Car shopping with twins on the way!

[pape]

My wife and I are expecting twins and have begun the hunt for a decent car.
Currently we have a 99 Infiniti G20 and a 2002 Sentra neither of which would be that accommodating. We plan on going on test drives this weekend, but I wanted to get some thoughts on options.

We are looking for a mid-size SUV, new/used doesn't matter in the $35K range. She has said no mini-vans
I am 6'2 and she is 5'7 though we both drive closer to the steering wheel than most people our size.

My wife loves German cars and her first thought was a used Touareg, but from the research I have done it seems that they are not big enough for two RF convertibles in the outboard positions.

We also like the BMW X5 (and I have always wanted an M3/M5) and though there are a few posts on here with two convertibles in the outboard position it seems to be a real tight fit and probably not the most convenient.

There are also a few Audi Q7's in our price range in the area we want to look at. These would probably be in the 2010 range.

Now on to the new cars, we like the style/looks of the Mazda CX9 and the 2013 Pathfinder looks decent (still not sold on CVT's though). While the Pilot and Highlander seem to work we are not sold on the styling and while I like the Flex my wife has nixed that idea.

I'm pretty handy so not completely worried about maintenance on the German cars and we will try to go Certified Pre-Owned (though time with two little ones will probably be an issue).

Any thoughts, anything I am missing?

Thanks,
Lee

 

[emntheboys]

Congratulations on your twins!!

My first suggestion is always going to be the Pilot. It really can't be beat in terms of functionality for mid-size SUVs. It has 4 sets of LATCH, top tethers, head rests, and lap/shoulder belts in all rear positions. It also has excellent crash ratings, great reliability and good resale value. I do understand that the styling doesn't appeal to everyone, however.

The runner-up in your situation could be the Acura MDX. It is very similar to the Pilot but is a bit more stylish and sporty.

 

[nataliem257]

When I was car shopping I LOVED the look of the cx9 but was baffled by the lack of tethers in the 3rd row. I can do without latch but no tethers was a deal breaker for me.

 

[attachedmama]

The Toureg - like a lot of modern VWs- has a lot of problems. Known several owners that called them lemons!

I had a 2008 Pilot before going to an Odyssey. We got the Odyssey because the 3rd row is essentially non-functional for anyone but children and not accessible with 2 car seats in the 2nd row. Might as well not even have it at that point!

If I were looking- which I'm not, I love love live my Ody- my list would be:

Subaru Forrester
Toyota Venza
Volvo XC90

 

[jordansmom]

I don't know much about changes that have occurred on recent body styles, but I do drive a 2005 BMW X5. I've had two rearfacers and now one rearfacer/one forward facer. My husband and I are not tall (both under 5'8"). I would NOT recommend it! You will have NO legroom in the front seats with two infant buckets or convertibles at newborn appropriate recline. Also, because of the way there are side bolsters on the outboard rear seats, you loose a lot of room...with a FR85 and Peg convertible both installed outboard there is not room for an adult to comfortably sit between them. I guess if you had the perfect combination of seats, like only CCO or Radians, you would gain room back there for an adult or future additional child.

Good luck and congratulations!

 

[pape]

Thanks for the advice, we will add the Pilot and MDX to the test drive list.
I've kind of been biased against Hondas since I raced against them back in the day in my Nissan, but I guess I can give them a shot
Exciting times!!

 

[jpegtle]

We have an mdx. Dh is 6 feet, 1 am 5'4. We had two rear facing- plenty of room. Chicco key fit 30 and britax boulevard 70. The MDX is FUN to drive. Only complaint as a parent is Honda/Acura decision to block me from locking doors until all of them are closed. This is a pain. Once I get the kids out and close the doors I have to fish the keys out of my pocket to lock the doors. It drives me crazy.

 

[jpegtle]

Oh and our other car is a 2012 passat- it has more room in the backseat than the MDX. Just in case you want to look at a sedan that will RF two seats outboard.

 

[P1ally]

Another no on the X5.. I had a 2005 X5 and absolutely HATED IT for carrying kids around. I **loved** the CX9 I test drove, and you can't go wrong with the Toyota Highlander. I drive an odyssey. I don't like hondas either.

 

[MommyShannon]

I resisted getting a minivan too, but you really can't beat the functionality. DH loves our Ody now too. If we didn't have a van, we would get the Pilot.

 

[canadiangie]

Q7 made the cut for us, but it doesn't fit in our garage, so it was nixed.

We ended up with a Pilot, but that was before the JX and new body style Pathfinder hit the market.

If I was shopping today I'd look closely at either of those, along with Pilot.

We don't do minivans either, and we have three kids, aged 2 through 6. You can totally rock an SUV with a larger family, but it needs to be the right SUV, and it takes some strategizing.

If your family is complete with the twins (ie: two kids only) you can make plenty of mid-size SUV's work, with the right seats. Today's seat market is full of fantastic options, some taking up very little space.


Personally, I think anything on your current list is more than workable. I suppose the X5 would sit towards the bottom of my list, but honestly if that's what you went with you'd be fine, again, with the right seats.

What seats are you bringing the babies home in?

 

[pape]

It will be our only two kids and we are not planning on more. Found out this week we almost had triplets, that would have been crazy! We are just about at the end of the first trimester but we are trying to get started early so by the third trimester she can relax.

My wife was more worried about the convertible seats in the future than the infant carriers.

Anyway we went out shopping this weekend and looked at the 2013 Pilot,Pathfinder and CX-9.

The Pilot did "feel" to be the most spacious and had a latch in most every position. Though it seemed to me it needed a refresh compared to the other two. It also had the least feel in the steering department and the least oomph. Also I think the braking leaves a little bit to be desired, pretty sure it has the longest stopping distance of the 3.

The Pathfinder by far had the best quality interior, being that it is pretty much lifted from the Infiniti, as well as the highest towing capacity. Though sitting the driver seat it sure felt like the largest. The steering was not nearly as disconnected as the review I read and I didn't mind the CVT at all. My sister-in-law liked the third row because she could recline The seats that allow you to get in the third row with child seats installed was nice as are the cooled front seats! It also sports the best gas mileage of the three and I read that on some straight highway trips people have approached 30 mpg. Though on the test drive we averaged 8mpg :-D

The CX-9 was by far the best driving one and almost felt like a car, which also made it the stiffest, which the wife and I don't really mind. It has the most cargo capacity (20 cuft. over the Pathifinder, geez), but also the most cramped rear seat. My S-I-L's boyfriend kept hitting his head when we went over bumps. Well the interior is nice there are a few places where there is very cheap looking plastic and the screen on the dash is very small. Though it does have Xenon headlights and blind spot monitoring which the Pathfinder does not have (guess Nissan needed one thing to make the JX better). IT also had the least visibility out of the rear window.

We also checked out our friends Q5 and it was really nice and she was a pretty good "salesman" for Audi and the Q7 but I am not sure we can work that out. The financing on new cars is much better than used cars (0.9/60 months at all 3 places right now) and we certainly can't buy a new Q7 right now.

So we are pretty sold on the new Pathfinder as it seems to give the most bang for the buck. They have a Platinum Premium on the lot in Arctic Blue with the full package and the Panoramic sunroof. Going to wait a few weeks and make sure everything is still progressing as planned and see what kind of deal the salesman can give us!

Some stay observations, after driving a manual Sentra and G20 for the last 12 years or so, driving an automatic was so akward, spent a lot of time stepping on an invisible clutch Also looking in rearview mirror and seeing the vast expanse of car was beyond strange!

Thanks for all the help.