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Family Vehicle - opinions needed:)

H

hightime81

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Holly Springs, NC
Hi All!

Other than my trusty XJ, we have an 06' 4Runner 4.7 liter V8, 2WD SR5 trim. My wife and i have a son who is just about to turn 1 (4/3/10!), and apparently my wife's biological clock is ticking loudly b/c we are talking about having a 2nd child already. While i think we can fit all of our crap and the kids in the 4Runner pretty easily, i can't say i'm siked that it's only 2WD, and that i still owe 17K$ on it.

That being said, trade in on it is ~17.5K and we have been looking at similar SUV's but with 3rd row seating and the dreaded minivan....

How do you all move your families around? I'm currently looking at used Honda Pilots, Jeep commanders, and the like.

I REALLY like the look of the Commander, but MPG is garbage even for the 6 cylinder, plus it doesn't look like it holds resale for crap, whereas the Honda pilot holds resale, gets about 22MPG and also looks pretty sweet.

I would really like to hear your all's opinion, especially if any of you own a Commander:)

cheers!
 
F250 crewcab. 2 bench seats, seats six if we need it to. More room than an suv in the cab, great big trunk behind us. Camper shell/tonneau makes it weatherproof.

17 mpg DD, 20-21 mpg highway.

And it tows the XJ :)

We bought the truck instead of a minivan. My wife drives it everyday because she takes the kids to daycare.
 
We tote our 2 kids (ages 4 and 2) around in a 2004 Grand Cherokee...4x4. Works just fine. When the need hits we can fit them both into a 1996 Grand Cherokee 2x4 with no issues either.

We picked up the used '04 2 years ago with 45,xxx on it for $12,000 on e-bay.
 
We use the XJ or the wife's Furd Exploder both work well and the extra space in the Furd is plenty for luggage and toys on longer trips.
 
Our family car is a Hemi Commander and we friggin love it! We traded our Ford Windedstar in on it, God I'm glad to be done with the mommy van era.

Our gas mileage on the Hemi has been good, I get around 13 in town and 19-22 on the highway. Not bad for a 380 hp beast that can tow 7400#

mileage2.jpg
 
We're at 4 and 6 yr olds, and got the Town & Country before the 4 yr old arrived...and it'll be paid off in 2 months! In addition to the kids, we've got the in laws, 83 yr old grandpa, that we shlep around too. The 3rd row has been very useful, as we've had the minivan filled to the brim on more than a couple occassions. Wouldn't buy anything else for moving people (6 plus luggage 6 hrs to the beach) or moving things. The step in height is much lower in the minivan's compared to the SUV's. Good for grandpa and the wife who isn't quite 5 ft tall. I've moved a dining room table (legs still attached) from Philly to Bama. It's a great Road Trip ride. AND I think we're bringing it up to the Party in Murfreesboro....Mommies Bling Bling mobile...:scared:
No regrets with the Minivan. It does what it does well. It's not pretty, not sporty, but works well.:cheers:
 
I have a 95 suburban I use for my tow rig and family vehicle and it is 4wd .
My wife has a 02 Volvo V70 We can fit bout kids and all our stuff in it .
 
I'd go with the Pilot. Pilots are really good, and one of the most recommended for multiple chil'ren.
Plus, you can get a 2006 (best year for them) or 2007 for less than what you owe on the 4Runner. And, well, I have a strong preference for Hondas as DD (98 CR-V at 262000, nothing more than tune ups...alllll-right!).
 
edec374 said:
I'd go with the Pilot. Pilots are really good, and one of the most recommended for multiple chil'ren.
Plus, you can get a 2006 (best year for them) or 2007 for less than what you owe on the 4Runner. And, well, I have a strong preference for Hondas as DD (98 CR-V at 262000, nothing more than tune ups...alllll-right!).
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Knowing what I know about families with two small children (I have a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old), plus the propensity for new mothers to take literally every piece of baby equipment you've bought or been given on every road trip, whether it's 1 hour or 12 hours, anything in a honda pilot size is woefully inadequate.

When my sons were 6 months and 2.5, I filled the back of a full size pickup with baby stuff, christmas presents and luggage.

There's not a chance I would own a small SUV and consider it a good family vehicle. My in-laws have a toyota rav and they fill it up with their stuff and the stuff for their dog. Way too small.
 
Hey All! great input!

