we have one kid and another on the way and i'm trying to sell the wife on not an suv or some beige minivan. any suggestions or examples of what you have?
Four door chevy pickup, 07 sierra. I would just do what it takes to make the wife happy. I don't think a serious family commuter mixes with hot rodding, unless mileage is not an issue. In that case there are more than enough killer wagons out there to choose from. Just remember "Happy Wife, happy Life".
You are right on so many levels, but... Lets say you have $20k to spend. What are you going to buy? - 2003 Ford Explorer. 42,000 miles. Loaded. $19,995 - 1962 Ford Falcon wagon. Pretty nice car for $14k and it will hold it's value. And think of what you could get for $20k... There are a lot of nice 60's era cars for that dough. The down side of course is maintenance...
Older 'burbs can be cool, along with wagons as mentioned above. Late model Caprice wagons can work in a pinch if you're looking for something a little more modern. I'd still have my 92 Caprice wagon if I hadn't smacked the frontend hard into a tree...
Don't get me wrong, Modern cars just get better mileage. If you can afford it go for it. My wife drives an unmentionable foreign car and would die if she had to drive an old car. Depends on the woman I guess.
with gas at $3.10 and climbing here in Socal I had to go import commuter, 14k out the door, 40miles per gal, and I drive 4 15 year old boys around in it all over to soccer practice, do I love it, hell no but ya gota be practicle, plus I commute 80miles a day. Got a Yaris...........sorry to say, it's perfect.
not to bad mouth my wonderful wife who i love very much, but she has an '04 mustang convt. w/ a 6 and she thinks it's the cat's meow. i think it's a poser, but that's me. i have a jeep wrangler and i like the off road angle, but would unload it for vintage. reasonable price and safe for kids seems to be the thing to overcome.
*oh, the commute it was like five miles round trip to my office. we moved offices. now it's like ten round trip. bummer huh! *gratuitous amounts of sarcasm
Amen Ryan... I just can't imagine how some folks can spend $20k- $50K + for a car that they don't even have the least amount of passion for or even enjoy seeing in the driveway. And look how many people think that putting $4,000 worth of "dubs" on their SUV makes it a custom! More-door or long roof always trumps a belly-button car to me.
I'm sorry, but I'd take the beige minivan.I've owned three minivans [chrysler products] since 83. Prolly get a new one this year. They are reliable, easy on gas, spacious, I can sleep in it at the bend in the road, they haul 10 foot lengths of tubing and 2x4's.or 6 adults comfortably.They even scoot along pretty well. Shit! What do ya want? These are truly an all purpose vehicle. Ugly? Looked down upon? Soccer mom car? Fuck yes! Do I care? Fuck NO! A 3 year old van is plenty cheap and still has tons of life in it.
More and More mileage is gonna be an issue on buying a comuter car. looks are gonna be sent out the window if we let gas prices go any higher.. Im a died in the wool chevy and gm guy but ive been eying some imports and milage along with looks has me looking. Id love to drive a 66 chevelle again every day but gas prices the cost of the car insurance etc etc all points to NO.. And yup ya gotta keep the wife happy. Dave
05 Maxima, She hauls 2 kids in it and its rock solid reliable. We did some minor mods to it and it is now a little rocketship, she loves it although she wishes we held on to our 96 Impala SS....
chaz calm down. the mini van debate is on going. the beige part was to imply boring, not to say that all mini vans are boring. i'd like to see more psycadelic minivans like the sixties style vans.
http://longisland.craigslist.org/car/460802688.html she'll be the koolest mom on the block with this one. just drop a little coin and freshen up the motor. wish i had $4K. i'd buy it myself and ditch my truck... gas in NY is $3.16 for regular. I really hate my 35 gallon tank
If I had a wife and some little ones, I'd buy the biggest, safest, newest vehicle I could afford. I'd also wrap them in layers of bubble wrap every time they left the house if I could get by with it. I know this is a traditional message board, but getting the wife and kids safely from point A to point B isn't about hot rodding. Although I love older vehicles, I don't want my family setting on the side of the road when they break down. I can walk, but they can't. Lots of crazys out there. Man, I sound like I'm getting old. Just my opinion. Doc.
Speak of the devil Ryan. I was looking at this Falcon Van today on egay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1962...oryZ6232QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Poser indeed. And it's not that kid friendly either. The late model mustangs and camaros have small seating. I'm 5'4'' and I don't have enough room. I'd really suggest any 60s econoline van, a Burb, a wagon(they can be just as cool as other cars), any 50s sedan, or even a 60s "land boat." If you can't get the your old lady to budge, then I'd suggest either a Kia Rondo or a Kia Spectra 5. My good friend has both of these cars and has a family of 5...soon to be 6. The Rondo will seat 5 adults comfortably. The Spectra 5 seats 4 comfortably and has a "little sport" to it.
