Try Chevy tahoe..i LOVE LOVE LOVE mine.

Hummer

Anonymous wrote:Love love love our Acura MDX.

Another fan of the Acura MDX.

Lincoln navigator

Audi Q7.

Drives very well, great handling. Also one of the safest SUVs on the road.

Highlander hybrid is 28 mpg combined. Regular Highlander is lower (21 for 2wd and 19 for 4wd maybe?).

PP here. Sorry, the web site is fuel economy.gov

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You didn't say why you don't want a minivan, but I'd test drive one anyway (unless you already have). A lot of people have inexeplicable bias against minivans without ever having driven one, kind of like a child that refuses to eat something because without tasting it first. Minivans are surpisingly convenient. Plus, most of the alternatives are really fuel inefficient, ugly (i.e. they are SUVs, ugh) or pricier.

The fuel efficiency is comparable for a minivan and a mid-sized SUV.

1) Mid-sized SUVs tend not to have a third row.
2) We live in a city. No one needs an SUV here.
3) SUVs are FUGLY, handle poorly, and scream "poser."

I actually saw someone driving a Hummer the other day. I was like, the hell? Then, we pointed and laughed.

I just looked at the fuel efficiency.gov website. The Honda Odyssey and the Honda Pilot (which has 3 rows) have roughly similar overall mpg ratings (the 2wd Pilot matches the Odyssey but I realize most people don't buy the 2wd version). Both had 21 mpg overall (combined highway and city). I didn't look it up, but the Highlander (which is also 3 row) has a hybrid, which if I recall correctly, gets better milage than a minivan. You may think those that buy SUVs are "posers" (does anyone use that term anymore?) but some people want them for towing or other reasons.

Mazda 5.

I could care less what you drive. Your car is not a reflection of anything about you. I will cut you off without remorse whether you drive a minivan or SUV.

We love our MDX, but it really does love to run through gas, especially if you do a lot of city driving. We haven't put either of our 2 boosters in the third row. However, as PP noted, when we do use the third row for seating, it's via the rear liftgate. Usually we have one seat up and the other folded down. My sister, who is 5'10", has no trouble sitting comfortably back there. The ride is very quiet and comfortable. If not for the gas cost, I wouldn't have any complaints. FWIW, we had a Honda Odyssey before, and the gas cost was about the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god, lady, gas is almost $5/gallon. Do you REALLY need this huge car? Probably not.

She has 2 kids. If you carpool to soccer, birthday parties, ballet, etc., then, yes, you need a big car. Carpooling saves money, is green(er), and the kids provide some consumption value in the form of entertainment. There is almost nothing as funny as driving a bunch of tween boys to/from a Bar Mitzvah.

This. With one kid in a carseat and another one in a booster, it's impossible to carpool without that third row. Of course in the old days you could fit as many kids as could fit into the front & backseat combined, so a midsize sedan could fit half a dozen kids -- very fuel efficient, but I'm sure the price of gas PP wouldn't want to go back to the non-booster, non-seatbelt bad old days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You didn't say why you don't want a minivan, but I'd test drive one anyway (unless you already have). A lot of people have inexeplicable bias against minivans without ever having driven one, kind of like a child that refuses to eat something because without tasting it first. Minivans are surpisingly convenient. Plus, most of the alternatives are really fuel inefficient, ugly (i.e. they are SUVs, ugh) or pricier.

The fuel efficiency is comparable for a minivan and a mid-sized SUV.

1) Mid-sized SUVs tend not to have a third row.
2) We live in a city. No one needs an SUV here.
3) SUVs are FUGLY, handle poorly, and scream "poser."

I actually saw someone driving a Hummer the other day. I was like, the hell? Then, we pointed and laughed.

Ford Flex.

Buick Enclave/GMC Acadia/Chevy Traverse
with captains chairs in the second row.