A luxury car that fits 3 car seats, AWD, and not more than $60K

moonsky

New member
This will be Dh's main car to drive, not mine. Most of the time, the kids won't be in his car except ski trips which will be only 2-3 times a year. Mine is 2011 Odyssey. So, I don't think it will work well in snow.

His car should be able to fit three car seats. Please share with me your experience. TIA!
 
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Guest

New member
I'm seriously debating the merits of AWD in the Sacramento area. You really only need it for Tahoe trips. With small kids, how often do you really go?

Ok, it's nice when you go and it's pretty horrid weather and chains are required. But if it's that bad, will the kids really have fun? If you go when the weather is nice, CHP may not require chains on cars so AWD again is wasted except on the rare chance that you park too far in and it ices over in that section of the snow park parking lot. Traction control generally handles the odd small black ice patch in the parking lots.

After living with it for some time, I'm not all that convinced anymore that AWD is worth the extra cost in gas mileage, extra maintenance, and insurance costs.

This is solely for the Sacramento area, altho the same pretty much applies for the Bay Area and all of SoCal.
 

TXDani

Senior Community Member
We just test drove the new Infiniti QX56 this weekend and we are in love. I am going to try to hold out a year and buy one then since I just got my car a year ago...but if say I had to get a new car tomorrow the QX56 would be it.

You can get a bench in the middle or two captains chairs and then utilize the third row. It drives very nice and does not drive like a big SUV. 400hp and a 7 speed transmission so it actually gets decent (for its size) MPG.

Loaded with all available packages it is around $75,000 MSRP but invoice is around $65,000? But if you don't get all the packages you could get one for less than $60,000 if you are good at negotiating. I believe they start around $65,000 MSRP and invoice is below $60,000.
 

TXDani

Senior Community Member
codex57 said:
I can't get by the looks of the Infinity QX. Sorry. And I drove a Ridgeline too.

Neither could my husband. I liked it from day one, he hated it. But after a few months of me mentioning how cute every onewe saw was they started to grow on him. At first he said it looked like a cartoon character. But after driving he really changed his tune.

My sister (whom normally has the exact same taste as me) hates them but in Oregon she has only seen 3 of them. I think once they gain popularity there they might start to grow on her too. I see probably 4-8 a day here so they aren't as funky or shocking looking anymore.

Did you get rid of the Ridgeline? You know it goes against all CS.Org rules to get a new car and not share. ;)
 

Guest

New member
I did get rid of the Ridgeline, but "replaced" it with our old Camry which the Ridgeline originally replaced. We gave the Camry to my sis-in-law so she could learn to drive... but yeah, still hasn't happened yet. So, we're using it until we get a minivan.
 

crunchierthanthou

New member
We just test drove the new Infiniti QX56 this weekend and we are in love. I am going to try to hold out a year and buy one then since I just got my car a year ago...but if say I had to get a new car tomorrow the QX56 would be it.

You can get a bench in the middle or two captains chairs and then utilize the third row. It drives very nice and does not drive like a big SUV. 400hp and a 7 speed transmission so it actually gets decent (for its size) MPG.

Loaded with all available packages it is around $75,000 MSRP but invoice is around $65,000? But if you don't get all the packages you could get one for less than $60,000 if you are good at negotiating. I believe they start around $65,000 MSRP and invoice is below $60,000.

The QX56 only has two tether anchors in the second row, even if you get the bench. It has full LATCH outboard, but nothing in the center (the same as the Nissan Armada on which it's based). It has one more TA 3rd row center, but if the OP is concerned about 3 across, it's probably best to have a TA in all 3 positions.
 

EmmaCPST

CPST Instructor
I :love: the Mazda CX-9! I dunno if it qualifies as luxury, but my best friend has an 08 with all the options and it's pretty awesome! And I've fit a MyRide, TrueFit, and Marathon all RF across the back seat together without any trouble, so there's plenty of room!
 

TXDani

Senior Community Member
crunchierthanthou said:
The QX56 only has two tether anchors in the second row, even if you get the bench. It has full LATCH outboard, but nothing in the center (the same as the Nissan Armada on which it's based). It has one more TA 3rd row center, but if the OP is concerned about 3 across, it's probably best to have a TA in all 3 positions.

If I am buying a car to be used 2-3 times a year for ski trips I would not cross a choice off my list because of tether locations. Especially when her husband can't find something else he likes that would work well for three across. And it does have a third row with tether anchors they could use if needed since it says to fit three carseats...not three across. It sounds like choices are limited for a luxury SUV that they like so I was throwing one out that they may have not looked at.
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
I'd still go for the X5, since your hubby was interested it in the beginning, and I have nothing but love for mine :)
 

murphydog77

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
I really like my MDX, though I believe it's considered a "starter" luxury vehicle. I compared it against a Lexus GX460 and once I drove them both, it was a no-brainer. The GX is lumbering and clumsy while the MDX is very sports-like. You can't beat Lexus for luxury, though (our other car is an RX330). I wrote about the MDX here: http://carseatblog.com/10720/acura-mdx-review-a-great-alternative-for-families/.

Like Techno said, you can easily get 3 across in the 2nd row, then you have a big cargo area. It feels big without driving big. I use the paddle shifters on the steering wheel a lot on 2-lane roads where passing has to be done quickly--a really cool feature.

I'm not familiar with the Nissan line past the Quest and the old '72 Datsun Z my dh used to own, so I can't comment on those cars.
 

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