IF you are looking new I would say something th size of a Impala. If you are looking old I would say something from the '60's. The '60 Skylark I have is a pretty decent sized car, smaller 215 V8 or a V6 in the Specials. Update the front drakes to disc and swap out the tranny(stock one sucks) and it would be a nice driver with decent milage. Pretty much any '60's car would work. Most other '60's cars would be easy to adapt a better tranny to.
I assume you were talking about something vintage?? I used a 36 dodge humpback panal truck when my kids were growing up,had it for 13 year. the whole family fit just fine. but I think if I were doing it now I would look for a windowed delivery or 40' or 50's suburban. or you could find someone that built a 4 dr COE. now none of these would be fantastic on gas but would be cool rides in my Opinion Ron... oh I also built a superBee wagon that would work for a family cruiser
for a daily commuter get something with airbags and seatbelts to keep the occupants alive. get a 4 door pickup so you can also use it for swaps, hauling your barn finds, etc. I'd suggest a diesel, mine have been great.
You could spend a few hundred bucks a month on car payment and insurance or forbid you don't have the time to work on a '60s car, you can pay a reputable shop for maintenance and repairs. I do it from time to time when I got too many projects and the daily driver needs a tune-up, brakes or whatever.
Here's one I picked up for $700...it needed paint, but that was about it. If I had little ones to haul around this would have been a keeper, but like most of my toys, I drove it for awhile and when someone else saw it and needed to have it I sent it down the road. Bottom line is there are cars out there that are family friendly and NOT a mini van. I'd much rather drive an old classic then one of the newer econo boxes that all look the same ($3 a gallon or not), but that's just me.
find a late-model Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.......they have features like a rubber floor mat that resists stains,vinyl seats that do the same all for the sake of easy clean-up,a bullet-proof drivetrain that will last 300k+ with just normal maintenance,5-star crash rating (the highest),crash rated from a 75mph rear-end collosion (only vehicle to do so).. Most departments take excellent care of their cars,and let them go in the 70k-90k mile range,and if you look hard enough you can find a really good deal on one. BTW the trunks are huge,and they are capable of towing a car trailer if need be!!
Also.....no offense to the older cars....but if your looking for something to trust driving your family around in on a daily basis...a 40-50 year old car just isn`t going to cut it.Alot of things were not built the same way as they are nowadays.The glass in the windows is now safer,the dashboards,and the rest of the interior are either padded or plastic,we now have standard air-bags,collapsible steering columns,crash zones,SEAT BELTS,etc. You get hit in a front-end collision in a 50 yr old station wagon,just wait to see where that steering wheel gooes when the column doesn`t give-way!
We've had a couple of the 91-96 GM fullsize wagons, and my wife loved them. And they get surprisingly good gas mileage. Our last one got 18-ish mpg around town, and 22-ish on the highway. That, to me, is good for a big, heavy older car. And they can be made to be cool. We're looking for another right now. Or, something like the 59 chevy wagon I owned last year. It had a newer fuel-injected sbc, and overdrive. It got over 20+ mpg on the highway at 80mph.... If we didn't live in the snow/rust belt, we wouldn't own a newer car. My wife hates them too. Give her something semi-cool, with a CD player and she's happy....
Not echo Doc but I guess it must be a practical doctor perspective. I drive a 62 T-bird and the 31 A coupe whenever I can. BUT... safety first... My wife carts the 3 boys around town in a Honda Odyssey. Airbags EVERYWHERE, tons of safety features, great visibility, doesn't weigh 6000 lbs like the usual SUV, and gets great gas milage (3 of the 6 cylinders idle while cruising the freeway). I know what you're thinking, but I sleep well at night despite not looking too kool driving the maniacs to baseball practice. Just my .02
As far as old cars "not being safe for kids" (this was said by my Aunt who would not let me give her daughter a ride to the mall in my 72 F-100), look how many of us survived riding around in these "deathtraps"!! To put it this way; I would rather drive around in a classic car that is actually gaining value than drive around in an imported tin can with no personality. Mileage? That $300+ that I would spend on that "gas saver" will pay for a lot of gas for my old cars! Realistically, the money you are "saving" by getting better mileage than an old car is offset by the monthly payments, higher DMV fees, and higher insurance costs. So where is the benefit to buying a Prius that gets 60mpg versus an old beater that get 10mpg? Old cars are paid for, the Prius is costing you a bunch a month... Nick
Thank you Nick. I thought this was a site full of guys that drove older cars daily...not posers that drive a honda during the week. And that's my opinion of people that do that and it stinks just like an asshole. Now I can understand not being able to convince the old lady and that's a vaild excuse because if the wife isn't content, nobody's content. Sometimes ya gotta do it so the Mrs. will just be happy. I thought surely there would be very little calling older cars deathtraps for kids. That's about as civil as I could say it.
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