Yea... the E is great... for 4 people. Maybe 5 if one is a Ecuadorian midget and doesn't mind riding without a seatbelt while sitting on cupholders. :D

So with that said, I want my family to get a secondary vehicle that can haul at least 6 people... for around $25,000.

I've always liked the Pilot, but what else do y'all recommend?

My sister and her husband just got a Murano, they seem to like it. I know they are a little higher than $25k though...around $30k.

Nice used Suburban? Not hard to find low miliage example for $20k....pray gas prices stay "low."

How bout a Chrysler Mini-Van ? Not my idea of "fun" but who cares if it works for you.

Will

We have a Mazda5. It's got about the same amount of legroom in each row as a pilot, but is not three seats wide in the back two rows. If you only need to move 6, it's hard to beat. We have a stick shift Sport, and the road feel is great, the acceleration okay (about like an Element, though it's a little less torquey) and the handling terrific for anything that looks that much like a minivan. So far, we've averaged right around EPA mileage estimates. 22 city/27 highway.

For well under 25, you could get a Grand Touring Mazda5 with leather seats, satnav, voice recognition, climate control, etc.

Just hold out for a used Odyssey, I believe the new ones came out in '05. That is a sweet people mover. There is nothing wrong with a minivan just as long as it's not the Dodge caravan. It really is a rickity brick.

I will most definitly get an Odyssey down the road, it has the luxury feel of the early '90s caddies with plush leather and nice features.

We have an '02 Odyssey EXL......Fantastic vehicle for hauling a bunch of people. Very smooth ride.

Be prepared for sticker shock even on a pre-owned.... They hold their value extremely well.

People mover get an ODyssey, but you will need to get a used one to get one under 25K.

I like the new Aspen, but it starts over 30K.

I always liked the Tahoe as well, again a good buy used. Very room and not cramming in passangers 6-8

We looked into an Odyssey when my wife was car shopping. She liked it, but was disappointed that there was no way to get it with a stick shift. We also test drove a Pilot, but it had the same tranny issue, and while the ride was soft, the drive was above-all uninteresting and the handling sloppy. It's like a rebadged Country Squire.

If you can find one used, a Toyota Highlander may be worth considering. With a 4-cylinder, the mileage is good, and the power/weight ratio isn't far off the Element, assuming that you are happy with the Element's pep.

I always liked the Tahoe as well, again a good buy used.

Yeah....used versions of the 'hoe and the Ba'burban are "on sale" 'cause the newstyle '07 GM SUVs/P-Ups are out.....

so manny people gotta have the latest and greatest that the 4/5 year old low miliage tanks just sit there....quietly rusting way.


Will

pilot,,, and the 06' models are a deal now.....

2 Elements :)

2 Elements :)




Hell no! That's a combined 8 passenger vehicle that has a load rating of 1300 lbs and gets 10.5 mpg city, 12 mpg highway. Much smarter to buy one Pilot. $30, 17-22 or 18-24 mileage ratings, plenty of power for towing and hauling! And, you don't have to insure two drivers in two cars!!!

As mentioned above the Honda Odessey is the way to go no question....:cool:

Get a used diesel Chevy/GMC Suburban or a Diesel Ford Excursion. I have a diesel Suburban(to go along with my SC) that I have modified heavily and it will pull anything and haul lots of people. It's a 4x4 and gets 28 mpg on the highway and 25 mpg around town. Dyno'd at 710 hp. The first engine went 587,000 miles and this engine ,that I built, already has over 200,000 on it. They just last forever with good care.

Get a used diesel Chevy/GMC Suburban or a Diesel Ford Excursion. I have a diesel Suburban(to go along with my SC) that I have modified heavily and it will pull anything and haul lots of people. It's a 4x4 and gets 28 mpg on the highway and 25 mpg around town. Dyno'd at 710 hp. The first engine went 587,000 miles and this engine ,that I built, already has over 200,000 on it. They just last forever with good care.
Get a used diesel Chevy/GMC Suburban or a Diesel Ford Excursion? Neverrrrrr! :rolleyes:

P.S. I had the Steelheart CD (http://www.steelheart.com/)....:cool: Wait ... I still have it...

Got to say-

Odyssey.

It's just an opinion and everyone has one. With the diesel trucks you can have super power and good milage too. Generally, with a gasoline powered vehicle, the more power you add, the less milage you get. You can also find the diesel suburbans cheaper than other 'people toters'.

