Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What kind of car should i get? Im looking for a used car. maybe pre owned certified. something 1-3 years old. low mileage. Want something where the 3rd row is actually safe. Kids ages are 1, 3, 9 and 11. I have to drive this car to work everyday so no gaz guzzlers either. Now me personally, i like dodge. my last car was a stratus and its been very good to me. But im not sure about the safety of the DURANGO.
You'll be dealing with car seats and booster seats a while, then. Do yourself a favor and go for the minivan. Most SUV third-row seats are just whatever they could cram into an already limited cargo space so they could say they had a third row. If you want an SUV with three rows, go with a Chevy Suburban or GMC Yukon. Otherwise, stick with a van.
If you like Dodge, check out the Dodge Grand Caravan and the Chrysler Town & Country. I believe the Town & Country has all-wheel drive as an option; the Grand Caravan may as well. That, plus a set of good winter tires, will get you through just about anything old man winter can throw at you. My experience with the minivans is that they offer more cargo room than most SUVs. They also tend to get better fuel economy. Either way, you're going to be driving a big, lumbering beast down the road. So it might as well be a convenient, big, lumbering beast.
A suggestion, if you're undecided. Take your car seats and booster seats with you when you test drive. Try putting them in and taking them out of whatever you try out. Test them in both the middle and third rows.
I recommend the Dodge Grand Caravan or Town and Country based on the Stow-and-go seating.
Every 2nd and 3rd row seat can be folded and hidden into the floor -creating a flat floor behind the driver's seat until the back hatch. This is done easily, quickly and without tools. Unfold the seats upright again, and you can store/hide things in the space they just vacated. Unless you live in the woods, can't think of a more versatile vehicle for a family.
Ingress and egress to the third row will be easier than a suv as well.
Last edited by CloudReader; 03-30-2015 at 12:47 PM..
We rented a Town & Country on our last vacation and it was great. My 4 kids are older, 23, 20 and 14, and we had plenty of room. The Stow & Go seating storage was great for some extra hidden storage. It had the captains chairs in the center, and that made it easy to walk to the rear seat. When our kids were little, we had a Yukon XL and put the twins in the captain's chairs and the older two walked to the rear seat, so that would be a good way to set it up for you. I got in the 20's for gas mileage on the highway with the T&C, so it was not bad fully loaded. I'm generally not fond of Chrysler products, but their vans do a good job for a decent price.
Definitely minivan. Think of the logistics of getting into and out of the 3rd row with car seats installed in the middle row for the youngest 2. Darn near impossible. The only way to do it with a SUV is to get something that has two chairs for a center row (so, a 6-seater) and something in the middle that could be removed to provide a passageway, and even then it's tough.
Forget a minivan. They're not built to last. They have fragile transaxles.
My recommendation is a full-size SUV. A midsize has a vestigial third row that will cut cargo space to nil and be uncomfortable.
The argument for a minivan is fuel efficiency, but minivans are really not that efficient. Unless you are doing 50k miles a year of something crazy, the difference between a full size SUV and a van (especially city driving) is going to be minimal.
A full size SUV is very durable and will keep its value for decades. It's RWD based and is a lot easier to drive and maneuver, especially in tight spots. This makes parking it actually easier than a large FWD based vehicle like a minivan.
The list:
Chevy Suburban
GMC Yukon XL
Cadillac Escalade ESV
Lincoln Navigator
Ford Expedition EL
Toyota Sequoia
SUVs are for people too insecure with their self image to drive a minivan.
That is if by self image you mean penis size.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandalorian
Forget a minivan. They're not built to last. They have fragile transaxles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkf747
My 176,000 mile, 11 year old minivan disagrees.
So would my 23 year 213,000 mile mini van.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
