Family vehicle suggestions

[ae118]

I feel like this question should be part of the FAQ of every online forum I have ever been on.

Anyway, another vote for a minivan when you have 2+ little kids. We also tried to avoid it but caved in the end. A little bit of my husband's soul died that day, but we love it and don't regret it at all. It just works perfectly at this stage in life.

We looked at the Odyssey, Sienna and Caravan and surprisingly ended up with the Caravan. I figured if I was going to drive a minivan, I wanted all the bells and whistles (plus my husband is pretty tall, so we wanted power seats) and the higher models of the first two were more than we wanted to spend on a minivan. And honestly? I don't regret it for a second.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by GGG

One option that isnt discussed here is carrying less stuff. I wish we went that route. Instead we bought a traverse which is just too big. Same with most of the minivans outside the mazda 5.

Not carrying stuff makes your life so much easier. Get a high end umbrella stroller and a the greyco thing that the car seats attach to. Get rid of the play pen and take one of these instead. http://t.toysrus.ca/skava/static/pro...www.toysrus.ca


You just shaved a trip to the car and 30lbs of crap out of your life.

I am looking at downsizing to a Rondo / mazda 5 type size because even carrying bikes on the back and a full compliment of tent camping gear these vehicles are big enough.

We always used a little umbrella stroller instead of those monster-sized, $1000 rigs. When it was time to get a stroller for two we went with, what I think is, one of the most compact ones on the market (Joovy Caboose). It was a great stroller and it even fit into the trunk of our VW Golf.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by ae118

I feel like this question should be part of the FAQ of every online forum I have ever been on.

Anyway, another vote for a minivan when you have 2+ little kids. We also tried to avoid it but caved in the end. A little bit of my husband's soul died that day, but we love it and don't regret it at all. It just works perfectly at this stage in life.

We looked at the Odyssey, Sienna and Caravan and surprisingly ended up with the Caravan. I figured if I was going to drive a minivan, I wanted all the bells and whistles (plus my husband is pretty tall, so we wanted power seats) and the higher models of the first two were more than we wanted to spend on a minivan. And honestly? I don't regret it for a second.

I re-emphasize the 2014 Highlander. We have a 3.5 yr-old and a 10-month old and it's fantastic - even with the rear-facing seat there is a ton of room (the driver seat is fully pushed back with the baby seat behind it), and the trunk is huge (3rd row down) - we can easily fit a stroller and do a full $400 Costco grocery load without any issues. And it's not a minivan.

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by edslunch

The other thing to keep in mind is when your kids get older there will be friends. We have 2 kids but often 4-6 kids in the van. Birthday parties, pile in. Taking family visitors to the mountains, pile in, etc

Agree 100%, it seems a lot of people on here are only considering a mini-van until they are past the stroller/car seat stage. They are much handier as mentioned when the kids are older, on sports teams, going to games after school, parties, field trips, wanting rides with their friends to whereever!

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I re-emphasize the 2014 Highlander. We have a 3.5 yr-old and a 10-month old and it's fantastic - even with the rear-facing seat there is a ton of room (the driver seat is fully pushed back with the baby seat behind it), and the trunk is huge (3rd row down) - we can easily fit a stroller and do a full $400 Costco grocery load without any issues. And it's not a minivan.

haha I haven't seen many other '14 highlanders in Calgary. Just one other white one that I passed on Deerfoot a few weeks ago.

I'll add my vote to the 2014 Highlander. Tons of room.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

And it's not a minivan.

what is wrong with a minivan?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I re-emphasize the 2014 Highlander. We have a 3.5 yr-old and a 10-month old and it's fantastic - even with the rear-facing seat there is a ton of room (the driver seat is fully pushed back with the baby seat behind it), and the trunk is huge (3rd row down) - we can easily fit a stroller and do a full $400 Costco grocery load without any issues.

A minivan can do all this, plus carry a few sheets of plywood/drywall when you need it to!

And it's not a minivan.

Trust me, you're not any cooler.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Table 5

A minivan can do all this, plus carry a few sheets of plywood/drywall when you need it to!



Trust me, you're not any cooler.

Haha. That's what you minivan people tell yourselves while we laugh at you.
Seriously, whatever works for you. Mrs. Impaler refused my suggestion of a 70s van, and since she did not want a minivan, we went with the Highlander, which is perfect for our needs. I am not trying to turn this into a minivan debate - just telling the OP what his 40k can buy him.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Haha. That's what you minivan people tell yourselves while we laugh at you.
Seriously, whatever works for you. Mrs. Impaler refused my suggestion of a 70s van, and since she did not want a minivan, we went with the Highlander, which is perfect for our needs. I am not trying to turn this into a minivan debate - just telling the OP what his 40k can buy him.

