First car purchase post kids - what features should I be looking for? (1 Viewer)

[Tiger Fan]

FWIW, the 2016 pilot looks like a nice upgrade over the 2015

No price listed yet, but I'm sure it's a healthy bump...should make you feel a little better

Actually just looked at pics, it's hideous, I'm good

 

[(HULK)]

Once you go minivan, you never go back*

*Never = until your kids are grown anyways

 

[sartre]

Understand a minivan will be the most convenient, but we're just not minivan people (no offense)

This is kind where my wife was 2 years ago. She wanted something with 3 rows, but not a minivan. We ended up buying a Buick Enclave. I was a little disappointed in the mileage but otherwise it's been all good.

 

[pantagrapher]

We got a Ford Fusion after having our kid. Four door midsize is great for getting around the city and gets decent gas mileage. Backseat area big enough to accommodate car seat easily. Roomy trunk. One must-have in this climate that we never realized we'd use so much is the remote starter. So nice to have the car warmed up when you're taking the kid to daycare in the morning and it's 0 degrees out.

 

[Bull Dozier]

We just purchased an Odyssey. After really pushing for an SUV I realized for hauling kids for the next 15 years there is nothing better than a mini van. The sliding doors take the cake (among many many other kid friendly features).

yeah, for convenience factor I won't argue with you...but neither myself or my wife are "minivan" types of people. No offense

No one is a minivan type of person. Get over it.

Ask any person who had one if they actually wanted one. Then ask them if they are sorry they got it.

We got our first minivan when my step daughter was 4 and my son was an infant. My three kids are now 17, 13 and 11, so I've had them for a long time. If the youngest child is 4, the argument of minivan over SUV isn't so obvious anymore. The minivan insistors needs to get over it.

Why? The Odyssey is still roomier, gets better gas mileage, and is easier to get in and out of. I would think at 4 its just as nice to have as any other kids age. We plan on having ours till the kids are driving themselves.

And Get off my lawn!

The only one of those arguements that is convincing is the gas mileage.

Ease of getting in and out of doesn't matter to me until I'm retired. The kids climbing in? No issue.

Roomier? Get a bigger SUV. I have a Sienna and full size SUVs are just a roomy if not more so. A Pilot won't compare, true, it is not universal.

The only no brainer in my book is dealing with kids in car carriers. After that is over, it is personal preference and how much you value economy.

 

[Da Guru]

We were not mini-van people at all..that is until we got one. Went the Explorer and Jeep route at first to still try and look somewhat cool. When my kids were around 10-11 and were hauling them and an 70 lb dog everywhere I finally caved. After a month I realized what I had been missing. The convenience made up for whatever coolness I thought I was losing. Plus when we went out with 1-2 couples everybody always wanted me to drive because of the ease of loading people in and out of the vehicle. Loading up stuff from Home Depot and it was like a pickup truck with all the seats down. We had 2 in a row for 8 years. When the kids went off to college we went back to sedans and SUVs.

Now we have 2 70 lb dogs and are traveling quite a bit and I was just thinking the other day about getting another mini-van as a second vehicle.

 

[Random]

We just purchased an Odyssey. After really pushing for an SUV I realized for hauling kids for the next 15 years there is nothing better than a mini van. The sliding doors take the cake (among many many other kid friendly features).

yeah, for convenience factor I won't argue with you...but neither myself or my wife are "minivan" types of people. No offense

No one is a minivan type of person. Get over it.

Ask any person who had one if they actually wanted one. Then ask them if they are sorry they got it.

We got our first minivan when my step daughter was 4 and my son was an infant. My three kids are now 17, 13 and 11, so I've had them for a long time. If the youngest child is 4, the argument of minivan over SUV isn't so obvious anymore. The minivan insistors needs to get over it.

Why? The Odyssey is still roomier, gets better gas mileage, and is easier to get in and out of. I would think at 4 its just as nice to have as any other kids age. We plan on having ours till the kids are driving themselves.

And Get off my lawn!

The only one of those arguements that is convincing is the gas mileage.

Ease of getting in and out of doesn't matter to me until I'm retired. The kids climbing in? No issue.