While i would love to get a DD that can handle towing the XJ, i don't think it's reasonable at his stage of my life :(

I think it's going to be a tough decision between the Pilot and a minivan. The Pilot looks better, relatively decent mileage and i could get one for less than i owe on the 4Runner (key point!). But i could also get a used minivan with like 24K miles for ~10K or so depending on the flavor...

it's really hard to let go of sporty look for a more reasonable minivan....

Edec374 - can you give me some more info on why the 06' pilot is the best year?


thx all! i knew i could rely on you guys for some good advice!
 
my brother has a newer model pilot and he loves it. my wife has a honda odyssey and we love that thing. i know its a minivan but my friends in atlanta called it the command center and it stuck hehe. it rides great, carriers almost anything, seats 6 very comfortably and still have room for junk, gets good gas mileage and the thing will flat out outrun any of those little rice burners hehe V6 good to go...

but its front wheel drive and cant tow anything but a garden trailer... so i borrow my dads burban for towing duties. i wish i could afford to make my wrangler unlimited a better tow rig...
 
oh and i have a 2yr old, one due in july, a mother in law, and a wife that thinks if we dont have everything in my sons room for a day trip to the grandparents house then its a bust... lol mine is a 2005 i think odyssey, i dont mind driving it on long trips or around town (plus its got trick side doors that open at a push of a button heh)
 
YJ-GENRAL said:
lol mine is a 2005 i think odyssey, i dont mind driving it on long trips or around town (plus its got trick side doors that open at a push of a button heh)
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You really can't beat the convenience of the minivan (we've also got the power doors, navagation, and DVD, plus Stow and Go seats), if it's what you need. I've gotten to that point in life where I have learned to really appreciate convenience, and anything that saves me time and aggravation. Right Now, the Minivan is da bomb for us :viking:
 
The 2006 is where aesthetics and performance meet. It's better designed than the older ones, leading to more room, and it has better performance than the newest gen. Anything 2006-2008 works, but performance-wise, the 2006 tend to hold up better. The 2003-2005s are slightly modeled after the CR-V, and aren't really capable to hold as much.
It REALLY doesn't matter what year you get, you'll just get the most out of a 2006 (I will be jealous if you get one though).
 
hightime81 said:
While i would love to get a DD that can handle towing the XJ, i don't think it's reasonable at his stage of my life :(
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If it's price, I think you might be surprised. If you're talking '06 models, there isn't much difference between a diesel truck and the honda you want to buy.

If it's other reasons like your wife doesn't want to drive one, my wife said the same thing. She drives it now everyday and tells me all the time how glad she is that we didn't buy a minivan.

You sound like you're making an educated decision, so I won't bug you. I used to think I'd never be able to afford a nice tow rig, but it works well for us.

:cheers:
 
we picked up a 99 town and country that needed about 500 bucks worth or work for 2800 bucks. leather heated seats the works... we got it for 2800 bucks from craigslist. wifey was a little aprehensive about becoming a soccer mom at first but once she got used to it she loves it. I actually used it to do track days with my triumph speed triple. fits right in the back and ties down to the seat brackets.... now that she is looking at new vehicles she is looking at another minivan. it is really nice to have the seating and the cargo room once the seats are rolled out of the way.... Its great for trips as well.... the factory chrome rims are a nice touch lol :D
 
a test drive is definately neccessary. my wife wanted a crv or rav4 type of suv because she didnt want a big long minivan and was comfortable with her last car (saturn 4dr... before she met me... ) but she test drove the odyssey and loved it and didnt mind its size... so definately let your wife test drive everything you are considering. you might be surprised at what you pick.
 
DaffyDuc said:
we picked up a 99 town and country that needed about 500 bucks worth or work for 2800 bucks. leather heated seats the works... we got it for 2800 bucks from craigslist. wifey was a little aprehensive about becoming a soccer mom at first but once she got used to it she loves it. I actually used it to do track days with my triumph speed triple. fits right in the back and ties down to the seat brackets.... now that she is looking at new vehicles she is looking at another minivan. it is really nice to have the seating and the cargo room once the seats are rolled out of the way.... Its great for trips as well.... the factory chrome rims are a nice touch lol :D
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Stay far far away from any chrysler minivan that has 100k+ miles. They eat transmissions.

Don't know about the newest generation, but my dad has done 2 of them in the past 2 years on two different vehicles.
 
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