Alternatives to Driving an Excursion

[Anonymous]

Enviro-PP here : Fight to good fight, OP!! Good for you.

[Anonymous]

And he wouldn't be driving it at all, I would be which is why I don't want it. He has his dream car, a cadillac cts-v so I am certain he won't be driving the truck. It's a vehicle for me, not him.

Then why the heck doens't your choice control? Tell him you're driving it, you want [insert vehicle here], and that's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And he wouldn't be driving it at all, I would be which is why I don't want it. He has his dream car, a cadillac cts-v so I am certain he won't be driving the truck. It's a vehicle for me, not him.

Then why the heck doens't your choice control? Tell him you're driving it, you want [insert vehicle here], and that's that.

Because his manly man-ness wants to be the one to take care of his family, it makes him feel like poppa bear. And to be honest I just don't care if he picks out the vehicle, I just don't want to be driving the largest thing on the road. If it makes him feel good to research and select a vehicle I really do not mind, I have other stuff to worry about. I honestly would rather be the one deciding which home to buy, not what vehicle to buy.

[Anonymous]

As a driver of an Expedition, you have it all wrong. I drive 6 kids to and from school in car pool each day.

SO I am taking 5 cars off the road each day, actually make that 10 because of the afternoon pick up as well. Not to mention the other activities after school and on weekends that we load up the kids. If all the families drove, the emissions, use of oil, gas, tires etc would be 5 times that.

So as you drive around in your Prius or other vehicle, think how much more efficient I am being driving my Expedition before you start with I am ruining the environment. Check how well your 5 cars combined do.

Flame on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
As a driver of an Expedition, you have it all wrong. I drive 6 kids to and from school in car pool each day.

SO I am taking 5 cars off the road each day, actually make that 10 because of the afternoon pick up as well. Not to mention the other activities after school and on weekends that we load up the kids. If all the families drove, the emissions, use of oil, gas, tires etc would be 5 times that.

So as you drive around in your Prius or other vehicle, think how much more efficient I am being driving my Expedition before you start with I am ruining the environment. Check how well your 5 cars combined do.

Flame on

I could do that in my minivan as well and get double the gas mileage. I don't though because I send my kids to school on the bus with about 50 other kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And he wouldn't be driving it at all, I would be which is why I don't want it. He has his dream car, a cadillac cts-v so I am certain he won't be driving the truck. It's a vehicle for me, not him.

Then why the heck doens't your choice control? Tell him you're driving it, you want [insert vehicle here], and that's that.

Because his manly man-ness wants to be the one to take care of his family, it makes him feel like poppa bear. And to be honest I just don't care if he picks out the vehicle, I just don't want to be driving the largest thing on the road. If it makes him feel good to research and select a vehicle I really do not mind, I have other stuff to worry about. I honestly would rather be the one deciding which home to buy, not what vehicle to buy.

I still don't understand why you don't just tell him that you are the one driving it and you don't want a large SUV. My DH wanted me to get a ridiculous vehicle and I would have no part in it. I wanted something with better gas mileage but would still accommodate our family. I didn't give a rats ass about his manliness there was just no way I was going to let him force me into something I didn't want and that's what's going to happen to you unless you clear about what you want.

I also agree with the eco poster. It's totally irresponsible to be driving an SUV like that.

[Anonymous]

Raise this point about carpools -- if you own the Excursion, it will be you who drives the entire travel soccer team around. Whereas if you get a moderate-size car, you will have to do a little driving, but not all the time.

Ask him if he really wants to have to take work off to ferry the sports teams around (because sports practices often start at 4:30 or 5:00 for many teams). And tell him that you don't want to do this yourself.

[Anonymous]

I don't offer to carpool other kids because my two are still in carseats. I have three of my own to worry about so I am not about to take on that responsibility but an excellent point to make.

[Anonymous]

About the Prius: I can fit four kids in mine (one old enough to sit in the front seat) and I get 40+ mgp.

So you, Excursion driver @ 11:15, get gas mileage that is one fourth as good as mine, in order to drive one more child. I still come out ahead, no matter how you slice it.

And my point to OP was not to buy a Prius, but that she could drive a minivan and transport 5 - 6 kids (same as you!) with mpg as much as twice as high.

Excursion driver, there is no way to justify what you drive in terms of efficiency. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

What about the Expedition? It's smaller than the Excursion but bigger than the Explorer. I don't think the Excursion is manufactured anymore (maybe you are getting a used one). I think of the Excursion as more for hauling purposes - ie. horse trailer, etc. We grew up with horses so always had Suburbans to haul the trailers and we loved driving them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About the Prius: I can fit four kids in mine (one old enough to sit in the front seat) and I get 40+ mgp.

So you, Excursion driver @ 11:15, get gas mileage that is one fourth as good as mine, in order to drive one more child. I still come out ahead, no matter how you slice it.

And my point to OP was not to buy a Prius, but that she could drive a minivan and transport 5 - 6 kids (same as you!) with mpg as much as twice as high.

Excursion driver, there is no way to justify what you drive in terms of efficiency. Sorry.

I can fit three kids in my husband's CTSV but they are all sqooshed, there is no leg room, driver seat is pushed up against the steering wheel. It's not a pretty or comfy ride not to mention my diaper bag is basically in my face and the trunk barely closes, full of strollers, equipment, food, etc.

[Anonymous]

How about a bus pass?

[Anonymous]

Besides what your mechanic has told you, a Mazda 5 wouldn't work at all - we love ours (and have had zero mechnical problems fwiw) but it's really not suitable for a big family. We have 2 kids and rarely carpool so it's perfect. Anything bigger than that wouldn't work. I don't have better suggestions for you OP but wish you well. I get why a family of 5 needs a bigger vehicle but do hate those giant truck like SUVs because it's just so hard to see around them, park next to them etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about the fact that we just had the hottest summer, worldwide, in recorded history?

Tell him to be responsible. You can fit a family with three or four kids and/or pets and/or most sports equipment in a minivan that gets over 20 mpg. Still not great, but a whole lot better than an Excursion.

I know people have different sizes of families, but Excursions are just irresponsible, IMO.

Your minivan gets over 20 mpg?? I have a 2007 Honda minivan and in town it only gets around 17 mpg. Took a trip last week and the mileage was very good (over 20 mpg)- but for everyday driving, not so great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about a bus pass?

I'm in Clarksburg so no bus pass for us. I'd have to drive to the metro in Gaithersburg.