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yeah ok ok yeah posted:Hey, thread, I have to get a bigger car. My wife and I are having a kid and we were fine with out current car (2011 Mazda2), but we found out that she's actually pregnant with twins. I literally cannot fit in my car with the infant car seats in, so now we're going car shopping. You can make compromises and get a mid size CUV like a Rav4 or something along it's lines, but a minivan is excellent at moving people around and the sliding doors make putting young ones in their seats much easier. I recommend a lightly used Toyota Sienna. You should be able to find a 3-4 year old LE trim in your price range. Excellent vehicle
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Jul 10, 2018 17:09
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People always go on about the utility of minivans for families. They're not wrong, but they're not super correct either. I've been driving an Odyssey for a year or so and we're getting ready to move over to a 7 passenger SUV because the SUV is nicer in every single way except for ease of access to the rear-most seats and, honestly, it's not like its the biggest chore in the world to get to the back seats...and who cares if the kids are put out a little bit having to flip a seat forward or something. This is obviously just my opinion and experience mediated against the weights I give to various preferences when it comes to a vehicle, but the advantages of a minivan over a lot of SUVs is oversold. What this boils down to is that you should definitely try SUVs and minivans out.
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Jul 10, 2018 17:22
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I can't ever remember a time when I put my children into their carseats and thought "boy this would be easier with a sliding door." You're not going to put children that young (ones who can't get into their carseat on their own) in the third row anyway. Also second row captain seating makes it easy for kids to pop into the third row without a large sliding door or having to push seats back.
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Jul 10, 2018 17:29
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Thermopyle posted:I've been driving an Odyssey for a year or so and we're getting ready to move over to a 7 passenger SUV because the SUV is nicer in every single way except for ease of access to the rear-most seats and, honestly, it's not like its the biggest chore in the world to get to the back seats...and who cares if the kids are put out a little bit having to flip a seat forward or something. I'd be interested in hearing why you're making this move, just out of personal curiosity. Jiminy Christmas! Shoes! posted:I can't ever remember a time when I put my children into their carseats and thought "boy this would be easier with a sliding door." Really? Have you ever loaded kids into a minivan with sliding doors? It's awesome. The rear doors on my Explorer take a massive amount of space to open, it's a real pain the rear end when we have to park anywhere crowded. Huge pain in the rear end when they were in baby carriers, still a pain in the rear end even now they're older. I can't let them open the doors on their own unless there are no vehicles on either side of me and they're 8 and 6 now. I mean look, you might not have ever thought it, but the sliding doors on a minivan make it so much easier to load kids, especially if they're in infant seats. For the record, I've never owned a minivan. 3 row SUV's since the kids have been born. I have driven and spent time in the big 3 minivans though, and they're good at what they do, and even though I don't want to own one, I can't sit here and make a logical argument why a SUV is a superior vehicle for family duties. Different cars for different folks though, everyone should drive what they like and what suits their needs the best.
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Jul 10, 2018 17:53
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skipdogg posted:I'd be interested in hearing why you're making this move, just out of personal curiosity. Not much more to it then what I stated in my post. The SUV we're going to get is the CX-9. It's a higher quality interior, it drives nicer than any minivan, it tows nicer, the seating position is better, it looks a lot better, and the additional inconvenience for rear access is a very minimal part of our life. FWIW, I'm not saying people shouldn't buy a minivan. They are a great choice if the better access to the rear is worth it to you. I'm just saying people should really examine whether thats the case for them. skipdogg posted:I can't sit here and make a logical argument why a SUV is a superior vehicle for family duties. Yeah, this is right. However, vehicles are often (usually?) not purchased for one priority to the exclusion of all else. Thermopyle fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Jul 10, 2018 |
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Jul 10, 2018 18:27
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Thermopyle posted:Not much more to it then what I stated in my post. The CX-9 is also significantly smaller than an Odyssey, in length, width, height, and the Odyssey has twice as much storage capacity as the CX-9. If it's big enough for you, great - but it's a significantly different vehicle than the Odyssey.
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Jul 10, 2018 18:45
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Deteriorata posted:The CX-9 is also significantly smaller than an Odyssey, in length, width, height, and the Odyssey has twice as much storage capacity as the CX-9. I mean...yeah? I don't think anyone was confused into thinking they were identical in every way except sliding doors.
