[jessi0887]

I just wanted to ask if you ladies could recommend a vehicle for my upgrade. I am hoping to trade in my buick for something bigger by the end of 2011 or early 2012. I am planning for a third child but not right away so we are going to need room. Thats why i was eyeing a minivan. But DH said no that i should go for something like SUV or Pt cruiser. But minivans have more room and i was told reasonable gas mileage. So room is important to me and decent gas mileage. I just want to make sure i make the right choice and not getting a new vehicle it will be preowned. I really suck when it comes to buying vehicles and have a bad history of wrong decisions in this department. LOL

[Nikki.]

My SIL just bought a van, she had a dodge Durango and finds that she has more room and saves A LOT on gas now. She got the top of the line Chrysler something something, but basically any van will be more roomy than a PT Cruiser or SUV. Also, the price of a van is lower than an SUV, not sure about a PT Cruiser though.

[.h00dihoo.this.]

depends what kind of SUV.. if your talking about a bigger SUV.. then yeah a Van will be cheaper.. but if your talking about a reg SUV (like a ford escape, jeep liberty, honda pilot.. ect) thats are cheaper than Vans

but a small SUV is not the best for 3 kids (we have a ford escape.. and HARDLY have the room with TWO kids!).. we are also looking to upgrade..
a Van is nice because of the room and gas mileage.. a large SUV is nice for the room, but sucks for the gas mileage.. and a PT cruiser is a hatchback like sedan..

unless you have 3 sunshine radian carseats .. you will not get 3 carseats in anything less than a large SUV or van

and she is talking about the chrysler Town and Country.. they are SUPER nice vans!.. that is one we are looking into.. but our first on the list is a Honda Odyssey.. my mom has one.. amazing vehicle!.. im not at all excited about the soccer mom car lol..

but we are also looking into a large 4 door truck.. (DH needs something durable for his tools).. and will use 3 radians.. but.. i like the idea of having a Van.. i always want to go somewhere with friends.. and every one of them has a child.. but we can never go in the same vehicle because of the lack of room!

[austinmommy3]

I am so not a minivan person, but that's me. I have three children, but only 2 in carseats and I have a Land Rover. We are looking to go to a roomier vehicle with a third row because when his parents fly in, we have to take two vehicles to go anywhere since I don't have the 7 seat option. We actually have been eyeing the Ford Flex. We always go to the carshow when they have new cars out and you can crawl in and out of them with out being hassled by a sales person! The Flex had an amazing amount of room with out being a huge tank like a suburban (SO's choice), and everyone we know who has one loves it. I have friends who have minivans and love them, I had one for a hot minute when ex and I got divorced (his idea of being funny) but I dumped it and got a Rover.

We have an Odyseey - it gets great gas mileage and has a ton of room. I won't lie, I miss my SUV. I totally feel older than I am driving the van BUT I can fit a ton of stuff in the back and never have to worry about being out and going back home to switch a stroller or get park or beach gear. It's always in there.
I had a VUE and I loved it. We're upgrading DHs car soon to a SUV with good gas mileage because of how far he travels to work each day (160 miles+), so when I'm not with the kids and he's home, I'll probably drive his car.
We're replacing my van next year and we're still torn on whether to get a 3rd row SUV or another van. I truly don't drive THAT much, so gas mileage isn't a huge concern.

[jjc99]

as a former Cruiser owner - you don't want one. It wasn't bad for me by myself, but it isn't as roomy as you will need/want.

I have been looking at going to an SUV, like the Nissan Murano, Kia Sorento, etc. Not HUGE like the Explorers, Suburbans, etc, but not as small as an Escape, Liberty, etc. However, I'm not looking forward to going down in gas mileage compared to my nissan sentra. But it's jsut too smal!!

We looked at minivans for a moment. Not sure if that'll be too much for us right now or what. We are still not sure if we will have a second child or not. If we do, then a mini-van would be the right choice. If not, an SUV/crossover will be suffiecient.

