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What kind of car do you drive?
Right now I have a Nissan Rogue that I love. My lease is up in Sept and I need to start looking for other options. I'd really like something with a third row which make my search harder. Right now the contenders are the Mazda cx9, Volvo xc90, and the Honda Pilot.
Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?
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Re: What kind of car do you drive?
We have a dodge charger and a chevy cruze so obviously not what you're looking for. I love my charger the best because it's so roomy but I like my cruze because its nice and new.
We drive a 2009 Kia Rondo. It's similar to the Rogue, IMO. We looked at both. I don't think they make it anymore, but we bought it used last summer. We LOVE it. It's super roomy on the inside, but drives like a regular car. Plus, the seats fold down flat for tons of cargo space. I would highly recommend it. It would be a great family car. It's not 4WD or AWD, but we live in VT and we had no problems this past winter.
ETA: You can get the Rondo with a third row of seats, but I think you would lose a lot of the roomy interior that we love so much.
Son of a gun. I just typed out a big long thing and then my computer ate it!I
I drive a 2012 Kia Sorento Ex and I love it. The Sorento does have the option for third row seating, but we don't have it. We would have had to get the model with the bigger engine and also it takes away most of the storage in the back and one of the reasons we went with the Sorento is the huge rear storage area.
One of the things friends of mine with more than 2 kids have said is to look for something that has bucket seats in the second row. Otherwise it's a real pain for people to get back into the third row and even more so if you have to be buckling a child into a car seat back there. Also, as I mentioned with the Sorento, in a lot of vehicles the third row takes away most of your storage for strollers, etc. in the back.
Everyone I know who has bitten the bullet and gone for a mini-van absolutely loves it - just saying
I really like the GMC Acadia. Our neighbour has one and has 4 kids plus a step-daughter that lives with them full time. It's kind of mini-van esque without looking like a mini-van but is mucho-expensive.
Good luck! Car shopping is such a fun experience *sarcasm*
We have 4 cars, 2 are my husband's toys and I abhor them. Our main cars are my 2007 Corolla and his 2005 Mazda 3. His toys are a 2002 Trans Am and a 1997 Firebird. The toys are definitely not carseat friendly, passenger friendly, or basically good for anything, and I refuse to ride in them now that I am hugely pregnant and can barely get in and out of them since they are so low to the ground. Can you tell how much I hate them? I seriously wish the Firebird would just die already. It's ridiculous to have this many cars and moving 4 cars has been a major PITA every time we've gotten new orders.
We tried our carseat in both my Corolla and his Mazda, but it is definitely a tight fit. After me telling him for years that we'll probably need at least one bigger car, he finally gets it. We'll make do for now with the Toyota and Mazda for one kid, but when baby #2 comes into the picture he agrees we'll most likely get rid of my Toyota or his Mazda and get a mini van or SUV. We also hope to be settled in one place by then, hopefully Vermont, so we'd like something with 4WD, but it isn't a deal breaker. Right now we like the Toyota Sienna for vans, and the Subaru Forrester, though it isn't a very large SUV.
I have a Mazda Tribute and Brett has a Ford Escape, which are essentially the same vehicle. We love them both and they are great for us for now (plenty of room to haul stuff but not the feeling of driving a bus). However, I will definitely want a third seat for the next vehicle.
To be honest, I haven't had great experiences with Ford in my life, so I fully expect my Mazda will last longer than the Ford, even though his is about 6 months younger and has less miles. The Mazda has almost 100k and is running like brand new with minimal problems in the almost 6 years I've had it.
We currently have a Mazda 3 and a Scion XD and both are truly great cars. Neither fit what you are looking for, but I will say that Steve's Mazda is 10 years old and still drives like a champ. It has never given us any problems and the regular service and maintainence is not very expensive. And my Scion is small but it has a TON of room inside. The back seat has enough space for two car seats and enough storage space to handle karate gear, gymnastics gear, and book bags/blankets etc. I don't anticipate having to change cars even after we have kids.
The Mazda cx9 is currently the top contender for our next vehicle purchase in about 2 years.
ETA : My aunt has a Honda Pilot with third row seating and she likes it. I rode in it and was not impressed. There is very little storage space behind that third row, like others have said.
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Wow thanks for all of the input. I really appreciate it. I'm glad to hear that some of you have had luck with Mazda- that's encouraging. I know that the third row will take up interior space, but I'm hoping it wont to be too big of an issue. Although a van would probably be best, I just can't see having one right now. Maybe down the road it will be something I consider.
I'll definitely keep you ladies posted when the time comes to start looking.
Ford focus 07 that I just had to replace the transmission in even though it has under 70000 miles, not happy!
Dh has a Toyota Corsica 05 maybe not really sure what year.
Dh only drives to and from the commuter lot and takes the bus into work so when his car dies he will get the ford and we will buy a new larger family car. We can't even fit two carseats in the focus because you have to push the seat further up.
I used to have a Ford Focus (this is where my bad Ford experience comes from) and I think I had more issues with that car than most people have in a lifetime. Nightmare. I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble with it too!
I drive a Mazda CX7 and love it. It drives great and is just an all around good car. We almost got a cx9 and really like it but decided that we didn't need the 3rd row seats quite yet. I would recommend either of them.
We have a Mazda 3 and while it works right now with her carseat in the middle once she goes to a bigger car seat we are planning to upgrade to either a Ford Expedition/Explorer or a Chevy Tahoe.. we'll see who wins this one because I grew up in a Ford family and DH in a Chevy family... chevy costs more than ford in general so we'll see. I have a feeling which ever one costs less is the one we'll end up with.
Since we don't lease our vehicles we plan to buy something that will hopefully last us for a lot of years so we don't have to buy "new" ones all the time. We usually buy used because to us having a new vehicle isn't important.
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This is great to know! I'm really leaning more towards the cx9 mostly because the monthly payments are more affordable than the others. Glad you like your cx7
One of my friends had a Honda, with 3rd row seating, so I'm guessing it's a Pilot. It takes a little maneuvering to get into the 3rd row. I know she has a roof rack for family vacations.
I have an '06 Honda Civic Coupe. It continually amazes me with how roomy it is for a two door car. I've filled it with tons of boxes and crates when moving from my last school. I recently fit my queen headboard, footboard, and side bed rails in it, and pile other stuff on top of them even. And, I've been baby-sitting this summer and discovered it's actually pretty easy climb in the back to get 2 car seats in and out of the backseat pretty quickly and easily.