To finish it off, get some of these:
sod it, get a Suburban in black with blacked-out windows and running boards along the side.
I think she has to drive around a bunch of kids and not a SWAT team...
Yup, Suburban, I drove one for two weeks when I was based in Riyadh and what a behemoth!!! The largest SUV on the planet, seats up to 9! Two air-conditioners. Even I felt guilty of the environmental consequences of moving around in this beast but it was so much for that time....and at £7 to fill up the over 100L tank.
Ehmm, the Ford Excursion is the largest SUV. (sorry I had to)
Not what my sources say but to be honest, I don't really give too much of a flying ............
I think the point is that small furry forest creatures actually drop dead just when somebody looks at either of these vehicles.
...totally agree, don't you just love it?!
Damn, my hippy friends are going to sting me up and it takes so much provocation to get them wound up enough to actually harm a living animal. I might as well get a big chrome bull bar for that Suburban and then tie a oil soaked albatros caracass to the front.
On the other hand I always think that if people had not gone out there and trippled the world population in the last 50 years, I would have no problems driving around in a Suburban and fly to the Maldives for a holiday twice a year without having to feel guilty for my little single person carbon footprint.
I'd lie if I said I didn't like these cars. But I'd like to point out that the gas prices here will most likely breach the 2 Fr. / l barrier again in a couple of months. The Lincoln Navigator uses between 13 and 18l / 100km for the 2WD and close to 20 for the 4WD. An average driver will empty a tank per week. The tank size of this thing is 105l, meaning it'll burn 210 fr. worth of gas per week or 840 Fr. per month. I really don't think that's affordable or reasonable here.
I don't feel guilty at all...I could drive an Escalade with a broken pipe and a bad oil leak whilst towing another Escalade just in case the first one breaks down and sleep like a baby at night....and I'd still produce a smaller carbon footprint than people with kids.
Fully agreed, that is why I was having a look at something that I thought was very reasonable like the Q5, but let's be honest the last five or six posts have had nothing to do with affordable or reasonable.
true
However, there are plenty of larger alternatives that don't push the fuel consumption to the 20l mark :-) My 2.7L V6 Grand Vitara uses about 10-11l (depending on where I drive it) and is still a lot of fun to drive. I personally just couldn't bring myself to buying a VW Touran (which we were looking at at first) or a similarly omnipresent car
A diesel X-Trail will do 10l/100km - when cruising at 150kmh - or when towing 1800kg @ 100kmh.
The race-car uses about 1l per minute
How about a Dodge/Chrysler Grand Caravan...sounds also like a decent and economic choice for a family.
We have a VW Multivan. It's brilliant: sliding side door so everyone can get in there if necessary (you can just walk through to the front seats), 7 proper seats that can be slid about/ removed, a normal-sized boot space even with all the seats in, nice high driving position, etc.
And it looks enormous because it's shaped like a brick, but some large 'normal' cars have a larger footprint. It's normal car width for those tricky ongoing roadworks, and shorter than the Discovery we used to have. It also goes into all 2m underground car parks, although you still feel like you should duck as you drive under the height barrier.
It's a fantastic family car - a table pops out of the side panel, and you can swivel the seats to make a 'dining room' layout! - and it's great to be able to accommodate our regular visitors in comfort when they fly over.
Love it, love it, love it. Even though I thought hubby had gone mad when he dragged me over to the Commercial Vehicle section of the VW dealership.
We had exactly the same dilemma as you and ended up getting an Audi Q7. We also needed the 7 seat option, with boot space and four wheel drive as we go to the mountains in snow a lot. It is large although I think it must look bigger than it actually is as I have never been 'boxed in' in a carpark and find it very manouverable. The rear window visibility is not great (but the wing mirrors are huge). Our model has parking sensors and a little camera for when you are reversing, which helps a lot.
It's a really good workhorse, has hauled no end of stuff across Europe and cruises easily along the motorways. You can get an amazingly large amount of stuff in it if you pack correctly, and when all the seats are flat it's loike having a van!
It's size and four wheel drive has got me out of some tricky snowy situations in the past and I feel very safe in it. I also notice that other drivers are fairly respectful of you - I drive a much much smaller car in town and get fed up with people pulling out on me or over riding my right of way, presumably because I'm little.
We didn't choose the Volvo because friends had said the turning circle/manouvreability was poor, and the rear seets are less substatial. There was also the possibility of the landrover at the time I think.
That said, if it wasn't for the 4 wheel drive requirement we would have probably gone for a regular 'people carrier' as I don't really like the image of SUV driving expats.
HTH
Hmm, so many choices... I don't quite fancy a bling vehicle though (Escalade et al)... In addition to that I have kids so my carbon footprint in already huge .
Really? No issues in the car parks here? Interesting.
Thanks for the info on the Volvo's rear seats. I need those to be solid.
We looked at the Q7 and being honest thought the rear seats were smaller than the Volvo XC90 which we bought in the end. We actually carried around three child seats around with us from garage to garage trying pretty much everything.
If we had not gone for the Volvo we would most probably have gone for the VW as that is just an amazing piece of kit.
There is a sollution, i know you are not a big fan of "nearly new cars,"so here is a new one.
Acceptable engine size, and 4x4 , so it won't let you fall short when visiting hills and mountains and won't have your driving from petrol station to petrol station.
http://www.autoscout24.ch/AS24Web/De...7&page=1&row=4
The back seats sink in the trunk so when not needed,its creating a large space in the back, even with the backrow up ( comfy seats now, not like the ones in opel) ,you still have space to put your shoppings away.
The engine is strong and powerfull enough to cary 7 people up the hill and in town.
Its not massive in size so easier to park then a Us Jeep yet comfy inside .
Usa Jeeps are nice,dont get me wrong,love them to bits but think of parking space in towns, a "volume car " like the toyota here will be easier to park then a big usa jeep or the Q7.
Again don't get me wrong, i love huge jeeps but combine it with Switzerland's roads and parking spots, i wouldn't go for one.
If you need to cary allot of people and still have bootspace ( check pictures), then this is the one to go for.
Onboard dvd player,reclining seats,rear view camera etc.. if i would change car's now, i would go for that one
* note i am not affiliated with the link above, nor do i sell cars for a living or do i get paid for calling out brand names here *
I have no doubt that the Sienna makes a great family car, but have you had a look at its outer dimensions? It's almost 2 meters wide and more than 5 meters long... that's Q7 territory.
yeah but reclining seats
however when all the seats are up, the trunkspace is still big enough.
Looks like a comfy 7 seater, not saying the Q7 isn't nice, but if i had to choose i would go for the Sienna.