My husband is 6'4 and we are thinking about getting a new (well used, new to us) family car. Right now our family car is a RAV4, which is fine with 1 RF car seat. But come June, we will have 2 RF. Since DH needs the seat all the way back when he drives, we can't make it work in this car.
Would a minivan allow for this more, or would we have to go the large SUV route?
pineapple / 12793 posts
I have about 16" between the back of my RF car seats and the back of the driver and passenger seats in my Sienna. I'm 5'-7" and DH is 5'-10". We could easily accommodate a much taller driver.
nectarine / 2018 posts
I think in general a minivan will give the most space, especially if the middle row seats can slide back more. It will also be helpful to have a very compact car seat behind your DH.
pear / 1718 posts
We have a Yukon and DH still can't put the seat back as far as he would like with a RF carseat behind him. He is 6'3".
That being said, he gets by and it is a lot better than when we had a jeep liberty. I wouldn't assume a large SUV gets you more space between rows.
coconut / 8854 posts
@SweetCaroline: that's surprising! We drove a Ford Expedition and DH had tons of space behind him and the the RF carseat
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
We have zero issues in our Sienna. It was annoying in our Grand Cherokee before we got rid of it. DH lurrrves our Sienna now, I was shocked.
coconut / 8854 posts
@MrsSRS: no way!!! That's amazing!!
@gingerbebe: @oliviaoblivia: gosh Sienna's are sooo nice, but just out of our price range for the year and mileage we want! They hold their resale value so well!!!
coconut / 8854 posts
@MrsSRS: that has 3rd row seating doesn't it? Can the 3rd row fold flat? We have 2 labs that frequently ride in the car with us!
watermelon / 14467 posts
I am looking at minivans, but also like smaller SUV's like the Nissan Rogue. My husband and I aren't super tall though (5'5 and 5'6).
pomelo / 5866 posts
My husband is 6'2"and our old lexus rx300 is spacious. You could look into a used one.
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
@MrsBrewer: We got a certified used 2012 Sienna XLE last year (so 3 years used) with 38K miles, leather, backup camera, captain's chairs, power doors and power lift gate, etc. for around $26,500. We had to drive like 60 miles away to get it, but considering the new ones with the same options were going for over $45K, it seemed like a great deal. We super love it.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
DH is 5'11 and he got a 2013 Toyota Highlander. The second row slides so it enough room for the twins to RF. He said he would get a minivan but we are glad the highlander works.
coconut / 8854 posts
@gingerbebe: that does sound like a great deal, but we need to stay under 20k, and everything I've been seeing in our area has over 90k miles!!
grapefruit / 4770 posts
This is going to sound so funny, but yesterday I was just thinking, "wow, I can almost stand up in here!" I was in the backseat with M, and needed to reach up to the passenger seat to get my phone (we were parked at grocery store!) I have an Acura MDX, and love love love it. The Honda dealership tried to sell us a minivan, when I went in to buy a pilot. The Acura drives like a car, little maintenance, super reliable, and I think it's pretty sweet!
pomegranate / 3355 posts
DH is 6'2" and also BIG, broad chested guy. We have a ford edge and love it.
coconut / 8854 posts
@dc yoga bee: I looked it up, and I'm drooling over it! Haha wish that was in our price range!! The ones we could afford have 100k miles on it!! Hahah and we drive a lot!! We probably put on 15-20k miles/year
watermelon / 14467 posts
@MrsBrewer: What year/mileage are you looking at? I'm considering older cars with lower mileage, but also cars with just over 100k miles on them because we would have a second vehicle.
coconut / 8854 posts
@avivoca: no older than a 2011-2012, and I would love for mileage to be at or around 50k.
watermelon / 14467 posts
@MrsBrewer: That's a tall order! I've found a lot of good cars with that mileage but just a few years older (2009). My bank requires that it be within the last 7 years at the time of purchase. Our current car is a 2011 Nissan Versa (compact car), a RAV4 would be huge compared to that!
coconut / 8854 posts
@avivoca: lol oh I know!! We have time before we need to buy a car though. Our RAV4 is working fine for right now! I'm even looking at different minivans now, maybe even a grand caravan. Not luxurious, but it would be comfy and get us from point a to point b!
watermelon / 14467 posts
@MrsBrewer: In an ideal world, I'd get an aWD Sienna, but since that is out of reach, I'' looking at older (no older than 2006) Honda Oddessey's, Toyota Sienna's, Kia Sedona's, and Nissan Quests. I really hate American Brand vans.
watermelon / 14467 posts
@MrsBrewer: Aesthetics play a big part, they aren't as great for car seat configurations as foreign made vans are, and every American-brand car I have owned has given me huge problems maintenance-wise. My Nissan is 5 years old and other than scheduled maintenance, I've only had one major problem that I've had to fix. It's our only car, so it does have about 115,000 miles on it, but if it wasn't I anticipate that it would have been quite a few more years before we would have had to replace that part (basically, my exhaust was falling off from the catalytic converter on back, the part was all one piece and pretty expensive).
ETA: We spent probably $2500 over the course of a year on our old jeep replacing practically the tntire front end, so while it sucked to pay $800 to fix this part on my Versa, it's literally the only thing we've done other than oil changes, breaks, a battery, and tires in the last 5 years.
coconut / 8854 posts
@avivoca: oh that's horrible that you had to pay so much! We've owned an Impala for 8 years now, and it has rig ht around 150k miles and it's been doing great. Pretty much just maint stuff. But we also have a Toyota which I just adore!
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