A "what car" thread for family...

Last point was it has to fit in a garage, so the Excursion/Suburban/Sequoia/Full-SizeVan is out. Apparently I don't what kind of kid seats, it's 2 boosters and 1 car seat and apparently they've already strapped them into a Pilot so it works. The Pathfinder is the only other 3-seat 2nd row that works so far.

In reply to 1988RedT2:

We like out Pilot. It negates the need to take two cars everywhere when we have guests. It seems like every weekend we have grandparents or friends visiting or at least some random child or two from another family going somewhere with us. I've used it for eight people several times. The eight people include five adult sized people (including three over six feet) and three in car seats or boosters. Nobody complained (about space anyway).

From the sound of it, a Pilot would probably be a good fit for them.

One thing to consider with car seats and kids is that different stage car seats are different sizes. When you have 4-5 kids they're not all infants in rear-facing car seats (unless you're John, Kate or Octomom in which case you get a Sprinter and call it a day). So you can probably get away with 3-wide on a regular 3-spot seat. I have seen it done in a MKIV Jetta with a 6, 4 and 2 year old.

For my money, I'll be buying a used higher mileage suburban with an ls-series motor. The motors seem to go forever with little attention. The transmissions wear out, but are fairly inexpensive to rebuild (can't say the same for the Hondas). Everything is easy to work on and junkyards are full of the parts you need. Gas mileage really isn't much worse than anything else that carries 8 people. You can tow most anything you want to. You have 4wd if you need it.

Interesting gas math (probably wrong):

100 miles w/ 8 people

4 miatas = 13 gallons of gas (30 mpg) 2 TDI/Priuses = 5 gallons (40 mpg) 1 Suburban = 5.5 gallons (18 mpg) 1 Odyssey/Pilot = 5 gallons (20 mpg)

you didn't mention price range. if they're looking at the Pilot, they should also look at the CX-9, which, based on how we've loaded ours in the past, should fit those three kids seats just fine in the second row. it also offers decent storage behind the third row.

if they are into spending money, then the Flex might be worth considering.

Not into spending money, and definitely not into maintenance.

Here is one from left field....
What about a Buick Rendezvous?
The reason I recommend it is because though it is Minivan like in dimensions, it is available with a full end to end bench seat in the middle making it a 7 seater.

http://wikicars.org/en/Buick_Rendezvous
All in all, these vehicles are standard GM fare and would likely no be found offensive to these "non-enthusiast" drivers.

In years past I had a few of these as rental cars and they are a great choice for "people moving."

Avoid the complex AWD drive option as a way to save money and costly repairs.
MPG is pretty good (typical minivan numbers) and purchase prices are reasonable on these often well maintained vehicles.

Notes:
These vehicles came with 3 seating configurations.
- Bench middle seat without a third row
- Bench middle seat with a third row
- Captains chair middle seats with a third row

Final year was 2007 which there should be many of them coming off 3yr/36k mile leases. Shoot for $18-$15k retail for a nicely equipped 2wd model. At only 3 years old, the buyer will still be able to get favorable financing rates compared to the gouge you can often get financing older vehicles. Vehicles from 2007 may also qualify as Certified Used.

My dad owns a 2004 (?) Rendezvous FWD. My impressions:

Pros: Lots of space, AWD versions available, V-6 is fairly grunty, Dad hasn't had to spend much on maintenance (though he usually drives cars into the ground...)

Cons: V-6 guzzles gas, suspension is super-floaty (though that may be a plus for the family), rear seats aren't very comfy, interior plastics are cheap, cheap, cheap!

I would just like to point out that you can get a REALLY nice 96-00 Grand caravan for $3k, grab another 3-person 3rd row bench from the junkyard for $50, and latch it down into the middle row with all the factory stuff (modular system, you can just do it, stock) and have a reliable, cheap, safe, abs, airbag, 8 person vehicle for $3050 that gets 20 mpg.

Vigo,

Is that JY special going to have under 50K miles and last 10-15 years with no maintenance? These are the type who think oil changes are slightly unnecessary...

Then go with a newwer NON-Stow-N-Go Caravan and do what he already said. Or almost any mini-van, as all the ones I have dealt with can do that.

edit but if you did that 3rd row access would be the most dificult, and from the sounds of your sister and her husband, even figuring this out might be beyond them

P71 wrote: Vigo, Is that JY special going to have under 50K miles and last 10-15 years with *no* maintenance? These are the type who think oil changes are slightly unnecessary...

so these folks are looking for a magical car? will any car last 10-15 years with no maintenance?

if i'm reading correctly:

-7-8 seats, needs to fit 3 kids seats in 2nd row -needs to fit in a garage (what size garage?) -cheap (but what is the price range?) -low miles -maintenance free for 10-15 years

shrug

Again, these are appliance car people. It's everything I can do to keep them changing oil. They cleaned tree sap with the green side of a sponge! (Yes, the paint is ruined on both cars)

Their price range is $10K-$15K, they want 50K miles or less, and it needs to fit in a normal garage (basically it's height that's an issue).

To give you an idea of maintenance, they think Jiffy Lube is too expensive for oil changes...

Seating for 7, fits in a garage, low maintenance-doesnt even need oil changes, probably less than 10k, plus good exercise so the whole family can stay in shape.

Id be hesitant to recommend a car to someone who intends on destroying it. Not that a honda pilot or some minivan is any great loss, its just when it blows up or they get in an accident from a tire coming apart due to under inflation, being the one who picked the car out may not be the best thing.

