Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

[jkust]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

If you can find a Chevrolet Astro or a GMC Safari with the mileage that you are looking for...


???

I have to say the Astro seems to be universally loved by anyone who has owned one. Don't they also have the 4.3 even in the later ones? I don't think I've ever heard anything negative about them. I showed one to my wife and got a big thumbs down.

We absolutely LOVED our Chrysler Pacifica. Any year will do but I'd prefer an '07/'08 with 4.0L. Of all the many many vehicles we've had, that was our favorite.

My sister and neighbor each have a Pacifica and love them. Neighbors has close to 200k miles. My sister's is AWD and gets some of the worst mileage considering it's not a huge vehicle. As bad as my 5.3liter V8. I always thought good things were going to come out of the Daimler/Chrysler relationship. Too bad they only made a couple cars together. I'll put it on the list.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

While I love my Suburban, I understand your thinking it is too big. It is a big freaking vehicle. But I will lend my support to the Expedition crowd. I owned a '97 that I bought in 2000 and just unloaded last year. It had 172K on it and the only real issue I had were brakes and spark plugs. Other than that it was rock solid.

I loved that car as it was easy to drive, could haul just a crapload of stuff in it and hooked up to it, and was like a snowmobile in the winter.

The good thing about this option is that there will be plenty otu there to look at. I would opt for the 5.3L, although the 4.6l is adequate.

 

[suzhol76]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

Ok so I had an 03 Chevy Trailblazer but mine had only 2 rows they have and extended model as well that has the 3rd row. It towed our 19ft Chaparal with ease. I now own an 06 Expedition 3rd row as well its an Eddie Bauer with all the bells and whistles you can't even tell our boat or camper is back there.

I went to a 3rd row for more passenger room and I haven't been let down yet! Plus we went to Florida last week and the comfort level was great!

Certainly worth a look!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

GM stopped making the Astro/Safari after the 2005 model year. While some of the early models may have had something other than the 4.3 litre engine, all of the later ones have it. Given how widely used this motor has been in GM products, it is a very well developed and reliable motor.

I bought mine with 62,000 miles on it, in January of 2005, so I have owned it for about five and a half years. It has been well maintained and I have spent about $6,000 doing that. Given that I now have a bit over 180,000 miles on it, I have driven the car 120,000 miles. Even ignoring miles before I bought it, in which service had not been required, the car has cost about five cents a mile to drive, in terms of maintenance. I also paid only $6,000 (2000 model, cash) for it, so my total cost per mile, aside from gasoline, insurance, etc., is about ten cents per mile.

Where my vehicle falls down compared to some minivans, is in gas mileage. I have the tow package and I get about 15 mpg around town, which is what most of my driving consists of. Even at that, given the cost of gasoline where I live (its cheep), I have probably averaged about eighteen cents a mile in fuel cost. The car is also relatively inexpensive to insure, because it has airbags, anti-lock brakes and daytime running lights. I currently pay $600 a year to insure it, but have averaged more like $800 per year, because I used to have collision on it. Based on those numbers, my insurance cost has been about four cents (actually a little less) per mile.

So, for service, actual depreciation (assuming zero value now, which isn't really true), fuel and insurance, this car has cost me about 32 cents per mile to drive. Considering the utility that I have gotten out of it, I consider that to be a bargain.



???

 

[jkust]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

Ok so I had an 03 Chevy Trailblazer but mine had only 2 rows they have and extended model as well that has the 3rd row. It towed our 19ft Chaparal with ease. I now own an 06 Expedition 3rd row as well its an Eddie Bauer with all the bells and whistles you can't even tell our boat or camper is back there.

I went to a 3rd row for more passenger room and I haven't been let down yet! Plus we went to Florida last week and the comfort level was great!

Certainly worth a look!

