Want to move away from the Large SUV (insurance, car payments, vehicle)
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My wife currently drives a 2011 cadillac escalade esv. it is starting to get up there in miles (110k) as we drive a lot shuttling 4 children around to and from school, sports, dance, church events, etc.... needless to say we are in that stage of life where we are in the car for hours a day. I would estimate we are averaging 20-22k miles per year.
This is our second ESV. The first one we drove until it had around 135k miles. We would repair as recommended and it was in the shop a few times a year from anything from getting the rear end rebuilt to changing axle seals. When we got rid of it it needed around $2k worth of work and decided it was best to replace.
Our 2011 hasn't needed anything yet except new tires and a rim( seal corrosion) but I am starting to notice it shifting kinda hard at random times and the suspension is squeaking( not uncomfortable creaking) over speed bumps. I know it is hard to predict issues but if this is anything like our first one they will come often and Id rather not deal with the hassle.
We would like to move away from such a large AWD vehicle with bad gas mileage BUT struggle with the options for the cargo room.
I would love to get something new or certified used but struggling to find a happy medium without going back to a minivan(Wife says it wont happen so please save the time typing about one) . What are you folks with large families driving?
Last edited by Familyman6; 10-04-2017 at 06:03 AM..
Every time I read another post about a wife with several kids who refuses to drive a mini-van, I scratch my head.
Why?
Although it's by far the best solution, that mid-30ish parent must reel in horror being seen by her friends driving that Honda Odyssey. She hates that soccer mom image. But that's what she is.
Alternatives include those two pseudo mini-vans that have swing open doors in lieu of the far more practical sliding doors; the Honda Pilot or the Toyota Highlander.
Every time I read another post about a wife with several kids who refuses to drive a mini-van, I scratch my head.
Why?
Although it's by far the best solution, that mid-30ish parent must reel in horror being seen by her friends driving that Honda Odyssey. She hates that soccer mom image. But that's what she is.
Alternatives include those two pseudo mini-vans that have swing open doors in lieu of the far more practical sliding doors; the Honda Pilot or the Toyota Highlander.
I don't disagree with you but if she isn't happy driving a van, I wont force her to get one. If it were up to me, we would have a newer Sienna XLE. We actually had a sienna when our children were smaller and it was great. Now they are capable of opening doors without smashing the others around it. Outside of that feature, minivans are no different than the standard SUV these days.
I am looking for recommendations of SUVs that families are happy with that are not a tahoe, yukon, escalade, etc...
I had a 2008 Expedition Limited with 96K miles on it. I absolutely loved this truck but decided it was getting up there in mileage so I traded it in on something new last year. Biggest mistake I ever made. Point is to not make an "excuse" as I have done in the past to get something different, else unless you truly do not care for the vehicle. The cost in repairs will be far less than what you will end up paying getting into something new. We could not function without a large SUV and would NEVER own a mini van, just not our style, not to mention the functionality a large SUV has is lacking in mini vans as well as CUV's.
I ended up getting rid of my brand new truck and bought a 12 year old SUV instead. Sure it has needed repairs, but it is far less than what I was paying on my brand new one between car payments and registration costs. I still miss the Expedition and kick myself everyday for making an "excuse" to get rid of it.
I had a 2008 Expedition Limited with 96K miles on it. I absolutely loved this truck but decided it was getting up there in mileage so I traded it in on something new last year. Biggest mistake I ever made. Point is to not make an "excuse" as I have done in the past to get something different, else unless you truly do not care for the vehicle. The cost in repairs will be far less than what you will end up paying getting into something new. We could not function without a large SUV and would NEVER own a mini van, just not our style, not to mention the functionality a large SUV has is lacking in mini vans as well as CUV's.
I ended up getting rid of my brand new truck and bought a 12 year old SUV instead. Sure it has needed repairs, but it is far less than what I was paying on my brand new one between car payments and registration costs. I still miss the Expedition and kick myself everyday for making an "excuse" to get rid of it.
good insight.. thank you. We LOVE the truck. Only thing we wish it had was bench seating in the second row. It is extremely comfortable, quiet, spacious, and it looks great. I never gave it much thought that I was potentially making excuses to look at other options. Being that it seemed like we had a lot of repairs and maintenance with the previous Cadillac we owned I was thinking I may be able to replace it before the repairs come into play.
A Surburban will do everything the Caddy will. Anything smaller you will be giving up the cargo space. BTW, our Enclave has the rear fold down seats, gives it about as much room as the Surburban we rented for vaction, but we lost seating for 2 more people. Just something else to think about.
It is far cheaper to continue to maintain an existing vehicle than to buy a new $50,000 debt. Just add up the interest on the new car and envision spending that on maintenance instead. You'll be miles ahead with your current vehicle. Just the insurance premium will be worth a lot of repairs.
Consider pricing out an extended warranty from the home brand dealer.
I have a 2014 Murano with the extended warranty, and no big family, but we'll drive it to the end. Even $5000 for a new engine would not change my mind on this issue.
Oh, BTW, 100,000 miles is nothing these days. I'd expect a decent GM vehicle to make it to 200,000. Had close to that on an S10. Sold it because I loved another ;-)
Last edited by Crashj007; 10-04-2017 at 08:22 AM..
Reason: 100,000 comment
If you can get away with it, I would look at one of these. Handles like it is on rails and plenty of storage space with a roof rack. Much safer than an SUV that can't avoid anything on the roads. Love these cars and if I needed one, that is what I would buy, but I take driving too seriously for an SUV/truck.
A Caddy IS a Suburban with leather, lockwashers, and pearl paint.
"Cheap at twice the price"
true, unless you buy used and let someone else take the hit. I rarely buy new cars because of the depreciation. Have actually only ever owned 1 new car.
With that being said the Cadillac line is nicer than the chevy hands down, no matter what model you are comparing. Especially the model year that we own. This always becomes a side topic when discussing an escalade or denali. lol. We test drove the esv, suburban, and yukon xl when we bought this one a few years ago and it wasn't even close when it came to the comfort and cabin noise. The Escalade was noticeably more comfortable and the cost was similar. The only thing Im not a fan of is AWD.
I dont know much about the new 2015-2017 models as all 3 look exactly the same with their own feature/ benefits im sure but I will NEVER pay what they want for those things. Our neighbor has a 2016 suburban ltz and it was $73k! No chance!
Last edited by Familyman6; 10-04-2017 at 08:35 AM..
Reason: spelling
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