Author Topic: Mustachian car for large family  (Read 6761 times)

moustache79

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Mustachian car for large family
« on: April 23, 2016, 09:11:28 AM »
Looking for anyone's thoughts on a good car for family of 6 preferably a non minivan.  From the MMM post on cars a few years back the mazda 5. Prius V and toyota matrix all caught my eye but wondering if anything has changed in past few years.  Any new ideas? Needs to be baby and kid friendly ( car seats etc)

goatmom

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2016, 09:22:29 AM »
Do you need all wheel drive?  Unfortunately, an older minivan is probably your best best.  I had one but traded it in for a used Honda Pilot when I moved to the a place I needed all wheel drive.  Love it. 

moustache79

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2016, 09:23:42 AM »
No dont need awd.  I would prefer to avoid a minivan.   

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2016, 09:50:29 AM »

MayDay

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2016, 10:29:49 AM »
If you have 6 people you are crazy pants to consider anything other than a van.

But you named cars that do T seat 6 so I am confused.

The mazda5 blows if you have to use the rear seat on a regular basis. I can ecpound upon that I'd needed, but just start imagining carseat buckling and teenager legs and you can probably figure out why.

tobitonic

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2016, 06:27:52 PM »
Looking for anyone's thoughts on a good car for family of 6 preferably a non minivan.  From the MMM post on cars a few years back the mazda 5. Prius V and toyota matrix all caught my eye but wondering if anything has changed in past few years.  Any new ideas? Needs to be baby and kid friendly ( car seats etc)

A minivan is by far the most efficient non-bus/van option in the US for transporting more than 5 people; the only other options are SUVs, large pickups, and exoticmobiles like the Model S. The Mazda 5 is a minivan too; it's just a smaller one.

We have two minivans and love them both.

lbmustache

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2016, 09:06:24 PM »
Prius V and Matrix only seat 5 people. Are you going to stuff the 6th person in the trunk? :)

You are limited to minivans and SUVs. The only SUV that "wins" over a minivan in terms of room (but a little less convenient w/o sliding doors) is a Suburban... but holy hell is that a massive piece of metal. Next step up is a bus IMO lol.

3 row SUVs: Highlander, Pilot, Sorento, Santa Fe, Traverse, Explorer, CX-9... take your pick. Almost every manufacturer makes one. Nothing is really fuel economical in this class unless you go for the hybrids.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2016, 10:33:47 PM »
I'm curious about the objection to the minivan as well.  I consider it the most capable all-around vehicle out there.  Seats up to 8, enough floor space to haul full sheets of plywood, good gas mileage, can fit astonishing quantities of cargo, fits in a standard-sized garage, comfortable...what's not to like?

ketchup

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2016, 11:10:17 PM »


Seats eight.  I paid $700.  It's an American living room on wheels.

CanuckExpat

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zolotiyeruki

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2016, 09:18:52 AM »
With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike



Similar thread going on now.
Holy cow, using bike racks to connect one bike to the next?  Genious!

thunderball

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2016, 05:33:30 PM »
My '06 Honda Odyssey (purchased new, pre-MMM) is still running great.  Just took it on a 1,000 mile roadtrip. 

Fits so much and rides like a car.  I highly recommend driving before deciding against!


MattC

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #12 on: April 24, 2016, 06:29:51 PM »
I would see it this way:  The obvious choice to seat 6-7 would be a minivan, and the reliable/low cost of ownership minivans are the Kia Sedona, Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna.  They are all decent and for a given budget should all be similarly reliable.  If this is the best route to go, be opportunistic and get a good deal on one of the three. 

The unconventional 6-seat options are as follows:
As has been mentioned, the Mazda 5 seats 6 over 3 rows and has some pros (cheap; available in manual transmission, good MPG, good handling) but it's also a bit cramped; persons 5 and 6 have to be a bit agile/small to fit into the 3rd row, and you don't get much space behind that 3rd row. 

The Ford Taurus/Freestyle/Taurus X are wagons that you might be able to find really cheap (in a similar vein to the Caprice wagon pictured earlier, but Ford kept making them longer so you could get a newer one), and if you've got a low cost mechanic and/or if you're doing repairs yourself, these could be good options.  In a similar vein, large domestic sedans used to seat 6; I believe the '11 or '12 Impala was the last of that breed.  None of these are really reliable vehicles, but again, if you've really nailed down your automotive costs these cars depreciate like crazy and end up being cheap up front and used parts end up being cheap because there are so many of them out there.

And of course there are SUV's, but none of them are as economical as a minivan.  Pilots and Highlanders are relatively good in the segment, but used prices are high. 

There's really no "free lunch" when it comes to cars that seat more than 5. 

Also note that the Matrix only seats 5.

VaCPA

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Re: Mustachian car for large family
« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2016, 07:13:00 AM »
We recently became a family of 5 and got a minivan and love it. My wife had reservations but I think she's come around to the great functionality of them, you probably will to.

With that many people it's probably either minivan or huge SUV, like Tahoe, Suburban, Toyota Sequoia, Nissan Armada. We looked at the Sequoia and Armada and besides being super expensive and getting terrible gas mileage they were massive and sat really high off the ground. My wife didn't like it.

Although if your kids are older and don't require carseats the smaller SUVs with 3rd rows would work, but using the 3rd row on alot of them can be a pain and might be annoying doing it constantly.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2016, 07:17:39 AM by anorman79 »