[*Maddie&Jacobs*Mommy*]

I would say go for a mini van. I was SO against getting one... but we did, and I LOVE it... I really can't see myself not having it now... there is so much room. I have a Toyota Sienna...

And as for a PT Cruiser... I would so NO NO NO... DH had one when we were dating, it was ok for the 2 of us... but like Jen said, there really isn't much room at all in the back.

[.h00dihoo.this.]

fords suck.. there is always something wrong with it!.. we have ours only because my MIL gave it to DH when his step dad divorced.. and it's paid off.. so we can't complain much on it lol.. but fords are my LAST choice... my MIL bought a new escape in replace of ours.. and hers right away tarted having computer issues.. my grandparents have had 2 fords, both computer issues.. and my uncle also has a ford with issues.. but he's in auto repair so he has no problem fixing his lol

i looooooooooooovvvvvveeee Nissans!.. i have had two frontiers myself.. i LOVE LOVE them.. i would go back to one of those if i didnt have kids.. not enough room for carseats.. esp because we extend RF so the big convertibles don't have much room.. and the Nissan Titan takes up way to much gas.. i would LOOOVVE an Armada lol but again, way to much gas suckin'

if we were to stay with an SUV... i'd probably go with a Honda Pilot for the optional 3rd row seating

[austinmommy3]

Originally Posted by .h00dihoo.this.

fords suck.. there is always something wrong with it!.. we have ours only because my MIL gave it to DH when his step dad divorced.. and it's paid off.. so we can't complain much on it lol.. but fords are my LAST choice... my MIL bought a new escape in replace of ours.. and hers right away tarted having computer issues.. my grandparents have had 2 fords, both computer issues.. and my uncle also has a ford with issues.. but he's in auto repair so he has no problem fixing his lol

i looooooooooooovvvvvveeee Nissans!.. i have had two frontiers myself.. i LOVE LOVE them.. i would go back to one of those if i didnt have kids.. not enough room for carseats.. esp because we extend RF so the big convertibles don't have much room.. and the Nissan Titan takes up way to much gas.. i would LOOOVVE an Armada lol but again, way to much gas suckin'

if we were to stay with an SUV... i'd probably go with a Honda Pilot for the optional 3rd row seating

I did books for my friends garage, and Nissans were in constantly for coil pack issues and it is expensive to fix. I have a Land Rover currently which are extremely sensitive and ticky, and require a great deal of preventive maintenance during and after that precious warranty is gone. I taught myself to work on mine and have for the last 7 years. I had a Ford F-150 that I used to pull my boat with and it is still going with almost 300k on it and my ex still uses it as the boat hauler. I think every vehicle has their ticks and you have to research, that said I know 6 different people who own the Flex and have had not one problem. The Escapes were crap right off the line along with their Mercury equivalent, and I SO GLAD that Ford sold Land Rover to Tata, they completely ruined the brand.

We also have been looking at the Audi SUV because it comes in a diesel!

[.h00dihoo.this.]

i have heard good things about the flex .. im just not sure if those were good things because it was new to them lol.. im just not into ford because something is always being recalled about them..

ive never heard the issues with nissan.. but i agree the escapes suck LOL.. i think ford in general though sucks.. i would assume if your using a truck for towing purposes mainly.. that its not being used as a daily truck either? and also traveling mileage is different than daily mileage..

so while fords arent known for going passed, what.. 120 miles? some can if the majority of the mileage is traveling miles

but there is that new ford? that "parks itself".. im totally curious to see that one lOL

[austinmommy3]

Originally Posted by .h00dihoo.this.

i have heard good things about the flex .. im just not sure if those were good things because it was new to them lol.. im just not into ford because something is always being recalled about them..

ive never heard the issues with nissan.. but i agree the escapes suck LOL.. i think ford in general though sucks.. i would assume if your using a truck for towing purposes mainly.. that its not being used as a daily truck either? and also traveling mileage is different than daily mileage..

so while fords arent known for going passed, what.. 120 miles? some can if the majority of the mileage is traveling miles

but there is that new ford? that "parks itself".. im totally curious to see that one lOL

Nissan's mostly have coil pack issues with age and it maybe mostly with the Xterra, thing that sucks is the computer reads the code but Nissans will not tell you which coil pack it is, so then it's trial and error and you can't return once installed and they run around $150 - $200, so ouch!

