Any opinions on these vehicles?

[design_mom]

When I bought my last car, I looked at the Mazda CX-7 the Rav4 and the Honda CRV. I picked the CRV and have been very happy with it. It is big enough for our family of 4 (kids are the same ages as yours) to go on a week's vacation. I get about 25 mpg in my suburban driving. It goes well in the snow. My son's hockey gear all fits in the back. The other thing I really liked is that the console doesn't extend all the way between the two front seats. There was a place to put my purse (there wasn't in the other two.)

Good luck! I hate car shopping, but I'm happy with my pick and it sounds like our criteria are similar.

 

[Sorsha]

We just had a Dodge Journey as our rental car in FL at the beginning of October.

We really liked it; in fact it has made our Short List of cars we are looking at to buy when we will be in the market for a new car in the spring. It was very comfortable, got decent gas mileage (for an SUV), had convenient fold-away 3rd row seats (a MUST for us), and DH really liked the way it drove. It had good cargo room too.

We haven't researched it too much more than that yet, but we were very pleased with it for the week that we drove it.

 

[JoanGirardi]

We got a 2010 Chevy Equinox in June and have been very happy with our choice. We average about 22-24 mpg, and that's a big improvement from what we got in our Dodge Caravan (16-17 mpg). It seats 5 comfortably, with room in the back for all our chairs and other soccer stuff. 2 thumbs up!

 

[ReneeA]

I really love my Dodge Journey. I bought it new in 2/10, and only paid $19,800 for the SXT model. It's got a V6 and nicely equipped. THE only thing I wish I had added was the 3rd row seating. It seats 4 adults comfortably, 5 when you have 3 children in the backseat...but I wish I had the same seating as my minivan.

I really flip flopped between it and the Equinox as my dad works for the UAW and I got employee pricing on both vehicles. It came down to price and availability. The Dodge was $4,000 less than the Chevy, and that wasn't even a fair price comparison since the Chevy was only a 4 cylinder. At that time, the Equinox was behind in production and I was going to have to wait a couple months. DH's car was needing a new transmission, so I needed my new car NOW.

Good luck. I really dislike new car shopping. It's not an easy process.

 

[merekc]

I recently purchased a new car after having (and hating) a Kia minivan. My first suggestion is don't go Kia. Right now you can get great cars, at great pricing and great interest rates. The Kia is a lesser quality vehicle that will decrease in value a lot faster than other cars and have no value by the time you pay it off. No offense to other Kia owners, this is from my experience.

My criteria was to have a car that rated pretty much excellent/very good across the board on Consumer Reports (CR) and keep it under 25K. I also struggled with how small I could go after a minivan. I was thinking about a small suv or crossover, but actually found some of the mid-size suv's (Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander) could be purchased used (in practically new condition) in my price range.

Other than the RAV4, when I look at your list I don't remember having any of them as possible choices which tells me their CR ratings weren't as high as I liked or their new pricing appeared to be out of my price range. You might want to check them against the CR ratings to make sure they meet your minimum criteria.

The cars that I originally started looking at were Subaru Forrester, Nissan Rogue and Honda CR-V. I ended up adding Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander to the list as previously indicated. I looked at some other cars as well but they never made the "official" list for me.

I would recommend finding the time to test drive as many of the cars as you can. The cars I thought I was most interested in, I didn't like when I drove them. I would also use the dealer's websites to look at their used inventory (if you are considering them).

Good Luck!

ETA: I would add the Honda CR-V to your list to check out. Of the smaller vehicles, it was my favorite to drive and I think averaged around 27 mpg.

 

[2goofycampers]

We also were looking and got the Mercury Mariner, since this is the last year for Mercury they are giving some great deals to move them out.

Here is a ranking list.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/Affordable-Compact-SUVs/

 

[jodifla]

OP--this is our house also. We have had nothing but good luck with the Mariner. It is my husband's daily driver and his commute is 100 miles round trip. He has already stated when the time comes, if they are still making one he would buy another. His is about 4 years old and has needed nothing but scheduled maintenance. It is pretty good for hauling, but nothing like a mini-van's hauling ability without the seats.

The thing I would suggest is that whatever car you decide on you make sure it is comfortable in the backseat for your kids. I know the Mariner/Escape is okay, I have sat in the back for some decent length trips 6-8 hours. I also know that a 2 hr trip in the back of a Jeep has me walking funny, and a 30 minute ride in the Kia backseat had me looking to buy a bus ticket home.

We just got a Mariner as well, and LOVE it! I'm getting almost 25 miles a gallon with it. It's a 2008. Nice versatile vehicle.

And because it was used, we got it at less than $15,000.

 

[manning]

You might want to do your homework on leasing. It can be a financial minefield for some.

The most expensive way to have a car!!!!