Hi all, I'm a new reader here and have been going through the archives for the past couple weeks, and I now have a question. My husband and I are anticipating a 3rd kid in the relatively near future (current kids are age 2 and 4), and we currently have a 2008 Subaru Outback (bought used, paid cash) which absolutely will not fit 3 car seats, so we are going to need at least one new car, maybe two--the question is, what car should it be?
Other background info: we also have two biggish dogs (60-65 lbs), and we are looking for a vehicle that will transport our whole family comfortably. On a typical weekday, the car will transport me and the kids to/from work and school, but nearly every weekend and some weeknights (esp. when the weather is nice) we use the car to take the kids and dogs out to a park. We live in the city to maintain <5 mile commute to work and school, but consequently have to drive to places where the kids and dogs can run free (nothing but small playgrounds in walking distance, and I'm not insane enough to try biking through the streets with 2-3 kids and 2 big dogs to the larger parks in the city--not going to happen). We also make fairly regular road trips of 4-9 hours each way to visit our families and other such things, so we would like some extra room for a couple suitcases, a stroller, and a cooler, although I have been intrigued by the idea of an exterior box on the tow hitch I've seen on this site, so maybe that cuts down on the interior room we really need. We also happen to live in a city which gets a fair bit of snow and ice, and is extremely hilly, so we appreciate having AWD.
Here's the kicker--our other car is a 2009 Buick Enclave (bought used in 2011, paid cash). That SHOULD be a car that fits all our needs, except we weren't thinking ahead when we bought it, and it has two chairs instead of a bench in the second row, meaning that with a third kid, a car seat would have to go in the center of the third row, making it impossible to fold down the third row in a way that we could comfortably fit the dogs for any distance. We have appreciated having one wagon and one "big car" so that we have one car that comfortably holds all of us, and one that is more fuel efficient that CAN hold all of us if necessary--although honestly the 08 Outback has kind of sucked for this since the interior room is really cramped for a car of its size, esp. with the car seats, so my 6'1" husband is miserable riding in it and the fuel efficiency we have been getting is only about 3 mpg better than the Enclave.
So, that's the background. We will have to replace the Outback. I'm not eager to replace the Enclave since we are basically happy with it, it can fit everyone in a pinch (with the dogs on the floor and the kids complaining about the dogs squishing their legs), and we paid cash for it just a couple years ago and would take a loss on selling it now. But if we keep it that means we will probably need two "big cars" and that feels wasteful and sort of makes me feel sick. So I would consider replacing both cars if it really seemed to make good financial and logistical sense. If we were starting from scratch, I think I would choose an Enclave/Traverse/Acadia/Explorer/Flex with a second row bench, and a Toyota Venza/2011+ Outback (bigger than the 08 model)/or ...??? (it is hard to find a vehicle that fits 7 and gets decent mpg). We prefer to get cars that are 2-5 years old and keep them 10+ years--that was our plan with our current cars, and it would've worked fine with 2 kids, but not with 3. I know MMM has actually referred to the Enclave as a clown car, and I get that on some level, but with 7 regular passengers I don't think it's significantly worse than a van, which is often suggested. For instance, a used 2011 Honda Odyssey costs about $25k and gets about 18/27 mpg, while I can find a used 2011 Enclave for about $26k, with 17/24 mpg and AWD--keeping in mind that we do mostly city driving, so the first number is more meaningful to us. Enclave's lower end twin, the Chevy Traverse, is even cheaper at about $21k. The Enclave and its twins have been rated the safest car on the road by informedforlife.org, which means something to me. I have read a lot of material here discounting those sort of safety ratings, but I am not really convinced. We will only purchase cars with very good safety ratings--I don't mind paying a bit extra for that since I consider it a form of insurance against death or serious bodily injury from the most dangerous activity we do (driving). We also eat healthy and exercise, etc.--I do not believe it has to be either/or, I will take all the "health" insurance I can get, within reason.
Ok, sorry for the long story--what would you do? Sell just the Outback and get a _______? Or sell both the Enclave and the Outback and get _____? We will pay cash for any car we get, don't want to spend much more than $25k. FWIW, we are effectively debt free, have a sizeable emergency fund, own a home with no mortgage, and make enough $ to max out all retirement accounts, 529s, and contribute significant funds to taxable savings accounts each year.