I'm highly insulted. I'm wagon people!

I'm sure the Highlander is a fine vehicle in its class. I was just pointing out that as practical as an SUV can be, chances are the minivan will top it. They really are the most practical, jack-of-all-trades, option for bigger families.

I think I also just have a bias against the Highlander after the string of commercials with that horrendously obnoxious kid.

[ae118]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Haha. That's what you minivan people tell yourselves while we laugh at you.
Seriously, whatever works for you. Mrs. Impaler refused my suggestion of a 70s van, and since she did not want a minivan, we went with the Highlander, which is perfect for our needs. I am not trying to turn this into a minivan debate - just telling the OP what his 40k can buy him.

Or under 30K for the top Grand Caravan (well, just under the R/T... does anyone buy those?!). Laugh away (we laugh at ourselves), but we love it and we have an extra 10K to invest. To each their own.

[Bill Bumface]

A girl I went to school with way back had the good fortune of getting to ride in a Caravan that her dad special ordered....

2.4L Turbo with a manual transmission.

My wife and I are also wagon people. She refuses to drive an automatic, and it would be very hard to get her away from AWD. I'm now resigned to the fact that we will forever be buying German cars built in the early 2000s and my life will be spent in the garage fixing them.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I'm highly insulted. I'm wagon people!

I'm sure the Highlander is a fine vehicle in its class. I was just pointing out that as practical as an SUV can be, chances are the minivan will top it. They really are the most practical, jack-of-all-trades, option for bigger families.

I think I also just have a bias against the Highlander after the string of commercials with that horrendously obnoxious kid.

Like I said, I wanted a van van (I guess that would mean an Econoline these days), but management refused to drive it.

[burn_this_city]

You didn't want any van, you wanted a predator van. Those 11 passenger vans are rwd death traps.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

You didn't want any van, you wanted a predator van. Those 11 passenger vans are rwd death traps.

When I was a kid my Dad purchased and brand new '84 GMC Vandura they day after we sold the calves. That van was big pimpin, 350 chevy motor, sex lights, 4 captains chairs with a rear bench that folded to a bed. We were a family of six and that van kicked so much a$$. My mom was forever hauling kids to everything. The two chairs would swing around to face the rear and we could all play cards. The only thing that quit working was the odometer, my Dad figures there was over 300000 km on it when they traded it in on a Montana in 97. So many chilhood memories revolve around travelling in the van.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

When I was a kid my Dad purchased and brand new '84 GMC Vandura they day after we sold the calves. That van was big pimpin, 350 chevy motor, sex lights, 4 captains chairs with a rear bench that folded to a bed. We were a family of six and that van kicked so much a$$. My mom was forever hauling kids to everything. The two chairs would swing around to face the rear and we could all play cards. The only thing that quit working was the odometer, my Dad figures there was over 300000 km on it when they traded it in on a Montana in 97. So many chilhood memories revolve around travelling in the van.

We had a similar van when I was growing up but it was the Ford Econoline version. It was awesome. My parents purchased it for road trips and camping vacations. The van was a pig though. I'll always remember one of our last trips in that van to BC when my dad stopped to fill up with fuel. He had to fill both tanks in the van and after he was done he told us that we weren't going to drive to BC anymore because gas was too expensive. It was 33 cents/litre at that time.

[bizaro86]

Sounds to me like you need a car that blends the best of an SUV with the benefits of a minivan. Seems like the perfect kid hauler to me.

http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx

[kermitology]

That would be freaking awesome. But probably wildly outside my price range and not delivering until the Fall of 2015.

Thanks for all the input so far. I'm kind of curious about the Flex. Anyone have one?

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by fotze

Peanus

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Thanks for all the input so far. I'm kind of curious about the Flex. Anyone have one?

I have a 2009 Limited. It is awesome. I'm hoping to upgrade to a newer Ecoboost model at some point in the future.

[Jimmy Stang]

When we had our kid, we got a Mazda 5. I found that it was a nice tradeoff between a car and a larger vehicle. You can carry 6 people if you need to, or fold the back row down for some extra space. Or fold all 4 back seats down for even more space (if you don't have the kid with you). It drives like a car, which I like, but the back seats are higher so it is easier to get kids in and out. Manual transmission is a big one too, because both my wife very much prefer it. Sliding doors are great when in parking lots. I never realized how useful they'd be, to be honest. You can park in the "car guy" zone and never risk a door ding.

And regardless of what fotze says, I have been through the mountains a few times with it (with tonnes of stuff in the back), and have always been able to go as fast as I want to (let's just say: I am doing the passing more often than I am passed). Never the "rv on highway 93".

Don't let the stigma of vans get to you. Hauling kids and their crap around is what good dads do. If a minivan/wagon/whatever suits your needs, then who cares?