- #793 of 1145
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Freestyle Wagon
by sandman46
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Jan 23, 2009 (1:58 pm)
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Check these out...nice looking vehicle with acceptable mileage and comfortable seating with room in the rear for gear. If I were looking for a car but didn't want a minivan and needed some room, I'd go got the Freestyle myself. The HHR might be a good choice also. Very comfortable seating with good storage out back and "fun" to drive and with GM pricing...another good choice.
The Sandman 
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- #794 of 1145
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Re: Need help with final [family] car choice! [shawbeg] [jeffyscott] [shawb [shawbeg]
by morin2
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Jan 23, 2009 (2:00 pm)
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Replying to: shawbeg (Jan 23, 2009 1:14 pm)
If considering the Taurus wagon - look at the Sable version as well. I think these can be steals due to the depreciation. I like Subarus in general & have owned 3, but rear legroom can be problematic - try rear seat legroom before test drive. Remember that the Outbacks have the sweet H6 engine option - but those were 30k new, so you'd have to go back to 05/06 to get one for 15K and be willing to spring for premium fuel. What about the Volvo V70 ? I'd look for the FWD version if you don't need the AWD cross-country - sharper relative depreciation than Subaru and comfortable seats. I like them because their long flat roofs are good for carrying kayaks & canoes. If I had a Saab dealer closer than 75 miles away, I'd consider a late model used 9-5 wagon too.
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- #795 of 1145
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Re: Need help with final [family] car choice! [shawbeg] [jeffyscott] [shawbeg]
by cccompson
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Jan 23, 2009 (6:10 pm)
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Replying to: shawbeg (Jan 23, 2009 12:24 pm)
"Spacious interior" and decent highway mileage requirements = minivan. Quite frankly, with two growing teens, their friends, and luggage, it's hard to see how anything else fits the bill. And you should be able to get a very nice late model Odyssey or Sienna for 15K or less.
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- #796 of 1145
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Re: Need help with final [family] car choice! [shawbeg]
by plekto
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Jan 23, 2009 (11:27 pm)
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Replying to: shawbeg (Jan 23, 2009 11:31 am)
If you don't mind (or prefer) driving manual, there is another car that might fit the bill quite nicely. A 4-5 year old Mercedes C230K sedan. This is a sedan with the 1.8L Kompressor engine. ~190HP and a reliable 30mpg on the highway. If you avoid the automatic and the nav and other high-tech idiocy, the vehicle is very reliable and good to drive. Oh, and avoid the automatic. Seriously. Mercedes and Chrysler both made rubbish (reliability) automatics before the merger and nothing changed during or after with either one.
And right in your price range.
Another good choice is a 4 cylinder Altima. Larger and consistently gets 30mpg highway.
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- #797 of 1145
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Re: Need help with final [family] car choice! [shawbeg] [jeffyscott] [shawb
by shawbeg
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Jan 24, 2009 (6:24 am)
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Replying to: cccompson (Jan 23, 2009 6:10 pm)
cccompson -- The Mazda 5s get slightly better gas mileage than the Odysseys or Siennas without a huge compromise on room. Any reason why you didn't "endorse" the MZ5?
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- #798 of 1145
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Re: Need help with final [family] car choice! [shawbeg] [plekto]
by shawbeg
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Jan 24, 2009 (6:28 am)
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Replying to: plekto (Jan 23, 2009 11:27 pm)
plekto - NO problem with manual. Prefer it, actually, though it is more difficult to find in a used "family" car. Again, though, the Mercedes mpg is about the same as the MZ5, so why go there? I'm not entirely sold on the 5, really (I'm starting to sound like a commercial for them, I know), but I'm wondering what's *wrong* with them that folks consistently suggest alternatives. What am I missing? Must go back and re-read these posts. Maybe there was something in there that I've forgotten. 
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- #799 of 1145
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Consider the Vibe as well
by suydam
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Jan 24, 2009 (6:48 am)
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If you like the Matrix, the Pontiac Vibe is basically the same vehicle but sells for less. They can be hard to find used but I really like ours. However, for the size of your family and their ages, I would think a minivan would really be more comfortable. Toyota Sienna gets decent mileage and could haul kids, friends, and gear with ease. A wagon isn't that much cooler than a minivan really!
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- #800 of 1145
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Re: Need help with final [family] car choice! [shawbeg] [jeffyscott] [shawb [shawbeg]
by sebring95
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Jan 24, 2009 (7:49 am)
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Replying to: shawbeg (Jan 24, 2009 6:24 am)
Since I own an '05 Ody I'll chime in here....have you really compared a MZ5 to an Odyssey? The Odyssey is HUGE. We traded our Tahoe on the Odyssey to get more room. Ody is over 2' longer than MZ5 and beats most interior spec's by 5"-10". It makes your Vanagon look like a sub-compact. And the mpg is is quite a bit lower on the Ody....which makes sense because it has an extra 90hp and 1,000# of heft. Any of the new "mini" vans are superior people/stuff haulers to nearly anything else. We regularly have 6 on board plus plenty of bags and everyone is very comfy. But you pay a penalty for it in mpg for sure. Ours does 19-20 in normal duty and will do 22-24 on the highway. I think the MZ5 would work out fine for you as long as you're not going over 4 pax with gear. With the 3rd row up the cargo space falls drastically.
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- #801 of 1145
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Re: Need help with final [family] car choice! [shawbeg] [jeffyscott] [shawb [shawbeg]
by cccompson
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Jan 24, 2009 (2:23 pm)
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Replying to: shawbeg (Jan 24, 2009 6:24 am)
sebring95 has summed it up nicely - they're simply different animals. I will say, though, that I had no trouble getting 28 mpg at 65 mph on the highway in my since traded VCM equipped '05 Odyssey.
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- #802 of 1145
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Re: Need help with final [family] car choice! [shawbeg] [sebring95] [shawbeg]
by jeffyscott
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Jan 24, 2009 (3:04 pm)
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Replying to: shawbeg (Jan 23, 2009 1:09 pm)
What I found with our minivan as the kids got older and bigger is it really was not all that great for them in terms of leg room and seat comfort. Since we had 3 kids the seating was nice in that we did not have to do 3 across, and because of that I think it was still the best possible option. Had we only had 2 kids, though I think a sedan or conventional wagon may have been better.
In our minivan, the rear seats seemed to be designed with small ones in mind, not large teenagers. The second row bucket seats were smaller than the ones in front. The third row bench had pretty a low back in addition to a short seat cushion like the 2nd row buckets. The leg room also was not great for adult size people. I've seen this in some SUVs too, in another way...in those sometime the horizontal leg room looks plentiful, but when you sit you find the seat is low and there is not enough room to stretch out your legs so you end up perched with knees up.
I don't know how the rear leg room is but the Focus wagon has a lot of cargo space for it's size.
On the gas mileage, there was a good point made about the very small difference between hwy and city mpg for your vehicle, but sounds like your driving is more like highway than city. Take a look at the test schedules EPA uses, to see if that is so: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml
My own commute is far more similar to their hwy schedule (or a cross between hwy and high speed, which is what I think the highway rating is based on) than the city one and I typically get about that mpg, at least when it is not too cold.
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