Gas prices have me thinking of sedan again!

[LD92599]

I have a Pilot but the MPG is horrible - i average just under 14 mpg around town - 90% of my driving is around town :32: I'm thinking of switching to the '08 Honda Accord EX - any feedback from Accord owners? or those that have downsized from an SUV back to a sedan?

We have one DC - eventually another in another year or so. My mom did just got an Ody for family trips, so if there's a need for more space, any time she's with us, we are taking her van.

We drove the Accord today and LOVE it...handling, 0-60, interior space, features for the price, etc.

[Joolsplus2]

Do it! Hopefully you don't need a lot of money as a trade in, I hear biggish and big SUV's are getting pretty sad trade in value lately because they are so hard to re-sell (Pilot might not be as bad as a Yukon, of course!)
We have a Hybrid Escape and an Ody and are almost as comfortable cramming the 5 of us into the Escape for most driving (it gets almost 30 mpg and the Ody gets about 20).
Anyway, I don't think you'll be unhappy with a car, unless you do tons of shopping at Ikea and need a lot of cargo space (and from a safety perspective, it's good to load up a trunk and have no risk of projectiles behind you loose in the cargo area ;) )

[LD92599]

Funny you mention the trade in, it's part of our thinking in that SUV resale values are going lower and lower. Fortunately we won't have to add any cash and our payment would be the same/lower (well...tack on the additional year overall).

A guy before us was interested in trading in an '05 Ford Expedition - the dealer wanted to give them $5K for it - but the guy owes $15K!

We don't utilize the "space" of the Pilot all that much, and now that my mom has the Ody...i don't "need" seating for more than 4.

Will my regent fit nicely in the accord?!

[MommyAllison]

We went from a blazer to a big sedan (Chrysler 300m) in November and haven't regretted it a bit! Unfortunately our mpg isn't much better (18 in town) but I like having a trunk for the safety reasons Julie mentioned. Our car has a huuuuuuuge trunk though, so we haven't missed the space as it isn't much smaller. I think our backseat is bigger now - pretty sure I could put 3 seats back there if I had the right configuration - and it is so much more comfy and a smoother ride. Do it! :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

As someone who has never had an SUV, only sedans (well, one sedan...a '99 Civic) I say make the trade! We have 2 kids and do just fine in a sedan. We do not need a bigger car. I can fit a full size stroller, groceries and random stuff in the trunk. We can't haul ds's friends around which is the only down side. I much prefer owning a small car. It does help that dh's parents own a minivan if we need to haul stuff. If they didn't have a van we could easily just rent something if we really needed a bigger vehicle temporarily.


Beth

[KrisM]

I've never had an SUV and so far don't miss it. I have a Malibu Maxx and will have 3 kids in it. The trunk space is fine and I enjoy getting 27 or so MPG around town.

For trips, we did buy a Yakima car top carrier system last summer. We don't have the trunk space for all of us for a week long trip. Buying the carrier cost about $600 total, but it let me bring a double stroller and everything we needed for a week trip to NH last year!

[Clarity]

Kris,
Just curious....how will you get three kids in the Maxx? We own a Maxx too and I'm wondering how we're going to handle two kids and a visiting MIL! I thought I saw in the owner's manual that if you have a car seat in the rear center, no one can sit in the driver's side rear seat? If there's someway around this, or I read it wrong, I'm all ears. (maybe it was only if you were using latch? I dunno...but that seat is not full size when there's a seat in the center.)






edited for typo

[new_mommy25]

We have a Corolla and it gets awesome mileage! I am so glad I have it. We also have an older van but DH only drives it to and from work (>5 miles) and when we need to transport more people.

[niccig]

The lease was up on my SUV (Subaru Tribeca) and we just bought a Honda CRV as a replacement. My old car got 18 mpg around town, now I get 24-25 mpg. I live in Los Angeles so a mix of city and highway, but even the highway can be stop/start. DH's car is a Prius, so we wanted something that could fit more cargo and people. I can get 2 people beside DS's car seat - a Safeguard, which is a huge seat. Granted one person is more squished and that's always me. If I use our smaller seat, there's plenty of room for 2 people. I would say you could get 2 carseats, and possibly a passenger in the back, but it would depend on the car seats used and the size of the passenger.

[mytwosons]

Will my regent fit nicely in the accord?!

Our regent fits fine in our civic (I'm thrilled we downsized!), so I would think the Accord would work. Granted, when it's in the middle, no other seats are going beside it, but it works for us.

We figured it would be cheaper for us to rent a larger vehicle for the small number of times we'd need the space. If I had an oddy at my disposal, I wouldn't hesitate to downsize. Good luck with your decision!