Graduating from the minivan...

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

So, it's about to time replace our Chrysler T&C minivan. Since my oldest is a senior next year, I think it's high time I at least got 7 passenger SUV! At first I was in love with the Buick Enclave, but wasn't thrilled with the price. So upon looking closer I see that the Chevy Traverse appears to be very close to the same vehicle with a lower price and fewer bells and whistles. My dh likes the Traverse better since the Enclave is a bit fancy for his taste..lol. I have to admit that I like the looks of it too. So can anyone recommend either of these vehicles, and if not please give me any recommendations that you would like.

 

[HLAuburn]

Have you looked at the GMC Acadia? It's the "same car" as the Enclave, but a less fancy version.

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

Have you looked at the GMC Acadia? It's the "same car" as the Enclave, but a less fancy version.

Well I've only been looking online so far, but I think I like the shape of the other two better. Of course when I begin test driving them my thoughts may change.

 

[mafibisha]

We've had two T & Cs and on our second Traverse. We've loved them all.

In our Traverse we can easily haul our kids and two of their friends as it easily seats 8. The 3rd row is less roomy but our oldest teens sit there often with one of their friends. And oldest DS is 6'1"

Have fun shopping!

 

[emer95]

My husband has a new Traverse and he loves it. Im not a fan. It has almost zero trunk space, and I have a really difficult time with the visibility, front and rear.

FWIW, I am looking to replace my 2004 T & C also. I'm looking for a smaller crossover, since my husband has a 7 seater. We only have two kids, so I'm looking at the Rav 4, Subaru Outlook, and Honda CRV.

 

[JessB320]

We have an expedition. I really like it and it's held up really well (it's an 2007)

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

We've had two T & Cs and on our second Traverse. We've loved them all.

In our Traverse we can easily haul our kids and two of their friends as it easily seats 8. The 3rd row is less roomy but our oldest teens sit there often with one of their friends. And oldest DS is 6'1"

Have fun shopping!

That sounds great!

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

My husband has a new Traverse and he loves it. Im not a fan. It has almost zero trunk space, and I have a really difficult time with the visibility, front and rear.

FWIW, I am looking to replace my 2004 T & C also. I'm looking for a smaller crossover, since my husband has a 7 seater. We only have two kids, so I'm looking at the Rav 4, Subaru Outlook, and Honda CRV.

Oh no! I definitely don't want to have visibility problems. I read some reports that said the Traverse had more trunk space than most others in its class, so I'm guessing there must not be much space in any of them. Hmm, we have three kids and sometimes make two week trips to Florida so I need space!

 

[Swimalie]

What about the Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander? You can't go wrong with either brand.

 

[tantoria2]

We just purchased a Traverse Friday! I love it so far. We also have three kids and our oldest daughter is 5’8. The back seat still fits her fine. We have captains chairs in the middle seat and they are adjustable forward and back in order to accommodate leg room if need be
I was looking at several crossovers and the Traverse has the most cargo space of its class for sure. It is similar to a Tahoe, not huge like a mini van by any stretch… but manageable. We bought ours a year old with very low miles and got it fully loaded ( leather,DVD, 2 sun roofs, heated seats etc) for just under $24,000! I thought this was an amazing deal! If you are in the market for used, check out carguru.com and look at used cars in your area. It will tell you if the price listed is below market ( great deal, good, deal, average deal etc) it is a great way to see what cars in your area are going for so when you find a deal you can jump on it

 

[momof3ds]

We switched from our minivan to a 2010 hyundai veracruz. Have had if for a few months and very happy.

Hyundai has phased out the veracruz this year and made the santa fe a 5 or 7 seater. I think this is why we got the deal we did.

We have 3 kids so everyone fits fine. But, if we fill all the seats for a trip (bringing a friend, etc), we are going to need to get a luggage rack for the roof.

 

[donaldlovesdaisy]

What about the Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander? You can't go wrong with either brand.

ITA prior to buying a Toyota I had two different Chevy SUVs and had nothing but problems and their value depreciated so badly even though I paid invoice for each one . I can only imagine how sad it would have been had I paid sticker price! My husband and I both love our toyotas and I recently checked the value of mine and after 3 years it is still worth 10000 more them I owe! They only negative I can think of is the factory tires that comes on them are not so great and both of us had to get new ones after 30000 but other then that no problems!

 

[cvjw]

We just traded in our 7 year old Toyota Sienna for a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. We do not buy American made cars (been there, done that, nothing but trouble), so we were only considering the Pathfinder and the Highlander. We decided on the Pathfinder because it has just been redesigned and it had so much more to offer than the Highlander. We are beyond thrilled with the Pathfinder. It gets great gas mileage, looks fabulous, and is so luxurious.

Just FYI about the PP who stated that Toyota's hold there value better than other cars. The dealership gave us almost 1/2 the purchase price of our 7 year old Sienna towards the Pathfinder. We could have gotten more if we sold the van ourselves, but did not want the hassle.

