Family Vehicle - opinions needed:)

Fiona rocked the 99 exploder for the past 7 years until it started falling apart more so then normal. It served well for our now 7 and 4 year old boys. Lucky for me my dad had an 01 navigator that needed some work and he bought something else. Should have a new cylinder head in it soon and Fiona will be all set to go for a few more years. Seats 7, which has been great for Scout field trips. Only down side is it runs premium.
 
YJ-GENRAL said:
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.
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Test drives are a must. We drove every minivan and some SUV's prior to purchase. But even with all that info, once she decided that the minivan was our best fit, and she could live with it, my wifes' list of requirements were:
1) Silver
2) Sunroof

and that's the long list...:sunshine:
 
RedHeep said:
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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More details please....:scared:
 
ChuckstrPT said:
More details please....:scared:
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'94, torque converter let loose. Metal all through the tranny, ate the clutches and most of the consumables.

'97 last year when I was driving it. Internal failure, not sure exactly what. There was so much metal in the pan that it would drive for 50 feet and then stop, because the pump was sucking the metal into the pickup. When you shut it off, the metal would fall back down into the pan and you'd get fluid for another 50 feet and then it would jam up.

Both of them got replacement transmissions to the tune of $2K or so.

Like I said, I don't know about the newer ones, but if it's late '90s or early '00s and it's got high miles with a stock tranny, you wouldn't catch me driving one.

That's one of those "leave you wherever you are vacationing" type of failures.
 
I have a 2006 Pilot and it has tons of room. I got it because it is reliable, good looking, gets decent gas mileage, and has enough room to carry my ladder for work or my mtn bike for play.

I will say one thing to look out for. When cruising on the highway and the ECO(3 cylinders shutdown) kicks in I get an annoying vibration. I had it looked at and they replaced a motor mount and it didn't help. I have gotten used to it, but if I had known about it I would have passed. Make sure you get it up to 40,50,60,and 70 and check for that.
 
mbogosia said:
I have a 2006 Pilot and it has tons of room. I got it because it is reliable, good looking, gets decent gas mileage, and has enough room to carry my ladder for work or my mtn bike for play.

I will say one thing to look out for. When cruising on the highway and the ECO(3 cylinders shutdown) kicks in I get an annoying vibration. I had it looked at and they replaced a motor mount and it didn't help. I have gotten used to it, but if I had known about it I would have passed. Make sure you get it up to 40,50,60,and 70 and check for that.
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:cry: I'm jealous... If you ever wanna get rid of it for REALLY cheap, holla at me!
 
My Dad has a 2003 Acura MDX and he absolutely loves it. I however dont like it because of the look because to me it looks like a minivan with a lift. It has AWD (no true 4 low) and the AWD can be locked in when needed so if you don't want the computer to be incharge you can tell it to stay in 4WD. When not in 4WD it is front wheel drive which I am also not a fan of but for you it shouldn't matter. It gets very good gas mileage I think like 18 around town and 22-24 on the highway. Don't quote me on that though because I am just guessing by what I have seen while riding in the car with him. It has 3 rows of seating and a rear entertainment system for the kids. It is also fairly good at towing because it tows our Malibu boat that weighs 4900 lbs without the trailer quite well. My XJ on 31s was struggling a lot trying to tow that boat, it could barely do 55 mph on flat ground. Also alot of them come with an indash navigation. They are a pretty good car for what you are looking and are a direct competitor with the Honda Pilot which is funny since the Acura and Honda are the same.
 
edec374 said:
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).
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For 06, Honda changed the pilot's headlights, tail lights and grill on the outside and put a few pieces of brushed aluminum plastic around the gauges.