Yes I didn't really get specific but my Wife has a Buick Rainier which is a mid luxury, mid sized suv. It has all the options including the 5.3, awd and all the bells and whistles. See my thinking is that she will get whatever replacement third row vehicle we get and I will drive the Rainier. The problem is that she loves the Rainier so much that getting her to agree to first change vehicles and potentially downgrade ammenitys is going to be a challenge. The Expedition Eddie bower looks like one she might be up for. We tow or Chaparral with the Rainier and power wise you don't know it's there but the wheel base isn't huge so you can tell sometimes.

 

[rbh]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

Snowmobiling = 4x4, for sure, expidition or suburban would be my choice due to the need for room to put all your gear.

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

If you want another minivan, try the Nissan Quest. I have one and its plenty roomy for a family of 5.

I bought it because it has lots of power. I looked at other minivans and they were slow as dogs. I need power!!!

I have towed my small boat with it, no problems. Yes, it is FWD, but with smaller boats this isnt a problem.

Ken

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

My sister and neighbor each have a Pacifica and love them. Neighbors has close to 200k miles. My sister's is AWD and gets some of the worst mileage considering it's not a huge vehicle. As bad as my 5.3liter V8. I always thought good things were going to come out of the Daimler/Chrysler relationship. Too bad they only made a couple cars together. I'll put it on the list.

Ours was an AWD. Mileage was indeed terrible. However our Jeep with the 4.7 is even worse. We had the 3.5L which was working pretty hard. The 4.0 gets the same mileage but isn't working as hard. Lots of cool features. It was just a really nice classy vehicle which rode and drove awesome. In 3 years when we'll probably consider trading the Jeep, it will be a tough decision at that time whether to get an '08 Pacifica or a Jeep GC Limited.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

I recommended this as a tow vehicle to lrider earlier. I think he liked it. I'm pretty sure it would accomodate third row seating if you took out the ammo boxes, cutting torches, etc.
http://www.theateamvan.co.uk/images/atv_12.jpg

 

[jkust]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

If you want another minivan, try the Nissan Quest. I have one and its plenty roomy for a family of 5.

I bought it because it has lots of power. I looked at other minivans and they were slow as dogs. I need power!!!

I have towed my small boat with it, no problems. Yes, it is FWD, but with smaller boats this isnt a problem.

Ken

I think essentially that is the big decision, go with another minivan or another midsized suv/or similar. Our minivan (the one we are replacing) I mentioned is a 2000 Oldsmobile Silhouette with the 3.4 liter 185hp/210tq. Pretty pitiful by today's standards but was a classy van back when we bought it. It is a little embarasing to say but for one season we towed our 4000lb boat/trailer and the snowmobiles in the winter. It is amazing how little torque it takes to tow. If you really gas the mv from a stop, you can take off ok too. Of course the long term damage aside. At the end of the day when you really compare suv's to minivan's, if you can ignore the minivan stigma (and you don't really need the towing prowess of an suv) Minivans are great. Our kids are just getting old enough to not really 'need' the sliding doors of a minivan and a used minivan is about the same price range as a used suv...give or take. Of course if gas is going up to $7.00/gallon I'd probably change my tune.

Ours was an AWD. Mileage was indeed terrible. However our Jeep with the 4.7 is even worse. We had the 3.5L which was working pretty hard. The 4.0 gets the same mileage but isn't working as hard. Lots of cool features. It was just a really nice classy vehicle which rode and drove awesome. In 3 years when we'll probably consider trading the Jeep, it will be a tough decision at that time whether to get an '08 Pacifica or a Jeep GC Limited.

My sister has the 4.0 awd and I think the neighbor has a 3.5. I'd love a Jeep GC Limited if it wasn't for the third row issue. Have you seen the commercial for the brand new generation Jeep GC Limited? They look really nice. As my parents said in 1986 when the Ford Taurus first came out "Can't wait to have one of those in ten years."

