Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

[monarch64]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

I have a Toyota corolla. So not a family car. I live ny corolla very much nut with a rfing seat, it makes it very uncomfortable.

FI has a Ford Edge an we both love it. The seat fits rfing perfectly without the front passenger feeling like they are eating their knees. Plenty of trunk space and believe me, we have packed that sucker up! Lots of room in the back seat too. Nissan Murano is similar build.

I just paid off my toyota so I'm holding off on the desire to upgrade to a larger car.

I had two consecutive Corollas...LOVED them both, and wish I'd never sold the second. (Another story, time, place). Moved on to SUV's, namely a Chevy Trailblazer (loaded, DVD player in back, etc.) but still didn't think it was the greatest for kids. I am now in a Jeep Grand Cherokee and would NEVER PUT A CHILD IN IT. So much bouncing, jouncing....it's just too much of an all terrain vehicle to be good for a baby or even toddler. (If anyone's considering a new Jeep anything...I vote "no" too much bouncing all over the place, even with the carseat.) Thanks for reading, just wanted to throw out my "hate it!" vote.

 

[charbie]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

I have a Toyota corolla. So not a family car. I live ny corolla very much nut with a rfing seat, it makes it very uncomfortable.

FI has a Ford Edge an we both love it. The seat fits rfing perfectly without the front passenger feeling like they are eating their knees. Plenty of trunk space and believe me, we have packed that sucker up! Lots of room in the back seat too. Nissan Murano is similar build.

I just paid off my toyota so I'm holding off on the desire to upgrade to a larger car.

I had two consecutive Corollas...LOVED them both, and wish I'd never sold the second. (Another story, time, place). Moved on to SUV's, namely a Chevy Trailblazer (loaded, DVD player in back, etc.) but still didn't think it was the greatest for kids. I am now in a Jeep Grand Cherokee and would NEVER PUT A CHILD IN IT. So much bouncing, jouncing....it's just too much of an all terrain vehicle to be good for a baby or even toddler. (If anyone's considering a new Jeep anything...I vote "no" too much bouncing all over the place, even with the carseat.) Thanks for reading, just wanted to throw out my "hate it!" vote.

Can you come down here and let my husband know this? He had a Wrangler when we met (there's something about guy with long hair in jeeps that just does it for me.... and he has been in mourning since getting rid of it. He dreams of the day we can get another. I am pretty sure he knows deep down that it is not a safe family car, but he still brings up that we could get rid of the Corolla for a Wrangler again (clearly not a safe family car!)

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

DH's Jeep Liberty is about to S the bed so we're car hunting at the moment. I think we've pretty much decided on a '11 Subaru Outback. We're now just trying to baby the jeep to get by until the next model year releases and we can get a better deal on the '11. I still love my Camry but I'm totally in love with Subarus now so I'm eyeing the Forrester.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

HH - If you haven't driven the 2011 Outback yet, I'd suggest test driving both a 2011 and a 2009. I forget whether the style changed in 2010 or 2011, but reviewers say because the newer style is larger, it's also less "nimble" than the 2009 and under. I didn't drive the 2011 though, so can't comment personally. So far we are very happy with our 08. I like the Forresters too!!

 

[tina sparkle]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

i have a ford escape hybrid and love it- it's the perfect small SUV and gets 34 mpg! i also like the fact that it is made in america and employs americans, very important in these times. good luck with your search.

 

[Pandora II]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

LOVE the Toyota Prius...

May not be the best choice for cold weather FYI. My dad's coworker has one and it ticked him to no end when he found out that the engine runs during the cold to keep the heat. Really kills your MPG.

We haven't found that an issue - but then we live in the UK so I don't know how cold here compares! For London its a no-brainer as it's congestion-charge exempt ($17/per day charge for normal cars, $40/per day for SUVs) and still uses way less petrol than most - and we pay around $10 a gallon here!

