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Best Vehicle With a Kid

besserheimerphat said:
I've heard that the third-row seats are only suitable for small kids - most teenagers will be too big to be comfortable back there. And with the third-row up you lose most of the cargo space. Make sure to check that the third-row seats will meet your needs.
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For an adult, to small... But the new baby won't be back there, and unless you plan on adopting a bunch of 18 year olds its perfect... They lay down for trunk space.

The good with the acadia third row is the floor drops down from the seat. Unlike the Tahoe and other expensive rides the floor is even with the third floor seat making it impossible. Its the best third row Ive looked into. Plus I have three kids, and have tested and owned an Caravan, Edge, Acadia, Rover, Ford 150 over my life with children.

Ive owned the van, the acadia, a truck etc.. trust me the vans stink in the winter. Id roll with a Ford Edge, or Acadia.

And as the poster said its wise to always "look into" a car before buying it. Id take it home, and get a car seat in and out etc... they'll let you.
 
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CyJam said:
Agree with the minivan, but stay away from the Chrysler products. Toyota or Honda are much better products. No offense.
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My 2002 Town & Country limited disagrees with you, no offense. My 09 Toyota Matrix burns oil like crazy and has many more problems. Old girl is still going strong though. Also, don't get a van unless you are having more than 2 kids. It's just not necessary with only 2. Just stick with a sedan or small SUV.
 
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Have multiple kids with multiple activities and multiple friends, so accordingly have a Dodge Caravan.

If you aren't able to handle that, maybe Rav4, CRV, Ford Edge?
 
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Minivan. Never thought I'd own one, but it's far and away the most practical. We actually have a Malibu as well, but if you're wanting to haul around a stroller and go shopping, you're out of room. Bite the bullet. It's not that bad.
 
If you're going to have more kids, get a minivan and never look back. I hate that I own a van now, but besides that it's so damn practical in every way. Storage, gas mileage. Little things like the rear doors slide open (which with kids is a must). We got a Honda Odyssey and love it.
 
We had our first almost two years ago. I bought an explorer............has airbags in all over the vehicle and hauls all the **** we need if we go anywhere.
 
bawbie said:
I enjoy my Suburu Outback. It works well for at least 1 kid.
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We really liked our Subaru Legacy for one kid - Subaru have incredible crash test ratings. When we moved up to two, we had a debate. I strongly advocated for a minivan, and Janny wanted an SUV. We did a lot of research, and the CRV was way up there in safety. We ended up getting the CRV, because I didn't really care as much.

Janny now admits that I was right, we should have gone with a minivan.
 
mj4cy said:
If you're going to have more kids, get a minivan and never look back. I hate that I own a van now, but besides that it's so damn practical in every way. Storage, gas mileage. Little things like the rear doors slide open (which with kids is a must). We got a Honda Odyssey and love it.
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I agree on this. We did the CRV thing instead, and it's a pain in the butt. Lifting a 20-lb infant in a bucket seat up almost over my head to get him into the CRV (I'm short) is terrible. I wish I could climb in with the kids to get them buckled up more safely. We have absolutely ZERO room for guests to ride with us. A minivan would solve all of these problems and more.
 
bringmagicback said:
Minivans are awesome and you can get a super fancy used one with all options for like 22 k with 15k miles on it. Why wouldn't you? I cant wait to have kids so I can buy one.
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Where are you finding those kinds of deals? I've been researching this and I'm seeing $30k+ for that kind of vehicle.
 
For 1 kid a van isn't necessary but they are nice to have. Something like an Outback, Edge, etc will work just fine with one kid. Problem is bang for your buck you can get more for the same cost with a van. We got our first van 2 years ago when number 3 turned 1 and I absolutely love that thing. Before that we had a Ford Freestyle which worked perfect for 1-2 kids but number 3 was a game changer as the 3rd seat on that thing wasn't ideal. Not sure what others are saying about minivans sucking in the snow. We put snow tires on ours during the winter months and that thing has zero problems. I'm sure some people's minivans are horrible in the snow but I can about guarantee it's a tire thing.

We bought a Chrysler Town and Country and it has been great, no issues. I know others will say get a Toyota or a Honda but the price difference just isn't worth it to me. Our Town and Country has everything in it (Leather, Dual DVD, rear seat AV hookups, etc) and a comparable Toyota was around 8K more. I know plenty of Chrysler and Toyota vans that have 100K plus miles on them with zero issues. Based on experiences from friends and family the extra 8K just felt like I was buying the name.

On a side note I also have an F150 crew cab and with 3 kids it works great too. Room for all three in back seat and with a tonneau cover everything fits in the back and is out of the weather. Only problem is there is no entertainment system but our oldest has an Ipad and the other two just watch a DVD on a cheap portable DVD system. Plus a crew cab is big enough for my wife to sit in the back seat if need be for one of the kids.

I know this is a rambling post but I guess the main point is with only 1 kid right now you have a ton of options. Just about anything with reasonable room will work for 1 kid. When that number turns to 3 that's when your options get cut down drastically. When we only had 1 kid we started off with a Ford Taurus and a GMC extended cab and got along just fine.
 
We have never had issues in the snow/winter with our van either. Part of it is the driver (my husband)--he has gotten us through some of the worst road conditions southern Minnesota and central Iowa could throw at you on your Christmas or Thanksgiving trip to Grandma's house.
 
FarminCy said:
Not sure what others are saying about minivans sucking in the snow. We put snow tires on ours during the winter months and that thing has zero problems. I'm sure some people's minivans are horrible in the snow but I can about guarantee it's a tire thing.
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Cybirdy said:
We have never had issues in the snow/winter with our van either. Part of it is the driver (my husband)--he has gotten us through some of the worst road conditions southern Minnesota and central Iowa could throw at you on your Christmas or Thanksgiving trip to Grandma's house.
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I'll 3rd this motion...Tires, drivers, (and our AWD Sienna doesn't hurt), and I've never had trouble getting around. I mean, the fact that it's a very heavy vehicle compared to the smaller crossovers does mean stopping distance in poor conditions are going to be longer, but that's not avoidable, and would be the same with an SUV.
 
benjay said:
Where are you finding those kinds of deals? I've been researching this and I'm seeing $30k+ for that kind of vehicle.
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Last year we found a 2011 Honda Odyssey with only 2600 miles. Somehow we got it for 29k. I felt like it was a steal.
 
mj4cy said:
Last year we found a 2011 Honda Odyssey with only 2600 miles. Somehow we got it for 29k. I felt like it was a steal.
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Well, not sure about Town & Country, those may depreciate faster, and we bought when used prices were high and new prices were soft (2011, after superstorm Sandy and cash for clunkers), but yeah, I said I'd never buy a brand new vehicle ever again, but looking at used minivans 2 years old with 40K miles, stains on the seats, and they were only like 5K less than a brand new one made us end up buying brand new.
 
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