What else is in your driveway? Family SUV considerations

Former '03 Accord owner here, and I couldn't possibly agree with you more.

I've mentioned several times on here, I always wanted an '88-'89 CRX. I'd be cool with a '90-'91 also. But never got one. Great gas sipper, and awesome vehicle for car audio purposes. They're too damn expensive these days to warrant purchase.

And OP, on the "CR" front, avoid the CRV, I can share some horror stories with the latest couple years. My FIL has driven nothing but the CRV for his last 3 cars. Once his current one dies, I assure you they won't buy another. They're not happy with the current one.

 

Why did I think I was still on TW?

 

That would be my second option for all the reasons you mentioned. The 2nd Gen Sequoia is the most underrated vehicle on the road. I was looking for one when this ultra clean local LX popped up.

The LX seats 8, and if I needed to put adults (or adult-sized kids) in the 3rd row, the extra space of the Sequoia would be nice.

I gave up the space of the Suburban platform because of all the nagging issues. My wife was also stranded 4X between a Burb and a Yukon XL. At this point, I’d rather drive a Lexus with a roof box occasionally than drive another GM.

Same logic as why I’m driving a Tundra—I’ll deal with the poorer payload and fuel economy compared to the rest of the segment to have a truck that is always ready to do whatever job I need it to.

 

Don't listen to me because of the following vehicles I suggest, I only paid for 2 of them so my reasoning holds no weight.

08 Pontiac Grand Prix
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 (Slate)
1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.2 (Black)
1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee, rare factory 5spd (Green)
1966 Mercury Comet (my first car)

 

I know you said no to the 1st gen sequoia due to body roll. Was that one specific sequoia or all of them? I don't notice body roll in mine, but I've driven old cars for 20 year so I could just not know what a good car feels like

The only thing I can add is I have 4 kids and we fit much better in the Sequoia than the LX470. In the LX, the passenger seat needs to be moved up for leg room; in the sequoia the seat can be all the way back and partially reclined and still have enough leg room.

 

I actually found a guy at work with a GX that has some rust ( I need to inspect it to see how bad it is) but he’s thinking $7500 for 169k miles so we shall have to see what shakes out.

Otherwise it seems like the cheapest highlander hybrid(sub 100k miles) around is about 33k yikes

love the thoughts on the 2nd gen sequoia but she thinks it’s bubbly and I already have a introductory knowledge of the 4.7

what’s interesting about the interrogation of the “body roll” of my truck….(which we just drove from Fredericksburg VA to Boston last night (165.5k strong)) is that it feels bouncy….. aka time for a suspension upgrade…latest thought being tossed around is replace coil overs in the truck and see if we can’t get away with a first gen sequoia!!!! There is hope….

 

…this! Between the Honda being a shitty starter and nagging minor problems I’d rather dump cash into a platform I trust (Toyota/Lexus) than keep going into the pit in something neither of us like. The market for clean 2nd gens is inflated like everything else, while first gens can still be had for under 10k and I’m already familiar with their engine and suspension components…..which makes a first gen sequoia most desirable followed closely by gx and lx 470….chased quickly by 570 for extra room…I think? The hard part is talking to the boss into a first gen but the promise of a suspension upgrade has given us hope that it’s a viable option….the lower price tag of the rig reducing concerns of fuel economy….someone please call me crazy

 

Do it! We're in love with ours, just got a 2" OME setup recently.

 

Just going to throw this out there as the highlander has been mentioned several times. We have had a 19 highlander for a couple months now. We were looking at the mini vans but found out the Highlander comes with second row captains seats (kids love them and no fighting) it also drives better than the sienna and isn’t a minivan. It’s super quiet inside. Would be hard to go wrong with any highlander, 4Runner , sequioa, or Lexus variants.

 

Best looking model variant of Sequioa hands down.

 

kings made a difference on my wife’s sequoia. They really seemed to tighten the truck. Coupled with the air bags in the rear and it was smooth as glass. Wife’s was on 07 limited. The only reason she let it go was to get something with better fuel mileage

 

We went with a 4Runner, here are a few pics (of course the first thing we did being to black out the chrome, lol).







And of course had to include the Tundra in the photos...

The 4Runner is more than adequate with 1-2 car seats, but if we had a 14 year old as well it would probably be a different story. The available 3rd row seats aren't the most spacious and usable, which is relevant since the GX uses basically the same exact 3rd row setup as the 4runner. (We looked at a GX before deciding on the 4runner and liked it a lot, but ultimately got a much newer vehicle with way lower mileage in our price range with the 4runner.)

A Sequoia could also be a great alternative to an LX. I considered that as well but ultimately landed on an SUV for the family hauler and a truck with a full bed for working on home projects.

 

With only two kids, we would have just run my Tundra and the wife's Corolla. No unibody SUV will tow our travel trailer and two body on frame V8 4x4s is overkill.

 

Yeah, honestly the 2 cars we had before were sufficient size wise (Subaru Outback and Forester). But the newer ones have been built for EPA mileage regulations, not with the same tight tolerances as the previous generation, so they tend to burn oil. My '18 Forester with only 65k was already burning a couple quarts between oil changes and Subaru considers that normal. That's why we knew it was time to go back to Toyota.

Then there was the fact we had 2 paid off cars with excellent resale value, each less than 5 years old, and had the luxury of time to sell them private party instead of trading them in. That meant we could buy my Tundra for cash, and put the rest down on something newer for my wife. She's always loved 4runners, and I've always wanted to build one into a nice offroad rig, and we had about 65% to put down which made it pretty affordable. Definitely didn't need that size of a vehicle, but we wanted something that will run for a lot of time and miles with reliability, and my wife finally got her all-time favorite vehicle, so it was a win for all around.

 

My sister and BIL had a Honda Odyssey. They also had issues with theirs. They wanted to buy another Odyssey but I convinced them to buy a Sienna. They loved the Sienna but unfortunately it got totaled by a distracted driver. My BIL wants a SUV but my sis still insist on a minivan. So now they are on the hunt for another Sienna. We have a Sequoia and honestly I'm jealous sometimes because the Sienna is so much more convenient to load and unload passengers and still has plenty of space for storage, better mpg, etc. We took a long road trip in 2 cars recently and I had to stop for gas more often lol.

 

Which engine do you have in that Comet? That is an amazing car.

 

And only a two year wait for a new Sienna right now...

 

2016 Durango RT. Perfect for our family although with me being 6’ tall, my 3yo is pretty close to the back of my seat and can easily kick me. I’ll be glad when he’s in a booster. Drops him down lower.

 

Yes you're right...and it's driving up the price of used ones

 

Anything other than a mini van is the best choice lol. Can’t go wrong with an gx or lx. When we got rid of our 16 t4r the wife didn’t want another suv to my surprise or I would’ve bought a new gx. The new lx gets expensive quickly. Our 16 t4r was probably the best vehicle purchase to date, we owned it 5 years and put 80k miles on it. When I sold it we got 5k shy of what it cost me new.

 

I'm looking to pair my Tundra with the latest Sienna. You simply can't beat the functionality of a minivan if you have kids and you use it for work. The gas mileage of the new hybrid is nothing to sneeze at compared to my 06' Tundra and with gas prices going up and up, it's a move I have to consider.

 

A minivan is far and away the most practical family vehicle by a long shot. I wanted to get a Sienna hybrid for my wife, but she wasn’t into it. I wanted to at least get her to test drive one, but it turns out that’s hard to do these days. So we’re both rocking 3UR-FEs. Lol.

 

My brother purchased a new sienna this last year to replace their 10 years old 250k miles sienna before we all road tripped to a family vacation destination. I honestly liked the previous Gen better when it comes to space, legroom, and generally fitting in the vehicle. The new one felt smaller and more cramped, which is just fine for kids I suppose. But the hybrid is actually pretty nice… for a minivan… It had no problem tackling the hills with the smooth torque delivery of electric motor.

 

I do as well... They got rid of v6 and easily removable middle seat so its a close toss up for me only because of gas advantages of hybrid. Leaning towards the V6 earlier model round 2015 before they went to 8speed transition....

 

I think the search is over….guy at work has an 05 GX470 with 173k miles on it that came from NC before living in Minnesota for 1 year, rust isn’t terrible but it’s insane what 1 year up there can do! He’s already got some 4Runner wheels for it and has already replaced the radiator and power steering reservoir, timing belt will be due in 24,000 miles so plenty of time to get settled on the other coast. Super excited about getting it and having only Toyota and Lexus in the driveway. Even the commuter hoopty I’m getting post move is a 98 Corolla!

 

Glad you didn’t end up with a minivan!

 

We have a gx 460. It’s great for a family vehicle.