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Jul 10, 2018 18:57
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Sliding doors also mean that small children won't be opening car doors at full force into adjacent cars in parking lots.
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Jul 10, 2018 19:12
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We recently bought a 2009 Mazda5, it works great for us with 2 kids and the grandparents. If we lived someplace with wide streets and big parking lots we would have found a 4-cylinder FWD Sienna but in town with people parking on both sides of already narrow streets and parking lots with only one empty spot between two badly parked cars it is great. Wish it had better safety ratings and was a bit quieter inside but no one sells that in a smallish car. We had the same issue with the Pilot and Highlander, too big and too expensive. Back seats were not accessible if you have child seats in the middle row. Why can't we have station wagons with rear facing third row seats? I really miss my old 68 Fairlane wagon sometimes.
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Jul 10, 2018 21:59
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What's funny is the fairlane is as long as an Odyssey. I always lusted after wagons but after having one for a year recently I'd rather have a van or an SUV. Cargo is easier to deal with in the taller bodies.
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Jul 10, 2018 22:09
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Bibendum posted:We recently bought a 2009 Mazda5, it works great for us with 2 kids and the grandparents. If we lived someplace with wide streets and big parking lots we would have found a 4-cylinder FWD Sienna but in town with people parking on both sides of already narrow streets and parking lots with only one empty spot between two badly parked cars it is great. Wish it had better safety ratings and was a bit quieter inside but no one sells that in a smallish car. Wow, I didn't know a 4cyl Sienna existed! quote:Toyota expects EPA-estimated mileage figures of 19 mpg‑US (12.4 L/100 km) city / 24 mpg‑US (9.8 L/100 km) highway for models powered by the 4-cylinder engine Hardly seems worth it, though.
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Jul 10, 2018 22:11
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Twerk from Home posted:Wow, I didn't know a 4cyl Sienna existed! Ha, that was exactly my reaction as well. As big and heavy as a modern Sienna is, I wouldn’t want anything but the V-6 anyway.
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Jul 10, 2018 22:19
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Oh yeah, for most people the V6 is the way to go and a great engine but I do all my own repairs and maintenance and the 4 is way easier to work on. Also they sell a bit cheaper and I don't care if my family hauler is slow as balls.powderific posted:What's funny is the fairlane is as long as an Odyssey. Bibendum fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Jul 11, 2018 |
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Jul 11, 2018 01:34
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Alright, I'm back with some more random questions. I'm going to be getting a car for daily commute, almost certainly some kind of Prius because I've barely driven in my life but am most familiar with those, and they seem pretty reliable. That being said, what's the real difference between a Prius C, Prius, and Prius Prime Plug-in? I vaguely like the idea of electric cars, so is there a particular reason not to get the plug-in hybrid? I don't particularly need anything except a car that gets me from point A to point B. Also, let's just say I'm terrible at buying cars-- is it an okay plan to just get a new car via the Costco pricing system and pick it up at a dealership?
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Jul 15, 2018 05:49
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Prius C is basically a Yaris with a downsized Prius drivetrain in it; most people say the small increase in fuel mileage isn’t worth the lousier car. The Prime plug-in hybrid turns the regular Prius into a plug-in electric car *if* you’re only going 25 miles between charges. Again, the common wisdom is that it’s not worth it; if you truly want an electric car with a backup gasoline power plant, a Volt is a better vehicle, it’ll go 53 miles before needing its gas motor. The standard Prius seems to be the way to go; I’m not a fan of their numb, removed driving experience and goofy control setup, but they’re reliable as hell and get great mileage. I have not yet driven the redesigned new Prius, it’s supposed to have a better chassis.
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Jul 15, 2018 14:41
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Prius C gets worse mileage tha regular Prius, it's just cheaper. The Prius Prime's battery is about half the size of the Volts and has half the EV range, and it's $5k cheaper.
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Jul 15, 2018 16:33
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Throatwarbler posted:Prius C gets worse mileage tha regular Prius, it's just cheaper. Oops, you’re right nowadays, but up to the redesign(2016?), it did get slightly better highway mileage than the OG Prius(53 vs. 51) and Toyota hyped that fact in their ads. For only a three grand savings, I don’t know why anybody would buy one.
