Neither of our vehicles are cutting it as our "family" car. They both work OK when it's just the people. but throw the dog into the mix and my car is out completely.
And in the truck, I have to sit in the back with the kids and the dog sits up front in the passenger seat. This does not make for a pleasant 3 hour ride to my parents house, where we travel about once a month. And for any short weekend trips we always go places that are pet friendly.
So we're looking for an SUV with 3rd row seating where the dog can sit in the back and we can pile our gear on the 3rd row seat, or the dog can seat on the 3rd row seat and we can pile the gear in the back. AWD is also a must. My parents live in the snow belt :-)
Re: Rec your 7 passenger SUV
My car is on its way out, so I researched this, and my choice would be the Buick Enclave. It has 30% more cargo room than the Honda Pilot. I also looked at and test drove the Ford Focus, the Chevy Traverse (which is the same car as the Enclave, but more basic), and the Mazda CX9. I thought the Enclave had the best room in between seats in the back, the smoothest ride, and the nicest interior. The only problem is that it's pricey (IMO, I hate spending $ on cars).
Jeep probably has a good option, too. I didn't look at them because my current Jeep has been somewhat of a lemon, and we're not going there again.
Enclave is on my list to check out. How is the access to the 3rd row seat?
We're looking at a Ford Explorer, but with carseats it seems like it would be difficult to access the 3rd row seat.
I've written off anything that is Dodge/Jeep, because everyone that I know tha thas had either has had issues with them.
Haha--I wondered why you'd test drive a Ford Focus--it was the thing that was not like the others. [:-P]
3rd row seat access was good. I wanted bucket seats in the 2nd row, but I also looked at one with a 2nd row bench, and I thought access was fine (though better with the buckets).
I sat in the 3rd row and I was ok back there, so I think it would be fine for kids (I'm 5'2).
You are not the only one, one of my dad's customers hated the grill on a Dodge Caravan so we had to get her a Chrysler Town & Country from his other store in Delmont. It actually is quite common, which is why manufacturers make the same basic car for different lines and give it different names and prices.
For some reason DH refuses to even look at Kias. :-(
That's a lot of people and cargo! We have a 95lb dog...so that is a huge plus for us!
Your husband isn't the only one. I will never drive a Kia or Hyundai (same company).
My DH was like that for years, and he only ever wanted to drive American cars. He loves Jeep and we had a Jeep until it was totalled in accident over Christmas. I think cars like Kia and Hyundai use to have a bad reputation, but they have been growing in popularity so much. I see our car everywhere now.
I think Kia used to be kind of a joke but their rating have really been moving upwards.
I kinda like the flex, but I can't get DH on board and because he is a mechanic, cars aren't as important to me as they are to him [:-P] I just need something to get me from point A-B safely and fit everything.
I did just realize that you can get the Explorer with the 2nd row bucket seats/no center consol. Which would definitely make accessing the 3rd row more do-able.
Glad that I'm not the only one.
I looked at the new Explorer when I was getting my Edge but I just couldn't get over the way it drives. It's so rough, like a truck. The new model Explorer's look great but I just couldn't get past that.
I love our Infinity JX!
Great ride, plenty of room and the 3rd row is big enough for an adult to ride in. The boys don't use the entertainment system as much as I thought they would on road trips, but I'm still glad we have it. Of and you can get to the 3rd row with a carseat in the 2nd.
Kristen
We have the Traverse - an '09 so it's the first, or second, year model of it. We have the 3 full rows, so it sits 8 (and we had 8 in the car 2 yrs ago for a day trip to Niagara - a mix of adults (4), infant (1), toddler (1), teen (1) and tween (1). It was comfortable enough for the trip. Not a ton of storage space leftover in the back, but I honestly can't think of the next time we'll have that many people in the car at once, so the issue is kind of moot.
Smooth drive and good highway mileage. I don't get great mileage on my daily commute into town, so I have to fill up every week/300 miles to the tune of around $80. Because of this, I was going to downsize to a sedan this past Spring, but then I got pregnant and we need the third row with the infant seat, conversion seat, and booster seat.
The only thing I'm not crazy about is the access we have to the 3rd row - I would prefer the captain's chair in lieu of the 2nd full row, to make access to the back easier. But, my 5-yr old doesn't mind climbing through the trunk or over the back seat. On wet days, to prevent dirty shoes from being all over everything, I'm going to try to keep the infant seat in the middle of the bench, with the conversion next to it - on the 2-seater part, and then just lift the single seat for Gavin to get in and out of. We'll see how it works!
But, I do recommend this car overall!
My three sons!