New Car Shopping - Help!!!!!!

OK, sometimes I wish I knew a little less than I do now, and I could just go out and pick a car with a clear conscience...but I know too much, yet not enough. I want to get a new car, actually a new vehicle that will definiately not be a car, and ideally not another van!!...more like a suv/crossover type vehicle. Aside from it being as safe as possible, here is what I need/want:
-ability to seat AT LEAST 5 people, preferably 7 or 8
-cheap as possible
-4WD
-NOT a van
-see my siggy for the kids stats and seats
-note I'm in CANADA, so not sure if what we have up here is any different or not, I'm a little clueless about the difference in vehicles

What I would like:
-something that looks cool, maybe I am having an early midlife crisis or something, but I have been driving a mini-van since I was 23 for heaven sake, no offence to all you mini-van drivers (I'm one of you too) but I'm sooo ready for something different.
TIA for any advice, there's waaaaay too much choice out there!!

I think this is tricky, because you'll likely always have a child in the third row, right? So you need something with good rear impact ratings. A Honda Pilot might be a good choice if you can swing it. My anti-minivan sister loves hers, but she does say that the third row is a tight squeeze for bigger kids.

twokidstwodogs said:

I think this is tricky, because you'll likely always have a child in the third row, right? So you need something with good rear impact ratings. A Honda Pilot might be a good choice if you can swing it. My anti-minivan sister loves hers, but she does say that the third row is a tight squeeze for bigger kids.

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the rear impact ratings are irrelevant to the safety of the third row. rear impact ratings are not even performed on the vehicle itself and don't rank how well the third row protects its occupants, and doesn't apply to children in carseats. the test is a sled test of just the seats (first and second row, i believe), and it measures how well the seatbacks and headrests protect the front and second row occupants from whiplash and other head/neck injuries.

also, since those injuries are usually fairly minor, picking a car that gets top ratings for rear impact is much less important than picking one that gets top ratings for frontal, offset frontal, and sider impacts.

I feel your pain. I was feeling the anti-minivan thing too.
I looked at Acadias and Outlooks... crossovers with 3 rows. I even looked at a Yukon and a new Mazda crossover (can't remember the name) but it reminded me of the Outlook/Acadia.

Anyway... I have 3 kids so it was mandatory that I had LOTS of trunk space WITH the 3rd row being used... mainly for trips.

I did not find that in ANY crossover. If I got rid of one my kids, folded that 3rd row down, there would have been plenty of room. But that CLEARLY wasn't an option.

So, it was back to minivan land I went. Got an 07 Odyssey and LOVE IT. Got it in black too (the anti-minivan color ).

For right now, it's the best combination of safety, practicality, roominess and price. We got one loaded up... if we had gotten a crossover loaded up (DVD, NAV, back-up cam, leather, XM, 6 CD, sunroof), it would have cost us at LEAST $10k-$12k MORE than our Odyssey plus we wouldn't have had the in-floor storage, a ROOMY trunk and auto sliding doors (no dinging other cars).

Anyway... there are plenty of crossovers out there that will probably fit your needs - and they're gorgeous too. But for us, a minivan was the way to go.

Good luck!!