Alternatives to Driving an Excursion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

As we found out, it's not a question of choosing to take on the carpooling responsibilities - a few years from now, if you still have the Excursion when your kids are older, this responsibility will find you on its own. It will come in the form of pressure from other parents.

Signed,

A mom whose kids belonged to two travel soccer teams.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for scolding me. Did I mention he was looking at diesel? We have two car seats and a booster therefore cannot fit much into the vehicle we have now, let alone drive another adult

Your DH sounds like a douchebag. (Are you sure you're not one as well?) Grow up and get a minivan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for scolding me. Did I mention he was looking at diesel? We have two car seats and a booster therefore cannot fit much into the vehicle we have now, let alone drive another adult

Your DH sounds like a douchebag. (Are you sure you're not one as well?) Grow up and get a minivan.

Wow. He's a douchebag based on one post on DCUM. I am going to bet you live in a huge house that eats up electricity and wastes resources. I also bet you are not an Eco Ranger in every aspect of your life. I really had no idea that NOT driving a minivan meant we weren't grown ups.

You sound angry and judgmental. I asked for help/opinions and you are name calling. Perhaps you are the one who needs to grow up.

[Anonymous]

I don't get why you are deferring to DH, when you are the one driving it most of the time. Does he control the purse-springs?

You get to choose, not him. And frankly, aside from your strange need/desire to appease his ego, you seem to have much better judgment about cars than he.

Grow a spine, put your foot down. You'll get the minivan, or the Honda Pilot, or whatever less-gas-guzzling monstrosity, but you promise it won't be pink.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about a Mazda 5?

Our mechanic nixed Mazda so DH won't look at them. Our mechanic said he's seen too many issues with the Mazda 5 and the Mazda mpv.

Can you be more specific? We're considering the mazda 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for scolding me. Did I mention he was looking at diesel? We have two car seats and a booster therefore cannot fit much into the vehicle we have now, let alone drive another adult

Your DH sounds like a douchebag. (Are you sure you're not one as well?) Grow up and get a minivan.

Wow. He's a douchebag based on one post on DCUM. I am going to bet you live in a huge house that eats up electricity and wastes resources. I also bet you are not an Eco Ranger in every aspect of your life. I really had no idea that NOT driving a minivan meant we weren't grown ups.

You sound angry and judgmental. I asked for help/opinions and you are name calling. Perhaps you are the one who needs to grow up.

OP you sound like a whiny toddler. You don't want the giant SUV and you are putting all the blame on your husband. Someone says your husband sounds like a douche (because that's how you are describing him) and you get all huffy. You want a van so just get one. Stop crying to us because you can't seem to tell your DH exactly what you want and why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My 2006 Kia Sedona gets around 22 city and 26 hwy. It's one of the reasons I chose it over the Honda or Toyota.

[Anonymous]

What minivan has the best mileage? Why isn't their a hybrid minivan-I bet it would sell like hotcakes.

OP, is you DH a lot older than you or something? There is a weird dynamic going on with this decision-making.

Why not one of those VW bus vans? I bet they would fit all your stuff and they seem to seat a lot of people.

[Anonymous]

I have had an Excursion for about 6 years and love it. My 4 children will all of their stuff and wonderful friends also love it. ALot of other cars were not "tall people friendly" so there actually were not alot of options. If we found a car with a frontseat to accomodate a tall husband...backseat would not accomodate 6'5+ teenage boys and their friends.....knees in their teeth.
We travel by car to see family about 12-14 hours away and it has been wonderful. I wish the gas mileage was better...again..not alot of options for tall front seat and tall back seat passengers.

[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 look forward to the day you have to drive teen ages who have hockey equipment, football equipment, soccer gear, baseball gear etc etc

Good luck doing that in the Prius and don't forget when you get in an accident you have to call HAZAT to clean up the battery and save your pennies for when you need to replace it.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Prius here: I haul a lot of stuff around in that Prius, including sports equipment and tall teens, trips to the beach for the whole family...

I do have a minivan as a second car -- try to use it as little as possible, and it's 10 years old, so I'm trying not to ear it out! Gets 21 mpg. Normally DH goes back and forth to the metro in it, but I do use it if I need to carpool.

I originally suggested the minivan to OP -- I'm not suggesting she drive a Prius.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone who gave me great suggestions. I just asked for advice and alternatives, instead I got called spinelss, a whiney toddler and DH was labeled a douchebag. True to DCUM spirit!

Does it matter why he has his heart set on an Excursion? Asking advice here is not a tell all insight to our marriage dynamic and it doesn't mean he and I are assholes. THe names calling here is ridiculous and I will go as far to say this - those of you who called names do need to grow up. Asking for advice here does not mark me spineless or whiney, it actually means I'm looking for suggestions and information on other vehicles. My original post wasn't a WHOA IS ME MY HORRIBLE HUSBAND WONT ALLOW ME TO MAKE A DECISION, PLEASE RESCUE ME type rant. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Here comes the best part, where the overgrown children defend their ridiculous toys by pointing out that they once drove cross country with eight NHL linemen and a trunkload of scuba equipment.

After all, why rent a suitable vehicle every 3-4 years when you need one, when you can overbuy a useless faux utility vehicle and drive it all the time?

It's like saying you "need" to buy a cement truck as your primary vehicle because you occasionally do home renovations. Just admit that driving a giant truck gives you a tingle up the leg because you're insecure enough that it makes you feel like an Alpha Dog.

[Anonymous]

My original post wasn't a WHOA IS ME MY HORRIBLE HUSBAND WONT ALLOW ME TO MAKE A DECISION, PLEASE RESCUE ME type rant. Sheesh.

Oh, because it sounded like one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My original post wasn't a WHOA IS ME MY HORRIBLE HUSBAND WONT ALLOW ME TO MAKE A DECISION, PLEASE RESCUE ME type rant. Sheesh.

Oh, because it sounded like one.

I forgot what a bitchy, mean girl, unsupportive, judgmental group most of you were.