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DNK posted:Anyone have any feedback on mid/large 5-7 seater daily driver Family Seriously-Not-A-Van-Vans? Ford Flex?
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Aug 26, 2016 00:33
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We bought a sorrento which seats 7 and really like it. Probably smaller than you are thinking.
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Aug 26, 2016 00:34
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H110Hawk posted:Ford Flex? No clue on quality of these but it's as much of a not a van van as you can get probably.
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Aug 26, 2016 01:19
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H110Hawk posted:Ford Flex? Flex FTW they are great
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Aug 26, 2016 01:22
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In-laws picked up a Flex last year and it's a really nice ride. My wife is ready to toss in her 08 Focus for something newer; I've basically convinced her on a Prius (thanks, thread!) but she's undecided between that and a Honda Fit because of the $10K price difference. Any meaningful reason she should decide against the Prius if she's in agreement with the 'appliance::vehicle' concept?
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Aug 26, 2016 01:37
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I hate American cars but was really impressed as a passenger in the Flex. If I needed a higher capacity vehicle it would be the first thing I looked at.
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Aug 26, 2016 02:07
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Bill NYSE posted:In-laws picked up a Flex last year and it's a really nice ride. Prius is a lot bigger and a lot more fuel efficient, and Toyota can't give them away right now. Also, why buy a new one? DNK posted:Anyone have any feedback on mid/large 5-7 seater daily driver Family Seriously-Not-A-Van-Vans? I kind of like the Durango but I don't think it's all that reliable. Comedy Prius V option, I guess, if you like Hybrids and you want good fuel economy. Might be a bit too small.
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Aug 26, 2016 02:32
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Bill NYSE posted:In-laws picked up a Flex last year and it's a really nice ride. A Fit is an excellent choice, it's generally neck-and-neck with the Prius in Consumer Report's total cost-of-ownership. I cross-shopped the Fit Sport with the Prius in 2012 and liked the Fit better, it's much more fun to drive and has better visibility, at the cost of a few MPG. The current Fit and Prius are 'new' models now, but they're still pretty similar to the 2012's that I drove except the Fit has a little more power and the Prius has a better rear suspension.
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Aug 26, 2016 02:36
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Twist beam is better from an interior space capacity perspective. https://www.scion.com/models/iA/2016
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Aug 26, 2016 05:22
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DNK posted:Anyone have any feedback on mid/large 5-7 seater daily driver Family Seriously-Not-A-Van-Vans? Alrighty, this one is right up my alley. Ever since I've had kids I've been tracking the 5-7 seat family not a van vehicle segment like it was my job. Before I get going though I want to say so far I've owned 3 different Ford Explorer's. A 2012 XLT, 2014 Sport, and now a 2017 Sport. They all got poo poo gas mileage. 14 city, 17 mixed, 20mpg I only see on highway road trips. Even the 2012 with the naturally aspirated 3.5L V6 got poo poo gas mileage. First off I want to say buy a drat minivan. Minivan's are so stupidly good for hauling around people in comfort it's amazing. Unfortunately my wife and I foolishly refuse to drive one due to bullshit social stigma and "dammit we don't want to" so we make concessions by purchasing something in the as you put it "Family Seriously-Not-A-Van-Vans" segment. I recently drove a family members Toyota Sienna XLE around for a few days and I was really impressed with it. Not enough to buy one (stupid stigma) but It absolutely excelled at what it was designed to do. It hauled myself, a cousin and 4 kids in carseats all around and did it extremely well. Second lets discuss the 6th and 7th passenger seating. How important is this requirement? How often will you be using the 3rd row of your future vehicle? If the answer is more than once every 6 months, buy a minivan. According to my wife "we just have to have the 3rd row of seating, just in case" and just in case has happened about 7 times in 5 years, interestingly enough usually when her mother is in town. The rest of the time the seats are flat for extra storage space. Those 3rd row seats? Not as useful as you think. Getting a carseat back there is a pain in the rear end if they even fit, and they're not comfortable enough for an adult to sit in for more than 15 minutes or so. If you happen to be hauling children in the 8 to 12 range they'll be OK, anything