It's just an opinion and everyone has one. With the diesel trucks you can have super power and good milage too. Generally, with a gasoline powered vehicle, the more power you add, the less milage you get. You can also find the diesel suburbans cheaper than other 'people toters'.
Great name. Welcome to the club....where in Florida are you?

It's just an opinion and everyone has one. With the diesel trucks you can have super power and good milage too. Generally, with a gasoline powered vehicle, the more power you add, the less milage you get. You can also find the diesel suburbans cheaper than other 'people toters'.

The only downside is driving a truck. Once you get spoiled on rack & pinion steering, independent suspension, and tight unibody structural rigidity, it's hard to go back to a body-on-frame dinosaur with a 1950's solid axle and steering with more slop than a hog farm!

Just hold out for a used Odyssey, I believe the new ones came out in '05. That is a sweet people mover. There is nothing wrong with a minivan just as long as it's not the Dodge caravan. It really is a rickity brick.

I will most definitly get an Odyssey down the road, it has the luxury feel of the early '90s caddies with plush leather and nice features.

I believe Honda's final decision was to recall Odyssey's from 2000 to 04 for trans fix/replace.

http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=93&did=908

New model in 05.

"Chevy Van," by Sammy Kershaw

...Like a picture she was laying there
And moonlight dancing off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
She's gonna love me in my Chevy van
And that's all right with me...

public trans (city bus) :)

Great name. Welcome to the club....where in Florida are you?
DeLand, and the name is a condition.

It's a little big, only comes in one color, and gets sucky gas mileage. On the brighter side, it can take an RPG hit and has optional gun ports.

25162

:lol: ^^

Anyway, get a Chevy Tahoe or Suburban, or a Ford Expedition. The Suburban will run forever, and the people I know with Expeditions love them. The Excursion's for the family of 26 towing a motorhome, and it should have come with an optional oil-refinery on the roofrack to pump enough fuel into it.

http://www.strangevehicles.com/images/content/114066.jpg

Might be a bit snug, but very cool. :cool:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=011&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=320057020723&rd=1,1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=014&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=330056857899&rd=1,1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=150066161478&rd=1,1

How about 9 back seat drivers?

Here's an old ad for the VW bus, er Station Wagon.

26074

Element Limo!

Interesting concept vehicle by VW.

VW Crafter Atacama Concept

Posted Sep 20th 2006 11:07AM by
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/09/vw_crafter_atacama_concept_1.jpg (http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.caradisiac.com%2FVol kswagen-Crafter-Atacama-Concept-m-as-tu-VU-71&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8)

On our drive back home yesterday, we saw one of those apocalypse-ready Ford Econoline vans tooling along on the freeway and thought to ourselves, "Autoblog needs a mobile command unit." After running it by our budget office and being swiftly laughed out of the building we were forced to come back out of the clouds. Then this shows up and we start salivating again.

The translation from Caradisiac is about as undecipherable as poorly-lighted Aramaic, but from what we gather, Volkswagen plans on showing off a new work truck at some point in the near future to go up against the Ford Transit, Mercedes/Dodge Sprinter and Fiat Truckster. From the Google-translated text, all we can gather is that the Crafta Atacama will be powered by five-cylinder TDI, producing approximately 260 ft./lbs. of torque and offer optional four-wheel-drive.

As anyone who has ever examined some of the offerings from the producers of European work-vans, features are what make the market. How many door combinations do you want? What interior accoutrements are on your short list? You name it, they'll normally shove it in somewhere. The Crafta Atacama probably won't be any different, offering a panoramic/sliding glass roof, customizable colors, shields, bumpers, sidesteps, suspension and wheel upgrades.

When, where and how much is all up in the air, but maybe if it floats on over to this continent we can make another appeal to our bean counters.

Click on through for a few more shots.

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/09/vw_crafter_atacama_concept_2.jpg

I believe Honda's final decision was to recall Odyssey's from 2000 to 04 for trans fix/replace.

http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=93&did=908

New model in 05.

Amen to this post. Honda put $1500 into a brand new tranny on our 2000 Odyssey at around 65K miles. Back in 2000, they were selling them before they even built 'em and I think endurance testing the new drivetrains suffered. "The Ark", as we call it, is running just fine at 87K miles now, but we'll sell it before we get to around 120K miles and the "new" tranny self-destructs again! :lol: