Ladies - what do you drive that is family friendly?

[cvd]

My husband and I have been thinking about getting a bigger vehicle, I was wondering what is family friendly that is NOT a mini van.

We currently have 2 TDI Volkswagen Jetta's. Mine is a bit newer then DH's but we love them.
We wouldn't buy new, we don't want huge payments, something more we can pay off in a couple years. So far we have looked at things like the Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon, Volkswagen Touareg, Volvo CX90 and Audi Q5. (We are SUPER into our VW's, if you can't tell lol, we'd like to stick to german engineering, we would pick that over anything!!!!) All those seem to be in our price range in the 2008-2009 years. We test drove a Yukon and I was SO unimpressed with fuel range, I obviously expect to use more fuel with a bigger vehicle but this was crazy. We'd almost be better off with a pick up truck (which DH is hoping for lol). Plus it was TOO big I think, they are pretty much off our list.

Does anyone have any of these??? Other recommendations?? Just want a little more room, after my stroller is in the trunk and 2 car seats in the backseat we are pretty much full.
We both refuse to get a mini van, I will continue to cram my diesel Jetta until it DIES before I would drive a mini van lol no offence to those who like them of course, just my preference :)

Thanks ladies!!

[Butterfly Spirit]

It's time for us to upgrade now too.. LOL but we are going the mini van route! :D

[cvd]

It's time for us to upgrade now too.. LOL but we are going the mini van route! :D

What do you drive now with your 2??
I know mini vans are actually perfect, the price range is fab and it has all the room LOL we are just too picky!!!

[Rosie85]

Yeah I have a minivan so I am no help. I would just focus on vehicles that have a large trunk and large backseat so no compacts for sure!

[Butterfly Spirit]

What do you drive now with your 2??
I know mini vans are actually perfect, the price range is fab and it has all the room LOL we are just too picky!!!

Oh I had to have A sporty & hot Mazda 6 as my first car, and got it the year I met DH. we get tons of compliments on it and he doesn't want to get rid of it.. but we just have to now :( Maybe someday when we are rich we will buy it back again! LOL JK
we've survived awhile though.. the groceries mostly go on the floor stacked below our boys' feet and whatever we can fit in the trunk that already has crap in it.

But DH has accepted that we now have our family of 5.. and we are done.. but that there is just NO way to fit 3 carseats in the back or get some cheap skinny unsafe booster ones just to squeeze an infant carseat in ..
He's now excited to do the trade in.. the price is good, you can get good deals and gas mileage will stay about the same too!

[Mum23boys]

We have a mercedes ML270 - 7 seater but still looks nice - My hubby is too picky to have a normal 7 seater people carrier and he wont let me drive mini van - he is a bit of a snob.
We are looking at trading this in after xmas for an Audio Q7 which is the only other 7 seater we have found that we both like.

[cvd]

We have a mercedes ML270 - 7 seater but still looks nice - My hubby is too picky to have a normal 7 seater people carrier and he wont let me drive mini van - he is a bit of a snob.
We are looking at trading this in after xmas for an Audio Q7 which is the only other 7 seater we have found that we both like.
Oh I LOVE the Q7. If we could afford the TDI Q7 that thing would be in my driveway like TONIGHT lol!!!

[cvd]

Oh I had to have A sporty & hot Mazda 6 as my first car, and got it the year I met DH. we get tons of compliments on it and he doesn't want to get rid of it.. but we just have to now :( Maybe someday when we are rich we will buy it back again! LOL JK
we've survived awhile though.. the groceries mostly go on the floor stacked below our boys' feet and whatever we can fit in the trunk that already has crap in it.

But DH has accepted that we now have our family of 5.. and we are done.. but that there is just NO way to fit 3 carseats in the back or get some cheap skinny unsafe booster ones just to squeeze an infant carseat in ..
He's now excited to do the trade in.. the price is good, you can get good deals and gas mileage will stay about the same too!
Haha!! Poor DH!! It's just so hard parting with a car you love!
Since this is our second, the Jetta is still DO-ABLE. Just as you said, groceries will go by feet and anything else will need to find a place to smush haha more space would be nice!

[Mum23boys]

Ha ha us too - we would need to use finance over like 5 years so probably wont bother since our merc is owned out right we may as well run it into the ground until it dies or we win the lottery.

[The Anchor]

I gave up the audi and got a acura mdx. My complaint with both of them...not enough space. DH and I are very tall, and when we put the driver/passenger seats back to accommodate us, we squish the kids legs (they're both still in car seats). We're going REALLY big with the next vehicle...thinking Escalade :)

[ThreeMenAndALAdy]

I know you said you refuse to drive a minivan, and I said the same thing. But I now own a 2012 Honda Odyssey Touring. It pretty much does everything but drive itself. It's my second one, and I can now say I do really like them.

[cvd]

Ha ha us too - we would need to use finance over like 5 years so probably wont bother since our merc is owned out right we may as well run it into the ground until it dies or we win the lottery.
I would have to finance a Q7 over about 15 years lmao. I can find 2009 Q5's in the $25,000 range which is what we want to be around. And I know, we have owned our Jetta's outright for about 3-4 years now so it's tough to all of a sudden to be thinking of ANOTHER payment, which want to be paid off before our mortgage renews in 2016.
Oh such tough decisions!!! I hate vehicles LOL

[jennaesue]

We also said we would never buy a mini-van, but after months of cramming three kids and their gear into a Nissan Sentra, we broke down a bought a Toyota Sienna. I LOVE it! But if you are totally opposed to the whole mini-van thing, I would consider a Toyota Venza or Highlander. My dh drives a Prius C and he is very happy with it. Have you considered the Prius V? I haven't actually seen one, but I hear they are more family-friendly than the regular Pruis.

[cvd]

Thanks for all the comments ladies!
If we were going to have more kids I'd be more into looking into minivans but since we are only going to have 2 we would like an suv/crossover or DH wants a truck (although since I will be mainly driving it, I don't!! haha!). I know a lot of people who love their minivans, it's just not for us :)

Jennaesue - I have seen prius' but it's not really up DH's alley lol he wants something closer to a truck!
We have been talking about a new vehicle for about 6 months now, I just wish we could agree. But in the meantime our down payment keeps growing as we keep arguing which is good! LOL

[LacePrincess]

We were able to jigsaw puzzle 3 car seats in the back of our Honda Civic (no joke!). Cramped but we fit, lol. Unfortunately the Civic's tranny started to go last year so we had to suck it up and get a new vehicle.

I too did NOT want a minivan. Not with the price of gas these days and living 20 min drive away from town. Yikes. We ended up with the Mazda 5 - it's like a petite minivan on a car frame. It's PERFECT. Drives like a car, turns and parks like a car, packs like a van. Unfortunately since it has all bucket seats and no bench it only seats 6 instead of 7. We chose it because it's almost like a wagon and with the seats folded down in the back you can get a tonne of cargo in (we're working on a lot of home improvement stuff so we need the capacity). And, we wanted a standard tranny since we prefer that and no minivan comes with a stick.

Great mileage but the tow capacity is that of a car and not a truck/van, but I can live with that for the fuel savings! And the Mazda 5 was less than $30k new and beats the pants off the reputation of any Dodge Caravan so a big winner in my book.

[Butterfly Spirit]

We were able to jigsaw puzzle 3 car seats in the back of our Honda Civic (no joke!). Cramped but we fit, lol. Unfortunately the Civic's tranny started to go last year so we had to suck it up and get a new vehicle.

I too did NOT want a minivan. Not with the price of gas these days and living 20 min drive away from town. Yikes. We ended up with the Mazda 5 - it's like a petite minivan on a car frame. It's PERFECT. Drives like a car, turns and parks like a car, packs like a van. Unfortunately since it has all bucket seats and no bench it only seats 6 instead of 7. We chose it because it's almost like a wagon and with the seats folded down in the back you can get a tonne of cargo in (we're working on a lot of home improvement stuff so we need the capacity). And, we wanted a standard tranny since we prefer that and no minivan comes with a stick.

Great mileage but the tow capacity is that of a car and not a truck/van, but I can live with that for the fuel savings! And the Mazda 5 was less than $30k new and beats the pants off the reputation of any Dodge Caravan so a big winner in my book.

Oooo a Mazda 5!!!!!! :}

[LacePrincess]

Oooo a Mazda 5!!!!!! :}

We love it! We were going to go with used, but the cheapest financing was 6-7% and purchase financing from Mazda's 2012 models was 0%. So kinda a no brainer. Unfortunately got stuck with silver, not my fave colour, but oh well.

I read that this new form of "mini" minivan is getting very popular in Europe because it has good capacity without being a total gas hog. I think I read something about GM developing its own version because of how popular the Mazda5's have been.

We considered SUV's like the Toyota Rav4 but the capacity if all of us were in the vehicle just isn't there. I really like how the back of the Mazda5 is like a big rectangular box so you don't have stupid awkward rounded inner corners that limit how much stuff you can cram in there. Unfortunately when we have one of the back seats folded down and crammed with stuff, the load does tend to fall over whoever is sitting in the other back seat, which is usually poor DS1. We heard his yelps going around every left turn last time, LMAO.

[Atsaukina1]

well we had 3 stuffed in a tiny car so when number 4 came we had not choice but to get a bigger car since there wasn't another seat for him lol
we chose a minivan that has 7 seats which was 1 extra for friends but now I'll be cramming another carseat in and already have 2 in it lol.

[auroara78]

We still need to make a decision on our cars! I'll keep my tiny honda fit (can only fit two car seats) for me to drive to work...it's a great car for work....

but my husband's car is a 96 nissan sentra and when he tried to get the 3rd car seat installed at the fire dept, they said it was impossible...I guess the size of the booster seat was too big and it woudln't fit in the tiny spot in the middle....what year was your sentra???

So we still need to get a family car, and my mom and dad were wanting to help us out, but didn't want to pay the 30K for a minivan...I just looked up the Mazda 5 and starting at low 20s they may be more inclined....what model of mazda 5 do you have...sport or touring? I'm sure "touring" probably has more room? i guess I need to do more research! But I wanted a car big enough to fit another car seat in if we one day have a 4th...and this does look big enough. I need to do more research I guess.

Any other suggestions?

[cvd]

We were able to jigsaw puzzle 3 car seats in the back of our Honda Civic (no joke!). Cramped but we fit, lol. Unfortunately the Civic's tranny started to go last year so we had to suck it up and get a new vehicle.

I too did NOT want a minivan. Not with the price of gas these days and living 20 min drive away from town. Yikes. We ended up with the Mazda 5 - it's like a petite minivan on a car frame. It's PERFECT. Drives like a car, turns and parks like a car, packs like a van. Unfortunately since it has all bucket seats and no bench it only seats 6 instead of 7. We chose it because it's almost like a wagon and with the seats folded down in the back you can get a tonne of cargo in (we're working on a lot of home improvement stuff so we need the capacity). And, we wanted a standard tranny since we prefer that and no minivan comes with a stick.

Great mileage but the tow capacity is that of a car and not a truck/van, but I can live with that for the fuel savings! And the Mazda 5 was less than $30k new and beats the pants off the reputation of any Dodge Caravan so a big winner in my book.

I'm impressed at 3 car seats in a Civic!!! Thats too funny! and I'm complaining about a second in my Jetta! I just looked at the Mazda 5, I'm glad you like it so much!!! I think it's a touch still too much like a minivan for us! I'd be more into their CX5 but I haven't looked for those before so thank you! I forgot about Mazda for some reason lol

[Pearl327]

I have a problem with my back so when I was pregnant with DD I changed the car to a Ford Kuga which is a jeep crossover car.Nice and high for getting DD in and out. We mostly use this as the family car as it has plenty of space for when we are travelling with bags, baby gear and the dog. DH drives a Volvo S60 which is a good family car too. But we don't bring the dog anywhere in his car

[LacePrincess]

I'm impressed at 3 car seats in a Civic!!! Thats too funny! and I'm complaining about a second in my Jetta! I just looked at the Mazda 5, I'm glad you like it so much!!! I think it's a touch still too much like a minivan for us! I'd be more into their CX5 but I haven't looked for those before so thank you! I forgot about Mazda for some reason lol

Well we had to get a Sunshine Radian to make it work, lol, and all the sides overlap. But a $300 new specialty car seat was cheaper then a new car at the time!

The Mazda5 looks deceptively like a van in their ads and in pics, but I was shocked how it totally felt like driving a car once you were actually driving it. That's because it's essentially a wagon body on a car frame. The chassis and wheelbase is still the size of a compact sedan, so it turns/parks entirely like a car. And, I'm super short and hate driving enormous 'bus' feeling vehicles and it's a great fit for me.

Auroara, we have the GT trim (the Touring) without moonroof. The size of the vehicle is exactly the same as the GS (sports trim) but it comes with more deluxe 'stuff'. Some things I didn't care about like 6CD changer, better stereo, leather wrapped steering wheel and alloy rims, but some I did like cruise control and computerized traction control (we live in Ottawa and we get nasty winters!!) You can check the Mazda site to compare the two trims, I believe the price difference is about $2800. We also added roofracks for $400 (ripoff) but again we need it because of all the construction materials we're buying for our home improvement stuff.

[BabyCakesTor]

I have a 2008 Saturn Outlook. It's a crossover and seats 7. Love my car BUT not enough cargo space. I am going a Suburban or Expedition EL. Tahoe/Yukons have zero cargo with out puting the third row down, same problem I have now. I had a 2010 Jetta and loved it but was two small for a family of 5 and my DH tried to talk me into a Suburban then but I was prego and felt that it was too big. Lol now I can't wait for one

[lobella2]

We have a honda pilot and it fits 3 car seats in the middle and has a 3rd row that can pop up if needed. Ours is a 2006. We like it so much that we are going to upgrade for the 2013 within the next 6 months or so.

[jennaesue]

Well we had to get a Sunshine Radian to make it work, lol, and all the sides overlap. But a $300 new specialty car seat was cheaper then a new car at the time!



The Radian is also what allowed me to jam 3 car seats in a Nissan Sentra! It's a great seat! We ended up getting another one for ds3 when he outgrew his infant seat just because we liked it so much, even though we had our Sienna by then. Now we have two Radians and a backless Graco Turbobooster three-in-a-row in the 2nd row of my van because the boys all want to be together. It's ridiculous!

[Boymomsrock]

I was anti minivan until we found out twins were on the way an then we would have 3 in britax carseats. I got over it. I really dont understand the snobbiness of having minivans. But im one of those people just haPpy to have something get me from point a to point b. Late dh got me a Honda odyssey for Christmas that year. I still have it! It's been wonderful! Next year we are getting a suburban or a tahoe.

[cvd]

I was anti minivan until we found out twins were on the way an then we would have 3 in britax carseats. I got over it. I really dont understand the snobbiness of having minivans. But im one of those people just haPpy to have something get me from point a to point b. Late dh got me a Honda odyssey for Christmas that year. I still have it! It's been wonderful! Next year we are getting a suburban or a tahoe.

I really like the Tahoe! And sorry I really don't want to come across snobby over minivans lol it's just not what we want/need with a family of 4 :)

[cvd]

The Radian is also what allowed me to jam 3 car seats in a Nissan Sentra! It's a great seat! We ended up getting another one for ds3 when he outgrew his infant seat just because we liked it so much, even though we had our Sienna by then. Now we have two Radians and a backless Graco Turbobooster three-in-a-row in the 2nd row of my van because the boys all want to be together. It's ridiculous!

Hahaha! Aw I love that they wanna sit together, that's so sweet!!!

[Boymomsrock]

I really like the Tahoe! And sorry I really don't want to come across snobby over minivans lol it's just not what we want/need with a family of 4 :)

No no not you! You wouldn't need one with two Kids. I'm just saying in general I know so many ppl (my sister included) that will say I would NEVER drive a minivan. As if it takes away your cool factor or something. Um you have spit up on your shirt, you're not cool anymore lmao!

[luckylass]

We drive a BMW X5 Jeep at the moment and it has had plenty of room with our two boys but not sure how we will be with 3 little ones so are looking at the Audi Q7 as an upgrade from a 5 to a 7 seater at the moment. Love the jeep I have though but not sure we can manage 3 car seats in it. Dh drives a Landcruiser and they are pretty spacious too.

[LacePrincess]

The Radian is also what allowed me to jam 3 car seats in a Nissan Sentra! It's a great seat! We ended up getting another one for ds3 when he outgrew his infant seat just because we liked it so much, even though we had our Sienna by then. Now we have two Radians and a backless Graco Turbobooster three-in-a-row in the 2nd row of my van because the boys all want to be together. It's ridiculous!

