I just bought a 2005 Ford Freestyle and I love it. I have 4 nieces and nephews (7,5 and 3,3) and they can all fit and here is still room for stuff. Rest of the time it is useful for hauling bags and bags of mulch, the visability is great and it is comfortable to drive. The gas milage is about 17 miles in a traffic congested city with horrible traffic light timing, on the hwy the mileage is good 26 to 28 miles a gallon. This is the same as the volvo s70 I just replaced. The new Freestyle is the Taurus X. I recommend giving this crossover a look. The kids love this crossover as the visability is better for them too. 5 stars in safety ratings too. I also looked at the Mazda 5, for us it was too small in the passanger seat, if we were not so tall it is a good option as well.
The time spent would be minimal if I had a short driveway. I don’t. Snowfalls of 3" or less take about 15 minutes. Snowfalls of 8-12" can take 30-45 minutes depending on the moisture content. IF my wife had to use the snowblower, it would take 45 minutes every time no matter the snowfall.
- yeah pretty good there, but need 2 vehicles capable of hauling 3 kids as we both haul them.
Here is an idea. You don’t both haul all the kids at the same time. Get one large vehicle and one small one. Whoever has the kids drives the big vehicle and whoever doesn’t drives the small one. Do you really need two large vehicles so that you can drive the same vehicle every day? Trade vehicles based on who has the kids that day.
I know you probably don’t want to look like Aunt Bee, but have you considered a big ol’ Mercury Marquis or Ford crown Vic? My Mother had a Mercury Marquis That I drove on a 500 mile plus trip got about 27 MPG highway drove pretty good and rode great.
Wait now…you ditch an 05 Expedition and want a new car that provides the room for three kids accross the back ? Unless you’re considering adopting or expecting triplets right off, just buy a compact and upgrade as you need more room, gradually. Spending $$$$$$ on a car because you’re “considering something” is wasted money. Save til you need it,new models come out every year.
With three kids, you opinion of a minivan tends to get more in line.
We had minivans when our kids were growing up. Two unexpected benefits were:
1: We didn’t realize how much extra junk a family needs to carry (associated with kids stuff and their activities).
2: Kids have lots of friends, and hauling van-loads of kids around to all their play activities created priceless good times and memories.
I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
You don’t realize how great they are til you have a need…it’s all about the kids and their safety, and not what you’d rather not be “seen” in.
Take a look at a Subaru Legacy sedan without the turbo. It gets 20/27 EPA mileage. FWIW, I beat the new EPA highway mileage on my commute (2005 Accord V6) and you should, too. Take the car seats with you when you test drive the Subie to see if they fit in the back.
The easiest way to avoid the dreaded dork-mobile is to simply buy a full size sedan or wagon with a large enough back seat to accommodate three car seats or booster seats. A wagon will have the additional advantage of some cargo room, and a third row wagon will be useful as the kids get a little older. I really don’t understand why people think mini-vans are useful, they don’t do anything that can’t be done with a human size car and driving them truly sucks (even worse than a truck/SUV). Also, a real car is much less likely to end up on it’s roof on the side of the road, which seems to be the preferred position of mini-vans and SUVs in slippery conditions.
What is it that makes a full size sedan or wagon not a dork-mobile? And it seems obvious that you have very little experience with minivans - at least maybe those built after about 1985.
“I really don’t understand why people think mini-vans are useful, they don’t do anything that can’t be done with a human size car and driving them truly sucks (even worse than a truck/SUV). Also, a real car is much less likely to end up on it’s roof on the side of the road”
That pretty much says it all. No one with kids and a minivan could say any of the above - and I am cluleless about the rollover implication.
I’ve been stuck renting the occasional newer mini-van, usually when the airport rental places we out of absolutely everything else with wheels; driving them is still horrible, they feel like a delivery truck (even worse than the usual domestic rental junk) and the seating position is very bizarre. I really don’t know how anyone could stand driving one for more than a couple of days. There is a reason they are disappearing (although they are being replaced with “crossovers” that aren’t much better). Hopefully the cost of fuel will finally kill them off anyway. Anyone considering one of those things really needs to actually try driving one; if they can make it through a weekend without pushing it off a cliff, maybe they could actually tolerate owning one (and they are more tolerant than I).
I have a couple of kids and never had any trouble carrying them around in normal cars when they were younger. Car seats fit in the back seat of normal cars just fine. Guess what, you don’t really have to carry everything you own (or half the kids in the neighborhood) every-time you leave your house. I’ve carried my kids around in everything from a three-door saab, to an old jeep, to my benz sedans, to the back of my motorcycle; it’s really not a problem. All marketing non-sense aside, you really don’t need a specialty vehicle with six video screens, nine cup holders, and 18 secret compartments just to transport your kids (what a scam).
