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KellyJ
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 10:45am | IP Logged
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In the not too distant future, we'll be looking to replace the little coupe my husband commutes to work in. His commute is about 60 miles round-trip/5 days/week, I think. It is chiefly used for commuting and on rarer occasions for running errands, especially if we need to go in opposite directions.
We're expecting #4 in the summer and theoretically have a number of years of fertility ahead, God willing.
We're also kicking ourselves for not getting a hitch on our 8-seater van, as it would be so useful at times. So, we're thinking of either getting a replacement vehicle with a hitch or having a hitch installed on the van.
With these things in mind, I'm wondering what sort of vehicle we should replace the commuter car with.
What would you do?
Get another small commuter car/wagon?
Get another traditional size mini-van?
Get small SUV (RAV4/CR-V-types)?
Get regular/full-size SUV?
Get a 12 or 15 seater van and switch vehicles (bear in mind, I have driving anxieties, especially with tight turns and foul weather--rear-wheel drive is not something I'm thrilled about--I feel safer with the AWD of our little Subaru commuter car)?
Something else?
Why would you go with your recommendation? Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 
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KellyJ
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 11:09am | IP Logged
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With gas prices as they are
and the commuter car.. assumed as the one getting the most use..
And unless you're having twins you should have a couple years left for using the mini van..
I would get another small car
Get a hitch on the van if you want a hitch.. but I wouldn't get a second vehicle that takes more gas..
You may eventually need to replace the mini-van with the larger vehicle, and I'd hold onto the higher gas mileage of the mini-van as long as reasonable.. but I wouldn't replace the commuter car with a larger vehicle.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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One more thought.. do be sure that your mini-van has the capacity for pulling whatever you want to pull with the hitch and that you get the proper sized hitch (able to pull the weight etc) it'll make a huge difference in use... also if you're looking at cargo space.. you might find that the roof rack tote things would be better for gas mileage than pulling something.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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LisaR
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 11:22am | IP Logged
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small small small!! we have 5 kids, (two of them giants!!) and dh has a isuzu oasis (honda odyssey rebadge) 1996, 200,000 mi on it. although it is classified as "good" milage wise (actually classed as a wagon, not a mini van, those early hondas were small! )we think we will go even smaller when this thing dies completely.
our other car is a suburban, and man even though I live 10 miles or less from everything, it is killing us with the gas prices.
obviously now is not the time to dump anything full sized, so we are stuck.
hoping to balance it out with very small!
if I had to go back to when I had 3-4 kids I would stay small longer, too.
full size van was never an option for us. way too many stories of rollovers, accidents etc from families we know, plus it feels like a rattletrap ride compared to the burb.
we paid 900.00 more for the suburban, than equal in every way full size van.
plus the burb fits in our garage! 
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 11:32am | IP Logged
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Small defense on the bigger vans.. their roll over ratings were no worse than the older suburbans
But the suburbans still have a very limited passenger #.. at least when you naturally (and even with NFP) have kids close together.
We bought our 15 pass. when I was pregnant with #6.. mini van totally maxed out for passenger space.. no where for the new baby and no child old enough to even sit up front with an air bag let alone stay home alone or to babysit (not much choice but to get a vehicle when your dh travels so no way to even get to Church with a smaller vehicle)
That van will be paid off early next year.. but I'm due with #8 next month.. if we'd gotten a suburban we'd have maxed out THAT vehicle before we could pay for it entirely.
So you do need to look at your particular family and how things go for you in that regard.
If you already have a 7-8 passenger mini-van.. an 8-9 passenger suburban isn't gaining you much.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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LisaR
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 12:21pm | IP Logged
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for the flip side, I would reccomend living a bit more in the present moment, esp in these hard financial times. we have had a few friends forcast ahead, and buy burbs or full size vans, only to have horrible times conceiving again. these were the fertile myrtle types, too!
we thought for sure we would be on child number 6 or 7 by now... 
our suburban seats 9, and I love all of the hip level cargo room in the back- very easy to haul alot of stuff, and get in and out.
but I am not even advocating a burb right now. it is just too much money to drive.
I so wish we had gotten an 8 pass mini van. we'd learn to cope with the smaller cargo spaces....
we were joking it is time to stop living "texas" and start living NYC or Euro style!!
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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Philothea
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Do you need a special license to drive a 15-passenger?
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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Philothea wrote:
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No,and it isn't hard to drive. (now, parking is another matter!) Many of the problems come from inexperienced drivers driving church vans or day care vans. Obviously, you have to be extra careful, but when it's your kids at stake, who wouldn't be?
I would advice a used hybrid. My dh bought a 2004 Civic hybrid. We did the math a year ago and even with an almost $300 car payment, he would be saving money over driving his pick-up truck to work because of the gas. And now with the prices, there is no way we could afford him driving his truck that far. His commute is about 70 miles. He gets at least 46mpg.
Wait for the bigger vehicle, or get one cheap now and don't drive it! I can't drive mine except when absolutely necessary. It cost me $100 to fill up yesterday! 
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Tonya
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| Posted: May 16 2008 at 2:00pm | IP Logged
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We got a 15 passenger van when I was expecting twins (5 and 6). We figured that we didn't want to outgrow another car. Unfortunately, we were never able to conceive again. That being said, we have gotten so much use out of our van. The kids could always bring along a friend and when we did long distance traveling, we were always fairly comfortable. I do have to say that if you live where there is a lot of snow, the passenger van might not be the best choice. It is horrible in the snow.
It will be a very sad day when we get rid of our van (and unfortunately that will be soon). It will be the end of a wonderful era for us. Can you tell that I am very fond of my "big, green beast"?
Tonya
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Nina
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| Posted: May 19 2008 at 5:13pm | IP Logged
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We have a 12 passanger van.It's not so bad in the snow because of the weight.(almost a ton)You can also haul a lot of stuff if you take some of the seats out.We saved lots of money by not having to pay delivery charges for furniture and such.With that said,I still wish that we could get a different vehicle.The thing is soo big,I'm not too happy driving it.I'm pregnant with our 7th child and the selection out there isn't that great. 
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SallyT
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| Posted: May 19 2008 at 7:06pm | IP Logged
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We kind of have two different conversations going on here -- pros and cons of large vehicles (and I'm a pro -- 4 kids, 12 passenger van, LOTS of carpooling I was never able to do before) -- and what to do for a second car.
Right now we have the big van and an old (1995) Mazda MPV which for years was our chief car and is now my husband's car. Its mileage inefficiency pales beside that of the Ford Econoline, let me tell you. Depending on where we're able to find a house in relation to my husband's new job, we are thinking of getting him a small used car for his drive to work. We're already used to having one car that will fit everyone and one that won't, because my husband has folded down the back seat of the MPV to transport crates of books to his various adjunct jobs. So that one only seats 4, with the driver, most of the time. It works just fine. We occasionally trade cars if he's going to be bringing all the kids to Mass, say, when I've got to go early for choir, or they're going to another Mass than the one I'm singing. Otherwise, in his daily rounds, he's almost never taking kids. At most he takes one or two, the oldest, who like occasionally to go to class with him.
With gas prices as they are, I would vote for the most efficient small car you can swing as the commuter car, and worry about your larger vehicle only when you decide you're truly maxed out in the current one.
Sally
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Replacing a car - WWYD?
