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Suggestions For Family Vehicle


ICrappedMyPants

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On 6/25/2020 at 3:33 PM, JamesRobot said:

Camaros have back seats.  Just sayin...

My parents used to have a large fifties Nash that (like even the smaller Nash Ramblers) had fold down backs on the front seat that could be laid down flush with the rear seat to make one contiguous surface. My whole family (5 kids and parents) wound up sleeping in it one night while on an erstwhile camping trip wherein a severe thunderstorm literally blew away (and collapsed) our tent.

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Edited by Tabonga
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1 hour ago, Tabonga said:

As long as it was not a 1981!  Mrs. Tabonga's mother had one and it was a nightmare.  Virtually all of the Cadillacs that year* had a godawful engine that had a miserable variable cylinder system where the engine would operate on either 8, 6 or 4 cylinders in an effort to save fuel**.  As a result the thing would constantly change the number of  cylinders being used according to some arcane mystic formula the computer (that term is being used generously since it really wasn't up to the task - I think an abacus would have performed better) conjured up.  As a result it had absolutely no acceleration which was extremely problematic when you wanted to perform a task as simple as merging into traffic.  The digital readouts would not give you a reading as to how much gas was actually in the tank - it gave you an estimate of the range you had - so you would be plugging along on 4 cylinders and you had say a couple of hundred miles - if and when you managed to get the behemoth to run on 8 cylinders the estimated fuel range would drop to say under  50 miles. So you never knew how much fuel was in (or more importantly perhaps not in) the tank.  I think Cadillac replaced some engines or offered to disconnect the system so the cars ran on 8 cylinders only.  A more miserable vehicle I have never driven.

*The Sevilles could be ordered with a reportedly equally problematic V-8 diesel.

**The beast got terrible terrible mileage anyway.

 

 

What do you know, my '11 Chevy Tahoe has that technology and it still sucks (c'mon GM).  Mine hops from 8cyl to 4cyl and many enthusiasts disable that feature to increase the engine reliability (I still need to look into that...).

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50 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

It wasn't that long ago that a Lincoln Towncar was my dream car. 😛I hope Lincoln brings that nameplate back at some point.

 

The mid-2000s Towncar is beautiful in my eyes, with a very reliable drivetrain.

They've brought back the Continental now as their flagship and boy, it is gorgeous.  They've got some limited # ones with suicide doors too, I believe.  Don't trust their newer engines though, I believe they ecoboosted that one too.

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Just now, JamesRobot said:

Beauty.  I'd drive that any day.  

That wasn't ours - looks like that one is at a car show (and likely restored) - IIRC ours was black and several years old when we had it (cars back then did not last nearly as long as they do these days).

But it would be a gas to have one today.

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  • 7 months later...

Just an update, the van has been awesome. We’ve used it for two cross country trips to see family this year. The ability to slide the seats sideways in the second row has been great. It has allowed my wife to sit next to the baby in the second row and get the kids into the back easier. We couldn’t be happier. It’s a great van. I highly recommend it to anyone looking.

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6 minutes ago, ICrappedMyPants said:

Just an update, the van has been awesome. We’ve used it for two cross country trips to see family this year. The ability to slide the seats sideways in the second row has been great. It has allowed my wife to sit next to the baby in the second row and get the kids into the back easier. We couldn’t be happier. It’s a great van. I highly recommend it to anyone looking.

What did you get?

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2 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said:

What did you get?

Sorry, meant to say that I went with the Honda. It was cheaper and I really didn’t need the AWD. Having a hybrid for the Toyota would have been nice, but the Honda was more comfortable and the acceleration was so much smoother.

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6 minutes ago, ICrappedMyPants said:

Sorry, meant to say that I went with the Honda. It was cheaper and I really didn’t need the AWD. Having a hybrid for the Toyota would have been nice, but the Honda was more comfortable and the acceleration was so much smoother.

Me too!  It also had more power.  Love the thing.  The ease of changing seating configurations is awesome. Also, first vehicle with backup cameras.  I can never go back to the old way 😂 

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You probably still have some miles in there. Hopefully, prices will be down by then. I was fortunate to get in before the chip market shortage and while the demand was low. My parents got 375K miles out of their 2004 Odyssey before having to replace it and my 2003 Accord had about 275K before we got the van.

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Social Team · Posted
On 6/25/2020 at 5:42 PM, ICrappedMyPants said:

I live in the suburbs of Chicago, but if we ever had to move to the NE to help my in-laws, then I’d likely need AWD. The wife really likes Subaru’s, but we have concerns about being able to get the kids in and out easily. I’m also looking for something that seats 7+ as we would try to have at least one more kid. 

I have an Outback and my Godfather has been a mechanic for Subaru for decades.  They are reliable company and fit for rust belt of America.  I do have some hesitation on the Ascent since it's a new model.  

Tesla offers a 3 row Model Y..... Don't know your budget but seriously, Tesla's are safest crash vehicle on the road, drive amazing, and their range should never be an issue for you.....even road trips.  There are other issues that need to be considered like where are you putting a 220v outlet.  Can your breaker box handle that new line/amperage.  Just don't be an idiot and think the car is self driving and you'll be fine.  We've had the Model 3 for over a year and we will never go back to a gasoline/diesel vehicle again.  We did one road trip to NC from OH and realized road trips are no problem.

So if not a Tesla or Subaru I'd totally go Toyota.  A friend of mine has twins coming and had the same issue as you.  He really liked the Sienna and bought one that is a hybrid.

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