 

I absolutely love the room of a minivan. I’ve had 2 Odysseys. I prefer the 2006 over the 2011. It’s better built and more fun to drive. That being said, my 2011 will be my last due to Honda’s quality demise and the fact that they refused to own up to their transmission and VCM problems. My wife’s next minivan will be a Sienna. IMO many SUV’s are simply petrol thirsty cars in comparison to the vans. The convenience of the sliding doors and stow away rear seats make it so cargo friendly that I can’t see myself going back. One thing the Odyssey has going for it is even with my muzzled VCM, I still get 28-29 highway mileage. Not sure what the mileage is on the Sienna though. JMO

 

Well the gx was a bust, I got around to doing a more thorough inspection and the rust was just too crunchy to want to stick my wife and kids in (picture attached) I was also able to stick a pocket knife an 8th of an inch deep into part of the frame….back to the drawing board…we already have the odyssey and we don’t much care for it and as another member mentioned it is overkill 90% of the time. It’s got electrical quirks, slow starting like the battery is toast even though it was replaced by the dealer when we bought a year and a half ago, paint is peeling off in basketball sizes (Honda did a recall for 2013 in white but not 14) so moving on from the Gx idea as all my local ones are crusty a buddy suggested to cough up the dough and just get a 4Runner and be done with it. For peace of mind etc. 2WD 4Runner with 3rd row seats for the big kid for the 2-3 months out of the year that she’s here will have to do. I’m going to look at a 2021 in red (which the wife likes more) or a 2019 in silver both have about 60k miles on them.

 

I don’t really understand. Are you severely limited on parking such that it’s not possible to keep multiple vehicles? have you settled on a new home yet or still looking? Renting or buying?

A battery is a normal wear item, especially an OEM lead acid. Go AGM for peace of mind. Who cares how old it is. Ours lasted like 12 months before I replaced it when we got stranded in a parking lot. Maybe even less than 12 months, Honda seems to underspec batteries and brakes on the Odyssey. I threw in an optima yellow despite all the optima haters and the high price tag and it’s been flawless for 4 years even with my kids leaving lights on and doors open all the time.

Cosmetics matter? Because of pride or something? If it’s just a rust concern, rattle can white is a non option? Our front bumper has seen 4 or 5 layers of touch-up and a few hammer sessions. So cal weather is mild so a little body rust isn’t an immediate problem.

Can you zero in on other electrical concerns? Slow / unreliable starting, what else? Anything specific which won’t be solved by potential battery / alternator assessment / replacement?

Overkill is bad? How so? It sucks to have more hauling capability than you need? Because you never transport a kid’s friend or large items like a double stroller? You don’t have a dog and never want a dog? No beach plans?

You’d get a 2wd T4R and rely on the laughable 3rd row for the older kid for months of the year? That’s an upgrade? Have you tried getting in the back before? Why 2wd in a rig which is known for 4wd ability? That’s literally the only thing better about a T4R than a minivan for family use, 4wd and ground clearance. The 3rd row consumes the entire cargo space and isn’t comfortable. You can’t easily get into the third row with car seats installed, climbing in from the hatch is a B and over the middle with car seats is even tighter. You’ll need a roof rack and cargo box to carry any gear.

I’m seriously confused about the goal here. Would you consider a little time on Odyclub sharing your specific concerns and see if others can advise on specific low cost solutions?

I do love 4Runners but it maxes out at 2 kids and a dog. It’d be a great addition but man, if anyone is perfectly served with a beater minivan, it’s you.

Have you taken a test drive in a current Gen Odyssey? Would you at least consider doing that?

My wife is picky AF, she traded in a perfectly good near new outback, and she has no regrets, except losing AWD now that we have winters in the PNW. We are two kids and a dog w cousins and extended family nearby. The only thing any of my rigs have ever been used for as far as the family goes is dump runs, kayak transport, and severe snow rescue. I basically have a T4R in the ‘16 Tacoma, just a bit smaller inside the cab, and it’s nowhere near as nice for family trips as the van, even with my suspension upgrades. It’s only used for skiing and even then my wife is semi grumpy vs taking the van and chaining up for the snow.

The current odyssey is clearly superior to the sienna in various ways, notably interior cargo space. I even stuffed a full sheet of walnut plywood in at one point, with my kid safely in his car seat (before the second was born and before the roof racks were on.). Payload matches my trucks and towing is comparable. Hauls 16’ lumber better than any of my trucks due to the ease of loading the roof with sliding doors.

I really want to hear from your wife on this one. What is the budget for the cheapo commuter? Can the odyssey serve as the daily and also handle road trips / big kid visits freeing your wife up for a nice rig, perhaps a 3? Is the odyssey paid off or still a chunk due such that you’d like to just walk away? Is an upgraded Odyssey for a bit more luxury something she might want but you don’t because you’re the primary wage earner and you like trucks (so do I FTR)? How far along are you as far as financial wealth is concerned? Are you fully aware of the real estate and traffic situation in so cal? Will your new home have solar? Is an EV something to consider? Is it a temporary or permanent move? Given the locations I’m wondering if you’re active duty military? If not, is the cost of vehicle transport a factor? Note that buying in so cal has a cost penalty vs AZ or NV.

FWIW, I lived in San Diego from 1999 - 2022, I know So Cal traffic and freeways pretty well and my kids are 7 and 5, past car seats and into boosters.