outside of that, the seats are pretty worthless. They're not as bad in the larger CUV/SUV's like the Explorer/Flex/GM triplets but still, I sat in the 3rd row of my Explorer for a 45 minute trip. Never again. Generally in your midsize SUV's the 3rd row is going to be an either/or option. You can have people sit in the 3rd row, or you can carry stuff in the back, not both. The 3rd row is also going to be a little smaller than the larger SUV's 3rd row. I honestly don't know why they bother sometimes, but I guess there's demand for those 3rd rows. Maybe when my kids are older we might actually use it. Anyway, it's drat near 1AM and I can talk about these cars all drat day. You didn't post a budget so I'm not sure if price is a concern, or if you're looking new or used but here's my pick: New Honda Pilot I personally think it's the best option right now for comfortable, reliable not-a-van-van duty. It's also a bit larger than some of midsize SUV's I found the Pathfinder underwhelming when I looked at them when they introduced the current model. The trick sliding seat was neat, but the car just seemed small and I don't really care for Nissan vehicles. I don't have anything bad to say about the Kia or the Toyota Highlander, they both seem like fine vehicles and a Highlander will probably run forever. My mom had a 2012 Sorento for a while and I quite liked it. It wasn't as polished as some of the other cars in the segment, but still seemed like a good car. I just happen to think the Pilot is a better car right now. Personally I disqualified them due to the either/or nature of the 3rd row seating. Cargo or people, not both. The Ford Flex is a very polarizing vehicle when it comes to looks. Women (The 3 I know anyway) seem to hate the thing with a passion, and it does look like a station wagon and a minivan had a child and it grew up to be a Ford Flex. The Explorer and Flex are almost the same car but with different bodies. The MPG is about the same as well. I prefer the Buick Enclave over the GMC Acadia and Chevy Traverse. It would be my choice of those 3, since there isn't a 'sporty' model in that lineup I would pick the most comfortable one. The other 2 just don't do anything for me and don't stand out in any way. The Acura MDX is the Acura MDX, everything you expect from Acura with the corresponding price tag. It's the main competitor for me and I've shopped it several times but I keep going back to the Ford Explorer Sport. The lease rates are better on the Ford and the drivetrain makes me happy. Since we lease my wife's car, the extra 75 to 100 a month the Acura would cost when similarly equipped doesn't seem worth it. The Durango seems like a very nice vehicle, I just don't know that I can recommend a FCA vehicle to anyone right now outside of a RAM truck. A family member has a 2013 Town and Country Limited minivan, fully loaded that they purchased new. It has about 77,000 miles on it now and it hasn't held up worth a drat compared to another family members 2012 Sienna XLE with 100,000 miles on it. The drivetrain on the Chrysler has been fine, but interior bits have worn out or broken, the sliding power doors struggle and sound like they're going to fail. The Sienna is basically perfect still. The sliding doors still work like new, all the trim has held up well, just a better quality vehicle to be honest. I don't know if they're still squeezing a 3rd row into Dodge Journeys or not, but HAHAHA hell no. I don't have any opinion of the CX-9. I've heard/seen/read positive things about them, but no personal opinion of them. Worth a test drive if you're looking for something a little more sporty. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 07:34 on Aug 26, 2016 |
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Aug 26, 2016 07:31
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Yeah, I know about the iA. You specifically said your friends got rid of a Mazda2 because it was too small, not an iA.
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Aug 26, 2016 14:27
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Yeah, I know about the iA. You specifically said your friends got rid of a Mazda2 because it was too small, not an iA. Alright. 4" more of interior space isn't a game changer. So instead of citing wheelbases at me, how about you refute this: Trying to put a child seat into the back of a subcompact car probably won't work out. It might fit, but it probably won't fit well. You'll have much better luck and more space in the compact car class, so look for one of those instead.
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Aug 26, 2016 15:41
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Bill NYSE posted:My wife is ready to toss in her 08 Focus for something newer; I've basically convinced her on a Prius (thanks, thread!) but she's undecided between that and a Honda Fit because of the $10K price difference. Any meaningful reason she should decide against the Prius if she's in agreement with the 'appliance::vehicle' concept? The Fit also drives a hell of a lot better, if you don't need the bigger size of the Prius the Fit's an excellent vehicle to buy. Probably a better buy new too.