I DD an 04 MDX which is the same drivetrain and chassis as a Pilot. I get 15 mpg on my stop and go 100% city commute and 19.5 with the cruise set at 78 on the highway. They are reliable as can be, I put 190k on my first MDX with not much more than tires, and scheduled maintenance. My dad manages to get 21mpg out of his 06 MDX, but travels mostly on 55mph flat highway and drives like there's an egg under the gas pedal. Then I traded it on one with 40k on the clock for $10k difference between the trade and new one; can't beat that! The AWD system flat works in snow, deep sand and light mud and it has plenty of power to occasionally tow a 3-4k lb boat. I like mine, but I now have the Jeeps and a 4x4 Diesel Tow rig so my DD needs now really would probably be better filled with a bigger sedan that would get me closer to 30 mpg on the highway.

The Pilot/MDX do have a third row seat but it's only sized for kids for anything more than a short in-town trip. When the little third row is up, there is almost zero cargo room. It really isn't that much bigger than your 4-runner...

In reality the minivan is what you need, and most Odyssey / Siennas will get 23 or so on the highway and seat 6 adults comfortably, or haul a crap-load of stuff with the seats removed while doing it. If your machismo will allow it, minivan is without a doubt the sensible choice.

If you want a real third row seat, and 4x4, and want to tow then the newer Yukon XL/ Suburban is what i would get. It isn't really that far off on fuel mileage from the Runner/Pilot/ MDX/ WK.
 
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WTF said:
In reality the minivan is what you need, and most Odyssey / Siennas will get 23 or so on the highway and seat 6 adults comfortably, or haul a crap-load of stuff with the seats removed while doing it. If your machismo will allow it, minivan is without a doubt the sensible choice.
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One of the things I like about the Town & Country...the seats never leave the van, just shove them in the floor when you need the room. Very convenient, and easy on the back:D
And I haven't lost my Man Card yet driving the Minivan when needed:moon:
 
ChuckstrPT said:
...And I haven't lost my Man Card yet driving the Minivan when needed:moon:
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When a road trip / boys weekend comes up, the guy with the minivan is everyones best friend. 1 guy drives, the other 6 party in comfort...
 
RedHeep said:
Ever been in a minivan with 7 grown men?

Maybe your friends aren't adult size. :D
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Especially when those rear windows are power and can only be controlled from the drivers seat. When your buddy next to you :passgas:all trip, there is NO ESCAPE!

True story.
 
RedHeep said:
Ever been in a minivan with 7 grown men?

Maybe your friends aren't adult size. :D
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I'll rephrase that: my crowds are up to 6 guys, or 7-8 if there are women on the trip.
 
If I was going to have two kids, I would be super seriously tempted to go after a Subaru Outback (full size).

I drove 4 (fairly large) people and gear in an Impreza Outback about 1300 miles. I managed about 20-25mpg and didn't have a hiccup the whole way.
 
i was young we drove around in 4 door cars, no wagons or vans or big SUVs. only thing we ever had big was one of those converted luxury vans you know with the swivel seats and the bench seat that turned into a bed... bought it off our grandpa cheap and ended up having to sell it because we didnt use it enough... on well..

anything is possible its all in how you tackle it... want to be extra comfortable with too much room to put stuff... sure sounds good... can you afford it? maybe...

station wagons are still cool you know and they get great gas mileage :D (outbacks are just cool station wagons btw... no disrespect, i like them.)

americans pff, everything has to be big BIG BIG BIG
 
YJ-GENRAL said:
i was young we drove around in 4 door cars, no wagons or vans or big SUVs. only thing we ever had big was one of those converted luxury vans you know with the swivel seats and the bench seat that turned into a bed... bought it off our grandpa cheap and ended up having to sell it because we didnt use it enough... on well..
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Yes sir! I'd totally go with one of these vans! All the room over-eager mama's could want, plus more! hahaha
 
JeepAddict85 said:
F350 crew cab, seats 5 comfortably, 7 foot bed for hauling, and tows 18,000lbs...lets see a mini van do that.
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Little bit different price range :) I agree though, I prefer the truck for long trips.
 
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