It's also super-comfortable and has the nice hefty 'clunk' when you shut the doors that I always like . Plus loads of space.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

Wow Pandora, I wish they would implement congestion charges like that in NYC! We live close to a highway (though there's a small park between our house and the highway) and a shocking amount of black soot/exhaust come in our windows from the cars and trucks idling

We have a 1995 Honda Civic and I think it is too small and too low to be a comfortable family car. We are actually getting rid of it this weekend b/c it was stolen and is rather worse for the wear since being recovered. So...we are now going back to navigating the city by public transit and I think we'll join zip car. This will be interesting with a car seat when our son comes home this summer

In the future, if we leave the city or ever have enough money to rent a garage space, we'll get a Prius. If we need a larger seating capacity we'd get a Toyota Highlander or Mazda Tribute.

 

[fieryred33143]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

Bella my mom has a highlander. I love it! It's a big car but so comfortable. She actually wants to trade since her car is too much for her. We are considering it.

 

[applequeen]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

I have a 2010 Subaru Outback (same as the 2011) and I LOVE it! I also have a 13 month old who is still rear facing and a 6'4 husband. We have plenty of room for all of us and anything extra we need to take along. The car goes great in all types of weather is is pretty good on gas.

 

[nfowife]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

We have a Honda Odyssey and love it. I have 3 kids (6, 4, and 5 months). We got the Ody right before #2 was born. It's been a great car for us. I LOVE the way it drives, and I cannot live without the automatic sliding doors at this point. It is awesome. I know it screams "mom" but hey, that's what I am right now. And with 3 kids our choices are limited. Also I love the flexible seating options in the odyssey. Most days I have one middle captain's chair removed and the baby is in the other one (rearfacing). The older 2 are in the back in their car seats (one regular carseat, one high back booster). I need the oldest to be able to hop in and out on her own at school in the carpool lane and it's so easy to just push a button and the door opens and she can hop in or out. When we have visitors (often, we don't have family in town) we can pop the other captain's chair back in or the optional middle seat in the 2nd row can be used in a pinch (it's always installed but usually folded down). So technically we can fit our family of 5 plus 3 more people....it's great! I can't recommend it enough.

 

[pennquaker09]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

I drive a Mercedes GL550 which I'm sure you don't want. Personally, I love it, but I take it that you don't want a huge car, and it's a very big SUV. We also have a BMW 535i, but I hardly ever drive that thing.

Next car will more than likely be an Escalade.

 

[Skippy123]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

Okay we just just bought the Honda Odessey TODAY! I was torn between the Subaru Outback and the Odessey. I never in a million years saw myself as a Minivan owner but the Odessey is so safe and has tons of room for family trips to Colorado, lugging strollers, kids toys etc. Also the Odessey does just as good in gas mileage as the Outback. I liked both cars. Good luck LV, can't wait to hear what you get!

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

LOVE the Toyota Prius...

May not be the best choice for cold weather FYI. My dad's coworker has one and it ticked him to no end when he found out that the engine runs during the cold to keep the heat. Really kills your MPG.

We haven't found that an issue - but then we live in the UK so I don't know how cold here compares! For London its a no-brainer as it's congestion-charge exempt ($17/per day charge for normal cars, $40/per day for SUVs) and still uses way less petrol than most - and we pay around $10 a gallon here!

It's also super-comfortable and has the nice hefty 'clunk' when you shut the doors that I always like . Plus loads of space.

Is that per day that you drive it or per day period?

 

[FrekeChild]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

We bought the "too slow" 2011 Honda CRV. We had a 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit, which we would have kept except that it was a 2 door. Our other car (MY car) is a 2001 Honda Prelude, which is plenty fast to keep me entertained. I have thing for Hondas.

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Re: Family Friendly Cars - What do you drive?

We have a Nissan Murano and it's a great family car. My husband wants to get rid of it after the lease it up though - he thinks it's a "soccer mom" car. Lol. Anyway - I love it and highly recommend it - except the fuel consumption is high.