What kind of car for 6?

[Mary-Beth]

I don't know if this is the right forum...I'm wondering what is the most affordable (fuel efficient) way to have a vehicle that fits at least 6.
2 adults and 3-4 kids (we have 2 kids now and plan on one more and often take my nephew places with us)

Any ideas from experience or know of good sites to figure this out?

[~gilli~]

VW Eurovan

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by ~gilli~

VW Eurovan

Isn't that the one with the rear-facing seats? I love the looks, but you can't have carseats on the rear-facing seats which make them non-pracitcal for a lot of larger families (that have more than 2 in carseats at once).

[Shiloh]

OH CRAP I NEED ONE OF THOSE!!!
wow
can I say wow?
http://www.blackline.com/vehicles/st...vw/eurovan.htm
now only if it sat 7 or 8....sigh

[wryknowlicious]

I would go with a Toyota (18/24mpg) or Nissan (17/24mpg)van.
the 4 cycl.s get better milage than the 6 bangers (less pwr. tho obviously - but who are you really trying to race in a minivan? lol)

or an mazda MPV(18/23mpg) from the late 90's if you can find one.

and the Honda Odysey (21/26mpg)is also a very good pick. A friend just switched to a Nissan fter 6 years in a Honda & she really regrets it.. not 'cause the Nissan sucks.. btui becasue the Honda was just soooo much better.


check out www.edmonds.com and research under used cars.. ther is ALOT of info and really informative reviews form owners.
that site helped us decide to get the car we just bought.
(97 mazda 626 for $3k... it's a 5 spd and is getin a very respectable 33MPG right now, of course we only 2 kiddos.. I'm sure we'll have to upgrade one day.)

HTH, i know what a game car shopping can be. We jsut spent 2 months picking out our new car. we hadn;t had a vehicle for 1 1/2 years.

[wryknowlicious]

I am soooooooo mad that they are goign to stop selling the Eurovan in the US!! Grrr..... My Dream was to buy a NEW one in about 3 yrs... oh well.. used is a better idea anyway.

[Shiloh]

my pathfinder gets 18 mpg is that good? I thought that was brutal...
My old car was a mazda 323 hatchback with one horse

[Drummer's Wife]

We just bought a Mazda MPV and we it!!! It would totally comfortably fit 6!

The highest rated minivans are the honda, toyota and mazda but the first two were out of our price range.

We also considered the Kia Sedona, it came down to choosing between it and the MPV but we went for the mazda for many reason's even though kia's are cheaper. It's a nice van though for a good price, just hasn't been around for very many years.

[MistyB]

I hate vans and will never drive one...; p

so my vote would be a Ford Freestyle.

They comfortably fit 6. I do not love Fords or American cars either but 6 is the number where you cross over into limited choices and you just gotta not be as picky.

You can buy a new one at 0% for 60 months.

Or you can get one just coming out of a lease for wayyy less.

[MistyB]

dp

dp

[Mama Dragon]

I had never seen the VW EuroVan before...I'm in love I must have me one, I must!

[lovebugmama]

We are soon to be a family of 5. We have researched the gas mileage and prices and have settled on a Mazda 5. It is brand new, so used is pretty much out of the question. It is a compact mini-van/car with 6 bucket seats. It is not very roomy and there isn't a lot of trunk/storage, but for bigger trips we plan to get a roof rack w/cargo storage. Anyway, it is well-equipped at only $18K and gets almost 30 mpg.

We test drove it and it was actually pretty zippy even though it is only a 4 cyl. It is built on a car frame so it drives more like a car than a mini-van. It's not the greatest looking thing, but it works best for us.

[Mary-Beth]

Thanks for all the ideas! I have to look up all these cars becasue I have no clue what they are like.
We can buy new my dh would prefer that but we'll see. He actually wants a SUV but it would have to be good on gas...if that is possible! I'm open to all these ideas! We aren't in any hurry so I plan on researching this for a bit.

[mama2myangelWill]

We are going to be a family of 5 soon as well and did all the research on fuel efficiency, AND space accomodation for 3 car seats. Gotta say there aren't a whole lot of options that we felt safe in. We also wanted towing capacity as we occassionally pull trailers and plan on getting a small camping trailer in the future. We never buy new cars b/c the value drops too quickly.