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Jul 15, 2018 18:36
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Looks like the car I've been driving on my visits home is a Prius C, and I do get annoyed that it won't speed up to get me onto highways. Sounds like either the regular Prius or Prius Prime wouldn't have this issue?
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Jul 15, 2018 19:21
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Amara posted:Looks like the car I've been driving on my visits home is a Prius C, and I do get annoyed that it won't speed up to get me onto highways. Sounds like either the regular Prius or Prius Prime wouldn't have this issue? All the Priuses are slow. The C is a bit worse than the others, but not by much. The Prius is a high gas mileage driving appliance. If you want acceleration, handling, braking, or anything else other than high gas mileage, forget it.
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Jul 15, 2018 19:39
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/\/\/\plus what he said/\/\/\ None of them are speed demons, but I'm a crazed leadfoot and the regular Prius is powerful enough to merge tolerably. The only issue is, like most hybrids, the first 90% of throttle doesn't do a whole lot, you need to mash the gas all the way to the floor to get all energy sources awake and pumping out power. JnnyThndrs fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Jul 15, 2018 |
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Jul 15, 2018 19:41
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Seriously, just smash the go pedal, you won't break anything. My normal car has 100hp and my other is a modified turbo subaru I used to track and the difference in normal use is.minimal.
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Jul 16, 2018 23:22
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it's fun to mash the pedal down it makes me feel very continental what with their 79 horsepower triples in real cars
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Jul 16, 2018 23:49
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Hrrrm good to know. This is all actually extremely helpful. I'll update you guys when I move and get horribly ripped off buying a car.
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Jul 17, 2018 04:10
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Amara posted:Hrrrm good to know. This is all actually extremely helpful. I'll update you guys when I move and get horribly ripped off buying a car. Save yourself a lot of aggravation and get a Mazda 3. It's uses a bit more gas than a Prius (41 MPG highway), but it's more comfortable and a blast to drive. It beats the hell out the Prius in every way but one.
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Jul 17, 2018 04:19
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Deteriorata posted:Save yourself a lot of aggravation and get a Mazda 3. It's uses a bit more gas than a Prius (41 MPG highway), but it's more comfortable and a blast to drive. It beats the hell out the Prius in every way but one. I hate driving and have no concept of how a car could possibly be "fun" to drive. (All driving is torture because of the vigilance required). I also find a Prius perfectly comfortable. My goal is the most reliable machine that gets me from place to place with zero additional work/fiddling on my part (oil? other... car... things?). With maybe some vague idea that hybrids and batteries are cool. We're clearly very different people re:cars but I feel like there's probably a large population of people just like me who will always look askance at the "This car is more fun" recommendation.
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Jul 17, 2018 04:34
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Amara posted:I hate driving and have no concept of how a car could possibly be "fun" to drive. (All driving is torture because of the vigilance required). I also find a Prius perfectly comfortable. My goal is the most reliable machine that gets me from place to place with zero additional work/fiddling on my part (oil? other... car... things?). With maybe some vague idea that hybrids and batteries are cool. We're clearly very different people re:cars but I feel like there's probably a large population of people just like me who will always look askance at the "This car is more fun" recommendation. That may very well be true and it may be that the vast majority of "I don't care how it drives" folks legitimately believe that. But there's a good number of "don't care about how a car drives" folks who just haven't driven something that isn't beyond boring. If someone is in the market for a Prius it doesn't hurt to test drive something like a Mazda 3 before you buy a car you're going to keep for the next 10 years.
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Jul 17, 2018 05:24
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Amara posted:My goal is the most reliable machine that gets me from place to place with zero additional work/fiddling on my part (oil? other... car... things?). The CostCo plan is ok if you just want to walk in, point at a car and deal with the finance guy upselling you later. It sounds like you don't have a need to haggle down to the last cent so it could be what you're looking for.
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Jul 17, 2018 07:33
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FilthyImp posted:Grab a Leaf or Spark EV (if it fits your commute range) and have a car that needs tire rotations, windshield fluid, new wipers and maybe tires or brake fluid as its main upkeep. Just bought a car last night through Costco a d the finance guy tried to hard dick me. Said oh 5.45% for 72 mo and I just said no. Dealership had 2.9% for 60 m which is what I wanted, and since my credit is 760-800 with (was) zero dti figured I qualified. He said I got a discount so I didn't qualifiy for the rate, and I said 'The Costco program allows for other manufacturer discounts and financing I am entitled to that pricing' so the guy got it 'approved' by the manager. First time I've ever actually bought a car and I feel like I held my own against their lovely practice.