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Aug 26, 2016 15:43
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Phone posted:Alright. 4" more of interior space isn't a game changer. The CX-3 is substantially bigger than the last sold-in-america Mazda2. That's all I'm saying. I'm not commenting on whether it's going to be good for hauling kids or not.
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Aug 26, 2016 15:53
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Twerk from Home posted:The Fit also drives a hell of a lot better, if you don't need the bigger size of the Prius the Fit's an excellent vehicle to buy. Probably a better buy new too. Do they still hold their value ridiculously well? I remember a few years ago when they were super popular and gas was more expensive, 2 year old Fit's with 30K+ miles going for drat near MSRP in my area.
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Aug 26, 2016 16:11
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The best way to determine if a car seat will fit in a car is to go to a dealer and put a loving carseat in the car. Any dealer in america has allowed people to do this thousands of times. Overall space and size measurements not really matter because manufacturers do weird ergonomic things that make some cars have more usable space or more passenger space than cars with bogger numbers. Also, it really annoys me to see people say "I won't fit, I'm tall" or "I can't fit my stuff in" without actually going and seeing the car. It take 30 minutes and you're about to drop 5 figurea on something, juts try it. If I hadn't tried sitting in one, I'd never have discovered my Mazda 2 had more driver space than a Mazda 3 (same years). Also the most uncomfortable vehicle (I'm 6ft4) I've ever driven was a lovely GM minivan that despite being huge had no drivers room and terrible ergonomics. The same applies to baby seats. One car may be huge, but make it really hard to put the kid in the seat, while a smaller car might have been designed to fit a baby seat and pose no issues (smaller cars tend to have more thought paid to ergonomics).
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Aug 26, 2016 16:22
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skipdogg posted:Do they still hold their value ridiculously well? I remember a few years ago when they were super popular and gas was more expensive, 2 year old Fit's with 30K+ miles going for drat near MSRP in my area. I saw this on the used market and was confused as well. 2 year old Fits apparently trade hands within $1200 of a new one.
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Aug 26, 2016 16:32
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skipdogg posted:Alrighty, this one is right up my alley. Thanks dude, this owns. Budget is going to be around 45k, will probably buy used, and I'm totally okay with spending less.
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Aug 26, 2016 17:04
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DNK posted:Thanks dude, this owns. The car for you or your partner? Many times creature comforts and style are more important than other things to them. Throwing out a comedy option, 45K can get you an off lease 3 year old CPO Mercedes GL450. Probably not what you want but hey, it has the 3 pointed star on it
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Aug 26, 2016 17:20
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How much mileage is too much mileage? I graduated in may and been driving a motorcycle all summer. I need a car to get to work now, since winter is coming (Canadian east coast). There's a sicknasty 1992 4runner for sale with 350,000 km on the odo, but it looks in great great shape from the pictures, stock, clean interior and no apparent rust on the body, but surface rust on the underbody. Has a 22re and manual trans. Seller is asking 3000 $cad and new front brakes (pads and disks), radiator and winter tires on rims. Should I be concerned by the mileage? Else it would be a certain buy right now. I need something to plow through snow and camping trips. I sold my car when I went back near campus for my master's.
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Aug 27, 2016 00:04
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Grimarest posted:How much mileage is too much mileage? I would say that would be average mileage (or a little on the low side) for a clean $3000 4Runner. I see 4Runners and Land Cruisers advertised all the time with 275k MILES plus for more money than that.
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Aug 27, 2016 17:21
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Proposed Budget: $6,000-$10,000 New or Used: Used Body Style: prefer midsize or smaller, but a crossover may work How will you be using the car?: My wife has a left foot injury that we haven't been able to get resolved. We both drive manuals. We've temporarily swapped cars, but we need to come up with a longer term solution. I will be trading in my 8 year old WRX, which I estimate at around $6,000 trade in its current condition. We can't swing a big car payment at this point, so I'm trying not to be too far out of pocket on the deal. It will be used for maybe 100 miles per week. What aspects are most important to you? The price range is important. Automatic or CVT is a requirement. Maintainability is important to me, which for me rules out VWs (last one was a pain in the rear end). Also, something where we can expect to not have major issues (which I know cannot be guaranteed). I know Subarus well, but all the ones in our price range are in the head gasket danger zone. Other than that, I'm flexible. I don't know anything about Hyundais, but I'm wondering if they would be a good option.