I wish we could do that! I really wish one of the rows had a bench so we could squish all the boys in a row, but I guess it's not 'trendy'. Too bad.

I'm trying not to think about what we're gonna do if we had twins or eventually #5.......LOL.......we're gonna have to strap someone on the roof! ;)

My dream minivan is the Honda Odyssey. Looooove that van. But can't justify the cost, not when we just moved into our new house last year and there's still SO much money to be put into basic things (like fencing!)

[cvd]

No no not you! You wouldn't need one with two Kids. I'm just saying in general I know so many ppl (my sister included) that will say I would NEVER drive a minivan. As if it takes away your cool factor or something. Um you have spit up on your shirt, you're not cool anymore lmao!
Haha this made me laugh!!!
Unfortunately, I hate to admit it, but we are young (22&26), and the "cool factor" is still part of it for us I guess you could say. I'm an only child so I grew up spoiled and was raised in that materialistic mindset, which I have no problem acknowledging, and haven't quite outgrown my ways hehe so I want something that'll look nice, that I'll like for the years to come! And DH well he is from a farming family that only drives trucks, so that's why he is against minivans lol it's not "manly" enough. Hahaha oh geez. I don't think our family will ever agree on another vehicle!

[cvd]

I wish we could do that! I really wish one of the rows had a bench so we could squish all the boys in a row, but I guess it's not 'trendy'. Too bad.

I'm trying not to think about what we're gonna do if we had twins or eventually #5.......LOL.......we're gonna have to strap someone on the roof! ;)

My dream minivan is the Honda Odyssey. Looooove that van. But can't justify the cost, not when we just moved into our new house last year and there's still SO much money to be put into basic things (like fencing!)
Oh geez I can relate to the house thing. We moved into this house a year and a half ago, and we have put SO much work into it. We finally are happy with it now, but we still have future projects on our list LOL. Sometimes owning a house feels terrible LOL!!!

[jennaesue]

I wish we could do that! I really wish one of the rows had a bench so we could squish all the boys in a row, but I guess it's not 'trendy'. Too bad.

I'm trying not to think about what we're gonna do if we had twins or eventually #5.......LOL.......we're gonna have to strap someone on the roof! ;)

My dream minivan is the Honda Odyssey. Looooove that van. But can't justify the cost, not when we just moved into our new house last year and there's still SO much money to be put into basic things (like fencing!)

One of the cool things about the Sienna is that is has a removable seat that can go in the 2nd row or can be stored in a cute little locker in the back. So if it can seat 7 or 8. We keep the seat in all the time and the boys all sit in the 2nd row, but once the new baby comes, I'll take the extra seat out and the big boys will sit in the back row, and the little ones will sit in the 2nd row captains chairs.

[BabyCakesTor]

Please just look at the cargo spaces. Think about having a stroller and when u do grocery shopping ect. Will you have to put the seats down to load groceries ect or have to leave the stroller home? It really is a PITA when all 5 of us go somewhere and I have to shift everything around if we buy anything... I personally am not a minivan person, I love trucks but the inside is not big enough for 3 kids let alone 4 comfortably. That's why I am aiming for a suburban. And for an SUV the new ones with the flex fuel offer pretty good mileage and not to mention the safety rating! HTH

[cvd]

Please just look at the cargo spaces. Think about having a stroller and when u do grocery shopping ect. Will you have to put the seats down to load groceries ect or have to leave the stroller home? It really is a PITA when all 5 of us go somewhere and I have to shift everything around if we buy anything... I personally am not a minivan person, I love trucks but the inside is not big enough for 3 kids let alone 4 comfortably. That's why I am aiming for a suburban. And for an SUV the new ones with the flex fuel offer pretty good mileage and not to mention the safety rating! HTH
We're not looking at the ones with 3rd row seating since there is only 4 of us so cargo space isn't that bad in the crossovers/suvs. It's about double my Jetta which is PLENTY! Haha thank you though.

[cvd]

Thanks for all the comments ladies!
Still hoping to get some reviews about the VW Touareg or Volvo CX90 for a family of 4?? Anyone out there?? Lol!