Need a car suggestion

[ditheca]

Wife is starting to grow a mustache, and is willing to part with our '06 Kia Sedona (minivan) that gets 15 mpg... but she still wants a car that seats 7, and can't drive a stick shift.

Any suggestions for what kind of car I should be looking for as a replacement?  It doesn't have to be a van.  I think there are cars with 7 seats?  Other than the requirements above, it just needs to go from A to B with low(er) cost of ownership.

Thanks!

[Kernel Fielding]

If seating for 7 is a requirement, I don't see how you get out of the minivan or SUV class of automobiles. But I don't claim a wide experience outside of my own (most of the cars I've had seated 4-5 people comfortably/uncomfortably).

Maybe look into a hybrid minivan/SUV?

[r3dt4rget]

Wife is starting to grow a mustache, and is willing to part with our '06 Kia Sedona (minivan) that gets 15 mpg... but she still wants a car that seats 7, and can't drive a stick shift.

Any suggestions for what kind of car I should be looking for as a replacement?  It doesn't have to be a van.  I think there are cars with 7 seats?  Other than the requirements above, it just needs to go from A to B with low(er) cost of ownership.

Thanks!

What % of the time are there 7 people in the van? Is it a daily work commuter? Do you have 5 kids? Is it paid off? You probably won't find a 7 seater car that gets much better MPG. Other vans can get 20-25 MPG, but you would have to figure out if the gas savings offset any purchase costs associated with changing vehicles.

[Bajadoc]

If your car is payed off stick with it. Get minimum insurance and do the maintenance yourself. This will more than make up for the bad gas milage.

[RWD]

I'd highly recommend reevaluating whether you need a 7-seat vehicle. The 5-seat options are significantly more efficient.

In case you really do need one take a look at this thread:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/best-fuel-efficient-used-suvs/msg688631/#msg688631

[MayDay]

A Kia minivan is probably thee cheapest possible 7 person vehicle you could own.

A Mazda# might be cheaper but only seats 6.

[russianswinga]

The tesla Model S technically seats 7 (2 kids' jumpseats in the trunk).
The only other car I've seen with trunk jumpseats is a 90's Volvo station wagon. It's a thing in Europe, but they haven't offered it as an option in the US for years.

See if you can get your requirements down to 5 people, and pick up a used full-size hybrid like a Ford Fusion

[beberly37]

You'd have to do the math and some serious trip planning if you want to take it far from home, but either a CNG conversion on your Kia or a CNG suburban (or similar 7 passenger stock CNG vehicle like an econoline van or a tahoe) plus a home CNG compressor that fills your car from the natural gas that goes to your house. US average price for NG is easily 1/3rd of the gasoline so (from a $$$ perspective) its like getting triple the mileage. 

You'll have to do your own math with regard to local gas prices, but there are tax rebates for CNG conversions, CNG cars and CNG home compressors so factor those into your equations.

For my money though, if seating for 7 was a priority, I'd find a vista cruiser or similar 7-seater classic station wagon, particularly one with a six cylinder engine.  You can probably squeeze 15 mpg out it and (at least in my experience) classic cars don't depreciate fast, if at all.   

Better yet, combine the two ideas, convert a classic wagon to CNG and reap the benefits of both zero depreciation and cheap fuel. 

[RWD]

The only other car I've seen with trunk jumpseats is a 90's Volvo station wagon. It's a thing in Europe, but they haven't offered it as an option in the US for years.

Some Mercedes wagons (E-class) have had jump seats in the trunk as well.

[alsoknownasDean]

Are dickie seats still a thing? I've not seen them for years now that SUVs are so common here. I think Peugeot used to have a station wagon with a third row of seats in the 80s and 90s as well.

I'd suggest to stick with the Kia and just focus on doing fewer miles. Maybe a bit of hypermiling will get your MPG closer to the twenties :)

[ditheca]

I'd highly recommend reevaluating whether you need a 7-seat vehicle. The 5-seat options are significantly more efficient.

In case you really do need one take a look at this thread:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/best-fuel-efficient-used-suvs/msg688631/#msg688631

I agree a 5-seater is ideal, but its a hard sell for the wife. We have 3 kids who like to invite their friends to activities, and my brothers both have new babies that she wants to steal on occasion. Might be able to sell the wife on the Mazda 5 (6 seater).  21/28 mpg would be a huge improvement over the Kia.

Best suggestion from the thread you linked was to look into the cost of driving two vehicles on the rare occasion that they are needed instead of having all 7 seats in a single car.  We also have an '01 elantra that still runs.  I commute by bike, so it doesn't get out much.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

[alsoknownasDean]

How many miles do you do a year?

[Monkey Uncle]

You could swap for a similar age Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna.  Either of those should get you a little better gas mileage, and it should last a lot longer than the Kia.  But you'll pay for that reliability.  You'd have to run the numbers based on expected gas mileage and longevity to see if it's worth it.

[startingsmall]

I drive a Mazda5 and love it.  Seriously love it.  Fun, sporty car to drive but incredibly practical.  See if you can get her to take one for a test-drive... she may decide that she doesn't need that 7th seat so badly after all :)   (I average 26 mpg on a typical tank with a 50/50 mix of city/highway driving, no efforts at hypermiling, and occasionally sitting in my car with it running on my lunch break.)

[caseyzee]

Have you looked in to why the Kia is getting such Crappy mileage?  It's rated for 18 city, I think - are you doing all city?  Cleaned the air filter lately? O2 sensors good?  Carry around a lot of excess junk? Tires properly inflated?

I would investigate that a little before I went looking for a new/different car.

[frpeebles]

The tesla Model S technically seats 7 (2 kids' jumpseats in the trunk).

Supposedly getting A/C back there is problematic not to mention I'd be a bit concerned about being rear ended with still-living bodies in the trunk. It's surprising the car doesn't have an insulated ducts running to the rearmost passengers exposed to so much open glass.

[ditheca]

Update: Wife/Life is awesome!

We ran the numbers and figured we've wasted at least $3000 driving the van over the past six years, and only carried more than five people a handful of times.  We could drive both cars (or even rent a taxi every time) and still come out ahead.

We're looking for a Honda Fit!  Thanks for all the advice.

[frpeebles]

I recently drove a new Fit and liked it. The second gen Fit is good too. I've never driven a first gen but from what I understand they have some quirks.