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

There really isn't much in the crossover segment that was yet down to my level of affordability. Overall there's the Pacifica, the Mazda CX-9, Ford Edge, and the GM's. Only the Pacifica has been around long enough to be down in my used car price range of around $15-18k. I like all of them but have read mixed reviews on the GM's. My son's babysitter has an Outlook and it's been a real lemon. We ventured into the SUV segment and bought the Cherokee with 79k miles on it pretty well loaded for $14k. Despite being a Chrysler product with that kind of mileage on it I can't believe the complete lack of shimmies, shakes and rattles. Definitely a well put together vehicle. I did buy a long warranty on it also which is through Chrysler. I almost bought a Buick Rainier before getting the Cherokee but the dealer sold it out from under me. I'm kinda glad he did cuz we love the Jeep.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

Just my opinion:

I wouldn't get a trailblazer because the fuel mileage is just incredibly bad, from what I've seen, and from what chevrolet even admits to.

I believe you should shop around and find a Tahoe with low mileage and in really good condition, but a little older so that you can get the vehicle you want in your price range. I wouldn't be afraid to get one with as much as 100,000 miles, either. They have good motors and transmissions in them. Tow pretty well, too. I also have to admit that the Ford expeditions seem to be good vehicles. My Bro-in-law had one with 100,000 miles on it that ran like new. It was comfortable and had plenty of power, and wasn't horribly bad on gas. I liked it.

I don't believe the full sized Toyota and Nissan vehicles are even close to being worth the extra money compared to the domestic stuff. Ford and chevrolet make pretty decent full sized trucks now with good motors and transmissions and a/c's. I got 265K miles out of my last chevy ('98 model) and the motor and tranny still worked absolutely like new. I miss the 350c.u. motor, matter of fact. The 5.3 liter in my current chevy is not nearly as powerful.

I'm not a Chrysler fan and suspect the Durangos must be not so good based on their really low resale value for one having over 60,000 miles compared to their new price.

I got my wife an '04 Toyota Highlander with 3rd row seating and 60k miles recently, and it is a smooth riding vehicle that handles well and gets decent gas mileage. It's pleasant to drive. However, the 3rd row seating is absolutely useless in my opinion, since the 3rd seat will only hold 2 dinky kids and NO luggage in the back if the 3rd seat is being used. My wife wouldn't agree with that, but.............

My vote is for a Tahoe or Suburban or Expedition.
JBJ

 

[jkust]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

Just my opinion:

I wouldn't get a trailblazer because the fuel mileage is just incredibly bad, from what I've seen, and from what chevrolet even admits to.

I believe you should shop around and find a Tahoe with low mileage and in really good condition, but a little older so that you can get the vehicle you want in your price range. I wouldn't be afraid to get one with as much as 100,000 miles, either. They have good motors and transmissions in them. Tow pretty well, too. I also have to admit that the Ford expeditions seem to be good vehicles. My Bro-in-law had one with 100,000 miles on it that ran like new. It was comfortable and had plenty of power, and wasn't horribly bad on gas. I liked it.

I don't believe the full sized Toyota and Nissan vehicles are even close to being worth the extra money compared to the domestic stuff. Ford and chevrolet make pretty decent full sized trucks now with good motors and transmissions and a/c's. I got 265K miles out of my last chevy ('98 model) and the motor and tranny still worked absolutely like new. I miss the 350c.u. motor, matter of fact. The 5.3 liter in my current chevy is not nearly as powerful.

I'm not a Chrysler fan and suspect the Durangos must be not so good based on their really low resale value for one having over 60,000 miles compared to their new price.

I got my wife an '04 Toyota Highlander with 3rd row seating and 60k miles recently, and it is a smooth riding vehicle that handles well and gets decent gas mileage. It's pleasant to drive. However, the 3rd row seating is absolutely useless in my opinion, since the 3rd seat will only hold 2 dinky kids and NO luggage in the back if the 3rd seat is being used. My wife wouldn't agree with that, but.............