Sorry that you’re clueless about the rollover issue, next time you drive in the snow, count the number of upside-down SUVs, mini-vans, and crossovers you see on the side of the road.
Also, I’m pretty sure the OP said, “NOT A MINIVAN.” Was that unclear?
Well, so far a very entertaining discussion thread. Thanks for all the responses and ideas. It’s hard to convey all the criteria in a single post. There was a suggestion of one big car and one small car and trade off. No go as I drop kids off, wife picks them up since my work day plus commute pushes my arrival time back. That’s why we loved the Expedition since it could handle ever situation we threw at it. But way back in Dec '04 when I bought it, I asked the salesman when Ford would drop a smaller diesel in the Expedition. His response “Why would you want that?” Gee, I dunno, maybe so I could get a vehicle that meets my wide ranging needs plus gets half-way decent fuel mileage and Ford wouldn’t be getting killed in business right now.
I’d love a smaller 6 cyl turbo diesel in the Expedition (maybe 3.0 - 3.5L) so I could get good fuel mileage and still tow 5,000 - 6,000 lbs the once or twice a year it’s needed. But they are opting for that 4.4 L V8 diesel that goes for more power than mileage. How many Expedition owners need to tow 10,000 lbs?
Well, a lot more engine options will be on the market for the 2010 model year. Who knows what will be available then. IF we go for 3 kids, believe me, at least vehicle will be a minivan. They are just too practical.
I echo the sentiments on the Taurus/Sable wagons. They do not make them anymore, but you can get a good, older used one for next to nothing.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2184257_buy-good-used-car-under.html
It sounds like you haven’t driven a recently made Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna. Their power to weight ratios and refined handling make them fun in some respects. If I was judging all minivans based on the experience of driving a Dodge Caravan, I would agree that they all suck, but I would be wrong.
Toyota Avalon, but it’s not too great on gas either. The E-150 or the Savana get 13 MPG in the city.
Funny, Craig… At least it would be if you weren’t serious. A lot of us prefer the mini-van because of the extreme seating comfort. In 1998, I picked up my best friend in Iowa, and we drove to McAllen. He so enjoyed the comfortable seating in that 1989 Caravan that when he got home he went out and bought a mini-van for his wife to drive on long trips. She also loves the seating comfort.
I well understand people are all different, both physically and emotionally, so it is easily believable that for some reason you are not physically comfortable in a minivan. However, you seem not to understand that your experience is not universal. You imply that those of us who actually prefer minivans are somehow just too stupid to know pain when we have it, and I resent that sort of attitude.
In early February, I drove my Sienna roughly 1500 or 1600 miles in two days, from McAllen to Danville, VA. I would not go back to a car for any amount of money if I had a choice. On a long day in a car, sitting low, the back of my legs start cramping. I know a lot of other people who have the same experience, though I am not denying that different people will have different needs.
As far as the pontificating over OP saying no minivan, we are all aware she/he said that. When you post on a message board, you get what you get. And, frankly, he wants what he can’t have when he needs a lot of space, but also wants high mileage. Odds are good before those kids are raised, they will have a mini-van. No, they will probably have two mini-vans.
I drive a lot, including in the snow country when I am forced to, in fact I lived their until 1998, and mini-vans were around long before that, and do not ever remember seeing a mini-van upside down. I once drove from Des Moines to KC on glare ice, and there were all sorts of vehicles in the ditch. Trucks; mobile homes under tow. And, yes, cars rolled over. The only messed-up minivan I saw was way off the road up by the security fence, and he was upright, pumping his brake lights to let people know he was in there.
Note to amateur. Craig is one of our most productive and helpful contributors when there are car problems. He is also a very prejudiced and intolerant person when it comes to car choices, as you can see.
SUV’s allegedly have a rollover problem and this affects their safety ratings in many cases. Mini-vans do not have a special rollover problem in general. He is Blowing Smoke.
hyrbrid suv or QX56 my we love this amzing car!!!
Is that why there are ambulance chasers making a living off mini-van rollovers?
http://www.defectiveautomobile.com/minivanaccidents.html
I agree that mini-vans are less likely to roll over than SUV/trucks, but they are certainly less stable than sedans. Unless you really, really nead the extra space, a sedan is the only way to go. Unfortunately, most folks seem to just buy SUVs where I live, which is probably the worst choice of all.
There was a suggestion of one big car and one small car and trade off. No go as I drop kids off, wife picks them up since my work day plus commute pushes my arrival time back.
If fuel gets expensive enough, you might consider changing that arrangement. The cost of all the extra fuel you are using so that you can share taxi duty might someday outweigh the cost of changing your schedule so that the same person can drop them off and pick them up.