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Aug 27, 2016 17:58
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Mr. Powers posted:Proposed Budget: $6,000-$10,000 If you are just doing 100 miles a week man you could get into a low mileage Nissan Leaf for like $8k, loaded with lots of tech and probably only 25-30k miles
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Aug 27, 2016 18:59
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What is the defacto used car search site? Craigslist doesn't seem to show much, ebay motors is a really mixed bag, and it seems like nobody is using auto trader anymore. Also, I'm sorry for making fun of somebody suggesting a Miata for my mid-life crisis car, I saw an MX-5 drive past me at costco today and it has the same sex appeal as the SLK but at half the price. So I will look at those.
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Aug 28, 2016 05:20
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photomikey posted:What is the defacto used car search site? Craigslist doesn't seem to show much, ebay motors is a really mixed bag, and it seems like nobody is using auto trader anymore. I have cars.com app. Now the only thing I look at while making GBS threads is cars.com app. After you buy your car you will continue this obsession if you are car crazy. You have been warned.
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Aug 28, 2016 05:23
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everdave posted:If you are just doing 100 miles a week man you could get into a low mileage Nissan Leaf for like $8k, loaded with lots of tech and probably only 25-30k miles Interesting, but there are occasional trips longer than it's range, and charging logistics and home would be a problem.
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Aug 28, 2016 05:57
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Autotrader.com has by far the greater inventory of listings unless you're looking for niche stuff. Source: I wrote some scrapers for all the big sites to help with my car search and I've become very familiar with what's on them all. It's too bad the actual UI and functionality of their site and apps sucks so bad.
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Aug 28, 2016 14:26
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Thermopyle posted:Autotrader.com has by far the greater inventory of listings unless you're looking for niche stuff. More than craigslist? I've always had way more luck with CL than anything else (although I buy cheap cars, and that's kinda their niche).
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Aug 28, 2016 14:35
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Yeah, I should have qualified that what I said probably only applies to vehicles less than 5 years old or maybe another way to say it is vehicles that a dealer would have on their lot.
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Aug 28, 2016 15:34
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I watched a Consumer Reports guide for used cars under $10k and the Mazda 3 from '08-'10 seems to fit the bill. They can be found locally for the $8k range with a tad under 100k mi on them. Should I head to the Mazda thread to get specific feedback on this option?
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Aug 28, 2016 17:11
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Do things rust where you live? Otherwise, great cars, but they the tin worm.
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Aug 28, 2016 17:57
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nm posted:Do things rust where you live? Things do indeed rust. New England.
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Aug 28, 2016 18:39
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Mr. Powers posted:Things do indeed rust. New England. I have an 09 Mazda3 in Maryland, no rust issues thus far and we've had some real shitshow winters lately. I've heard that the supposed rust issues are only with japanese manufactured 3s, which mine is, and the Mexican ones are fine, but who knows.
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Aug 28, 2016 19:51
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I'm in need of a new car because my Lexus RX 330 is getting on thirteen years and it's had a few costly repairs that have made me lean towards getting a newer car. I'm planning on getting a used car and trading my Lexus in to a dealership so proposed budget is around $8000 (including some savings and slightly optimistic hopes for the trade). I like the kind of car I drive now; I'm a bit of a big guy and I have issues getting in and out of smaller cars. A sedan would be the cheaper option but I know I'd have trouble getting in and out comfortably. I currently have to commute around 15 miles to work (30 there and back) and would just use the car to get to work and run errands. A four door model with some trunk space would be ideal. I live in New Jersey and reliability, MPG and cost/maintenance are most important to me; sometimes we get snow and sometimes I can't get out of going to work, something with four wheel drive would be ideal. In a pinch, MPG could slide, I'd rather not have to worry as much about repairs and maintenance. I was leaning sort of towards the Scion XB models up until I found out they're a discontinued line and I'm sort of leery about getting one because of that fact, that's the kind of car I'm looking for, a SUVish vehicle. Any suggestions?
