Family Car Recommendations?

[bisous]

We are a family of 6 with currently only one car.

In normal times, DH rides the train to work every day but even still, we like to have another car for him. We found the morning drop off/kid drop off was a really tight timeline so we usually have another car that literally just sits at the train station for 13 hours a day. It is also nice on the odd weekend that we'd both like to be in different places at once. Even during the pandemic we've had that happen occasionally even though most of us have been home nearly this whole time. Unfortunately, nearly a year ago, our old second car bit the dust.

As school starts up again (and potentially DH goes back into the office though that keeps changing!), we are looking at another car. It is a really bad time to buy a car!

Our PRIMARY car is a 2007 Odyssey. We like everything about it but we have 185K on it. We've kept up on all the maintenance but it is getting on in mileage.

I'm wondering if we should think about transitioning our Odyssey to be DH's car that sits at the train station all day... and we get a new family vehicle? We could care less about how pretty or cool it is or about seating configurations at this time beyond being able to seat at least 6. It would be nice to have good fuel economy and be very economical. I feel like Odysseys are now too luxurious and expensive for my family, lol, and from what I've seen in CR it looks like reliability is down. So boo!

I'm open to vans, SUVs, maybe even smaller SUVs that have 3rd rows that can be down most of the time??, or anything else that fits a lot of people. We do road trips at least a couple of times a year. The van has been awesome for that.

We're totally open to used but I think that market is crazy right now. I never thought I'd be open to a new car but have to see if it makes sense...

Would love to see your recommendations for a family car for us OR potentially an alternate plan that might work? (Like a Corolla and we rent for the road trips?)

As always, please be as free in your opinions as you like. I love considering this from all angles!

[Snow mom]

To me the odyssey is the ultimate large family car. It’s just so flexible in its uses (hauling stuff and/or people), good gas mileage compared to anything else that carries as much—I’m seriously a fan. What model years are you seeing lower reliability for? Could you get one that is a few years old but much newer than what you have now?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Don’t buy a new car. Yours could easily have a few years left in it.
Get a new commuter car, not a new family car.


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[smilequeen]

Don’t buy a new car. Yours could easily have a few years left in it.
Get a new commuter car, not a new family car.


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I agree. That makes more sense for your current situation.

[AnnieW625]

We have a 2006 Honda Pilot with 213k miles on it. I say keep waiting. We were going to use it for our train station car as well but now that I am not commuting we opted not to replace it until we really need to. You could get a few more years out of the van. I wouldn’t count on rental cars being cheap though every time you need to take a trip though if you go with a smaller commuter car.


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[essnce629]

Don’t buy a new car. Yours could easily have a few years left in it.
Get a new commuter car, not a new family car.

Agree. My best friend also has a 2007 Odyssey with 195K+ miles on it and they're waiting it out, especially since cars are so expensive right now. I'd wait as long as possible. And definitely wait till you see what your DH's work situation is going to be. My DH's last job still had no plans to return to the office when he left last month and he's now working for a company that was 100% remote pre-pandemic and will remain so, so we're actually giving up his car whose lease expires in the fall and going down to 1 car since DS1 will be off to college. We plan to wait and see how it goes and reevaluate in a few months.

[DualvansMommy]

While your odnessy is getting up there in miles, it’s perfect as your commuter car. This way you can get few more years out of it, and agree with others not to do anything until you know DH’s work status.

I was scheduled to return to office on hybrid schedule this fall, without masks as my office is small with just 20 employees who are all vaxxed. But it’s changing now, as likely have to wear a mask in office. Also dependent on whether kids school remain in person or switch to virtual. So many changing variables that will change on the fly as we go thru rest of year.


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[ncat]

I am also starting to think about our next car to replace our Odyssey. DD has her learners permit and will get her license in a few months. I wanted to avoid having both a new car and new driver at the same time, so we put a fair amount of maintenance into the Odyssey. I'm in no huge hurry, but I do want to scope out what I want so we are ready to go when the market is better or the Odyssey needs more immediate replacement. Following this thread with great interest.

[bisous]

Thanks everyone! Maybe we can stick with one car...for now. But soon we'll have another teen driver. (DS1 is still not driving even though he'll be 18 in two months. I feel shame about this!) I'd love for him to actually be able to use something. I don't necessarily want him to drive "the nice" car...

And then in a year he'll be off...to college and/or a mission. So then we'll only have 5 passengers!

I know what you're all saying about keeping the van. We definitely plan to do that. The question is, what purpose will it serve? I don't think it would be a good candidate for DH's real commute (if he doesn't take the train) which is 45 miles ONE WAY. That's 90 miles a day...It is unlikely he'd have to drive it which is good since it is on some of the most congested freeways in the world. It does make a really good "move kids around town" car. But then does the teen drive the newer, smaller car? Is that the one that we leave at the train station?

Or do we just get two "vans"? Keep the Odyssey and add a newer car that also seats at least 6 to the stable? Or get one with just 5 and hope we can always fit who we need?

We often do drives within 12 hours long. Many of those are through really remote areas. I'd HATE to break down on them. Though from talking with friends my very old Odyssey might be better than a lot of much newer options out there. We had not one, but TWO cars that died at exactly 213K miles. That was a very strange occurrence. A Honda CRV and a Toyota Sienna. What if we wait and find ourselves needing TWO cars at once?

Also, it occurred to me after I posted how expensive rental cars have become. We knew a family of 6 that had only 1 car. The dad rode his bike to work every day and if they needed two cars on the weekend, they'd rent. They discovered it was cheaper than owning and paying insurance on a second car! But I don't think it quite works like that now?

I appreciate all the advice!

[LBW]

You live in an area with potential fire threats, right? I’m probably more risk averse than most, but I would absolutely want a reliable vehicle that would fit my whole family plus essentials if I lived in an area where we might have to evacuate quickly. Since your current van is okay, I’d casually be on the lookout for a 3ish year old replacement. I would not replace with a small commuter car.