Opinions on SUVs

[armywife12]

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I'm playing around with the idea of trading in or selling my 08 Grand Caravan for a smaller vehicle, like an SUV. Our family won't be growing as fast as I had originally planned so I'm looking to downsize. Our budget will depend on how much we can get for the van but I'm thinking around $11k-12K but preferably no more than $14,000. I would like something that gets decent miles, three rows or possibly just a second row that is able to fit two car seats and an adult comfortably. I only have one right now but, if I get my way, I hope to be pregnant sometime next year so we're looking at possibly a 2011 baby. I'd also prefer to get something with less than 50,000 miles and something that is an 06ish and newer...I know I'm asking a lot here...lol. So far, I've found a few 07 and 08 Pacificas that match exactly what I am looking for. I've also found a nice 08 Jeep Compass Sport, an 08 Equinox, an 07 Freestyle, a few 06 Mariners and quite a few 06-07 Outlanders. I need opinions on these seats if you have any. I am also very interested in safety ratings of course. When we do have another baby, Caleb will be forward facing in a Frontier so we'll need room for that, a rear facing infant or convertible seat(MyRide or True Fit since we already have both of those), and an adult passenger when we drive ppl around. What do you all think? I've also found a few Suzuki Vitaras and XL7s but know nothing about them and, from what I found, they don't get great mileage. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated as well. Thanks so much for the help!

[TechnoGranola]

For safety ratings, check out http://www.informedforlife.org/ The only catch with the site is that any ratings that have NOT yet been evaluation by NHTSA or IIHS get an "average" score, which could mean that the vehicle gets a lower/higher score than it should. But, you can enter your own values for the unrated areas, so you can enter #'s based on previous model years, etc.

And if the vehicle you're checking out has had every area rated by NHTSA and IIHS, you're golden.

[erikanohelani]

www.safercar.gov for govt crash test ratings
www.fueleconomy.gov for govt car gas mileage data

the above mentioned informedforlife website is a great website... i saw it linked here before and combines a lot of data into one database

good luck in your search =)

[armywife12]

Thanks everyone. We ended up with an 08 Hyundai Veracruz that rates very well but the mileage isn't much different than the van we traded in. It was also over my price range but I think we can make it work. We love it so far!