My vote is for a Tahoe or Suburban or Expedition.
JBJ

Yes the Trailblazer and equivalents do get pretty poor mileage. If I could get 21mpg I would be happy but even with the standard inline 6, they barely top out at that. Like I said I have a Trailblazer equivalent but have the added deficite of the 5.3liter and full time AWD. All great features but ding your mileage. I do like the exteriors of the previous generation Tahoe. I generally buy higher mile cars and have been lucky with them. My issue with buying a higher mileage 4x4 is all the possible additional expensive components in the 4x4 system. Now I suppose a 60k mile 4x4 is considered high mileage by some and can have just as many issues. I agree on the GM AC's having had other brands and the GM's have lasted the longest. Even my 10 year old minivan still cools well which says alot being we rarely use it in minnesota and lack of use kills stuff as does our salty roads which tend to corrode everything. . Can't say the same for my past chryslers. As for the third row seating areas being small, we'd only be carrying neighbor kids to baseball games and stuff. We really need the cargo space more than the third row but the times you need the third row it is invaluable.

 

[rbh]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

Full time automatic hub's, get rid of them if you can.
Opt for a set of manual hubs, perferably warn.
There is just no need for all that parisitic drag from the auto's, unless you can't jump out and engage the manual's.

 

[jkust]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

Full time automatic hub's, get rid of them if you can.
Opt for a set of manual hubs, perferably warn.
There is just no need for all that parisitic drag from the auto's, unless you can't jump out and engage the manual's.

I can't say I was suprised with the poor mpg in our Rainier with the AWD. The reason we accepted it was one because we got such a good deal on it considering it's towing capability vs. our needs and two because we put on maybe 4,000 miles since we've owned it which has been just over a year. All the other Trailblazer look alikes have a selector switch so you can have full time AWD, 4 high and 4 low as well as unlocked/rear wheel drive only. Apparently GM felt the older demographic who bought the Buick new didn't have any interest in the ability to switch out of awd which I suppose makes sense. Since it was my wife's car anyway, she'd never use the switch properly and I'd most likely just leave it in AWD. Our winters here last for ever and frankly the awd has come in handy quite a few times when you least expect it to.
You almost can't have a serious dialogue about gas mileage and truck based suv's at the same time given even the hybrid full sized suv's get pretty pathetic mileage. I'd love to see the day when a v8 and 35mpg go hand in hand and not electric assisted or diesel. My sense though is there will come a day when truck based suv's are a memory as we seem to keep getting smaller and smaller vehicles.

 

[rbh]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

Some friend's have the expedition (I think, ford suburban ????)
It has the 7.3 super duty diesel in it, what a monster.
I am more of a truck guy.

 

[DaleT]

Re: Suggestions for a vehicle with three rows of seats

I have a 1st Gen Durango (2003) and I'll be completely honest, I wouldn't buy another one. At just under 73k miles, I had the trans (46re that was replaced in the 2nd generation) rebuilt, Chrysler basically laughed at me when I called them about it. It was barely out of the mileage warranty, not that I really expected them to do anything but figured it was worth a shot. I've also had to replace the cam sensor twice, replaced the blower motor resistor twice, literally had a radiator cap blow off, and the brake rotors are notoriously thin leading to warping over time. There have been numerous recalls on them as well including front ball joints. Mine is the 5.9L with towing package and the mileage is horrible. I average around 15mpg of which most of my driving is 50 mph and up. It tows with very little problem, however it has to be done in 3rd gear. Which means 55mph is around 2500rpm and the gas mileage to show for it. The 4x4 in mine is not meant to be used full time so other than the weight factor it doesn't add a whole lot of usefulness.
If you use the third row seating there is very little room to store any gear and getting in and out of it is not easy for the average size person. But the front and rear ac/heat controls are nice. I do enjoy the truck for what it's worth, but just thought you'd benefit from the issues I've had and seen with others.