, etc. We pack the car full with something or other almost every weekend so it has to have room and the ability to handle getting beat up. Something with ground clearance would be nice so we don't wind up stuck in any more ditches...but as small as possible since we live in the middle of a city, parking's at a premium. We don't want a gas guzzler and honestly I hate most SUVs although its looking like that's we need. I would love a hybrid or electric even but they cost, and of course we need the price as low as possible as well 20 to 25k. You see my problem? We need the perfect car and I'm convinced it doesn't exist.