Nobody loves the minivan until the school field trip. Our Odyssey was the school field trip chaperone vehicle of choice. Five students in booster seats every single time.

Now that our kids are older, my wife decided she wanted something other than the minivan. We started with the Telluride SX Prestige which drove no better than our 10 year old Odyssey. A year later with 8,500 miles on it, we traded it for an Explorer ST which is a much better driving vehicle. The Telluride's interior is nicer and most of the safety/nanny features are probably better thought out than the Explorer.

While we never used car seats or boosters in either vehicle, either will handle car seats and boosters. The trick is to have the kids trained to buckle and unbuckle themselves. You install the car seats/boosters for the kids that can manage themselves in the third row and the ones that need your help go in the second row.

A 3-row Tahoe just somewhat optioned out is so nice for hauling kids and their stuff. If you've got low water crossings where you live, more ground clearance can be peace of mind for them getting home.

We looked at a few today: Kia, my wife didn’t really care for them (Telluride and Sorento); Jeep, the Cherokee L and Grand Cherokee, somewhat interested, but not blown away; Ford Explorer, my wife didn’t really want to look at them, but she ended up liking it more than anything we looked at. Our daughter has a Volvo XC-90, and it’s certainly nice, but neither of us really wants to spend $70k + again.

I’ll add, we were both disappointed to find that the Macan is not worth what we hoped. Spoiled by the 911 we had which held value very, very well.

Saw an article earlier this week that the 911 is the slowest depreciating car [over a 5 yr span] that you can own.

Glad you liked the Explorer, mines been great, even if it'll be [I assume] a lot less fun than the Porsche.

Congratulations!

Have you looked at the Audi Q7. There are some smoking deals on used ones around with little mileage on them. You can go to https://www.audiusa.com/us/web/en/inventory.html to find new and used there.

My sister has a Chevy Travers that is about 10 years old. It's had regular oil changes with brakes and tires replaced as needed. Beyond that the ONLY failure was a 10 AMP fuse for the Brake Lights, took all of perhaps 3 minutes to fix that. On the plus side the AWD is nice on the rare occasion where there is snow in western Virginia and it's also an asset when pulling the boat up a gravel launch ramp. With 4 grankids at times it's proven to be very useful and 3 rows means seating for 8.

I'd look hard at the Mazda CX-90. Inline sixes with turbos sound like a great idea. Mazda was never on my radar until I drove/bought a 2016 CX-9 GT. That zoom zoom stuff is for real in a turbo 4 cyl so I'd love to try a 6 cyl. Before Christmas has traditionally been a good time to buy cars, too.

The Kia/Hyundai are nice but I’ve soured on the brand. They settled a class action lawsuit over oil consumption issues but my wife’s Sorento wasn’t included in the recall. Dealer insisted that using 3-4 quarts of oil in 3 months was perfectly normal for a well maintained vehicle with 80k miles. We dumped it and got her a CRV.

Tahoe would be my suggestion, then Explorer or Traverse/Enclave.

I’ll suggest something I haven’t seen mentioned, Subaru Ascent. We had one with captain chairs in the second row. I rode in the third row a few times and was comfortable. I enjoyed that vehicle a great deal.

I've known a couple folks with Ascents & they've liked them
My parents have an Outback with the same turbo 4 & it's a great little car.

About the oil consumption issue. Here is a possible explanation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4JS7PybV2k

First off congratulation on the newest addition to your family! I hope you get to spoil the hell out of them…

But getting back to your question I would suggest you consider looking at a Toyota Sienna minivan, hybrid if you can find one. I am not a Toyota fan boy and have never owned a Toyota but a family member, who is in a similar situation to you has one and loves it. It is so comfortable they routinely take trips from VA to FL in it.. Room not only for all the car seats but the inevitable “stuff” that goes along with all the kids.

The Subaru Ascent was the first vehicle my wife looked at. She has a friend who looking at an Outback so they went together. Not sure what turned her off to the Subaru, but I’m ok with it.

We bought an Explorer today. It’s a new 2023, so they were a bit more flexible on price to clear for the ‘24s. I was happy with the deal we made. It’s a very dark blue, and maybe the favorite color for a vehicle for both of us.

Thanks for your responses. I really thought we’d look at more vehicles in a crowded field of mid-sized SUVs with 3-row seating. I was a bit surprised that my wife, who seemed indifferent to a Ford, so quickly latched onto the Explorer. Suits me.

Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna. Get AWD. Test drive both and decide which one you like more. They are actually pretty quick now and handle great.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna. Get AWD. Test drive both and decide which one you like more. They are actually pretty quick now and handle great.

I totally agree!

Congrats on the Exploder. Which trim did you get?

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Congrats on the Exploder. Which trim did you get?

XLT, as my wife put it, “It has the bells, just not the whistles.”

Our family owns three Kia's. I will not buy another Kia or Hyundai product.

Yes, they have the longest warranty of any manufacturer. But good luck getting anything done under it when something breaks. First you have to fight tooth and nail with them to admit there is a problem. Then you have to wait months for parts.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Congrats on the Exploder. Which trim did you get?

XLT, as my wife put it, “It has the bells, just not the whistles.”

Great purchase, it's a good looking vehicle, the Travers/Explorer/Acacia size line has quite a bit offer...