julieb
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,845
Jul 3, 2014 16:02:54 GMT
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Post by julieb on Aug 5, 2014 1:44:42 GMT
Two years ago we bought an Equinox, but kept our (now 12 yo) van for my son to use. It has come in handy to move ds back and forth from school.
I miss my van. The Equinox is not large enough for me and my lifestyle. I have no kids left at home, but I like the room for buying furniture I refinish and going out with friends to plays, etc.
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jen4
Shy Member
Posts: 39
Jul 9, 2014 11:29:45 GMT
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Post by jen4 on Aug 5, 2014 1:47:50 GMT
My '03 Odyssey just died last month and won't start anymore, I'm done with it for good. I just bought a Honda Pilot last week and will get it this weekend. I didn't want to get another van due to our winters here in NW PA so I opted for a mid size SUV. It still has some cargo space and room for my 4 kids, but two are in college and the two youngest are 12 and 11 so I still wanted some room for vacations and room in the car as my two youngest grows up til they start college then will get a smaller car for myself after that. So the Pilot should hold up for the next 10 years then I'll be ready for a smaller SUV just for me! Gotta think in the long run!
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mely
Junior Member
Posts: 89
Jun 25, 2014 19:51:59 GMT
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Post by mely on Aug 5, 2014 7:04:34 GMT
I think it's harder to find someone with a 2003-2005 Odyssey that didn't have a transmission blow. And then there's the paint on the accord that peels off... Never buying another Honda ever.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
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peabrain
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,588
Jun 25, 2014 22:18:04 GMT
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Post by peabrain on Aug 5, 2014 13:03:40 GMT
I went from a Toyota Sienna to a Jeep grand cherokee. I do miss the cargo space. Even at the grocery store. Ugg. And we went on vacation and I couldn't pack like I normally would. Ugg. So much so that dh is considering ditching his truck and getting a mini van LOL. I'm not driving it but won't mind the room on vaca! I really like the Grand Cherokee, and I currently drive a Sienna. LOL Do you like the Jeep? I really like the four door mini Coopers, but I don't travel light and know I couldn't fit one bag in there. ETA: dh has a Ford F150 so we do have one big car. I've had MANY issues with my Jeep GC. I suspect I got a lemon, but I have a few more days of service before I can fight that fight if we want. Otherwise I love the ride. I get a lot of comments on it. And if it weren't for the grocery days I'd really love it. But its glitchy with the computer system. My sienna was very dependable.
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Post by 1lear on Aug 5, 2014 13:09:31 GMT
Several years ago, I went from a minivan to a Volkswagen Passat. I love it. We still have an SUV, but it's older so when we go on vacation we rent a vehicle.
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Post by tuva42 on Aug 5, 2014 13:14:53 GMT
A year and a half ago, after driving minivans for 17 years I downsized to a Lexus RX350. It has a lot of space in the cargo area which I needed for moving my oldest to and from college. I love having a smaller car, but still like the cargo space.
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Post by Merge on Aug 5, 2014 13:20:57 GMT
I hated my minivan with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I traded it in for a mid-size car when my kids were 3 and 5, and traded the mid-size for a Mini last year when they were 10 and 12. Kids get bigger, my car gets smaller. LOL. I like little and zippy and good gas mileage. I like something that fits into any available parking space.
We've never regretted it. I refuse to drive around a giant van every day because we "might" need to haul somebody else's kids at some point. On the rare occasion that we've needed to move something that wouldn't fit in DH's Escape, we rented a truck. Still way cheaper/less of a hassle than driving, filling and parking a big ol' van or SUV every day.
ETA: I have no problem fitting a week's worth of groceries or a road-trip's worth of duffle bags in the back of my Mini.
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Post by sues on Aug 5, 2014 15:42:25 GMT
I had to give up my Town and Country this past May. She was 12 years old and starting to have expensive issues. If not for that, I'd have kept her indefinitely. I loved that van.
I knew I didn't want a car- I just couldn't go back to being that low to the ground. I went with a crossover and I'm really happy with it. It saves me nothing on gas- and there's less room for Costco trips, for sure, but I love it. It's comfortable, roomy and sits higher up than a car.
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,095
Jun 26, 2014 20:10:29 GMT
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Post by raindancer on Aug 5, 2014 17:03:58 GMT
My '03 Odyssey just died last month and won't start anymore, I'm done with it for good. I just bought a Honda Pilot last week and will get it this weekend. I didn't want to get another van due to our winters here in NW PA so I opted for a mid size SUV. It still has some cargo space and room for my 4 kids, but two are in college and the two youngest are 12 and 11 so I still wanted some room for vacations and room in the car as my two youngest grows up til they start college then will get a smaller car for myself after that. So the Pilot should hold up for the next 10 years then I'll be ready for a smaller SUV just for me! Gotta think in the long run! I test drove several pilot's but wound up not getting one. (We were buying used and the mileage was too high, or it didn't have what we wanted in it). I loved it though. Such a smooth ride and the size was great. I admit to being a little bit sad about it still!
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jen4
Shy Member
Posts: 39
Jul 9, 2014 11:29:45 GMT
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Post by jen4 on Aug 5, 2014 17:11:53 GMT
Rain dancer - I test drove several different models and out of all of them I found the Pilot was more comfortable and I got the new 2015 one. I didn't want to get a used one because of the mileage reason. All the others prices wasn't in my budget or wasn't what I wanted. The honda salesperson gave me a discount on the price since his son and my son are good friends so I decided to go for that. If it doesn't work in the near future for me I can always trade in for something else. I hate shopping for cars so got it over with!
