We just bought the Sienna and I love it more than I ever thought I would. We did look at the odyssey, but there were a few things that made the Sienna a better fit for us. The 8th seat is a nice feature.
We were originally going to drop the kids with someone while we test drove, but I'm glad we actually had to put the carseats in and out of each van. It was annoying, but gave us a little insight on how and where they installed.
No personal experience, but my brother and sister-in-law had a Rav-4 and had a pretty terrible experience with it (in the shop regularly with minor issues that didn't take long to fix but were fairly incessant) and decided to sell that and got a Honda Pilot and have been really happy with it - had it about 2 years now.
No personal experience, but my brother and sister-in-law had a Rav-4 and had a pretty terrible experience with it (in the shop regularly with minor issues that didn't take long to fix but were fairly incessant) and decided to sell that and got a Honda Pilot and have been really happy with it - had it about 2 years now.
I have zero issues with my Rav. But it also doesn't seat 6. We didn't get the extra seat. Honestly, it would be a tight fit and annoying to put someone back there.
We have a Highlander Hybrid and love it. We have two kids in carseats and can still fit two adults in the third row--my mom and I ride back there whenever we all go some where with my parents. It's tight but doable for short distances.
We need to replace our other car soon and will probably just cave and buy a Sienna or Odyssey for the space.
this is good to hear. Right now my top choices are the highlander and the Acadia.
We looked at almost all of those and more. Our finalists were the Toyota highlander and the ford explorer. We chose the explorer. If I still had 2 kids in Car seats I'd have chosen the highlander.
DH wants the explorer so I need an argument why the highlander/Acadia are better choices.
The Traverse and Acadia are awesome - they drive dreamy, and there is plenty of room in all of the rows. My parents absolutely love theirs, so I highly recommend them
ETA - Also, how are you doing VC? If you got rear-ended hard enough to be totaled I hope you're doing okay
I love my Toyota Highlander. The 3rd row is really easy to set up or lay flat. Kids have no problem getting to the very back row and are comfortable, but it definitely isn't for adults except for short trips. The second row seating folds down and slides forward so you don't have to climb all over the car to get in there.
ETA - Also, how are you doing VC? If you got rear-ended hard enough to be totaled I hope you're doing okay
We are fine (DS1 was in the car with me), thank you for asking! My bumper will likely have to be replaced, plus it dented in my hatchback door and its frame so it will no longer shut completely, thus the car thinks a door is constantly ajar and will not lock. My car's an 05 with 100k miles, so even though nothing is wrong with 97% of it, it may be totaled out on a balance sheet. Booo.
Thank you everyone for the info! After looking at dealer pricing online I see some good deals to be had on a Mazda CX-9 or Toyota Highlander that are just a year or two old. We are going test driving today.
We looked at almost all of those and more. Our finalists were the Toyota highlander and the ford explorer. We chose the explorer. If I still had 2 kids in Car seats I'd have chosen the highlander.
DH wants the explorer so I need an argument why the highlander/Acadia are better choices.
The explorer doesn't get as good of gas mileage as a Highlander hybrid. My mom just bought an explorer, and loves it, but it wasn't a gas-mileage-conscious decision. We did have 7 adults in it last weekend for a quick drive to dinner and it was fine.
I like the toyota highlander hybrid - i have the older version. The kids and their friends are small enough that they can hop into the third row pretty well. I'll probably have this car for another 10 years.
FYI - Mazda is known for their high maintenance costs.
They're really nice cars, but OMG the maintenance. H had a Mazda 3 when we met. He developed buyer's remorse about a year and a half in, as things started to wear out/need replaced.
Post by dutchgirl678 on Sept 17, 2012 11:46:14 GMT -5
We've had our HiHy for 4 years now. The mileage is not that much better than the non-hybrid version. DH drives it to work (only 10 mile commute) and gets 22mpg on average. On longer trips we can get 25mpg or more. I do feel that with 2 car seats in the back it's hard for people to get into the 3rd row seat. But when DD was young we took a trip to Yosemite with my parents and one of them was in the back row and it worked fine.
Maintenance has been super easy on it. We haven't had any issues, only the regular oil change and tire rotation at 5000 miles.
Post by jackie011 on Sept 17, 2012 15:50:37 GMT -5
I've owned a Mazda since 2002 and have spent very little out of pocket. I bought the extended warranty when I bought the car, and used it a few times, but nothing major. Now that the car is 10+ years old with over 100,000 miles, we're running into some maintenance issues, but no more or less than any other car at this point. I've been a very satisfied Mazda owner and when we look to upgrade in a while, the CX-9 is high on our list.
My sister and her husband both drive Mazda 3s and they love them, too!
We looked at almost all of those and more. Our finalists were the Toyota highlander and the ford explorer. We chose the explorer. If I still had 2 kids in Car seats I'd have chosen the highlander.
DH wants the explorer so I need an argument why the highlander/Acadia are better choices.
For us, we're deciding between the 4 Runner or Sequoia. We originally looked at the Explorer, but it was so low to the ground, you wouldn't actually be able to "explore" anywhere that wasn't a highway. We do a lot of camping/hiking/backpacking, so the explorer was just to low for us.