More room and more MPG

I have to throw a Kia Rondo out there again. 35K miles for $12K. On the highway, I can get 27mpg, around town more like 21. I know I can get better mileage elsewhere, but the V6 is a blessing when I have 5 +luggage on board or am towing the ATV.

Yesterday, I hauled myself and my wife, baby in the carseat, daughter and her friend, huge Jeep stroller, and the haul from a day spent at the mall. Would not be possible in a smaller wagon of Mazda 5.

The only vehicle that I see as a comparable is the Honda CR-V. Similar room inside, less power but better mileage. And AWD.

the B5 Passat TDI wagons have a huge diesel tax fyi. Gasser 1.8T's go for like $5K, where-as I've seen TDI drivetrain B5 wagons go for $12K+. I just couldn't justify that kind of $$ for a 100K 10 year old VW. I'd rather just buy a new Jetta sportwagon (since your minivan shopping gets you towards $20K anyways) or new TDI passat sedan.

I'd give the C-max hybrid a look if you're considering something as small as a CX5 or Mazda5. If she does mainly city driving it'll crush the diesel wagon when gas price is factored in.

...fwiw I'm a diesel fan and love my TDI Golf, but I do 95% highway all day.

SAAB 9-5 wagin. They are fairly easy to find with a stick, should get mid 20's around town and low 30's on the highway. Find one that has had the oil changed like it should and you should be good to go.

The Rondo/Saab etc are all substantially worse MPG than the Matrix we have currently and not really much bigger.

The Cmax hybrid is interesting. More interesting than the plugin version when I found out it only gets 32mpg once its 20 mile EV charge is gone according to a test anyway

The problem with the new Passat/Jetta TDIs is I think the Passat is the same platform and the same size?

The new larger Passat is sedan only "The NMS is not going to be sold outside the North American, South Korean, and Chinese Markets, with no plans for a wagon/estate version."

I crawled around and in a new C-Max (Hybrid, not the Energi) at a car lot last week. It's actually a lot smaller inside than my Mazda5. The 2nd row is a bench, which is nicer, but the rear storage area is abysmally small. The battery pack is under there, so the floor height is really high, and no under-floor storage. It's honestly not much bigger than the storage left behind the 3rd row of the 5 with the jump seats up, and way, way, way smaller than the 5's area with the jump seats down (or a Matrix/Vibe's area). I was bitterly disappointed.

My recent experience crawling over a new cmax and new escape is that the cmax is a hybrid escape. For the record, i liked it, certainly more than the escape, but in spite of its 'larger' styling i dont think people should expect it to be much roomier if at all.

Kind of what I was expecting. I think the CX-5 is the hot option right now as my one big complaint with the Matrix is the way the rear seat rakes back and the rearwindow/hatch is can sometimes interfere with actual usable cargo space

I'm pretty sure a used CX-5 will replace our Mazda5 in a few years. Love the sliding doors, wish it had a middle bench.

Just get an Odyssey or a Sienna, as new as you can afford. I bought an end of model 2004, new, in December 2004 out the door for $21,000. It's paid off, has 140k miles and runs like a champ. Always has. It will even carry 4x8 plywood with the tailgate shut.

Based on reading about some people who make lots of noise online (who are probably very hard on their vans) I added a trans oil cooler at 100k miles - figured it is cheap insurance for a heavy vehicle with a supposedly suspect transaxle. No problems in that regard.

Lastly, if you see a minivan with a trailer hitch (and its not an astro) I would keep moving.

In reply to Jaynen:

We're thinking of getting the Mrs a CX-5 within a year or so. I'm waiting for the Sky-D (despite our higher diesel prices) to see how it drives. All of her cars have had turbochargers and/or at least 200HP, she hates slow cars!