vechicle recommendations

[SKIQUATTRO]

we own an 04 Nissan Armada...now that our girls are older and we dont need to schlep all the baby gear combined with gas prices, we are looking to scale down...my girls are 5 and 2.5 (booster and car seat) I have a cargo box up top when needed for extra room...Any one out there have a similar family set up? what are you driving? we avg 15-16K miles per year so I'll probably lease (we are on the cusp of buying vs leasing) Here is what I am looking at:

-Volvo XC70
-VW Passat Wagon 4 motion
-Saab 9.5 SportCombi
-Nissan Maurano
-Mazda CX9
-Subaru Tribeca

anything i'm missing to look at?

 

[bvibert]

Just curious why you left A4 off the list, since you have an affinity for Audis??

I have an '01 Passat wagon (FWD) that I'm quite happy with so far. We've only taken one trip with it so far, day trip to Snow, but it worked out good for that. With a ski box up top I had plenty of room for stuff, granted we're only talking about a day trip here but I could have easily stuffed some bags or possibly our small stroller in with the skis if I needed to. We also have two kids, 2.5 year old and 6 month old.

 

[drjeff]

we own an 04 Nissan Armada...now that our girls are older and we dont need to schlep all the baby gear combined with gas prices, we are looking to scale down...my girls are 5 and 2.5 (booster and car seat) I have a cargo box up top when needed for extra room...Any one out there have a similar family set up? what are you driving? we avg 15-16K miles per year so I'll probably lease (we are on the cusp of buying vs leasing) Here is what I am looking at:

-Volvo XC70
-VW Passat Wagon 4 motion
-Saab 9.5 SportCombi
-Nissan Maurano
-Mazda CX9
-Subaru Tribeca

anything i'm missing to look at?

Stick with you're Audi passion. It's a little bigger than the cars you've mentioned, but my wife LOVES her Q7! It's got all the Audi characteristics that you're used to, and now that they've developed a rack system for it(FINALLY!!!!) you can even put the box on top of it

It has all the room we need for me + my wife, + 2 kids (ages 2 and 4 with 1 booster seat and 1 car seat) and our 2 dogs (both roughly 75lbs).

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

My other car is an A4 Avant 5 spd quattro with sport pkg......need something bigger with the 2 girls esp on long trips

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

the Q7 is in the running, but it take prem gas....thats the only downfall!!!!!

 

[bvibert]

My other car is an A4 Avant 5 spd quattro with sport pkg......need something bigger with the 2 girls esp on long trips

Is a Passat wagon going to be any bigger than an A4??

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

the passat is the size of the A6...

 

[campgottagopee]

I'm driving a Tribeca right now and really like the car. If your considering a Murano wait for the 09's. All new design which looks great on the web and my reps tell me it's going to be a home run for sure.

The Murano is more stylish and will have a better ride (cvt tranny). The Tribeca can't be beat for Subies AWD system--WAY better than anything in it's class.

 

[Bumpsis]

We've been quite happy with the Passat wagon (2002 1.8 T). Lots of room, great handling and with a set of winter tires I don't think you really need the 4 wheel drive. It's nice to have but there are downsides.
I'd recommend it, even though the VW doesn't have a stellar reputation for reliablity.

Mazda looks quite attractive.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

before the Armada we had a VW Passat wagon and it was great

 

[bvibert]

the passat is the size of the A6...

You sure about that? I always thought the Passat was closer to the A4, maybe the new ones are bigger??

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

its acutally inbetween...the Passat is bigger than the A4 but a touch smaller than the A6

 

[Marc]

The last generation Passat was the same as the A4 with an extended trunk. Don't know if that's true of the new gen's, but the new gen A4's are bigger than the previous ones anyway. I'm pretty sure the Passat still shares a frame (possibly modified) with the A4, they'd have no reason to engineer a completely new and different one.

 

[skibum9995]

I drive a Saab 9-5 now and would recommend at least test driving one. I've never owned anything but a Saab and they have been very reliable. Maintenance costs can be a little high for some stuff but it's not outrageous.

 

[bvibert]

The last generation Passat was the same as the A4 with an extended trunk. Don't know if that's true of the new gen's, but the new gen A4's are bigger than the previous ones anyway. I'm pretty sure the Passat still shares a frame (possibly modified) with the A4, they'd have no reason to engineer a completely new and different one.

That's pretty much what I thought..

 

[The Sneak]

Legacy GT

 

[tree_skier]

We have a 06 Honda Pilot EXL w DVD Great for long trips gets 22-24 mpg on trips and a 07 pontiac torrent gets about 22mpg. The Pilot has much more luggage room then the torrent and has the benifit of third row seats with three seat belts so you can take 8 although not much luggage room with the third row up. The torrent has more leg room for the back seat and it seems more room in the front seats and it fits in the garrage with the thule spirit box on and very good price.

Now the negatives, the pilot no power seat for passenger (hard to believe on a car with an MSRP of close to 40k) and towing of only 3500 lbs. The Torrent the same 3500 lb towing and not as much luggage room.

 

[Bumpsis]

Winter Driving

This is a bit off topic but I found it funny and somewhat apropos to the subject discussed.
I found this comment on the NY Times blog about wwinter driving tips.People were sharing various winter driving tips. Along those was the following comment:

"December 20th,
2007
2:24 pm Wow the above sounds like a soundtrack of a Maine winter cocktail party. All good advice. I’d like to add some prevention: when you buy a new car, buy it in winter and test drive it in bad conditions, preferably both slush and hardpack ice. Only then will you know. And note which cars go off the road in bad weather (for those of you who don’t drive in bad weather, here’s what I’ve seen in 20+ years of long distance Maine winter commuting, in the order they go off the road: (1) Ford Explorers (2) Jeeps (3) Volvo Station wagons (4) SUVs in general (5) beaters–old Olds and Buicks. What never goes off the road: Saabs, Volkswagens.)

— Posted by munjoy fan"

 

[Warp Daddy]

Owned 4 saabs since mid 80's --Never been off the road in whiteouts , ice storms etc.

We ski tremblant , Whiteface, Gore and in NH/ Berkshires during feb road trips. We've been in some really terrible conditions but just Kept SAABIN thru it !

MY new 07 Sport Combi gets 32 mpg w. auto tranny and all ski gear goes INSIDE . 5 star safety rating and FREE maintenance FOR 3 yrs and 5 rs free ROADSIDE . My antique 1992 Saab Turbo w/92K still going strong too

 

[tree_skier]

This is a bit off topic but I found it funny and somewhat apropos to the subject discussed.
I found this comment on the NY Times blog about wwinter driving tips.People were sharing various winter driving tips. Along those was the following comment:

" What never goes off the road: Saabs, Volkswagens.)

— Posted by munjoy fan"

Hard to go off the road when its in the garage.

But in reality its more the driver and tires then the car. Of course here in vermont we also have a saying " how do you know it might snow in the next 24 hours???? Every subaru won't go over 30 MPH."