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Post by jmd74 on Aug 5, 2014 17:28:51 GMT
When we moved to Hawaii we decided to trade my van in for a smaller car. We only have 2 kids and they are teens so we didn't need the room. Not to mention the gas savings as gas is $$ here. I regret that decision every day! I have a Toyota sedan now and I hate being so low. The only positive is I can easily fit in parking spaces here. They are small!
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~Susan~
Pearl Clutcher
You need to check your boobs, mine tried to kill me!!!
Posts: 3,259
Jul 6, 2014 17:25:32 GMT
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Post by ~Susan~ on Aug 5, 2014 18:09:55 GMT
I traded my 2000 Dodge Caravan for brand new Volkswagen CC four years ago. My kids were older and I wanted something more sporty and it had great gas mileage. When I hurt my back, it was very difficult to get into and ride in. It was very low to the ground and the door surround was wide. I traded it in for a Mazda CX-9. Gas mileage isn't great, but it is so much easier to get into and drive. I also love all the room with the fold down 3 row.
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kimpea
Junior Member
Posts: 87
Jun 25, 2014 21:44:25 GMT
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Post by kimpea on Aug 5, 2014 18:24:45 GMT
I ditched the minivan earlier this summer and am so happy I did. It was silly driving a car I hated with tons of space that 'I might need one day'. In 2 years I probably used the third row twice. I like sitting up higher so I went with a mid sized SUV (ml350) instead of a car. It has all the room I need and fits our family comfortably. Recently I bought a chair for our guest room and started to doubt it would fit as I was pulling my car to the door to pick it up. Not only did it fit but I had enough room to do more shopping after.
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,095
Jun 26, 2014 20:10:29 GMT
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Post by raindancer on Aug 5, 2014 20:05:37 GMT
Rain dancer - I test drove several different models and out of all of them I found the Pilot was more comfortable and I got the new 2015 one. I didn't want to get a used one because of the mileage reason. All the others prices wasn't in my budget or wasn't what I wanted. The honda salesperson gave me a discount on the price since his son and my son are good friends so I decided to go for that. If it doesn't work in the near future for me I can always trade in for something else. I hate shopping for cars so got it over with! Yeah the ones that were local to me were really high in miles. I really prefer to buy a year or two used with low miles because I hate taking the depreciation hit. (My Fit we bought new for the very reason that I would be racking up thousands of miles, so far in 4 years I have driven almost 93000 miles, so we wanted to start off with as few as possible). It's awesome you got a discount though. And they are so nice! Did you get to pick the color you wanted and all that?
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Post by Mary W on Aug 5, 2014 20:19:33 GMT
Several years ago I went from a mini van to a Mazda RX-8. I had always wanted a sports car, so when my kids were grown and I wasn't lugging them, their junk, and their friends around anymore I took the plunge! I loved that car! It was so much fun to drive! Unfortunately a couple years ago I traded it in for an SUV - a Hyundai Santa Fe - because I needed to be able to put the grandkids' carseats in the back and I definitely couldn't do that in the RX-8! The Santa Fe is better on gas, has more room for the grandkids, adult passengers, and stuff! So, it's more practical but I sure do miss my sports car! I will get another one some day when I don't need space for carseats (or when the Santa Fe is paid off and I think I want a 2nd car!). Practicality won out over the fun factor!
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jen4
Shy Member
Posts: 39
Jul 9, 2014 11:29:45 GMT
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Post by jen4 on Aug 5, 2014 23:13:01 GMT
It's awesome you got a discount though. And they are so nice! Did you get to pick the color you wanted and all that? Yes, the one I test drove had everything I was looking for and it was a black one, also available so the salesperson said I could have that one without any wait for new orders so I thought why not!
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Post by shaniam on Aug 6, 2014 4:28:41 GMT
I went from a mini van to a mustang. My kids are mostly grown so I got a car for me that I would enjoy.
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Post by bwife on Aug 6, 2014 4:38:29 GMT
Thank you everyone for Sharing your experiences! I think we are going to jump on the Prius band wagon. Toyota extended the 0% until Sept. so we took that as a go for it sign since we were not ready to pull the trigger Monday! I am sure I will miss the space, as I really like my van, Zero Complaints about it. ( well except we live in KS and the low profile tires suck in the snow and ice) but otherwise it has tons of power, I recommend the Sienna SE to anyone that asks me about my van. But, like I said before, we have a kid headed to college this fall and there will be more road trips made than we usually do, So I think something with better gas mileage is the way to go. We do have a truck, so any time I need to move the college kid or pick up some big thing I scored on Craigslist, I do have other options. 98% of the time, the truck is sitting in the driveway as DH does not drive it. He has an older little Honda he drives to work to save on gas.
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Post by peapodsista4 on Aug 6, 2014 4:44:32 GMT
I love my mini van. I had a van and traded it in for a Pilot. It was great but I missed the van so much that when our lease was up we got a van again! I love the space and the cup holders are great!!! It just fits for our family!
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Post by ametallichick on Aug 6, 2014 5:02:26 GMT
I gave up my 2007 Suburban for a 2013 Camaro. Which is basically a 2 seater. The backseats are very small and not practical for distances. But, I was always by myself so it was stupid to be driving a huge truck like that. My son just bought a Toyota Tundra so when we go on trips, we drive that. He will be 18 in December and he is my youngest. I love my car and haven't looked back. IMO, I'd wait until the kids are a little older and get what you want.
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