YOhainess!! (get it? Yo highness? bwahahahah!!!) I have two questions for you, but you have to assume you’re a lowly hacksawed sink-peeing accountant in West Texas.
I may be looking at vehicle upgrades for me and my wife sometime soon. If I do, she’s getting a minivan and I’m getting a midsize SUV or car. Which ones would you choose and why?
Here are the minivan choices: Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna
Here are the SUV choices: Ford Edge, Toyota Highlander, Nissan Murano, or Honda Pilot.
Honda Odyssey (also US News pick for #1)
Tie:
Murano or Highlander
I didn’t like the styling on the older Muranos but like the re-design.
Let me also elaborate a bit:
I drive about 15k miles per year. I’m 38. I figure I will probably drive another 40 years or so. That means I need a car that will go 600k miles, because I hate buying cars.
And all things equal, I prefer small cars. I would get the crossover versions of all these (Escape, RAV4, etc.), but I have two kids and this car needs to last through the teenage years.
I vote the RAV4. That way we can be Rav-bros.
To summarize all the consumer reviews: if you need AWD, then get the Sienna. Otherwise, the Honda Odyssey is better.
All the SUVs you mentioned are crossovers, meaning that they are built with unibody architecture, rather than body on frame like trucks. Toyota Highlander is essentially a Camry or Avalon with a different shape on top. Is this important? Only to the extent that customers want a more car like driving experience and more flexible packaging, or if they want to do truck stuff like towing stuff or off roading. Current real truck SUVs are like Nissan Armada, Chevy Tahoe, or Toyota Land Cruiser.
In my opinion, people who choose crossovers over minivans mostly do this for image, which is ok. Most car purchases are driven by image. So, if you want to get one of those SUVs, put emphasis on your emotionally reaction to the vehicle, as this will affect your long term satisfaction.
^No, I do not want a full-size vehicle. No F-150’s, Sierras, Tundras, Titans, Expeditions, Tahoes, Escalades, Sequoias, Armadas, or the like.
Full-size vehicles are too expensive and too hard to handle. I do not like them, Sam I Am.
The Acura RDX could be something to consider as well. I didn’t like the front grill of the old design, but they have updated it to something I think looks a lot better.
hahaah yo hainesssss!!! clever. absolutely! the best! how many kiddies you got my dude!
not a fan of your suv picks. for vans i would go with honda oddysey. its newly redesigned for 2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Odyssey_(North_America)#Fifth_generation_(2018–present)
toyota sienna is old model! so they will redesign that very soon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Sienna#Third_generation_(XL30;_2010–present)
I was not saying that you should buy a full sized SUV, but was clarifying the description of crossover vehicles.
Greenie, if you had more money, would you like a full-size then?
Figured I would hijack this thread instead of start a new one for car advice.
I’ve recently found myself in a reverse commute situation (driving from the city to a suburb) and thus need to upgrade the old family car I’ve been driving. With an expanding family, figured it’s a good time to upgrade on safety features and such anyway.
I’m basically solely focused on safety, dependability, and cost of ownership. I’m not going to race anyone or look to pick up chicks, so I could care less about engine/performance or looks.
Given the fact set outlined (especially the expanding family and living in city but commuting daily to suburbs in an area where weather could be a factor) I started to home in on these Crossover SUVs that everyone seems to be buying these days. My cursory research showed that the Subaru Forester outperformed the RAV4 and CRV in the snow. Given that the rest of the variables between those cars are fairly in line (MPG a bit better for the others, but cargo space better in Forester, cost about the same, etc.) I’ve been leaning toward just going with the Forester, especially with the new safety features, including adaptive cruise control, that will be standard on the 2019 model.
Anyone have any thoughts/any other considerations I should be thinking about?
del
I would not like them if I had money. I don’t like them 'cuz they drive funny.
I would not buy them if I were rich. I would not buy one for my…wife.
Get them both in electric blue.
i vote rav 4!
The new Pacifica is pretty sweet for a minivan. Not sure of price but it certainly looks nicer than most minivans (more like an SUV).
the oddy is pretty sweet. drives like a car compared to other mvans.
We recently had a Pacifica as a rental and it was quite a bit nicer to drive than my wife’s 2015 Town and Country, so Chrysler did well on that redesign. My wife is inching closer to whatever the female version of a BSD is(BSV?) and we’ve been looking at RX400’s. They redesigned within the last year or two and I was pretty impressed with the 2 we drove. Probably wait another 12 months or so though and try to get something a couple years older with very low miles. So a 2017 in 2019 or 2020 with under 30K on the clock. Seems to be a real sweet spot in the pricing on most models. People dropping 25K+ seem to get sensitive to the age more so than the mileage.
BSBC
Is that a HCB?