SUVs with Kids

[SoonerTexan]

(It has 125K on it, so I'm pretty sure that keeping it 3 years is a pipe dream...).

Not necessarily...my friend's wife finally let hers go at...wait for it...

250k miles

[JDAZ11]

Not necessarily...my friend's wife finally let hers go at...wait for it...

250k miles

Actually, I know someone that has an Acura with 320K miles on it. My parents actually have two (although my sister drives one) Toyota land cruisers with well over 200K each on them. And my mom had a Volvo that lasted well over 250K. She also didn't even change the oil for the last - maybe 6 years. Good stuff.

Sadly, mine is isn't one of those super reliable brands. So we shall see. I think we just discussed our keep it going number at 5K. We are probably so stupid. But DH insists on paying cash for cars (and actually, we still haven't purchased one - so crazy, but we spent most of our adult lives in New York), and I'm not letting this ruin my possible renovation plans. Famous last words. I'll probably be looking for a new car - just a few thousand dollars poorer in a few weeks!


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[alotofyarn]

I think we're learning toward the Explorer. We haven't driven anything yet, but the Highlander had a couple of things we didn't love, the MDX is out of our budget and although definitely the nicest doesn't have a couple of features that we'd like, and the Honda dealer wasn't interested in selling us a car apparently so we didn't even really get to look at the Pilot.

We're looking at the 2017 Limited with the 2nd row bucket seats. We'll have the 2 kids in their car seats - E is forward facing and C is still in an infant seat, although we'll move him to a convertible soon. We're not having any more kids. We'll mostly keep the 3rd row down and only use it when we have extra people with us (mostly my parents - so my mom or dad and I would sit in the back).

I like the idea of a minivan, but hubby won't consider it at all, so this is our best option. The plan is to still probably upgrade my car once we're settled in after residency, potentially then to the MDX.

[spaz]

Sounds like you've made your decision, but thought I would chime in here for others. We LOVED our 2007 Odyssey. ( Not so crazy about new design.) It had 170,000 miles on it when someone ran into me at the end of August and totaled it. We narrowed it down to the Pilot and the Highlander. We chose the Highlander. I've been driving it for about 3 weeks and I love it. We decided not to do the minivan since we only have 1 kid left at home. Plus, it looks a little sportier. However, I've taken students on field trips twice over the last 2 weeks and that 3rd seat is really cramped. If I had people riding in that 3rd seat in a regular basis, I would probably keep the minivan. For our uses it is perfect. We put the 3rd seat down A LOT and carry stuff like our luggage to Houston this weekend.

We tend to keep our cars forever. Hubby's Honda Accord was 20 years old and had 250,000 miles on it when we got rid of it. His current 2005 Ford 350 truck has 175,000 miles on it. Our cars rarely have problems either.

Anyway, just my two cents.

[alotofyarn]

Sounds like you've made your decision, but thought I would chime in here for others. We LOVED our 2007 Odyssey. ( Not so crazy about new design.) It had 170,000 miles on it when someone ran into me at the end of August and totaled it. We narrowed it down to the Pilot and the Highlander. We chose the Highlander. I've been driving it for about 3 weeks and I love it. We decided not to do the minivan since we only have 1 kid left at home. Plus, it looks a little sportier. However, I've taken students on field trips twice over the last 2 weeks and that 3rd seat is really cramped. If I had people riding in that 3rd seat in a regular basis, I would probably keep the minivan. For our uses it is perfect. We put the 3rd seat down A LOT and carry stuff like our luggage to Houston this weekend.

We tend to keep our cars forever. Hubby's Honda Accord was 20 years old and had 250,000 miles on it when we got rid of it. His current 2005 Ford 350 truck has 175,000 miles on it. Our cars rarely have problems either.

Anyway, just my two cents.

I really liked the Highlander, but we'd really like remote start and front park assist, and those have been hard to find. Plus hubby likes the Explorer better, and ultimately it will be his car.

My ideal car would be sort of a mix between the MDX, the Highlander, and the Explorer, because they all had some different pros and cons.

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[Thirteen]

We eliminated the highlander based on the 3rd row as well.


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[alotofyarn]

Hubby tried applying for a loan by himself and got pre-approved for...$4700. So he added me and got approved for $45000.

Insurance called it a total loss. After paying off the remainder of the loan, they're giving us $16,000. They're also paying us for the car seat and base that were in the car.

[MDPhDWife]

SUVs with Kids

Late to responding on this thread, but saw that you were considering a Pilot and thought I would chime in. In January, Hubby's Accord finally kicked the bucket and we replaced it with a 2016 Pilot. I loved the new body style! While our daughters are teens now, so I can't speak about car seats anymore, the third row has been very comfortable for all of us. When we were shopping in January, there was a shortage of them, so I went online and shopped dealers within a 250 mile radius. I found the lowest out the door price and took it to my local dealer. He not only matched it, but bought the color/trim package we wanted from another dealer. Many dealers will deliver to you if your local one isn't worth giving your business to.


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[OrionGrad]

I finally bit the bullet and traded in my Volvo for an Acadia Denali today. I already miss my Volvo (I get way too attached to cars), but this really ticks all the boxes as far as size, seating arrangement, features, etc. Thanks for everyone's help when I was trying to decide. I honestly wouldn't have even thought of an Acadia as an option if a few of you hadn't recommended it.