Saturn Vue/PT Cruiser owners?

[mom2binsd]

DH has to turn in a leased vehicle....we are looking at these two...2004 Vue and 2005 PT Cruiser he had a new Mercedes 350 (he was given a too good to turn down lease, half of the normal payment) but it's over...and we are looking at a something very affordable...

Do you like yours? Pros and cons??

It's not the deciding factor but how do carseats fit in either?...we usually use our minivan with the kids but he does transport them sometimes...we'd install a RF MA for DS and probably a FF MA or a Regent for DD. I haven't had a chance to check them out IRL yet...I guess that's how we'll spend our holiday weekend!!!

TIA

[lorinick]

I have a 2003 VUE, the car is fun to drive it's roomy and car seats fit well. I have a Britax BLVD. in the center with latch rear facing and a Graco Turbo Booster behind pass. side. It was a little tight when the snug ride was behind the pass. seat. We are tall so it was a little tight when there was a passenger. I'm not sure I would buy a Saturn used we did have problems with it early on. Many! Of course it was under warranty, So all was taken care of with rental car. Knock on wood no problems now warranty is over. I have friends who have the VUE and they have had no problems. If the car is new or has a warrany customer service is great! I have no knowledge about the PT cruiser but think the VUE is much nicer looking, and easier to load children.

[saschalicks]

I have the '08 Vue and love it. We have 2 FF marathons and we use them w/the 2 latches which means 1 on each side w/the middle open. They fit wonderfully and the boys LOVE the car. I have to go in for my first oil change so don't know what CS is like yet, but I hope to find out soon. I will say that when we leased it everyone at the dealership was super super nice. GL w/your decision.

[mom2ethan]

I have a 2002 VUE and have a love/hate relationship with it. I like the size of it and it is fun to drive, but we have had quite a few problems with it. I think 2002 was the first year they were made, so maybe that is part of it. They definitely didn't have all the problems worked out when they made mine!

Mine has a manual transmission and gets decent gas mileage. I drive a mix of city and highway but I average somewhere around 25-26 mpg.

Through the years, I've had these car seats in it:
(1) RF MA in center position
(2) Snugride in the center position and FF MA behind the passenger
(3) RF MA behind the passenger and FF MA behind the driver
(4) FF MA behind the passenger and FF MA behind the driver
(5) FF MA behind the driver and Regent behind the passenger

I am tall and found that I had to move DS's Regent to the passenger side so that we could all be comfortable. The MAs fit great with LATCH. I installed the Regent with the seatbelt and that was a bit harder, but that might be more the seat than the car. When we had the two MAs, I could squeeze in between them in the back seat to ride for a short trip. There's no way to do that with the Regent in there now.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Susan

[tiapam]

We have a 2002 PT Cruiser. I was just looking at the car seat info in the owner's manual. It can only have two latched seats in the back and they have to be on the outsides (I think those in the know here call this outboard). We have had a Roundabout in there both RF and now FF. It fits but not with much room. If I recall correctly, one reason we put it RF on the passenger side was so DH would have enough room when he was driving. We don't have a Marathon to compare, but it might be too tight.