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Aug 28, 2016 21:20
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Mr. Powers posted:Things do indeed rust. New England. I picked up an '08 Mazda3i touring earlier this year and while it had low mileage I made sure to check for any rusting indications. We'll be going through its first Chicago winter in the coming months; but I'm seeing lots of Mazdas around that don't look bad at all -- I think the majority of those issues were ironed out by '06 / '07. e: and it's fun as gently caress to drive. I feel much more confident when having to pull insane maneuvers because of lovely other drivers.
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Aug 28, 2016 23:06
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Hostile V posted:I'm in need of a new car because my Lexus RX 330 is getting on thirteen years and it's had a few costly repairs that have made me lean towards getting a newer car. I'm planning on getting a used car and trading my Lexus in to a dealership so proposed budget is around $8000 (including some savings and slightly optimistic hopes for the trade). I like the kind of car I drive now; I'm a bit of a big guy and I have issues getting in and out of smaller cars. A sedan would be the cheaper option but I know I'd have trouble getting in and out comfortably. I currently have to commute around 15 miles to work (30 there and back) and would just use the car to get to work and run errands. A four door model with some trunk space would be ideal. I live in New Jersey and reliability, MPG and cost/maintenance are most important to me; sometimes we get snow and sometimes I can't get out of going to work, something with four wheel drive would be ideal. In a pinch, MPG could slide, I'd rather not have to worry as much about repairs and maintenance. No matter how tall/fat/conjoined twin you are, size of the car does not directly correlate to usable interior space. Auto manufacturers design around all typed of drivers. If there is something you like, go sit inside of it. Chances are, you'll be fine in 90% of cars/trucks. Dealer will give you pennies on a dollar when they take your car as "trade in". Sell it private party. Unless you're a very savvy negotiator and have done your homework. And still be prepared to lose money. Can you not bend your knees? Do you need a tall midsize vehicle? If you can get in a sedan, please do. They are most common and very accommodating. Also, a Prius
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Aug 29, 2016 00:14
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Bill NYSE posted:I picked up an '08 Mazda3i touring earlier this year and while it had low mileage I made sure to check for any rusting indications. We'll be going through its first Chicago winter in the coming months; but I'm seeing lots of Mazdas around that don't look bad at all -- I think the majority of those issues were ironed out by '06 / '07. I'll be trading a WRX for it, so the 2.0 and 2.5 look really underpowered to me. I'm sure it will be acceptable for my wife.
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Aug 29, 2016 01:10
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Nitrox posted:Dealer will give you pennies on a dollar when they take your car as "trade in". Sell it private party. Unless you're a very savvy negotiator and have done your homework. And still be prepared to lose money. Spend 5 minutes looking up the value of your trade-in on KBB or Nada or Edmonds, or if you're motivated, all three. There's a several-hundred dollar gap between trade-in value (presumably what a dealer will offer you) and private-party value (what you can probably sell it for). Is that $600 or $800 or $1k worth of pain in the rear end worth it? For some it might be. Remember that at private-party value, whoever is coming over from Craigslist will want to dicker down from that a couple hundred bucks, and it's gonna take a couple weeks (or months) to sell the car. You will probably lose a couple hundred bucks by trading it in, but the "pennies on the dollar" thing is generally untrue anymore.
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Aug 29, 2016 05:21
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You also have to consider possible tax benefits. In AZ, and as far as I know many states, sales tax is calculated on the net sale price after trade, so you get a bit of it back. There's certainly a real value to not loving around with the dipshits on Craigslist. With my Mazdaspeed3, I'm sure I would've had an endless stream of tire kickers and kids without enough money to actually buy it. My mom traded her Trailblazer and I think she might've actually been proud to basically dump it on the lot with a seized A/C compressor (and clutch), and a cooked engine and/or transmission due to a loss of cooling and fluid. Most of which occurred on the drive to the dealer  With my Ranger I went ahead and sold it private party. Partly because I didn't buy the replacement at a dealer, partly because I figured it wouldn't be too hard to sell.
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Aug 29, 2016 06:29
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Yeah it you're unloading a shitbox, a dealer trade is where it's at. I'd feel bad on unloading a ticking time bomb on CL. When we traded the Focus, the price difference after the tax reduction was only $200 from the best cash offer we had. Not really worth the hassle at that point.
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Aug 29, 2016 13:20
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