[Eponine]

Tell me what you love and hate about your car (truck, van, SUV, whatever you drive) - I've been looking and just am not *excited* about anything on the market right now!

[dawnrenee58]

I have a Volvo XC90. It is a SUV and has the back row fold down seats. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I had a Volvo S40 but it was waaay to small for us and all of our stuff. Once you own a Volvo, though, you can't drive anything else. So, the XC90 was my only option. I will drive Volvo till I die. I am now devoted to them, they are such awesome cars.

[hockeywoman]

If I had the $, a 2004 or newer Toyota Sienna, I have a 2003 and it doesn't have 8 passenger seating and has a lot less cargo space.

DH says no way, our next car will be a 12 or 15 passenger van as we'd outgrow the minivan too fast, likely with our next placement

[Stormster]

I am in LOVE with our Toyota Highlander. It is the perfect size for our small family and the trunk is huge. Leather seats, Sat Nav, seats 7 and Sunroof. I love it.

We have to buy a new car because DH's car allowance requires only late model cars and it is 5 years old now. I am actually UPSET about it! BTW It has NEVER had to be serviced outside normal scheduled stuff.

So I now want the NEW Highlander, it's sooo nice. Ideally a Hybrid but that might not be possible due to price. Not negotiable on leather seats they are a must.

DH wants the new Subaru Forester (Subaru's are also great cars and have Porche Boxer Engines).

I'm not saying I'd turn down another luxury SUV but for the money I'm a Highlander girl until they stop making them!

[jules17]

I love my Honda Pilot!! We look at the Volvo and Lexus SUVs also - I found the Volvo to be too big (but I loooove Volvos too) and the Lexus too small. And the Pilot was jusssst riiight.

Storm, my parents ordered their new Highlander from Japan with custom everything. It totally rocks!

[sstuart]

I have a Acura MDX and I love it. It is similar to the Honda Pilot. It is an older model 2002 and has 149,000 miles on it. I have only had to service it for regular mantainence. It has the third row seat. I really love it. I have not looked into the new model. It is a little different than mine.

[Kat-L]

Originally Posted by Eponine

Tell me what you love and hate about your car (truck, van, SUV, whatever you drive) - I've been looking and just am not *excited* about anything on the market right now!

You can never go wrong with a Honda. If you have a small family, I'd go with the CIVIC (best car I ever owned). If you have a bigger family, I'd go with the Pilot. It's a great minivan.

[aclee]

Ringing the bell as another Honda Pilot owner...LOVE it. I've driven minivans before this and this is just so much better. Love that the seats fold flat and it's just been really great for everything. DH also loves his element. I have to say that the back seat on the element is awesome, and I don't even mind riding back there with Ty...tons of leg room, so no kids kicking you in the back. The back convert to sleep in even if you camp...it's very versital. I can see us in these vehicles for a LONG time, though we may outgrow the Elements 2back seats faster than the pilot obviously

Love them both, best car choices we've ever made.

[Stormster]

Isn't the Pilot really big? What do you get mileage wise? It's so funny how we love OUR cars!

[aclee]

Originally Posted by Stormster

Isn't the Pilot really big? What do you get mileage wise? It's so funny how we love OUR cars!

I'm a pretty conservative driver and I don't use the AC a lot...when I drive fast and use the AC all the time (which does happen sometimes) I get about 18 mpg...when I do better I get 21-22. One week I got 24. I try to stay close to 55 mph, even on the highway unless I have to get somewhere...I do just about ALL highway driving though.

I would say the Pilot and the Highlander are about the same size? Here is the comparison...

Honda Pilot vs. Toyota Highlander car comparison, compare auto pricing, specs, and features

looks like the pilot is a tad bigger all around, but a little less leg, head and shoulder room in the back rows. I would believe that. I've never ridden back there, and I think it's great for kids, but DH says he wouldn't ride back there on a trip that was more than a couple hours.

I have the base model, but it still came with all the all around airbags, and real time AWD, which were the two things I really wanted. When the 3rd row is up, I wish I had more storage. I can't fit Ty's full size stroller in the storage behind the 3rd row. I usually put the 2/3 section of the 3rd row down and put the stroller there.

I love it. It's the first car I've ever owned were I felt like... "I'm going to drive this thing FOREVER." Which is good, cause we'll be paying for it forever. We took out a longer loan than I like cause I knew it was a long term vehicle for us, and it would last forever. The only thing I'm planning on changing the next time is the color, and maybe leather. I'm torn on leather with the dogs. Though the dogs are mostly in DH car.

I don't think you'll get to see the pilot though, I imagine DH will drive, so you can check out his element...it's a pretty cool car too...the sun roof is all the way in the back, and because Ty is rear facing, he looks right out the sunroof...he loves that.

[aclee]

Originally Posted by hockeywoman

DH says no way, our next car will be a 12 or 15 passenger van as we'd outgrow the minivan too fast, likely with our next placement

I keep telling DH this will be my next car too....He laudhs cause he doesn't think I'm serious. At the very least, we would both need 8 passenger seating...and a trailer.

[Kat-L]

Originally Posted by aclee

DH also loves his element. I have to say that the back seat on the element is awesome, and I don't even mind riding back there with Ty...tons of leg room, so no kids kicking you in the back. The back convert to sleep in even if you camp...it's very versital. I can see us in these vehicles for a LONG time, though we may outgrow the Elements 2back seats faster than the pilot obviously

Love them both, best car choices we've ever made.

I loved, loved, loved my Element-but the gas mileage was horrible. I bought it because it was so incredibly roomy. After driving a CIVIC for 5 years, I really missed having trunk room and passenger room in the back seat. Because of the ways the doors open in the Element, it is SO easy to get the kids in and out of their carseats. But because there are bucket seats in the back, you can only have two passengers in back. When I started fostering, I had to upgrade to a car with more passenger room.

[Eponine]

Thanks for the suggestions - right now we have a GMC Canyon (4-door pickup) and it's great but the only real storage is the bed which is obviously not weather-proof. With DS we've made it work so far but it's getting to be more of a hassle. As we'll soon be going "in the books" for #2, we're going to need something with an enclosed trunk space.

ETA: Keep 'em coming! I love personal reviews of cars - I was so burned out with looking at websites!!!!

[slugbug0930]

I have a VW Passat 4 motion all wheel drive. It has all the bells and whistles. We traded in my Audi A4 for this shortly before we got DD. Since there was no way a baby seat and all the stuff that babies need was going to fit in the A4.

I miss the zippiness of the A4 as the Passat (even being a V6) just isn't zippy. But everything else about the car is great. Lots of leg room, pretty good gas mileage, the trunk is even big enough for our huge Graco stroller & it has all the features that I wanted including seat heaters. There is just nothing better in the cold winters than seat heaters!

[Stormster]

Slug I agree. We were thinking about the Taureg (I LOVE VW's almost as much as Toyotas, maybe more) but I need too many extras and a Taureg with extras is like 60K!

Heated seats in the NE are HEAVEN.