The Ford truck was a DD until a couple years ago, once it racked up to 250k it became solely boat puller. I have always had good luck with any vehicle, probably because I am so freaking anal about maintaining them. All my cars have gotten easily 300k before major problems. Yes, I drive A LOT! LOL

[.h00dihoo.this.]

oh wow, intersting!!.. they don't even make XTerra's anymore do they??.. i remember when i was in HS i wanted one soooo bad LOL.. but now that i have a family.. the size of these smaller SUV's just BLOW!..

but i only had my Frontiers for a few years at a time.. my first one was a 2002 and i got rid of it after 1 year.. and got a 2005 frontier and had it for over a year
im sort of hte opposite LOL... but i am this way with every electronic thing as well.. always after about 1 year-2 years.. i get rid of something and replace it with something newer... now that im married and my DH is the bread winner here.. and we have a family.. he doesn't allow me to do it lOL

but also now that we are in CA.. prices are expensive as h**L.. and since we dont have to make payments on our truck or anything.. we've just been dealing with it.. but in the two years we've had it.. we have to replace the transmission.. and two catalytic converters (which all costed over $5,000).. almost as much as the POS is worth!

so we r ready to get rid of the dang thing lol!.. i really am not into getting a Van.. but we really need the room.. if we stumble across a Honda Pilot.. that will probably be our choice bc of the 3rd row seating .. but im unsure which would be better on gas.. that or a van

[Kholmes]

I just bought a 2010 Honda Odyssey and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I am not a "minivan person" either, but let me tell you ladies, pushing a button to open the doors, including the hatch back, is AMAZING when your arms are full with a little one and groceries and ...

It also gets amazing gas mileage. The third row folds down, seats move around, you can take peices out to create more room, I can fit 3 carseats plus 5 adults and go to Costco...do you hear what I'm sayin' ladies?!?!? LOL

[austinmommy3]

Originally Posted by .h00dihoo.this.

oh wow, intersting!!.. they don't even make XTerra's anymore do they??.. i remember when i was in HS i wanted one soooo bad LOL.. but now that i have a family.. the size of these smaller SUV's just BLOW!..

but i only had my Frontiers for a few years at a time.. my first one was a 2002 and i got rid of it after 1 year.. and got a 2005 frontier and had it for over a year
im sort of hte opposite LOL... but i am this way with every electronic thing as well.. always after about 1 year-2 years.. i get rid of something and replace it with something newer... now that im married and my DH is the bread winner here.. and we have a family.. he doesn't allow me to do it lOL

but also now that we are in CA.. prices are expensive as h**L.. and since we dont have to make payments on our truck or anything.. we've just been dealing with it.. but in the two years we've had it.. we have to replace the transmission.. and two catalytic converters (which all costed over $5,000).. almost as much as the POS is worth!

so we r ready to get rid of the dang thing lol!.. i really am not into getting a Van.. but we really need the room.. if we stumble across a Honda Pilot.. that will probably be our choice bc of the 3rd row seating .. but im unsure which would be better on gas.. that or a van

Yeah they still make X-terras and they are actually more Tahoe size, but narrower.
Chris's brother has a Honda Pilot and it seems to get great gas mileage. It seems as your Ford was more of a lemon than average! lol

[MoMMy2*VictoRia*]

I'm liking into this too but we've so far been a Mazda family so I was looking at the CX-9

Originally Posted by MoMMy2*VictoRia*

I'm liking into this too but we've so far been a Mazda family so I was looking at the CX-9

I realllly want a new CX-9! We test drove them a few months ago and I loooooved it!!