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Jul 17, 2018 12:39
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Amara posted:I hate driving and have no concept of how a car could possibly be "fun" to drive. (All driving is torture because of the vigilance required). I also find a Prius perfectly comfortable. My goal is the most reliable machine that gets me from place to place with zero additional work/fiddling on my part (oil? other... car... things?). With maybe some vague idea that hybrids and batteries are cool. We're clearly very different people re:cars but I feel like there's probably a large population of people just like me who will always look askance at the "This car is more fun" recommendation. There have been people in this very thread, who, like you, did not understand how a car could be fun to drive. Then they drove a fun car and then were like "oh hey it can be fun!". That's not to say that everyone who feels that way is living in the dark, but at least some portion of people are. In other words, at least drive a fun car like a Mazda 3 before writing off the idea completely.
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Jul 17, 2018 15:27
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Captain James T. Kirk: The people have no freedom, Amara. You don't think or do anything but what Consumer Reports tell you. Amara: What else would one do? Captain James T. Kirk: Drive, for one thing. Amara: What is... drive?
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Jul 17, 2018 16:02
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Internet Explorer posted:That may very well be true and it may be that the vast majority of "I don't care how it drives" folks legitimately believe that. But there's a good number of "don't care about how a car drives" folks who just haven't driven something that isn't beyond boring. If someone is in the market for a Prius it doesn't hurt to test drive something like a Mazda 3 before you buy a car you're going to keep for the next 10 years. I am not a car person, rarely drove at all in college, and never had a fast car. I assumed I didn't care about those aspects. I still remember coming home from college and driving my dad's (then new) GTI for the first time. It's not a crazy sports car or anything, but it was eye opening. Hell, over a decade later that car is still running and still more fun to drive than my own car.
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Jul 17, 2018 17:14
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The Slack Lagoon posted:Just bought a car last night through Costco a d the finance guy tried to hard dick me. Except you got 2.9% with a 760-800 credit score... You could easily get sub 2% with that kind of score.
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Jul 17, 2018 17:20
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The Slack Lagoon posted:Just bought a car last night through Costco and the finance guy tried to hard dick me. Anyway, be sure to mention it during the follow-up email that CostCo sends about your purchasing experience. Misrepresenting your ability to get incentives and rebates sounds like something they would frown upon.
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Jul 17, 2018 18:09
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Except you got 2.9% with a 760-800 credit score... You could easily get sub 2% with that kind of score. When I looked a month ago, I couldn't find anything lower than 2.9 at that length outside of manufacturer financing deals.
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Jul 17, 2018 18:57
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Yeah I would love to see where you are getting a sub 2% interest rate. Nothing like that in my market.
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Jul 17, 2018 19:28
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saintonan posted:When I looked a month ago, I couldn't find anything lower than 2.9 at that length outside of manufacturer financing deals. Hmm, looks like everything has gone up in the last 12 months. Did you check with any credit unions?
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Jul 17, 2018 19:28
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Hmm, looks like everything has gone up in the last 12 months. Did you check with any credit unions? The 2.9 I got was from a credit union. Banks are at least a point to point and a half above that for anything longer than 36 months.
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Jul 17, 2018 20:09
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My general experience has been that dealers finance departments are hives of villainy. #notallfinancedepartments I'm sure. It's just a much nicer experience to get pre-approved somewhere else, walk in and negotiate your price, and then yell SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER I GOT MY OWN FINANCING.
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Jul 17, 2018 20:38
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I one time almost got into a straight up fist fight with a finance guy at a used car dealership. I told him we already had good financing from our bank, but that if wanted he could try to beat it and we'd go with them, otherwise I was more than happy to use the bank financing. He insisted that I give him the number to beat and I told him that's not how I negotiate. Put your best foot forward and if it's a better deal I'll go with you. I'm not going to go back and forth, the bank didn't get the same luxury, and hey, I'd get a much better rate if you go as low as you can go and now just lowball by 0.01%. He really, really, did not appreciate that.
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Jul 17, 2018 22:50
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Hmm, looks like everything has gone up in the last 12 months. Ya think?
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Jul 18, 2018 06:29
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