If I left the choice of car solely to my lady wife, the first and foremost consideration would be the colour, secondly, ease of access for the shopping, and everything else just boring trivial details.
Not directly, but there are some useful opinions posted which can help sway from one make to another. Primarily though, I read the reviews on sites like, Honest John, Car Buyer, Auto Express, Autocar, and Top Gear to get an initial opinion on a particular model.
I'd been buying/selling cars for a long time before I joined AB, so no I don't. I know what I want from a car in terms of space, performance and handling, I mostly know what I don't want, A Ford or Vauxhall Badge, nothing French or Korean etc, and after 45 + years of car ownership I've never had a bad one so nowt's going to change.