nobody said "Panther"??
nobody said "Panther"??
Old '01-'06 Tahoe's are a bit shorter than the 'burban and easier to park and maneuver.
Says my wife.
stan_d wrote: CRV my step mom drives an awd version and gets 35-37mpg
Please tell me how she does this! They aren't even rated to get close to that on the highway!
Any experience with the Nissan Armada? I know the Impy-gees will probably suck.
Rode third row in an Infiniti QX56 once. It wasn't all that bad. Think that might be overkill though.
sethmeister4 wrote:stan_d wrote: CRV my step mom drives an awd version and gets 35-37mpgPlease tell me how she does this! They aren't even rated to get close to that on the highway!
Also they won't fit standard carseats three across
fornetti14 wrote: Old '01-'06 Tahoe's are a bit shorter than the 'burban and easier to park and maneuver. Says my wife.
I would agree with your wife on that one. I LOVED my Burban, but rarely made it through a parking lot without some creative 4-letter word usage. Had I known at the time our family was going to stay a family of 4 instead of increasing to a family of 5, I would have saved myself some headache and bought a Tahoe instead.
Could the answer be Taurus X? I had forgotten they ever existed.
Only if the car seats fit three across. I feel like it would be a bit narrow for that...
JamesMcD wrote: Could the answer be Taurus X? I had forgotten they ever existed.
I had a Freestyle which is the same bodystyle. The interior is awesome. I am even a fan of the engine. The transmission in the Freestyle is enough to say 'no', but I don't know much about the one in the Taurus X. I like the way they look, drive, and they have good cargo room.
tuna55 wrote:JamesMcD wrote: Could the answer be Taurus X? I had forgotten they ever existed.I had a Freestyle which is the same bodystyle. The interior is awesome. I am even a fan of the engine. The transmission in the Freestyle is enough to say 'no', but I don't know much about the one in the Taurus X. I like the way they look, drive, and they have good cargo room.
I think they changed up the motor and trans when they went from the Freestyle to the Taurus X, and I'm pretty sure that included going from the CVT to a more conventional slushbox.
tuna55 wrote: Bear on thing in mind while trying to stuff three kids in a row. The kids may be able to fit in skinny seats in a bigger second row... but, when they age just a few short years, they will not be able to buckle themselves. You'll end up having 6-7-8 year old kids in five point harnesses, which is suboptimal.
Since the eldest went into booster seats, I've used a short seat belt extender to place the receiver up where he can reach it without leaning over so far that he tips his seat over and to keep the seat from shifting and winding up on top of the receiver. Some velcro on the extender's receiver and you can have it stick to the side of the booster. Have another on the middle seat to eliminate the 20 minutes of cursing when an adult has to ride between the seats and can't get the belt latched. Don't like adding that extra point of failure in an accident, but they're pretty light compared to your average american adult...
wae wrote:tuna55 wrote:I think they changed up the motor and trans when they went from the Freestyle to the Taurus X, and I'm pretty sure that included going from the CVT to a more conventional slushbox.JamesMcD wrote: Could the answer be Taurus X? I had forgotten they ever existed.I had a Freestyle which is the same bodystyle. The interior is awesome. I am even a fan of the engine. The transmission in the Freestyle is enough to say 'no', but I don't know much about the one in the Taurus X. I like the way they look, drive, and they have good cargo room.
Yes, I know that much, but I meant I did not know if the transmission was a particularly good or bad one.
I think the engine only got a bit more displacement, but the same family, which I was fond of. Actually, working on it and looking under the hood, I was pretty impressed with the way things were laid out and connected. The rearmost seats were plenty comfortable for my 6'1" frame, and the stadium style seating meant everyone could see plenty of glass. It was a truly nice ride.
JamesMcD wrote: Could the answer be Taurus X? I had forgotten they ever existed.
For what it's worth, a friend of mine had a Freestyle until he rode in our Sequoia. He traded it the next week for the Toyota.
Chrysler Pacifica? I hear the brakes are less than awesome but don't know too much more about them
Mazda 5
I wish I could've convinced the wife that MPV or Odyssey was the answer over the 5. Now that her sister has an Odyssey, she's all about it. Uuuuugh. "But it looks like a mini-van." No E36 M3, Sherlock!
When shopping, I found a low-mile LOOOOOOADED MPV for around 7 or 8k.
The 5 was a big step up from our Fit, but a true mini-van, it is not.
EDIT: Maybe it was even less than $7k. Had leather, fog lamps, ground effects, DVD, all the bells & whistles, less than 100k miles, and looked brand berkeleying new. Like this, but nicer:
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/4556526307.html
Minivan
Stop fighting it!!!!
A few years ago when we had our third child we went through the same thing as you. My wife was adamant about no minivans so we ended up with one of these:
Ours is exactly like that one and my wife loves it. There have been a few things I have had to fix but it is a nice place to spend time and as long as you do not go to the dealer it is not too bad to get worked on. Also, I am 5 ft 9 and I can sit in the third row of seats very comfortably.
On one hand, yes, mini van and move on.
The Taurus X, I haven't ridden in one , but the seating is great, adult friendly in the first 2 rows, passable in the 3rd.
Closure:
I bought a '08 Sienna from my aunt. It has 113k and she is the original owner. I paid $9500.
In reply to JamesMcD:
Congrats can't beat that price plus the historical knowledge of the car.
Congratulations on the Sienna. We came to the same conclusion ('07 Sienna) with similar circumstances. Minivan is the right tool for the job. We had a similar budget and I was leery of the Odysseys and the Pentastars were still $15k+ so we landed on a Sienna and have loved it. Make sure the oil cooler (optional on '08 I think) and the VVT-i oil hoses have been addressed. Our oil cooler line burst and nearly cost us the engine.
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