Roomier? Get a bigger SUV. I have a Sienna and full size SUVs are just a roomy if not more so. A Pilot won't compare, true, it is not universal.

The only no brainer in my book is dealing with kids in car carriers. After that is over, it is personal preference and how much you value economy.

For the ease of getting in/out I'm referring to kids getting in/out in parking lots. Don't have to worry about a kid opening the door and hitting another car. FWIW I've had a Durango for 11 years, and its just never really been the family car.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

My dad is 79 years old and still drives a minivan, even though he hasn't had any kids living in his house for 24 years. He is pretty weird though.

 

[AcerFC]

Told my wife about the Pilot discussion in here. She comped it to the Lexus NX. Anyone have one of those. I know Hondas are very good cars, what about Lexus. (Lexus is cheaper so its not a status thing)

 

[AcerFC]

Told my wife about the Pilot discussion in here. She comped it to the Lexus NX. Anyone have one of those. I know Hondas are very good cars, what about Lexus. (Lexus is cheaper so its not a status thing)

meh, just looked. The nx looks smaller than the Pilot. Not saying its not a good car but not the best comp

 

[[icon]]

A good friend with 2 kids drives a pilot and she loves it.

 

[ROCKET]

How much money are you looking to spend? If you are looking in the $25-$35 K range my first choice would be a Toyota 4Runner.

Don't blame you for not wanting to drive a minivan.

 

[Tiger Fan]

How much money are you looking to spend? If you are looking in the $25-$35 K range my first choice would be a Toyota 4Runner.

Don't blame you for not wanting to drive a minivan.

All depends on what the car has to offer. $40k would be my ceiling

 

[Random]

You could probably get an MDX for that.

 

[The Noid]

We have a Buick Enclave as our "weekend" family car. It's been a great compromise of something that is good for 3 kids, has a 3rd row, and isn't a minivan.

And Buick just outperformed all other American brands in Consumer Reports and JD Power's recent rankings.

 

[AcerFC]

What did you decide TF

I think I am down to three or four choices

Acadia/Traverse (same car)

Highlander

Mazda CX9

I will not buy a Durango. I have had bad experiences with Dodge and they are ranked 25/28 on the best/worst car brand list by CR. Lexus, Mazda and Toyota are top 3

If you still dont know, CR has their annual car issue this month. One option is specifically about SUVs and Trucks

It almost made me want to buy a pick up truck. The chevy silverado says it has zero noise in the cabin. But it is not a practical car to drive around town and I dont haul anything

 

[stbugs]

What did you decide TF

I think I am down to three or four choices

Acadia/Traverse (same car)

Highlander

Mazda CX9

I will not buy a Durango. I have had bad experiences with Dodge and they are ranked 25/28 on the best/worst car brand list by CR. Lexus, Mazda and Toyota are top 3

If you still dont know, CR has their annual car issue this month. One option is specifically about SUVs and Trucks

It almost made me want to buy a pick up truck. The chevy silverado says it has zero noise in the cabin. But it is not a practical car to drive around town and I dont haul anything

I can't recommend the Highlander more. Solid gas mileage, plenty of room, 3rd row split allows 3rd/4th kid in back and room for bags, nice driving and good resale/quality. It's smaller than some of the Tahoe type big SUVs which I like for my wife. Big enough for my 3 boys but small enough to get 25-27 mpg highway.

 

[Tiger Fan]

What did you decide TF

I think I am down to three or four choices

Acadia/Traverse (same car)

Highlander

Mazda CX9

I will not buy a Durango. I have had bad experiences with Dodge and they are ranked 25/28 on the best/worst car brand list by CR. Lexus, Mazda and Toyota are top 3

If you still dont know, CR has their annual car issue this month. One option is specifically about SUVs and Trucks

It almost made me want to buy a pick up truck. The chevy silverado says it has zero noise in the cabin. But it is not a practical car to drive around town and I dont haul anything

We're going to postpone the purchase until the end of the year (best time to buy a car)...My wife was doing the initial detailed research and her initial shortlist (based on features and size) are the '16 pilot, Acadia and Highlander. Nothing set in stone yet, but I'm glad we've got a little more time so we can actually see the '16 Pilots in action

Will take a look at the CR, thanks.