Re: Which vehicle
 

The middle two stow folded flat upright right behind the front two seats. You flip this lever thing and they fold in half and then tip up. I think they can also be removed (not that I have tried, it took me a year to work out cruise control :o ). The back three stow completely flat, together for a flat deck or can stow one and leave the other for transporting long stuff. Loads of storage and the boot is the deepest I have ever seen, my stroller goes in as is and sits below seat height without folding along with $300 of groceries. Just remember to take the baby out if you do that....of course I have never driven off with a six week old baby in the pram in the boot..... :eek:

Re: Which vehicle
 

Hello Piff, I have looked at the Ford Expedition and the Explorer and I think they are both great. I cant find anything else with enough space for 5 people and two dogs. The only decision I need to make is whether I go for 4.0 :scared: L of 5.4L. Both unfortunately will drink fuel more than our 2 litre TDI in the U.K which gets 50 miles to the gallon.

Re: Which vehicle
 

Older ones (I think they discontinued the Expedition due to poor sales) were nasty. GM Suburban/Yukon is equivalent to the Expedition and wiped it off the sales chart. GM (Trail)Blazer was similar to the Explorer. Newer explorers, since they abandoned the truck platform and gained independent suspension are a lot better, but its still a ford inside. Ford quality is improving, but its still behind GM who have come on in leaps and bounds.

You are right about the economy, and even though sitting in the UK fuel looks cheap here, trust me that once you start earning in $CDN and looking at canadian distances, you will sooner or later regret either. Unfortunatley any big f'ing truck is going to have that problem, but some of the 3 to 4l V6 powered ones are a bit more palatable. Hard to explain how bad some of these are to drive, really you just need to arrange to test a few and make your own mind up, and not rush into a hasty decision.

Re: Which vehicle
 

It was the Excursion they couldn't sell. That was really quite large.

I'm baffled by this comment about the interior. The p-i-l have a GMC 3500 crew cab which is quite nice inside but not noticeably better or worse than the exploding tire Explorer we had. What about the inside of Fords is worse than GM products ?

Re: Which vehicle
 

The current Expedition has the option of powered fold flat seats; now that's bourgeois.

Re: Which vehicle
 

Your right, it was the Excursion. Was that bigger than a Suburban, or about the same?

Interior is probably on a par to look at, but my experience with pool vehicles at work was that the Fords felt a bit cheaper and fell apart quite quickly. You only have to have the head liner fall down on you while driving the 401 once for it to raise a red flag, but having seen them being built I cant say it surprised me. All the OP can do is try a few in the flesh and do their homework. Its all personal choice once you have a few suggestions from among all the unfamiliar products out there.

Re: Which vehicle
 

It seemed bigger than an ocean liner but, in fact, was "only" 7" longer than a Suburban and 6" wider(!)

Can't argue with that.

Re: Which vehicle
 

Actually their not as thirsty as you think they would be - they will obviousley drink more fuel than your TDI :( but you don't fill up at every petrol station you see :D Our Expedition is more economic than our explorer and the F150 we had prior to the Expedition and certainly more so than the Camaro z28 that gave hubby lead foot syndrome every time we went out in it :D As a comment on a prior post - we have the upgraded Eddie Bauer Expedition all I can say is heated seats, power everything, front and rear heat controls, there is even a button to open the very rear windows - it's got more gadgets than my kitchen :D

Re: Which vehicle
 

:D Have a look at the Pontiac Montana....we bought one and it's been great. Six seats, all single; when we first moved here we took all four of the back seats out to make room for carrying furniture. Saved loads on delivery chgarges too. We've kept the two back ones out to give us loads of space for shopping - we go to garage sales and auctions so never worry about stuff not fitting in! :D

Re: Which vehicle
 

Dodge Magnum?

With available 340HP Hemi V8 :D :scared: .Cylinder on demand technology to help fuel consumption when cruising.

Kids can take it in turns to sit in the middle back seat if space is a serious issue, but they look pretty big. 425HP on the SRT!!! :) Same price as a top of the line Odyssey or Town and Country. Room for junk in the trunk and 3 in the back<maniacal laughter>425HP!!!

Looks way cooler than any van ever will too. Did I mention the Hemi?

Re: Which vehicle
 

Magnum - good choice
If fuel consumtion bothers you put a propane tank in the back ( you wont notice it with all that space ) and run it on LPG, its cheaper that diesel or Gas

Re: Which vehicle
 

Did I mention the Hemi:)

On a more practical note for less than $30k (before taxes) you can bet the base model with a perfectly adequate sensible relatively economical 2.7l V6, or a 3.5 for a little more. A lot of the mechanical bits and bobs were culled from the previous E Class mercedes, so its not your old style N American station wagon, and there is AWD available too if you dont think the traction control is up to the job.

But who wants "adequate" if you can afford the V8 :D

Re: Which vehicle
 

GOD you sound just like my hubby - it's a Hemi/Boss/GT/V8/V12/V1 Billion and yes he's got me doing it too, why settle for a standard thing when you can have something that goes thwump gurgle thwump gurgle thwump gurgle at the lights. We would go for something older if it was a higher spec than a brand new base model. You get bags more for your money, more gadgets and comfort. But then we do have the added bonus of hubby being a grease monkey that knows what he's doing when it comes to older stuff. On a more serious note if you are buying something older and don't know what your doing - there is no MOT in Alberta (not sure about other provinces) so you could be getting something with no brakes or held together with duck tape or something just as scary :scared:

Re: Which vehicle
 

There is no annual safety like the MOT in Ontario either, BUT, before you can register any used vehicle you have bought, it does need to pass a safety inspection, so you can drive around in a death trap if you want to let it get that way, but you cant sell it on to someone else.

Re: Which vehicle
 

We have bought several used cars in Alberta and none had been safetied before we bought/registered them so that can't be a law here unfortunately. I do know if you are registering something from out of Alberta, It does have to be safetied then, before you register it.