Driving to the world, which car, WWYD?

[becca011906]

Ok me and dh are going back for forth on this one... we took my grandparents van last year b/c we were worried about space issues and what not in my dodge intrepid and having to do 3 car seats across, and we were driving all night straight threw and 16 hours ect.... so now we have bough a new car it's a landrover discovery (GAS HOG) but it's got 3 rows of seats and roof storage, ect. we can't decide if we shoudl take the intrepid and get 27 miles to a gallon and make the kids sit 3 arcross, no cup holders in the back, no room for stuff excpet on the floor boards, but we feel confident with out the HUGE double stroller, and stuff we can fit all the lugage and food int he big intrepid trunk... but i don't know

the land rover has 2 jump seats in the back and a bench in the middle, usally we have the girls in the middle row outboard and then ds in the back jump seat, then they all have cup holders, room for their stuff next to them on the seats, not side by side by side, but the gas milage on the things (hold you breath please..... ) 16 highway miles to a gallon and about 10 town miles to a gallon...

so to drive the land rover it would be about 150 more to drive it... Help me weight the pros and cons please!!!

On we have a dvd player built in the roof of the landrover but it's broke right now and being looked up in 2 weeks, we have our lap top they could use to watch in the intrepid or maybe by a portable...

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Personally, on a drive from Indiana to Florida, the added comfort of the Discovery would outweigh the cost of the gas. In addition if you can get the TV fixed, that should keep the kids nice and quiet in the back

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

I would probably go with more room even though the gas milage is not great. It will mostly be highway miles anyway. 16 hours in a car with three kids, you will want all the room you can get! Plus if you go with the laptop for a DVD player, that thing could move or fly around the car if you ahve to slam on the brakes for any reason. The last thing you need is a possible injury.

 

[vital]

Here's a website for you to go to and it calculates your gas for you. You might be surpirised at how little the gas difference really is.
I just bought a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder. I turned in a 2001 Maxima for it. I wouldn't trade the room for anything in the world even though it's just my son and I. I feel safer in general and he likes being able to see over briges into the rivers. I'll be driving in October and the gas difference is only $20 and certainly worth it for me!

http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/TripGasPrice.aspx

 

[becca011906]

That is the web site i used to figure the gas milage it will cost $280.00 to drive the discovery and it will only be $165.00 to drive the intrepid. So it really $115 more expensive to drive it... we plan to leave around 4 pm and drive till around 11 or so then stop for the night, and get going early in the morning to the resort...

 

[bgirl29]

Don't forget if you have to go out and buy a portable dvd player that will cost you most of your savings anyways. Personally I would drive the larger vehicle, just the extra room would be worth it to me. Unless you do most of your driving at night and the kids would be sleeping most of the time?

Whatever you decide don't worry too much you are going to Disney!!!

 

[becca011906]

although it will cost me the same to get the broken dvd player fixed in the discovery around $100, and i can get a portable for just a little more then that...

 

[djpositivek]

Did you buy the landrover new ? And is the dvd player built in ? Because it would be under warranty possibly.

 

[becca011906]

oh no it's not new, we couldn't get a new one for that price!! YIKES! Ours was 39K new, we paid only 17K for it off ebay about 6 months ago, it had the factory warrenty til 50K miles and we now have 51K, and the DVD was added on buy the previous owner... so that won't work either.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Is this a budget disney trip? If not, $115 is not a big deal in the big scheme of things. However, if you are concerning this a budget trip, take the intrepid, it will not be the end of the world, people do it all the time. Besides you and your family survived the trip once and you already know what to expect. For me the drive would be 24 hours and I would probably be ready to check myself into a looney bin after a trip like that, 16 hours I might consider. I would drive through the night so the kids slept most of the way.

 

[becca011906]

we are kinda in limbo on if this is a budget trip or not! LOL we are kinda waiting to decide on a lot of stuff when we figure out how much tax $$ We are getting back ! LOL so maybe that will be the deciding factor on what we drive when we decide our budget! LOL

 

[ctjsowens]

I would take the Landrover and get the TV fixed or use a laptop player. I love having extra room when traveling. We traded on Tuesday for a new Ford Freestar Limited and one of the reasons is the upcoming trip to Disney. We had a Expedition with plenty of room that we gave back to the leasing company and thought we would try a car since the fuel prices increased. The car was nice for being close to home but when we traveled it was a headache. We had a Chevy Impala and the wife loved it but we had to do something because of the room and thats why we traded. The Freestar is the first vehicle we've ever had with a dvd/tv in it and I think it will pay off for us quickly.

 

[becca011906]

seems like the vertic is take the big old expensive gas hog! LOL i think this is best b/c we are taking my mom and step dad (they got married over the summer after 12 years of being together) going as a gift from us, it's our timeshare... so the room is free to them...
anyways if we all want to go somewhere we can all 7 fit in the land rover... like the off chance they might want to go to dinsey with us it would safe 2 cars parking fees... we could take one, or when we go to the beach for the day, we only have to drive on car, ect...