Non minivan, 7 seat, good mpg, some towing?

Of course my future wife tells me I am not right in the head.

The less the masses understand us, the cooler our secret club is.

You might also be able to swing a diesel E250 or E350, but those are gonna drive even bigger than a 'burban or Excursion. More room inside, though.

I'm also a minivan convert (Went from Death-before-Minivan! to Oh-crap-suddenly-gots-kid-hey-these-aren't-bad!), but I'd never want to even think about towing with one. With the Mazda5, between myself, the wife, the single carseat, and 180 lbs of dogs, there's no room for anything else.

Volvo 245 w/ the rear-facing seats in the back and a LS? swap. 7-passengers? Check. Towing capacity? Check. Under $12k? Check. OK Gas mileage? ehh...check?

I would own an Excursion with a diesel in a heartbeat.

2WD Suburban. SEriously, 1500 Suburban 2wd will get you 20-ish on the highway, seat 7, tow a house and be a lot better to drive than the 4wd.

DustoffDave wrote: Volvo 245 w/ the rear-facing seats in the back and a LS? swap. 7-passengers? Check. Towing capacity? Check. Under $12k? Check. OK Gas mileage? ehh...check?

The answer. Get one with a rear-facing seat. Keep the inline 4 for 25mpg around town, or swap in a 5.0 ford for more grunt. Tow 2500 lbs in stock form. Turning circle tighter than a Mini Cooper. 5 grand would get you a really nice one, and 10 grand should get you the nicest in existence.

Scott Lear wrote: Ford Flex is basically a minivan that doesn't look as much like a minivan....

Don't get me wrong, I really like Ford, the company. But almost every one of their cars is hideous with the possible exceptions of the Mustang and the Fusion. The de facto standard-bearer of Ford ugliness is none other than the Flex. WTF were they thinking? Never was a minivan as ugly as that thing!

Two words:

Road. Master.

(yes, I know "Roadmaster" is one word.)

Ever meet anyone who had a good minivan and didn't think it was awesome?

Most of Ashley's friends were surprised that her auto-journalist husband with a penchant for racing would even consider a minivan, much less get excited about one. I tell them that there's a proper vehicle for every application. When you go racing, you use a race car. When you need a people mover with ample space that's kid/family/pet friendly and gets relatively good mileage and is quiet and comfortable and plenty fast enough to carve highway traffic, you get a minivan.

Scott Lear wrote: Ever meet anyone who had a good minivan and didn't think it was awesome?

Yep, myself (if the Chevy Venture counts as good?). It was a soul-sucking, transmission-munching abomination and, after 2 years, it had to go. It was awful and, if I can help it, I will never own another one.

All right then, what's the best seven passenger minivan to get for $10K? Odyssey is the obvious choice, but what are the other good options? While I like the way the Mazda 5 drives, but it seems so much smaller than everything else in the class - is the gas mileage worth the loss of cargo and people room?

NOT Odyssey if you plan to tow and you're buying used. Transmissions are made of paper machete and glass.

nderwater wrote: All right then, what's the best minivan to get for $10K? Odyssey is the obvious choice, but what are the other good options? While I like the way the Mazda 5 drives, but it seems so much smaller than everything else in the class - is the gas mileage worth the loss of cargo and people room?

Yes. Been there, done that about a month ago, bought the 5 and have loved every minute of it.

Bobzilla wrote: 2WD Suburban. SEriously, 1500 Suburban 2wd will get you 20-ish on the highway, seat 7, tow a house and be a lot better to drive than the 4wd.

What year suburban would you recommend?

Datsun1500 wrote:

1988RedT2 wrote: And not to sound vindictive, but consider where gas prices are going. We've already passed $3 in most parts of the country. Many experts are predicting a steady march to over $4 by Memorial Day. So consider how proud you're going to be of your big truck when a fill-up costs 100 bucks.

How did this thread jump back to 2008? I remember seeing that argument then... Gas goes up, Milk goes up, Housing used to go up...

And THOUSANDS more chinese and far east drivers and industries consuming pertoleum now than three years ago; Saudi Arabia's available oil is declining. And more driver's here. And with the EPA wanting E15 now, and more E85 than 3 years ago. there is, indeed a diference.

mw wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: 2WD Suburban. SEriously, 1500 Suburban 2wd will get you 20-ish on the highway, seat 7, tow a house and be a lot better to drive than the 4wd.

