What kind of car do you drive down with...

[Kazzy1548]

Hello everyone,
We are in the process of changing the family car. We are thinking of purchasing a toyota corrolla or a nissan sentra. We also plan to drive down in August with the family. How was your experience driving with thes cars??? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Hello everyone,
We are in the process of changing the family car. We are thinking of purchasing a toyota corrolla or a nissan sentra. We also plan to drive down in August with the family. How was your experience driving with thes cars??? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

never drove down before, but both those vehicles are small for a family to travel such a long way and include all the luggage - unless you're a family of 2 that is.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

I cant speak of those cars. We have driven in many cars to the south. These are in order.
79 VW rabbit
87 Olds cutlass
86 Chev Astro short body
01 Chev Astro Long body
This year we are going down in a 04 Chev Suburban. They keep on getting bigger but way more comfortable. In our case 20 plus hours of driving means we better have comfort. If we were worried about fuel milage we would be taking my wifes 07 Ford Escape. Smaller and not as roomie. For traveling we have found bigger is better. That is us though. There are four of us going 2 kids my wife and myself.

 

[brytorlyn]

WE drive down in our Honda Odyssey. It's comfortable and roomy.

I agree the cars you are mentioning are fairly small but might be fine if you don't need to jam 3 kids, their suitcases, pillows, blankets, toys etc in the back.

 

[aristocat65]

I have had my Corolla since it was new 6 years ago. (Mine's the one with the Mickey on the antenna) I love it. It's fuel efficient and absolutely problem free. We haven't driven as far as you are planning in it though. We do use it as our family car though as my husband has a truck. We drive from Vancouver down to Seattle (3-4 hours) airport a couple of times a year and its very comfortable and has lots of room. I only have one DS16 though, so it is only the 3 of us.

I don't know that there would be enough "breathing room" for 2 kids in the back and the stuff they would likely have around them for a long drive.

I don't know if you're looking at new or used, but I've noticed great prices on Camrys and Accords a couple of years old (I guess everyone wants SUVs) that would be comparable to a new Corolla. They'd give you a little more space.

Good Luck

 

[roberthodgson]

We are Driving down in a Subaru Forester, Great car for winter driving

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

We are Driving down in a Subaru Forester, Great car for winter driving

Never owned one but have a few friends with them and man they are a great all around car but do excel in the winter.

 

[nepean]

Have driven 15 times. 89 Chev Celebrity, 94 Olds Cutlass, 99 Olds Intrigue, 2003 Impala, 2006 Impala. We now have a 2009 Santa Fe. As you can see we kept getting bigger. We have DH and DD(18) and myself. The older DD got the more room we needed. We drive straight through from Ottawa and comfort is important and a nice V6 engine for the moutains.

Nepean

 

[Kazzy1548]

Thedelema is that I don't want to buy a car just for the trip. I want to buy a car that will give us what we need at a good price. My girls ar getting older, so they won't always follow us everwhere we go. I don't want to get stuck with a big car afterwards.... I would love the comfort but not the price tag, if you know what I mean

 

[dancin Disney style]

Thedelema is that I don't want to buy a car just for the trip. I want to buy a car that will give us what we need at a good price. My girls ar getting older, so they won't always follow us everwhere we go. I don't want to get stuck with a big car afterwards.... I would love the comfort but not the price tag, if you know what I mean

You are right....you should not buy a car just for one road trip. My DH and I both used to work for Toyota and all their vehicles are superb. DH now works for Nissan and he does like the Sentra.

We are currently a mini van family. We take at least one road trip every year and we also go camping. So, we need the space to haul a lot of stuff. I have a Chev Venture and the gas milage is really good. We drove to WDW in 2008 and even though the gas prices were crazy, around $4.10 a gallon, it still only cost about $425 roundtrip.

