unexpected car shopping for 7 passenger - Help!

[quentina]

I have a 2011 Chevy Traverse....drives like a minivan (and looks like one inside minus the electric door/hatch). Sets 8 with 2 bench seats, 7 with captain chairs. I love mine. It does take some getting used to the transmission--automatic 6 speed (I think)---sometimes it shift weird. That is the only negative I have.

 

[homedad]

had an Acadia(2011) and thought it was cheaply built and not very good quality. Traded it for a 2013 Durango and like it much better. If you do like the Acadia, consumer reports says quality is better on the Enclave and Traverse so I'd look at them if you like the vehicle platform.

 

[wgqual]

I have a Honda Pilot and absolutely love it ! Actually I am on my second one. Had the first one for 6 years and traded last year for a new one . Seats 8 and drives incredibly well . We always drive it to disney - 12 hours and are very comfortable . Good luck !

I 2nd that. We are on our second Pilot.

 

[tinker&belle]

I have a 2007 Odyssey and I don't think I will drive any other type of car until the kids are all moved out. I truly love it. It handles well, is comfy, has great bells and whistles.

 

[AJKMOM]

Just wanted to say that I feel bad for you, but you cannot let your emotions get the best of you. You might feel bad for the kid that hit you, but he broke the law and changed your life, and not in a good way. Take what ever the police can get for you to be reimbursed for your damages. Your company will most likely go after him. They will pay your bills and find him. Then, if they get all the money, you might get reimbursed for your deductible. You might have to sue if you have injuries.

PS. Unless your kids are willing to chip in , get a vehicle that best suits your needs, be it a van. Most SUV's don't get that good of mileage.

 

[iteach7th]

Thanks guys for all your suggestions - I am making a list and am planning on checking all of them out. So much better to get "true testimonials" instead of car salesman opinions! I am still waiting on the insurance adjuster to give me his opinion before I start shopping. DH says get rid of the wreck even if insurance wants to fix it and get something else.

The guy wound up not having insurance, the coverage expired at the end of May on the car he was driving. I am hoping Allstate will go after him so I can at least get my deductible back - I'll know more when I hear from the adjuster. We had just switched to Allstate 2 months ago so even though we are accident free, I hadn't had time to work down from the $400 deductible. In the meantime, DS and I are sharing his car. My friends at the police station are also trying to do what they can to make sure the guy driving and owner of the car are penalized for not having the mandatory liability insurance that our state requires.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I have a 2011 Chevy Traverse....drives like a minivan (and looks like one inside minus the electric door/hatch). Sets 8 with 2 bench seats, 7 with captain chairs. I love mine. It does take some getting used to the transmission--automatic 6 speed (I think)---sometimes it shift weird. That is the only negative I have.

I sometimes use the manual mode to defeat the transmission shift points

 

[girli565]

I don't believe the new Santa Fe has the optional third row anymore. The more expensive SUV is the Hyundai that has it now.

My husband and I are looking at a Kia sorento, it has an optional third row and is well within our price range we want to spend. It's gotten decent reviews and has competitive gas mileage compared to other smaller SUVs in its class.

 

[momof3ds]

There are 2 versions of the Hyundai Santa Fe. One with a 3rd row and one without.

 

[Vickibean]

I have a 2012 Kia Sorento. It just rolled over 20,000 miles and I like the versatility of having a 3rd row (though I wouldn't put anybody over 5 feet tall in it). I have had problems with the brakes making horrible noise. Corporate Kia has been less than helpful in dealing with this. One dealer told us he sees half a dozen Sorentos with this problem in a week. Another dealer said they are recommending brake jobs at 15,000 miles.

 

[Fab4@disney]

Here's my opinion: I have worked in the office of car dealerships for about 15 years. I currently work for a GMC/Buick dealer and would stay away from the GMC products(mechanics feedback). However the Buick Enclave is very nice.

I strayed away from the GM brand and bought a brand new 2012 Honda Odyssey. I owned it for 8 months before trading it in because I hated it that badI know I am in the minority here, sorry. I now own a new Dodge Durango and like it much better. I also have had a 2008 Ford Expedition that was the best truck I ever owned!

Good luck to you in this unfortunate situation

 

[girli565]

There are 2 versions of the Hyundai Santa Fe. One with a 3rd row and one without.