I know that i am not, however if i was in that situation I think I would be tempted to explain that cars do not function the way said family would want them to without more attention to maintenance than they have given their current cars.

OK, so I've got 5 kids, and know a LOT of large families. Been doing this a while. I've had Suburbans, Volvo wagons, Full sized vans, and mini-vans.

They are thinking wrong.

Cheap purchase price, low maintenance costs, easy to beat on= Suburban. Not many other choices. It will cost them at the pump.

But they REALLY don't need a car that big, and will regret buying it.

They're answer is 7 passenger minivan. No question. But they may have to accept the fact that they will have to take a 2nd vehicle for the occasional times there are 2 more adults. They will also have to accept 2 center seats. Minivans don't seat 3 baby seats across the middle.

Unless they are having twins and already pregnant, they won't have 4 car seats. 3 max, probably 2. Most young parents seem to forget that the little guys tend to grow.

Even the Suburban, which has 3 seats across, can not fit 3 car seats, and if it could, you wouldn't be able to load the child into the middle one. Once they WERE loaded, no one could climb into the back seat. Unless the 5 year old is going to climb in the back window and be completely responsible for his own seatbelt, 3 carseats across the middle is OUT. A minivan with 2 seats in the center row and an aisle on the passenger side (not the center) will give the best access for the adult to load a child into a seat in the rear.

Volvo- WAAY too small.

I love Astros, but I'm not sure how I feel about them. They have a higher floor, which makes loading little kids in and out harder. They are also questionable for crash testing.

Don't forget the Mazda MPV. A lot of minivan for the price.

One other thing. Our lives got better when we realized 2 cars here and there wasn't so bad. We got rid of the Suburbans. My wife drives a minivan, and I drive whatever I want (usually a Miata). When we just need to run errands without kids, we jump in the Miata (or truck, or whatever). When the minivan isn't quite big enough, we take 2 vehicles. It's not that often.

I can fit 3 kid car seats across the second row of my '03 Ford Explorer. It's tight but they all fit.

The Explorer did have a 3rd row option from '02 + as well.

The second row has a flip up seat that allows access to the 3rd row.

Yeah, but like I said, you won't be able to get into the rear seat.

My brother has 4 kids (4 car seats) and loves his Oddity to death. The two older kiddos climb into the back and can buckle themselves in while the younger two are closer to the front, thus allowing easy access for their fussing/whatnot.

More than 100k miles (hard miles because my brother thinks it's a sports car) and still running strong with very limited maintenance. I don't think the van has ever been washed beyond the time I borrowed it to move a pottery studio worth of crap.

SVreX has it right, taking two vehicles a couple of times a year is far cheaper than buying another vehicle that won't be used to it's capacity the other 99% of the time.

The Odyssey sounds like a good choice for them, but my guess is that they'll be in the upper end of their price range to get one with under 50K in mileage. We paid something like $18K for a CPO with 36K, but most that we looked at were in the low $20K range. If they can get it, I'd highly recommend the Honda Care extended warranty. Ours has already paid for itself in the first two years of the warranty (2 left to go).

My sister has an Odyssey with 5 kids (8, 5,4,3,1). They keep the two youngest in the middle in the bigger car seats and the older ones in the back with boosters, etc. The Odyssey does have a small filler seat the fits in the middle of the 2nd row capt chairs to allow seating for 8 (main reason they chose it), but doesn't work well with 2 car seats. With the middle filler seat in, I had to climb in the back from the trunk on occasion (depending on the configuration). At least the 3rd seat is split so you can drop one side to get in from the trunk! They are a 7 hour drive from my parents and her husband's so 2 cars is not something they want to do.

They are looking at 15 passenger vans for the future as they may have more.

Another bit of advice, get a DVD system if you can. Factory or aftermarket. They didn't get the factory option and ended up adding it (which was alot cheaper than the $2000 Honda option).

Clay wrote: Another bit of advice, get a DVD system if you can. Factory or aftermarket. They didn't get the factory option and ended up adding it (which was alot cheaper than the $2000 Honda option).

Sorry, can't agree with that.

It is a good idea only if you are trying to train them to have short attention spans, be uncaring about the world around them, and more interested in the electronic babysitter than in a relationship with their family.

My kids are great travelers. Largely because we DO NOT have a DVD.

In reply to SVreX:

We love our portable DVD player. We only put it in for long trips. I don't know where you live, but our long interstate drives provide only pine trees and grass whizzing by at 80 mph for scenery. My wife and I both have short attention spans even though we watched very little TV growing up. People love to hate on TV. In the immortal words of Homer Simpson, TV is your teacher, mother, secret lover.

patgizz wrote: suburban /discussion you can fit 27 kids in a suburban and still have room for the old people, the dog, and some diaper bags

This.

Im still against the suburban and for the minivan. If you get one of the bigger minivans, the suburban has NO space advantage. Seriously, none. Its illusory.

If they think a minivan is too small for them, i would skip straight over the suburbans and get a passenger-model sprinter. Ridiculous amounts of room, still gets 20+ mpg. And if it has to fit into a garage, i think they need to build a bigger garage.. if you wouldnt force your 5 kids to sit in one garage stall for 10 hrs and not let them out, why would you consider isolating them to a car that fits in that stall for a 10 hr road trip?

They don't care about cars and keep pumping out kids-let them figure out what car to ruin on their own.