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re: In the market for a 3rd row vehicle.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 11:32 am to UltimaParadox
Posted on 6/1/24 at 11:32 am to UltimaParadox
The suburu ascent is a great car.
But . . . the minivan is so far superior to everything else you will consider with 3 kids. It laps every other option.
At least test drive one. Have a 2023 Honda odyssey. It’s the best car I’ve ever had. 3 kids and a Mardi Gras ladder without ever touching a door handle.
No parent has ever regretting driving around a minivan while their kids are young
But . . . the minivan is so far superior to everything else you will consider with 3 kids. It laps every other option.
At least test drive one. Have a 2023 Honda odyssey. It’s the best car I’ve ever had. 3 kids and a Mardi Gras ladder without ever touching a door handle.
No parent has ever regretting driving around a minivan while their kids are young
1
Posted on 6/1/24 at 12:31 pm to ned nederlander
Seems like the minivan case is STRONG when you have three kids. Two kids, SUV is still very feasible.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 1:59 pm to lynxcat
We are a family of 6. Kids ages are 12, 7, 5, and 2. Had an Odyssey since 2019. Upgraded to an Odyssey Touring after total-loss collision in 2023, and we love it. Paid $52k after TTL. It’s my wife’s vehicle, and dropping/picking up kids in car-line is a breeze with a push of a button on the sliding doors. I think that alone should tilt the decision of a minivan over an SUV for families with small children. Those kids can’t open and close heavy SUV doors. We’ve traveled 12+ hours on vacation with enough space.
I still drive a 2012 Hyundai Sonata because it’s just me to-and-from work 4 days a week. When I have to drop off or pickup the 3 older kids to/from school, it’s a little cramped, but gets the job done. I will probably purchase the Chevy Traverse in a year or 2 for myself…I just can’t justify a Tahoe or suburban when it’s just me driving 4 days a week.
I still drive a 2012 Hyundai Sonata because it’s just me to-and-from work 4 days a week. When I have to drop off or pickup the 3 older kids to/from school, it’s a little cramped, but gets the job done. I will probably purchase the Chevy Traverse in a year or 2 for myself…I just can’t justify a Tahoe or suburban when it’s just me driving 4 days a week.
Posted on 6/1/24 at 3:10 pm to lynxcat
quote:
Seems like the minivan case is STRONG when you have three kids. Two kids, SUV is still very feasible.
Agree.
3 or more kids I don’t even know how it’s a debate.
2 kids I could defend an suv but would still go minivan. Carpool is so much easier and driving the kids plus their friends or grandparents or other adults is a breeze in a minivan and a pain in a third row suv.
Posted on 6/2/24 at 11:10 am to ned nederlander
quote:
Agree.
3 or more kids I don’t even know how it’s a debate.
2 kids I could defend an suv but would still go minivan. Carpool is so much easier and driving the kids plus their friends or grandparents or other adults is a breeze in a minivan and a pain in a third row suv.
In terms of passenger space, the traverse, grand highlander/TX and Atlas are absolutely massive and rival minivans.
Minivans excel in cargo volume behind the third row because they don't have the raised, flat decks you find in SUVs. I actually prefer the SUV style cargo bay, but, for max capacity for a road trip, the minivan wins.
IMO the biggest advantage of a minivan is the sliding doors, which makes navigating tight parking spaces so much easier.
Overall, I think a minivan is overkill for 2 kids, unless you're constantly carpooling.
Posted on 6/2/24 at 11:41 am to 632627
With 3 plus kids the minivan is the way to go.
We've had multiple minivans.
Sliding doors alone makes it worth it. I don't understand why people put themselves through paying like 30-50k more for a vehicle that isn't close to being as functional.
We've had multiple minivans.
Sliding doors alone makes it worth it. I don't understand why people put themselves through paying like 30-50k more for a vehicle that isn't close to being as functional.
Posted on 6/4/24 at 9:42 pm to jimithing11
quote:
I am in the market for a sedan and it has been miserable so far emailing dealers for prices. They dick around and play hardball.
Do the research to figure out what the cost is to the dealer, then contact dealers with your bottom line offer. It isn’t the Will Cover method, but works when trying to canvass a bunch of dealers.
I recently drove 500miles to a dealership to buy our new vehicle because the local dealerships wouldn’t budge off of MSRP (low volume vehicle with only 1 on most lots). It cost me a weekend and $300 in fuel, but I saved $8000.
The dealer willing to negotiate said that the market is slowing with the high interest rates. Only a matter of time before the rest of the dealers get out of their COVID ways.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 12:15 am to HermanBoone
quote:It’s funny because everything you’ve said was our exact situation. 3 kids, wife doesn’t like minivans, we went with the brand new Honda Pilot Touring. This was back in ‘17 and we still have it today approaching 170k miles. The pilot is great, it’s held up well and still looks good inside and out. Be certain to fully flush the transmission every 75k miles with the Honda brand fully synthetic fluid. The fluid alone costs $250 but it’ll save your transmission. Don’t ask how I know
Honda Pilot
Also, the new pilot still has a timing belt, they never switched to the chain. So stay on top of that.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 6:43 am to HermanBoone
Had a niece that just got a 2025 Pilot with the 3rd row for about 43. She opted to lease. Needed to put down about 6,000 which was accomplished through a trade in and cash down. Monthly payment under 500 a month. Annual mileage is 15k.
Posted on 6/5/24 at 8:55 am to Tarps99
So funny enough in the spirit of the thread over the weekend my wife and I had our aquarium plans detoured here in ATL due to a water main break and we went to look at a few MDX's she liked.
We ended up trading her beat to hell 2014 MDX SH-AWD base for a 2022 MDX tech package with 36k miles on it. Was a 1 owner off lease and qualified for the Acura Precision Certified program which meant it's warrantied for 7 years/100k miles and we got 1.49% 36/mo financing on it. They were also offering 1.99% for 48 months. Haggled them down the price a bit (and polished the turd trade in as much as I could) and got a pretty solid deal.
You just cant find that kind of financing on any desirable vehicles right now, especially used.
We ended up trading her beat to hell 2014 MDX SH-AWD base for a 2022 MDX tech package with 36k miles on it. Was a 1 owner off lease and qualified for the Acura Precision Certified program which meant it's warrantied for 7 years/100k miles and we got 1.49% 36/mo financing on it. They were also offering 1.99% for 48 months. Haggled them down the price a bit (and polished the turd trade in as much as I could) and got a pretty solid deal.
You just cant find that kind of financing on any desirable vehicles right now, especially used.
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