Per this article http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Hyundai-Santa-Fe-Overview-d94

A third-row bench seat, which expanded seating to seven, was available for a few years starting in 2007, during the Santa Fe's second generation, but was discontinued in 2010.

there is no more third row in the less expensive versions.

And on the Hyundai website the ones that have the additional row are pricey. For that price I would purchase something else.

 

[pigletto]

Per this article http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Hyundai-Santa-Fe-Overview-d94
there is no more third row in the less expensive versions.

And on the Hyundai website the ones that have the additional row are pricey. For that price I would purchase something else.

The Sante Fe Sport seats 5. The Sante Fe XL seats 7. Both have 2013 models and will be coming out with 2014 models. Yes the XL is pricier but it is a different model than the Sport.

 

[jpcamaro70]

Here's my opinion: I have worked in the office of car dealerships for about 15 years. I currently work for a GMC/Buick dealer and would stay away from the GMC products(mechanics feedback). However the Buick Enclave is very nice.

I strayed away from the GM brand and bought a brand new 2012 Honda Odyssey. I owned it for 8 months before trading it in because I hated it that badI know I am in the minority here, sorry. I now own a new Dodge Durango and like it much better. I also have had a 2008 Ford Expedition that was the best truck I ever owned!

Good luck to you in this unfortunate situation

Don't take the mechanics word for it. They all ***** about the cars they work on day in and day out. That's all they have to work on so they have little or nothing to compare it too.

It's the same story at every dealer, the mechanics usually don't recommend the cars they work on. Same thing at mine.

GM cars are pretty good, a lot more sound then some of the cars mentioned here.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I agree. Toyotas have a great reputation, but talk to any Toyota mechanic, and they'll have a leg-long list of things they consider to be frequent problems.

 

[cvjw]

Just purchased a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder (the newly restyled one), and love it. It seats 7 with fold down seats and gets good gas mileage. We just drove it to Disney and it got 26 mpg on the highway (much better than the Toyota Sienna that we used to have).

I will say that we just sat in the Chevy Traverse at the end of Test Track and could not believe how cheap it felt on the inside. It was also more expensive than my new Pathfinder, and had MUCH fewer options than my SUV has. The model outside of TT was about $2000 more than my vehicle, and did not have leather seats, a sunroof (mine has 2), or keyless entry and ignition. That was all we noticed off the bat, but I'm sure there were other differences.

 

[Mama Who]

I don't know the Santa Fe, but when I was shopping what I heard from everyone was "I love my Sienna." "Have you looked at a Sienna?" "I wish I'd bought a Sienna." Then I told my mechanic I needed a van and he said, "You know what you should get? A Sienna."

That clinched it. I bought a Toyota Sienna and I've had it a little over a year. I love it. It has needed oil changes and regularly scheduled maintenance and has shown no sign of problems. I have 108K on it right now and my mechanic says it will probably double to triple that before wearing out. He said (and it turned out to be true so far) that if I bought the Sienna he would see a lot less of me than when I had the catastrophically lousy PT Cruiser. I can live with that!

 

[Turbanator]

Great suggestions everyone, keep them coming

 

[mommy2mygirls]

I 2nd that. We are on our second Pilot.

I 3rd that (although I'm still on my first - bought it new in 2007 and it's only got about 60,000 miles on it). We just came back from a trip to DLR where we rented a Toyota Sienna. It was a nice car and all, but it seemed harder to drive than my Pilot. My Pilot is so easy to drive, it doesn't feel big at all like the minivan did. The third row does split and it's so easy to put up and down. I'm constantly reconfiguring it because I do daycare and it all depends on how many kids I have each day. Good luck!

 

[lovin'fl]

We sold our old Dodge Caravan last summer. We thought, now that the kids are teens, that we could go with a 5 seater car (I just didn't want to be driving a minivan anymore and we want to save on gas, so the big SUVs were unappealing in that sense). We got a Subaru Outback for the huge trunk space since my 2 DDs play softball and we need space for all their gear. It is a fantastic car...we LOVE it, but we have regretted not getting a 7 seater vehicle. There are so many times when we have an extra kid or 2 wanting to tag along and we can't take them. We also like to drive to vacations and cramming the 3 kids in the backseat together for very long just won't work. So, I guess I don't have a suggestion except to say that you stick with a 7 seater. I will say one SUV I liked was a Buick Enclave and I also liked a GMC Acadia, though never test drove them or anything.