What year suburban would you recommend?

I'd say as new as you can afford. I'd question the 20ish mpg. My 2007 Tahoe gets about 19 on the freeway, but maybe it's because of the small V8 and 4 speed autotragic.

If you're worried about the gas cost, figure out how much you'd lose vs. a diesel or a minivan and reduce from there.

$7-8000 will still buy you a pretty nice 'burban.

Plus, parts are cheap if anything does come up. When you see the junk mail ads from Autozone/Pep Boys/etc. for "rotors starting at $19", 99% of the time, it's for the Chevy truck series.

-Rob

The Kia Rondo is close. The 5-seater will fit three adults and 2 car seats, and have room in the back for some luggage and a dog. (You can also get a 7-seat version.) The V-6 is decent on fuel (about 20mpg all loaded up on the highway) and it drives like a car when its a daily driver. They are right in your price range now.

I have gone to the cabin with 2 large dogs, two adults and two kids plus our luggage towing a small trailer (1000 pounds) or Jetski with no problems. It is much bigger on the inside than you would think.

However, if you think a Minivan is uncool, you may have an problem.

If this is uncool:

What's This:

Another option is a Honda Pilot. VERY big inside, but not sure of the cost.

rob_lewis wrote:

mw wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: 2WD Suburban. SEriously, 1500 Suburban 2wd will get you 20-ish on the highway, seat 7, tow a house and be a lot better to drive than the 4wd.

What year suburban would you recommend?

I'd say as new as you can afford. I'd question the 20ish mpg. My 2007 Tahoe gets about 19 on the freeway, but maybe it's because of the small V8 and 4 speed autotragic. If you're worried about the gas cost, figure out how much you'd lose vs. a diesel or a minivan and reduce from there. $7-8000 will still buy you a pretty nice 'burban. Plus, parts are cheap if anything does come up. When you see the junk mail ads from Autozone/Pep Boys/etc. for "rotors starting at $19", 99% of the time, it's for the Chevy truck series. -Rob

This. in 2001 they went to R&P steering on the 1500 2wd trucks, so it lost that numb wandering feeling you got with the recirc ball setup of old. Plus you got 4 wheel discs and the new LS engines which breath so much better than anything of the past.

Our 06 CC 4.8 does extremely well on the highway and externally has the same dimensions as the 'burb. 24mpg at 65-70 is not a real problem in the summer.

Bobzilla wrote: Transmissions are made of paper machete...

Talk about a papercut! Hiyoooo!

I have an 02 Acura MDX (3rd row seating, Honda reliability, 20+ MPG freeway driving) and plan on towing my 240SX with a car dolly next month. The trans already had the factory update and I installed a tranny cooler the other night. We'll see if it will still move on it's own after 9-10 hours towing each way.

The MDX was bought after my wife refused to drive a minivan...too bad.

Cone_Junky wrote: I have an 02 Acura MDX (3rd row seating, Honda reliability, 20+ MPG freeway driving) and plan on towing my 240SX with a car dolly next month. The trans already had the factory update and I installed a tranny cooler the other night. We'll see if it will still move on it's own after 9-10 hours towing each way. The MDX was bought after my wife refused to drive a minivan...too bad.

Has the Torque Convertor or Trans been replaced or just the 04-013 update and the reflash? If you haven't, than no it won't. They're still our biggest sellers.

If you are looking at Minivans again, the 04-09 Nissan Quest always struck me as a good mix of size, performance, and style. Don't know reliability myself.

However, many minivans don't get the mileage you might think. The aforementioned Quest probably tops out at 20 mpg. If it were me, I'd be looking at the Mazda5.

Morbid wrote:

Scott Lear wrote: Ever meet anyone who had a good minivan and didn't think it was awesome?

Yep, myself (if the Chevy Venture counts as good?). It was a soul-sucking, transmission-munching abomination and, after 2 years, it had to go. It was awful and, if I can help it, I will never own another one.

Not sure that I'd call that one good...

In reply to Bobzilla:

The trans was replaced. It was done by the dealer for the previous owner at 125K (it has 195K on it now). Hopefully that means it was done right.

^ Sadly, it was. But it's not a permanent fix. WE've done them on some cars 2 and 3 times over their life. I'm hoping with the new 6spd auto they've got their problems fixed.