Friday, November 30, 2007

In pursuit of the perfect car ride

As the kids' arm spans grow, so does our desire to get a new car.

Right now, we have 2 cars: a Hyundai Santa Fe (which I we use to cart the kids around and has become their mobile sparring ring) and a Hyundai Elantra (which Dave uses for work and when one of us has the glorious chance to go someplace without the kids....and date nights). We have been making noise about getting rid of the Santa Fe and getting a minivan for almost a year now, and the end of the year is the best time to buy.

But, minivans? Yeah. They are expensive. And there are so many to choose from. We love the Hyundais...they have been really good to us and they have great warranties. So now that they have a minivan, the Entourage was the first car we looked at.

But I keep getting seduced with terms like Dodge and Grand Caravan and Stow 'n' Go.

And Dave doesn't want to get a used car because he "doesn't want to inherit someone else's problems". Which is fine with me because, I got problems of my own.

And as my problems' arm spans grow, so does our desire to get a new car.

So I ask all of you loyal readers, what kind of car do you drive? Do you like it? What would you change about it? If you hate it but it's still running, can I just have it?

That'd be swell. Thanks!

10 reviews:

Twisted Cinderella said...

My car is really a big paperweight in disguise. I use it to mark which house I live in, because it hasn't moved in so long, I think we consider charging it rent. LOL, just kidding. I have a car but "running" may be a bit of an exageration.

Anonymous said...

I have a Chrysler Town and Country, we've had it since 2003 and we love it. (it's a 2001)

Anonymous said...

when we first got the minivan everything was great because we had so much room. Until the kids starting fighting about who was going to sit in the middle or who was going to sit in the back. But you could put them both in the back and they can't touch each other! Just remove the middle seat and put up a partition!

tammi said...

We drive a 2003 Ford Windstar Sport. I like it, but I wouldn't recommend it because the fuel consumption is no better than with our rusted out 1993 Ford Explorer with 200,000 miles on it. I do love the dual sliding doors on the minivan, though. I'm seduced by Stow'n'Go, too. And dual independent DVD players and fully rotating captain's chairs and a table for playing games. Sigh.

Gumby said...

Don't think of them as Problems. Think of them as Opportunities.

You know I drive my CRV. And I love it. The only thing I don't like is that I don't have a sunroof, and I would love one. I've had it for 6 or 7 years, and plan to drive it until it falls apart.

Minivan? Please God no. You're not THAT Dublin!

Karen said...

I LOVED my Toyota Sienna when we had it. Lots of room, comfy, and a wonderful ride. Traded that in for a Chevy Venture and hated every minute of it! Never buying anything but Toyota again!

Now I do most of my schlepping in a Camry. And with two kids sans car seats, it's enough. And I'm glad for the gas mileage as I'm driving back and forth into town once (and sometimes twice) a day!

Have you checked out CarMax? I've heard really great things about them and their cars. And there is one not too far from you.

P.S. You should think about coming to see Winnie the Pooh. Your kids would probably love it. (Just pick a day when my Nick is Christopher Robin!)

Unknown said...

Well, we allowed ourselves to be seduced by those very same words, and I,for one, am very grateful we did. ;)

We have a Grand Caravan and love it. Drives like a big car not like a van. The Honda and the Toyota were just too much $$$$ For the same $$ as a not fully loaded one of those, we got a fully loaded GC w/leather seats. Dh was skeptical of my insistence on leather, but I persisted and now he sees :)

Anonymous said...

Let me give you something to think about...used is one term that is not all bad. Remember what you're doing in this car (or what the kids are doing), eating, finishing potty training, drinking, bringing in half-dried art projects from preschool with paint and glue dripping off of them, etc, etc, etc. There's something to be said about used... :). By the way, ours is used (surprise!) Dodge Caravan, no Grand. It holds my Starbucks just fine. Ellen

Journo June aka MamaBear said...

I got my Grand Caravan in 2003 and it had 7 miles on it before we test drove it. Love it, love it, love it! (And have put 95,000 miles on it! The only thing was, it was the year BEFORE stow'n'go. I want those seats SO badly. And now, they rotate and
have a table come up in the middle, plus Sirius TV. Drool. You could have mine but you'd have to pay me enough for a down payment on the new one. ;-)
Hubby has an Expedition, drives like a truck so I don't like it. It's not fun paying $70+ to fill up the tank! And I don't like the leather seats in the winter. Too cold on my hiney. And if you use the seat warmer, it feels like you are peeing your pants. I'm a cloth seat gal all the way. ;-)

cynderloowho said...

I drive my parent's two cars ago for them...I do think the "Witch's Parking...all else will be Toad" bumper sticker gives it a nice flare. My sister has a little Saturn mini-vanny thing that is cute and might be enough room for you. She likes Saturn so much, my parents just bought one.