Good point, we in Canada never could buy those new here, even though the Mercury's are and were built here??? Stupid I know. My opinion, best looking is the Ford or Merc vans, they are pretty reliable too and are cheap to buy used.

 

Those Freestar's are harder to find than even a Honda around here. A quick 100 mile radius search from Wichita revealed only three I would consider. One has the 4.2L, any qualms with the 3.9L? I do like the prices of what I did find.

Another thing that I've been tasked to find are power sliding doors, they are out there...but at a premium. At a minimum we are still tossing that around as a requirement.

 

What about a crossover? We have a 2005 Ford Freestyle that is nice because the seats fold down for storage.

I have quite a few kids so I speak with authority!

I just don't like the image the minivan's portray to me.

 

It's the whole 3rd row access again, all four kids will be in car seats. The oldest can just about strap herself in and get it tight, but not yet.

How old are your kids and how well is that working with your Freestyle?

 

Well I have 9 kids ranging from 3 yrs old to 20 years old. But with 3 kids out of the house right now I only need 7 seats.

We put 2 car seats in the very back and the split seat in the 2nd row folds down easily for access.

Plus the farther the younger ones are from the driver the less you hear from them.

The Freestyle was only made from 2005 to 2007 but you should be able to pick out a loaded 2007 (leather, DVD player, etc.) for cheap.

What I like about the Freestyle is it gets around 26 mpg on the highway.

You should be able to get on for about $16,000 and about 50,000 miles. I would go for a pre-owned certified at a dealer to get the extended powertrain warranty.

http://www.frankkent.com/2007-Ford-F...rth/vd/5286113

 

I know carseats are a touchy subject and it's about safety first, but I've got to say that some brands are much less of a PITA than others.

My sister and brother in law have to have the top of the line, safest of the safe, most expensive car seats, and it takes them way longer to strap their kids in than any of the rest of us.

Transfering one of their fancy car seats to someone elses car? Forget about it. It takes like 15 minutes to figure it out.

Maybe you guys just need another brand of car seats instead of a new car?

 

It's not so much a problem with the car seat arrangement or function. I think strapping them in goes as quick as it probably ever would regardless of brand. We've never been one to go get the high dollar seat either

We just don't have the cargo capacity with the third row up. We would be fine with 4 car seats in the Explorer, just remove the middle seat on the 2nd row for an aisle. Which is fine day in and out, but forget about packing any luggage for an extended trip to grandmas.

And I know I could go get a luggage rack carrier or hitch platform, but in all honesty I would rather have everything contained and secure inside the vehicle. We are taking an road trip this weekend with the hitch platform, we'll see how that goes.

 

you're going to have the same issue in a minivan, you might want to just get yourself a vehicle that can accept the luggage rack deal that goes in place of the reciever hitch or a roof mounted luggage compartment or modify your current one

 

I still vote auction off the trouble maker.

 

Sounds like you need one of these

 

i had a minivan as my first car when i was in highschool. ummm.. i had good experiences in it. lol

 

What about an E-150 Chateau?