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Yeah when my sister and I were growing up my parents got to keep driving coupes and carted us around just fine. But that predates car seat regulations altogether, much less these giant rear facing ones today.
That’s because every year we get stricter and more ridiculous on car seat requirements.
Now kids are supposed to be in the back until they’re 14. Rear facing seats are until they’re 2 now. The tiny car seat won’t work here. And they wonder families don’t drive compact cars.
Sweden has the lowest number of vehicle injuries/fatalities for children. They keep their children rear facing for much longer, sometimes to 6 yrs old. Their seats are better designed for this as well as for fitting into small vehicles.
US seats are designed assuming everyone drives a minivan or full-size truck.
Sweden has the lowest number of vehicle injuries/fatalities for children. They keep their children rear facing for much longer, sometimes to 6 yrs old. Their seats are better designed for this as well as for fitting into small vehicles.
US seats are designed assuming everyone drives a minivan or full-size truck.
We too are a family of 4. Some common myths about the SUV are that they get horrible gas mileage, have no space, and have a pretty much unusable third row. That depends on the SUV.
We own a 2014 Expedition EL. We chose the Expedition for a couple of reasons that were of key importance to us:
Comfort - It sits up high like a truck but rides like a car. We have taken numerous 11+ hour trips in it with little to no fatigue. It also made getting a baby in and out of a car seat easy since there is no bending over and getting in is easy as there is no having to sit down to get in a seat. It's a horizontal movement.
Engine - It comes with a V8, which gives us plenty of power when we need to use it as a tow vehicle (like now while my 2500 Ram is in the shop after an accident)
Space - There is ample leg room in the middle and third row. They are as comfortable as the front seat, which works well on long trips.
Third row availability - Contrary to opinion of those who don't own one, the 3rd row in the Expedition is very easily accessible. It takes about 2 seconds to flip the middle seat forward to gain complete walk through access to the rear seats.
Cargo capacity - The EL Expedition has 8'2" of cargo length from the rear door to the front seats. Couple that with 4'3" of width and it easily hauls plywood, drywall, or anything else that you might need to haul. Since the cargo floor is flat and about thigh level, loading and unloading is much easier than a minivan where we have to bend over to put things in. This is a huge plus for us when we take our yearly beach trips because we pack it tight to fit everything we take. With the middle seats in place, we still have ample cargo capacity that will hold (for a family of 4) all of our luggage, beach chairs, tents, umbrellas, beach toys, a beach cart, a cooler, and a large bin with all of our food for the week. There is still plenty of room to spare for the things we buy while there. Last year we bought a couple of deep sea fishing rods that were almost 10 ft long. Getting them home was easy as we were able to tie them to the cargo rack on the roof and not take up any more space in the vehicle.
For fuel economy.... it's not horrific considering the size of the vehicle. We average 16.5 mpg in the city, and closer to 18 mpg on the highway. That's not far off of the 20ish mpg many minivans get. For the added convenience of having one vehicle that does everything well, a 2mpg reduction was negligible for us.
We too are a family of 4. Some common myths about the SUV are that they get horrible gas mileage, have no space, and have a pretty much unusable third row. That depends on the SUV.
We own a 2014 Expedition EL. We chose the Expedition for a couple of reasons that were of key importance to us:
Comfort - It sits up high like a truck but rides like a car. We have taken numerous 11+ hour trips in it with little to no fatigue. It also made getting a baby in and out of a car seat easy since there is no bending over and getting in is easy as there is no having to sit down to get in a seat. It's a horizontal movement.
Engine - It comes with a V8, which gives us plenty of power when we need to use it as a tow vehicle (like now while my 2500 Ram is in the shop after an accident)
Space - There is ample leg room in the middle and third row. They are as comfortable as the front seat, which works well on long trips.
Third row availability - Contrary to opinion of those who don't own one, the 3rd row in the Expedition is very easily accessible. It takes about 2 seconds to flip the middle seat forward to gain complete walk through access to the rear seats.
Cargo capacity - The EL Expedition has 8'2" of cargo length from the rear door to the front seats. Couple that with 4'3" of width and it easily hauls plywood, drywall, or anything else that you might need to haul. Since the cargo floor is flat and about thigh level, loading and unloading is much easier than a minivan where we have to bend over to put things in. This is a huge plus for us when we take our yearly beach trips because we pack it tight to fit everything we take. With the middle seats in place, we still have ample cargo capacity that will hold (for a family of 4) all of our luggage, beach chairs, tents, umbrellas, beach toys, a beach cart, a cooler, and a large bin with all of our food for the week. There is still plenty of room to spare for the things we buy while there. Last year we bought a couple of deep sea fishing rods that were almost 10 ft long. Getting them home was easy as we were able to tie them to the cargo rack on the roof and not take up any more space in the vehicle.
For fuel economy.... it's not horrific considering the size of the vehicle. We average 16.5 mpg in the city, and closer to 18 mpg on the highway. That's not far off of the 20ish mpg many minivans get. For the added convenience of having one vehicle that does everything well, a 2mpg reduction was negligible for us.
2017 Chrysler Town & Country - 17/25 (20 mixed)
2017 Toyota Sienna - 16/23 (19 mixed)
2017 Honda Odyssey - 19/27 (22 mixed)
2014 Expedition EL - 14/20 (16 mixed)
If people like minivans, then by all means drive them. But do so understanding the capabilities of both and not opinions of those who have never owned or driven both. That's my only point.
2017 Chrysler Town & Country - 17/25 (20 mixed)
2017 Toyota Sienna - 16/23 (19 mixed)
2017 Honda Odyssey - 19/27 (22 mixed)
2014 Expedition EL - 14/20 (16 mixed)
If people like minivans, then by all means drive them. But do so understanding the capabilities of both and not opinions of those who have never owned or driven both. That's my only point.
A model year 2017 or a $17k one? That's likely a mid-2000s. Either way we have zero issues with parking. The turning radius on the Expedition is one of the big selling points for us. It turns like a car.
As for reliability? We have 78k on the 2014 and have literally not had one single thing mess up. Our previous 2005 had well over 140k miles and the only thing done to it was a set of coil packs, and one fuel injector ($30). I would say they're darned reliable. Oh... and it's the 5.4L that some complain about being problematic. I've owned 7 vehicles with that engine and zero failures out of any of them. It all boils down to maintenance.
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That's my only point.
