Family transportation discussion

[99cobrablack]

What are all the family guys here using for family trucksters? It's about time to upgrade for my wife and kid/1 dog. I bought my wife the 95 buick roadmaster wagon "hotrod" and it works awesome for long trips, but the wife isn't too fond of it. We don't put but maybe 7-10k miles per year max on with her being a stay at home mom. I have my crewcab cummins for hauling/towing duty, but There isn't anything that really interest me as far as new family oriented vehicles go. Either the depreciation factor seems too high, or Basic maintenance and electronics seem to complex for garage repairs as we would probably keep the vehicle for around 10 years or so. The electronics and possibility of failure out of warrantee scares the hell out of me on these new cars. This is a small list I have been pondering on.

Taurus sho- should be something fun to haul the family around in, but electronics and depreciation, as well as maintenance when needed looks to be difficult.

Some sort of hemi charger- very appealing for maintenance and electronics, but rwd and snow/ice doesn't seem very fun.

My brother has a new Toyota 4-runner-ugly, and expensive. But seems to be mechanically straight forward and has a cult-like following.

Cummins powered excursion. Ultimate family vehicle, but I already have one 3/4 diesel, and it would probably take me a year to get the swap completed, once I found a worthy candidate.

What does everyone have for hauling around the family? Or any inputs on new cars that I'm overlooking.

 

[Ponyracer1]

We rock an 02 eddy bauer explorer with a 4.6. We love it, has plenty of room, and goes pretty well. I'd def look for a newer version for a cheap hauler.

 

[ElscottHavoc]

Just bought a 2012 Edge...really like it a lot.

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[Drive XR7]

We also have an Edge. Been great for us.

 

[99cobrablack]

.

 

[Huachipato]

Are you only looking at brand new vehicles? You can bypass a lot of the depreciation by buying a car that is 2-3 years old. Not to mention - if you buy a car that is 2-3 years old - there should be plenty of user reviews to start pointing out what the weak spots of the car are.

 

[99cobrablack]

Not necessarily new, but looking at used values and mileage It doesn't seem to be much of a perk on low mile used.

 

[black4vcobra]

Your wife is a stay at home mom and she already has a functional/reliable vehicle that's paid off? I don't think I have to tell you what to do here...

but if you are willing to upgrade, look at 4th gen 4Runners, 2003-2009. Better looking than the 2010+'s and they have an optional V8

 

[ElscottHavoc]

Perhaps the best starting point is a budget - what people consider to be cheap or inexpensive can vary greatly.

Our edge had about 36,000 miles at purchase and is basically fully loaded (heated seats, rear camera, touchscreen, sunroof, etc.). We paid ball park of $25,000 which in my opinion is pretty reasonable price for a nice family car.

We did purchase an extended warranty to 75,000 miles since the Edge was just out of warranty at purchase. We traded in a brand spanking new Focus with tons of problems we couldn't lemon, so because all the gadgets and sensors and such I can imagine are expensive I justified the ESP.

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[nckissfan]

I have a 2012 Edge SEL. Great vehicle.

 

[blowbyyou]

2013 Edge Limited, great vehicle

 

[5.0jake]

We now have a 14' Nissan Murano, it is very comfortable and pretty fun to drive.
We had a 2010 Rav4 V6 AWD which was very quick for a little suv thing and actually pretty good on gas.
My father has a Grand Touring 14 CX5 2.5 liter, it is pretty fun to drive and good on gas as well.

 

[99cobrablack]

Your wife is a stay at home mom and she already has a functional/reliable vehicle that's paid off? I don't think I have to tell you what to do here...

but if you are willing to upgrade, look at 4th gen 4Runners, 2003-2009. Better looking than the 2010+'s and they have an optional V8

Oh trust me I know. My cummins is a low mile 5.9, so it stays garaged until needed, and her daily is a 02 passat with 166k on it. It has done us well but I don't trust it anymore especially with temperature swings here of 100+ and -0 here in the midwest. She has been driving the wagon, but for the life of me I don't understand why she doesn't just love it. Especially all the attention and thumbs up we get when we drive it. I *might* try to sell it if we get another car.

Part of it might be I'm getting the itch to get something different, but mostly the passat needs to go down the road before it leaves her and my boy stranded and isn't worth fixing.

 

[99cobrablack]

Perhaps the best starting point is a budget - what people consider to be cheap or inexpensive can vary greatly.

Our edge had about 36,000 miles at purchase and is basically fully loaded (heated seats, rear camera, touchscreen, sunroof, etc.). We paid ball park of $25,000 which in my opinion is pretty reasonable price for a nice family car.

We did purchase an extended warranty to 75,000 miles since the Edge was just out of warranty at purchase. We traded in a brand spanking new Focus with tons of problems we couldn't lemon, so because all the gadgets and sensors and such I can imagine are expensive I justified the ESP.

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Anything south of 40ish. Could go more if I fell in love with something.

 

[Huachipato]

With just one kid - I'd say the world is your oyster. We could use the Cobra as a family car up until we had our 3rd kid (we didn't though - wife has been through quite a few vehicles throughout the years). Our favorite by far was an old '00 MB E320. We bought it in '05 for next to nothing - and it was crazy reliable - and smooth as heck to drive. We almost put 200K miles on it - but alas someone decided to terminate it's life early by crashing into it.

It had a lot of electronics (at least I thought it did for that time) - but it was surprisingly easy to work on. There are many good forums for these cars - much more than any other car she has purchased since anyways. That car's only fault was it had horrible cup holders. Everything else was actually quite nice.

Anyways - just a thought. German Luxury depreciates real fast... get one a few years old and enjoy the perks...

 

[SID297]

I like the Excursion idea.

 

[THunterW]

I'm in the same boat as you OP, except I will have my wife, 3 young boys and a lab to haul around. We're looking at '07-'08 Expeditions or Explorers, something around $17k since I'm still paying off her '13 Sonata.

 

[Crimson2v]

I love that road master wagon. When my camry wagon craps out that is going to be its replacement. They look cool as hell especially with some nice wheels. Keep the darn thing.

 

[sleek98]

Another Edge checking in. Paid 31 or so with a 75k bumper to bumper for it brand new, its an SEL optioned up to mirror a limited but without the wood grain and rain sensing wipers. Love it to death, once she is done with it, I will likely take it as my daily.

 

[black99lightnin]

You can pick up used 2010-11 SHO's for low 20's. I haven't had any issues with mine except the rear sunshade, fixed under warranty. 83K miles and a inch and a half of time slips. Tune and CAI runs high 12's low 11's.

Also have an Explorer Sport, much pricier and less fun to drive as it sits up higher. But still fast and comfortable.