After driving around a less than desirable car for 4 years & DH changing his mind a trillion times about getting a new one, I finally am (read second hand, new for me )!!!
We are paying cash, so 20k is our absolute limit. I am pg with #3, so we will have a 5 & 3 yr old when this bub is born. I would love a Territory but DH isn't a fan of them. I'd rather a SUV if possible & not a sedan but am open to any suggestions you all have!!
Hit me with them please
Last edited by Enchanted; December 8th, 2011 at 11:50 AM.
: typo
I have a Honda MDX 7 seater SUV and I love it. I have a 4.5 and 3.5 year old and already checked that three seats will fit across the back when #3 comes along next year. It is seriously luxurious - leather and electric everything, DVD player, reversing sensors etc. My folks recently borrowed it for a week when the had rellies staying and Mum was a bit worried about driving such a big car after her little runabout, but really loved driving it, no problems parking it etc.
For your $20K I think you might be able to find one around the 5-6 years old.
The other one we tossed up buying at the time was the Volvo XC90 and it was great too (DH's first choice, my second) but they hold their value really well so I'm not sure if that would fit in your budget but worth checking out.
Captivas are definitely on our radar and I have also had a look at the MDXs and Klugers.
MDX is still in the race (they look pretty spesh) but with the Klugers I like the look of the new shape & in our budget we can only get the older model shape
DH thinks I'm too fussy Maybe I am a bit!
We have a Captiva and love it - BUT you will have 3 children in car seats and there is no way known you can get 3 car seats across the back seat and it is illegal to put an anchored carseat in the third row of seats. The kluger is wider than the captiva so you should be able to get three seats across the back seat in that one. As much as I love the Captiva, it really isn't a car for a family with more than 2 young children in seats. It only suits us because of the ages of our kids and we only needed to have 2 seats in it.
XTrails are on the list too Bloom, just making a shortlist now! We had one as a hire car when we went to Tassie a few years ago & loved it!!
Onyx- We currently have a ford wagon and it's not very often we fill the back. Not all wagons are ruled out, I really like the Mazda 6 wagon (not sure if they will accommodate 3 seats though) I also don't mind Holdens. So many cars & it's hard to know which one is best for us!
Ahurani- Can you convince my DH? How do you find it on fuel? That's his concern.
We have a territory! I have to say we were against the territory at first too! but endedup with one!
but we looked at
1)Captiva - I couldnt see much out the back window and didnt enjoy test driving it, so we gave that one a miss. The territory had a wider vision out the sides and back.
2)Hyundai Santa Fe - was out 2nd choice, loved how it drove and wide enough for 3 seats in the back row, but we chose Territory as it was cheaper.
3)Kia Sorento - very similar to Captiva and Santa Fe nice car worth looking at, but for me I couldnt see enough out the back window like the Captiva.
4) Kluger - liked it - however I couldnt understand how I could fit a normal carseat for my kids in themiddle seat as its not the same width as the others its like 1/2 a seat, maybe others with Kluger can say which kid sits in that seat with a carseat? there is now way we could put a capsule in that middle seat,maybe only the booster seat would have fit, so we decided against the Kluger.
5) Mazda Cx9 - soooooo wanted that car has everything but was out of our pricerange! if you can get one for $20,000 definately look at one its awesome!
6) Mitsubishi Grandis - not a SUV but has enough room inside definately worth looking at! but we wanted a new car and they dont sell new ones in Aust anymore only 2nd hand ones.
7) Honda Odessy - love honda but I didnt like where the anchor points where as they hung over the heads of the kids and the boot space was almost nothing couldnt even fit a proper pram in there.
What we did was measure the carseats we were putting in the back seats in a row and then measured the back from door to door closed inside and the only ones that were wide enough for us were the ones mentioned above. (we have a SNS Compaq, SNS Unity Carrier and InfaSecure Booster)
Have fun choosing! love getting a new car!
Re the fuel consumption this was hubbys concern too - he said that it depends on the weight of the car. Ifyou have alook at redbook in the webyou can compare all the weights of the cars and the consumption. We only fill our car every fortnight it costs $90 so for us it was $15 more a week in fuel (we used to have a Mazda 3)
We have a kluger and love it, we JUST fit 3 carseats in it when we takje HotI's DD somewhere but we have 2 maxi rider's so if you had 2 thinner seats you would fit 3 easily.
I can't wait for DD1 to be in a booster (a few yrs off i know) so she can sit in the back and then we can have HEAPS of room upfront if need be.
I have just looked at the older shape Klugers again and I was wondering about the middle seat. We currently have a Maxi Rider & a SNS Premier. So the plan is to buy DS one of the "thinner" car seats.
Personally if I wanted a car for 3 children with boosters I would look at 7 seaters.
It can be annoying try to get your hand between seats to do up belt and lean into the middle to do up straps or remove sleeping babies.
Also having a 7 seater gives you the option of driving school friends home for play dates and so on too.
Our Kluger is an 08, it has the weird smaller middle seat but we actually take it out so the girls have access to walk through the back of the car (so much easier loading kids & shopping), we have the 7 seater but there is no rear anchor point so it can only be used for an approved non-anchor booster etc.
Personally i LOVE my kluger anhd even DP who is a ford man said NO to a territory but i know ppl who have them that love them.
Belle- I would buy a CX9 in a heartbeat if it was in our budget!! I LOVE them!!
The thing with a 7 seater is the space for shopping etc. We currently don't need all the space in our wagon but will use about half the floor space for shopping. The 7 seaters I have seen have minimal space. However, they are much more practical for being able to fit more people in. So much to weigh up, still working on my shortlist. Once that's done I guess it's a matter of getting out their & checking them out & test driving!!
We are buying a new car & would love suggestions!
)!!!
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Maybe I am a bit!
I was scared of that with the Captiva!!
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