This all being said, our vehicle of choice was a 2002 Ford Excursion. I can hear the gasps and guffaws now, but what I'm sure most people are NOT aware of is that these beasts can be very competetive in the fuel efficiency field if you have the knowledge. Not to mention the fact that I don't fear an accident and the safety of my kids near the amount I would in something less sturdy. As I stated, we did LOTS of research and found that diesel was actually much more efficient than regular gas, so we purchased a diesel engine model. We will be installing a "power chip" into the engine that will make our milease avg. 17-19 in town. This rivals all of the avg./small size SUV's that we looked at. DH also found a website that you can gather information on using recycled vegetable oil in a diesel engine with extremely limited modification - can't do that in a gas engine! Plus, we keep our cars for an extended amount of time and a diesel engine will live approx. 3-4 x longer than a gasoline engine.

Sorry for the lengthy post - we've just been there done that and I wanted to share what we found in all our research. Happy car hunting! It's a pain in the butt

[MidwifeErika]

One thing I would recommend doing to help figure out the prices is to contact your insurance person and talk about your options with them as well. One of the reasons we are so thrilled with our minivan is the super, duper cheap insurance! That along with the fact that our payments aren't bad, we have lots of room, and our fuel economy is pretty good makes us thrilled. Our full coverage insurance on our van is only $56/month and it is a 2002.

[Eman'smom]

Can I make a suggestion buy a car for what you need now, not what you *might* need later.

When I was pregnant with dd (number 2) we bought a minivan, the plan was to buy the van fill it with kids 3-4 and drive it until it didn't drive anymore. Well dd is now 2 we all nearly 100% sure we are done having babies and I drive this huge van that only gets 17 miles in the city, I'd love to be driving a small SUV (Like a CRV) or a station wagon (like the passat wagon ) but we are pretty much locked into this van. You can always upgrade when your family needs it.

[amyamanda]

Another thing to consider: will you need to take other passengers, how many kids will you have in carseats at once, do you live somewhere where you'll need four-wheel-drive or not?

We have four kids in carseats. We live on a huge hill in a snowy state and need 4wd in winter. We live rurally and while it's a luxury we now have a car big enough to bring a friend or two home with us. Really, really helpful for playdates when you live 10 miles from any friend.

We had a Honda Odyssey before, and loved it, but it couldn't get up our hill. We have a Suburban now, and it seats our family comfortably, gets up our hill, fits all the carseats (the boys have Britax Huskys which are WIDE and render the back seat middle belt useless), and can take a passenger.

But honestly if I had fewer kids I'd drive something smaller and not upgrade until I absolutely HAD to.

[wryknowlicious]

Originally Posted by Mary-Beth

Thanks for all the ideas! I have to look up all these cars becasue I have no clue what they are like.
We can buy new my dh would prefer that but we'll see. He actually wants a SUV but it would have to be good on gas...if that is possible! I'm open to all these ideas! We aren't in any hurry so I plan on researching this for a bit.

well with this info..
(you can buy new, hunny wants an SUV, and you prefer good gas milage)

how about a Toyota Highlander Hybrid??
I think you can even get one that is 1 or 2 years old at this point.
*they seat 7 people
*you get a tax cedit coem next April
* it gets 22/27 MPG...... now that is more than excellent for a mid-sized SUV.

food for thought... not ot mentiuon the insanely good re-sell value of a Toyota.

[Mary-Beth]

Thanks for all the questions to help guide me...
Right now we have two kids in car seats...my dd1 just turned 4 and weighs 31lbs so I suspect that she will be in a car seat for a while. Right now I often take a 6 yo in a booster seat with us to various outings. I can fit these three in my Ford Escape- it isn't easy but it is what I do...We are planning on ttc #3 late summer/early fall. With my little one's I got pregnant right away so while you never know, I don't really anticapte any problems. I don't want the new baby to displace my ability to take my 6yo nephew with us. It would be hard on my dd's to know that he can't come anymore becasue I can't fit him in...and hard on him too. We all have a special relationship. Even now, coming up next week my MIL is coming to town and we have a kids show to go to. DH wants to come since he took the day off to see his mom...my nephew wants to come...so that means we have to take two cars. We can do that this time since I have 2 helpers but usually it's just me with the kids. We do live rural. Which means two things...I have to do more driving than I'd like to admit and I want really good gas mileage...and I need space because we will carpool, etc.

Someone told me that the hybrids aren't great -poorly built- and they only save when you drive under 30mph...but from what I'm reading on-line they seem good. I'm going to look at the toyota highlander on-line...I just want to make sure.

Do you think car companies are going to come out with more efficient and cleaner cars in the next year or so???

[wryknowlicious]

Originally Posted by Mary-Beth

Do you think car companies are going to come out with more efficient and cleaner cars in the next year or so???

That would be really nice!!! You are defiantly a positive thinker!