 

[rusty4]

I want to get rid of my T&C so bad too. I have had my eye on the Ford Flex for years. It is so roomy inside! It is more roomy than any other crossover we have tried. We are a tall family so leg room is important. Some people do not like the look of it. I love it. Might want to check it out and see what you think. I would suggest really checking out the interior before saying no to it because you may find you really like it.

We don't want a car payment right now. So we are trying to put off buying for as long as we can. But the van thing is certainly getting old!

Here is Edmund's review.
Good luck! I am jealous. Wish I was car shopping.

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/flex/20...d=ga48382528&gclid=CIann5v6q7UCFcKaPAodeyUAgA

 

[pyrxtc]

I have had my Traverse for about 2 years now. I got it with all the bells and whistles off a lot with towing capacity. I had them throw in a Hitch mounted stowage compartment and it's even better than trunk space. I told them that we would buy right then and there is they gave us that and installed it at no cost. It was a done deal. At first the guy had no clue they even offered it as and accessory and they tried to get me to do a roof rack but I said no way with the sun roofs. This is easier to use and stores tons of stuff. great for the beach... no more sand in the car.

It took me a little bit to get used to the size difference and to be able to see out the back enough but it wasn't that long and I love my traverse now. Make sure that if you go leather and get heated seats that you get cooled seats too. You don't have to buy local either. We bought ours while on vacation in FL and drove back to NH with it.

 

[jmac323]

I'm loving this post. I am upgrading from a small Honda Civic to a 7 seater SUV this year. I've been researching and here's what I'm finding:

- Honda Pilot (two friends have these and I must say they are very roomy and I like the new look too)
- Dodge Durango (I owned an older model before my Civic and it was ok. At the time we rarely used the third row so that left tons of back trunk space). This is not my first pick though.
- GMC Acadia- Cousin just bought one and loves it with her two teenage boys. I'm not fond of the price point on the GMC and started looking at the Traverse.
- Chevy Traverse- I really like the body style, and was worried about trunk space for sporting gear and camping stuff.
- Toyota Highlander- a schoolmate of mine has one and it is super roomy and comfortable. He has a new one and it's his second time buying one. I love it but again, the price point is higher.

My plan now is to drive each of these and narrow it down to 2-3 and then find the one with the best deal with all the goodies I want.
-

 

[ToodlesRN]

I had a Volvo xc90 which I loved ( bought invoice price through Costco) had it a year didn't have enough truck space for our big dog, stroller etc. traded it for a Tahoe (had one before Volvo) and its perfect for our family of 2 kids plus dog. We do alot of family activities camping, biking, road trips and hauling family around to gatherings with the 3rd seats. I don't like the wood grain trim so I got the z71 package and trim is a grayish color looks so much better than the wood grain!!

I looked at the Honda pilot and Acadia they were great too, but this was in 2009!

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

I have had my Traverse for about 2 years now. I got it with all the bells and whistles off a lot with towing capacity. I had them throw in a Hitch mounted stowage compartment and it's even better than trunk space. I told them that we would buy right then and there is they gave us that and installed it at no cost. It was a done deal. At first the guy had no clue they even offered it as and accessory and they tried to get me to do a roof rack but I said no way with the sun roofs. This is easier to use and stores tons of stuff. great for the beach... no more sand in the car.

It took me a little bit to get used to the size difference and to be able to see out the back enough but it wasn't that long and I love my traverse now. Make sure that if you go leather and get heated seats that you get cooled seats too. You don't have to buy local either. We bought ours while on vacation in FL and drove back to NH with it.

That sounds great!

 

[bdcp]

We graduated from our minivan after our kids were out of college. I had a Plymouth Grand Voyager and now have a Honda Pilot. There is a lot more room and legroom in the minivan than in the Pilot. I also could pack my kids up for college in the minivan and couldn't have done the same in the suv. The minivan has a lot more room. I'm so glad we kept the minivan throughout college. And, yes, a Pilot seats "8" but the rear seats are not meant for adults at all. We could seat 7 in our old minivan and still had room for luggage, not so in the Pilot.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

What a coincidence, this is exactly what I did last April. I sold my T&C and bought a Traverse. I don't usually buy new cars, but when I was shopping around it seemed that there was such a small price difference between new and used that I decided to go with new.

I got the basic model with 8 seats, not captains seats. The salesman tried to convince me to get the captains in the middle, but I wanted seating for 8 so the kids could bring a friend sometimes and also because I just knew that they would end up throwing a bunch of crap in between the seats and it would be a mess. I don't regret my decision. I also love On Star and all of the air bags, it makes me feel better about my teens borrowing it.

The only thing I would recommend, as another poster mentioned, it does seem to have more blind spots so I would get a model with a back-up camera. Now that I've been driving it awhile I think it may just seem that way because I'm not used to the size and I've gotten more comfortable backing it so it's not that bad, but I would still suggest it.

The trunk space is small compared to the T&C, but not compared to other crossovers. We have vacationed with it once and found we had enough room for all of our luggage because of the third row split seat, we put one side down and that gave us the room we needed.