It seems like we just went through this a few years ago. We researched everything under the sun, test drove everything under the sun, and I ended up buying what I wanted from the very beginning. A Toyota 4-Runner.<\/p>\n
I love love love that car, well truck. <\/p>\n
It was perfect when Andy wasn’t riding with us (and this was pre Eva). Austin rode in front, and the other two in back. But if Andy was with us and we crammed three boys in the back- nightmare. They touched each other which led to lots of punches and poking and yelling.<\/p>\n
I was sad. I loved my 4-Runner. <\/p>\n
So we bought a Honda mini-van and Andy took the 4-Runner. But he still always referred to it as my car. Just so I wouldn’t be so sad. Which I found funny. Sorta.<\/p>\n
Winter rolls around and here comes the snow. The Honda absolutely stinks in the snow. Stinks!<\/p>\n
I got stuck multiple times, plus it slips and slides. It sits very low to the ground. I’m not sure why. <\/p>\n
Don’t get me wrong- it has lots of perks, dvd, navigation, butt warmers, loads of space for kids…<\/p>\n
But we still have to take two cars to the farm if we all go. No space for 6 people and 3 dogs. The little dogs are fine, the 110 pound golden, not so much.<\/p>\n
SO before winter rolls around again I have started researching cars. One that can hold ALL of us, dogs included.<\/p>\n
Research and drive. And change my mind a million times.<\/p>\n
I had my heart set on the Mercedes GL450. But there is no space for the Golden in that one either. And really not enough room for growing boys. But oh it was so much fun to drive. <\/p>\n
I love the Toyota Sequoia. Plenty of room for boys, lax sticks, big dogs.<\/p>\n
But we don’t want to buy new, and there are no used ones to be found anywhere near us.<\/p>\n
Next on the list is the Ford Expedition. Very similar to the Toyota, size wise. But we can get all the extras we can’t live without (dvd, nav, butt warmers) for a lot less. <\/p>\n
I just found this list online of the best SUVs- <\/p>\n
Large SUV rankings<\/p>\n
1. Mercedes-Benz GL 450
\n2. Toyota Sequoia Limited (R)
\n3. Ford Expedition EL Eddie Bauer (R)
\n4. Lincoln Navigator Ultimate (R)
\n5. Chevrolet Suburban LT3<\/p>\n
funny they ranked them exactly as I would have. Well I haven’t gone past #3. I don’t think I could drive a Lincoln. It’s just not me. In my heart of hearts I know I probably could never drive a Mercedes either. It’s not me. I wish it was!!! <\/p>\n
I am just a truck kind of girl- you know- load up my grungy kids and dogs and hook up the horse trailer. <\/p>\n
And yes, the tree hugger in me has a huge problem with these gas guzlers. Guess I should have thought about that before I had all these kids and adopted so many dogs.<\/p>\n
Off to test drive some more- let me know if anyone has a good suggestion for a large family!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It seems like we just went through this a few years ago. We researched everything under the sun, test drove everything under the sun, and I ended up buying what I wanted from the very beginning. A Toyota 4-Runner. I love love love that car, well truck. It was perfect when Andy wasn’t riding with us (and this was pre Eva). Austin rode in front, and the other two in back. But if Andy was with us and we crammed three boys in the back- nightmare. They touched each other which led to lots of punches and poking and yelling. I was sad. I loved my 4-Runner. So we bought a Honda mini-van and Andy took the 4-Runner. But he still always referred to it as my car. Just so I wouldn’t be so sad. Which I found funny. Sorta. Winter rolls around and here comes the snow. The Honda absolutely stinks in the snow. Stinks! I got stuck multiple times, plus it slips and slides. It sits very low to the ground. I’m not sure why. Don’t get me wrong- it has lots of perks, dvd, navigation, butt warmers, loads of space for kids… But we still have to take two cars to the farm if we all go. No space for 6 people and 3 dogs. The little dogs are fine, the 110 pound golden, not so much. SO before winter rolls around again I have started researching cars. One that can hold ALL of us, dogs included. Research and drive. And change my mind a million times. I had my heart set on the Mercedes GL450. But there is no space for the Golden in that one either. And really not enough room for growing boys. But oh it was so much fun to drive. I love the Toyota Sequoia. Plenty of room for boys, lax sticks, big dogs. But we don’t want to buy new, and there are no used ones to be found anywhere near us. Next on the list is the Ford Expedition. Very similar to the Toyota, size wise. But we can get all the extras we can’t live without (dvd, nav, butt warmers) for a lot less. I just found this list online of the best SUVs- Large SUV rankings 1. Mercedes-Benz GL 450 2. Toyota Sequoia Limited (R) 3. Ford Expedition EL Eddie Bauer (R) 4. Lincoln Navigator Ultimate (R) 5. Chevrolet Suburban LT3 funny they ranked them exactly as I would have. Well I haven’t gone past #3. I don’t think I could drive a Lincoln. It’s just not me. In my heart of hearts I know I probably could never drive a Mercedes either. It’s not me. I wish it was!!! I am just a truck kind of girl- you know- load up my grungy kids and dogs and hook up the horse trailer. And yes, the tree hugger in me has a huge problem with these gas guzlers. Guess I should have thought about that before I had all these kids and adopted so many dogs. Off to test drive some more- let me know if anyone has a good suggestion for a large family!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[637],"class_list":["post-4063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-suv-shopping"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21170,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4063\/revisions\/21170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elisalou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}