 

[irisesareblue]

We've driven a Toyota for work for several years now - we had a Toyota Echo, which I drove to California during the height of $3.00 ++ gas prices. It only cost me about $150.00 each way. Then we took it to California again last June then to Florida last November and the gas costs were really low.....it saved us enough that we were able to spend a couple of extra days at Disney, even with the hotel costs on the way back and forth.

We wrote off our Echo when we hit a deer last year then have eventually ended up with a Toyota Yaris, which we love - we recently drove it to Minneapolis to catch our flights to Miami and made it back and forth from Minneapolis on only 3 tankfulls of gas.

Cheap Cheap Cheap to operate - they run like stink and don't have any mechanical issues to speak of - maintenance costs are low as well.

And, a big plus, they maintain their re-sale value.

 

[Kazzy1548]

Finally bought the Nissan sentra. They had a great deal. Could not pass it off. It was roomier and stores quite a lot of stuff in the trunk. The girls will be very comfy in the back...
Thank you all for your feedback.
Now to start plannig for the road trip

 

[caisland]

Hi, We drove all the way in Aug 2006 in a 2002 Corolla. 2 Adults, 2 boys, 13 & 11 at the time. Car was very fuel efficent considering how full it was and my usual speed was around 110-120kmh. I got aobut 42 mpg average. For us at the time it was so cheap compared to flying from home but it does take 3 good days each way.
For Aug 2008 and Aug 2009 we drove to Manchester and flew from there. We were able to fit 5 suitcases in the trunk and a good size one in the back seat between the boys with a small cooler on the floor for drinks. That was in our 'new' 2009 both years. Again around 40 mpg.
We like flying out of Manchester NH with Southwest. $904 US for the 4 of us return and it's only 9-10 hour drive from home.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Finally bought the Nissan sentra. They had a great deal. Could not pass it off. It was roomier and stores quite a lot of stuff in the trunk. The girls will be very comfy in the back...
Thank you all for your feedback.
Now to start plannig for the road trip

awesome congrats

 

[candielips]

We were fortunate this year to be able to use my inlaws Chrysler Town & Country and we loved having all the extra room.
We are currently in the process of purchasing a Dodge Grand Caravan and will be driving that down next Sept.
We like the extra space that a van allows us as comfort is the number key for us when driving such a long distance.

 

[MPE]

We bought a new Grand Caravan in August to drive down on boxing day this year. It is very roomy, the stow n go in the floors provide tons of extra room and the dvd player and wireless headsets are amazing for the kids. I have never driven to Florida before, but we have taken many trips to other long distance places in smaller cars and always have had a lot of fun, but I can see this being even better.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

We bought a new Grand Caravan in August to drive down on boxing day this year. It is very roomy, the stow n go in the floors provide tons of extra room and the dvd player and wireless headsets are amazing for the kids. I have never driven to Florida before, but we have taken many trips to other long distance places in smaller cars and always have had a lot of fun, but I can see this being even better.

Congrats on the new set of wheels. Enjoy your trip.

 

[candielips]

We bought a new Grand Caravan in August to drive down on boxing day this year. It is very roomy, the stow n go in the floors provide tons of extra room and the dvd player and wireless headsets are amazing for the kids. I have never driven to Florida before, but we have taken many trips to other long distance places in smaller cars and always have had a lot of fun, but I can see this being even better.

This is the same one we have just purchased and pick up tomorrow. We got the DVD player & headphones etc... I never wanted to be a minivan mom but when I think of going to WDW in it, I get so excited!

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

I never wanted to be a minivan mom but when I think of going to WDW in it, I get so excited!

Well when your driving log distances you will be thankful you get something with more room for sure. We drove 2 Astros a total of 14 years. I to didnt want to be a mini van dad. I was happy when we towed and went on long trips. We no longer have the mini van but a suburban so we still have alot of room for trips. Enjoy your new van and enjoy the trips even more.

 

[briarberry]

I have driven down twice in my Subaru Forester and it was great. Once there were only 2 of us and the next time there were 4 of us. With 4 it was a bit crowded but okay. I love my Subaru! It's 6 years old and has had no problems at all.