Looking for a kid-safe vehicle- recs?

"Kat" wrote in message
...

"Jill" wrote in message
om...

"Sue" wrote in message
...
Sophie wrote in message
To me the debate between SUV or minivan is weird.

And I am *so* tired of hearing/reading about it.

Lol. Well, for me, my husband wanted an SUV so he can do outdoorsy
things
and pull a boat or trailer etc, and I hear that minivans are much safer
than
SUVs and ride more like cars than a clunky tippy SUV. Room isn't as much
of
an issue since we don't need to haul around more than 3 people most of
the
time.

I do think SUVs tend to ride bumpier and more tippy etc...but it looks
like
my husband is pushing for a Ford Explorer........


You could also try to get one of the smaller SUVs. We have a Honda CR-V
and
we love it. We aren't mini-van lovers (as of yet:-)) so we opted to get a
small SUV since we didn't have enough room for our large dog and a baby
too
in either of our cars. We also go a Honda because we know that they are
quite reliable cars. We have had ours since late 2000 and haven't had to
do
anything but normal maintenance on it. That's my two cents:-)
Kat
Mama tO Maggie 11/03/01
and Will 02/10/04

I second the CR-V recommendation! I bought one in 2002 and love it. It
drives like a car and mine gets 26-27 mpg (although from what I have seen on
the Honda newsgroups, that is on the high end - I have a manual all wheel
drive for what it matters). It seats 5 pretty comfortably and has quite a
bit of hauling capacity when the back seats are folded up and against the
backs of the front seats. Normal maintenance only here too. And I've put
almost 70,000 miles on it in 2 years and 3 months. And it's survived 2 close
encounters with deer with only a small dent to show for it. The only
negative I can see is that if you are very tall, you might have issue with
how far back you can push the front seats. I am almost 5'10" and I think
it's fine but my husband who is 6'1" says he wishes the seats moved back
farther. But then again, he sits "way" back when he drives his Corolla. HTH.

--
JennL
DS 06/26/98
1 tiny angel 11/03
EDD December 4 2004

aka CatnipSlayer @ livin-it-up.net
--
Leader of the Cult of Worshippers of BiPolar Long-Haired Sexy Anime Guys
with Swords

"ModernMiko" wrote in message . ..
"Kat" wrote in message
...

"Jill" wrote in message
om...

"Sue" wrote in message
...
Sophie wrote in message
To me the debate between SUV or minivan is weird.

And I am *so* tired of hearing/reading about it.

Lol. Well, for me, my husband wanted an SUV so he can do outdoorsy
things
and pull a boat or trailer etc, and I hear that minivans are much safer
than
SUVs and ride more like cars than a clunky tippy SUV. Room isn't as much
of
an issue since we don't need to haul around more than 3 people most of
the
time.

I do think SUVs tend to ride bumpier and more tippy etc...but it looks
like
my husband is pushing for a Ford Explorer........


You could also try to get one of the smaller SUVs. We have a Honda CR-V
and
we love it. We aren't mini-van lovers (as of yet:-)) so we opted to get a
small SUV since we didn't have enough room for our large dog and a baby
too
in either of our cars. We also go a Honda because we know that they are
quite reliable cars. We have had ours since late 2000 and haven't had to
do
anything but normal maintenance on it. That's my two cents:-)
Kat
Mama tO Maggie 11/03/01
and Will 02/10/04

I second the CR-V recommendation! I bought one in 2002 and love it. It
drives like a car and mine gets 26-27 mpg (although from what I have seen on
the Honda newsgroups, that is on the high end - I have a manual all wheel
drive for what it matters). It seats 5 pretty comfortably and has quite a
bit of hauling capacity when the back seats are folded up and against the
backs of the front seats. Normal maintenance only here too. And I've put
almost 70,000 miles on it in 2 years and 3 months. And it's survived 2 close
encounters with deer with only a small dent to show for it. The only
negative I can see is that if you are very tall, you might have issue with
how far back you can push the front seats. I am almost 5'10" and I think
it's fine but my husband who is 6'1" says he wishes the seats moved back
farther. But then again, he sits "way" back when he drives his Corolla. HTH.

--
JennL
DS 06/26/98
1 tiny angel 11/03
EDD December 4 2004

aka CatnipSlayer @ livin-it-up.net

I had to pipe in on this thread in favor of Hondas. Even if you
prefer a SUV (I personally don't like them--too tall, too unsafe, too
much gas, IMO), I'd still vote for a Honda one over any other make.
When I've researched them in the past, as a whole Hondas are more
reliable, safer, and have better gas mileage than most other makes.
They also hold their value really well--which is great if you buy new,
maybe not as great if you buy used cars

Funny that you comment on the size issue--that's one of the reasons I
love Hondas I'm driving a '03 Accord that I bought after my '98
civic was totaled last summer (I was rear-ended on the highway in rush
hour--walked away without a scratch)--I learned how to drive in a '92
Honda Civic. I'm 5'4" and rather short-waisted, and most American
cars make me feel like I can barely see over the steering wheel.
Hondas seem to be built more for smaller people. Their reliability is
also great--that '98 civic had nothing but routine maintenance (mostly
oil changes and tire rotations) in the 5 years I owned it. My V-6
Accord doesn't get quite the gas mileage of my 4-cylinder civic (27mpg
highway vs nearly 40), but it was quite a bit better than several
similar sized/priced cars I looked at--especially for a V6. Also, the
insurance check I received for a 5-year old Civic was right at 2/3 of
what I paid for it brand new--most other 5-year old cars would have
depreciated waaaay more than that.

--Elit.
#1 due 9/20/2004

In ,
Mike Burns wrote:

*Finally, would you consider a Subaru Forester? It's one of the best
*mini-SUVs they have ever tested, if not the best, and it drives more like a
*car than the CR-V, Escape, etc. However, any of those are good picks as
*well.

But a tall person can't drive it with a rear-facing infant seat behind him
or her. Not to mention ride in it if the infant is behind the passenger
seat. FYI.

-hillary, 5'10" mom who traded her Forester for an Ody.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large

Karen, are you thinking of Consumer Reports? I've always looked to them
with big purchases.

There is a CR service that you have to pay for on the internet. I
declined
that and went to the library instead to look up what I wanted in their
periodicals. It took a bit more time, but it has always been worth it.


No, although I am a user of CR online myself ($3.95 a month and you can stop
any time, which I do when I don't need it!). I am so bummed I can't find
that site because it was really cool. It literally told you which make,
model, year, and trim to get. I heard the site developer interviewed on the
radio and he was a wealth of information about how you have to be really
specific in finding the really safe cars. I am totally winging this, but he
had something like a '01 Passat (insert specific trim level) right up there
with an '04 Sienna XLE. And obviously, you could get a used Passat for much
cheaper than the "sticker only" Sienna.

Karen