lansbury

As a bit of a practical guide. I have a 4.7L Jeep Grand Cherokee here in the US, and when I lived in London I had a 1.6L Rover 200. I would say that the cost of buying gas/petrol once you factor in lower mpg and lower gas prices in the US works out more or less the same here as a I paid in London for the same mileage.

hobbes79

I drive a Mazda 5. It's a 6 seater.

It's not huge, but has the seats and can get a filing cabinet in the back with the seats down. Does about 30mpg on the highway.

I like the fact it's not a big car. Has the space when I need it, but can park and doesn't cost a fortune to run.

MSRP is less than $20K brand new with full warranty. Could probably get a better price than that at the dealer.

http://www.edmunds.com/mazda/mazda5/2012/

Rose of the Shires

Another vote for Mazda- the CX-9 is really nice, great interior with an optional 3rd row for when you need it. Also my boss has the Acura MDX- another one with the optional 3rd row, and a nice all round sporty looking SUV.

GeoffM

Ooh, nice! And I'll have the Mazda 3 without the kids.

Thanks for all the comments, they're really helpful.

Hovik

If you decide on a Honda Odyssey, stay clear of models earlier than 05/06. The torque converter tended to fail on them every ~60k miles.

We've got a 09 Odyssey we're very happy with. It's perfect hauling around visitors, and go shopping when there's only four of us. The average 15mpg could be better, but we've got heavy feet.

Scouse Express

You can get a good quality "Program" Dodge Grand Caravan for under $20K. The "Stow 'n Go" seating are a big plus for most buyers and they are pretty reliable, too.

Our company has several 2010 models with over 70,000 miles on the clock. No problems, other than routine oil changes.


Jim.

Prof_Yaffel

I have a 2009 Dodge Grand caravan which , when I bought it was 9 months old and it cost 21K. Has electirc doors+ tailgate, stow and go , entertainment system for kids ( good on long trips ). Mechanicaly its fine and its comfortable on long trips. My biggest gripe would be the quality of the trim...its a bit plasticy. We only have two kids but seat them in different rows to stop in car fights

Scouse Express

Perhaps the OP could find a decent Town & Country, from a High Volume dealer.


Jim.

jackattack

We'll be doing similar research in a few months since I have to embrace the white picket fence lifestyle and get a minivan. We briefly considered it 4 years ago when my daughter was born but luckily got seduced by the Acura MDX (which we LOVE). Enough space for one kiddie plus large dog and all our 'stuff' and does well for our winter trips in the snow to Tahoe. It drinks gas IMO but compared to some of the other SUVs, apparently it doesn't do that badly. And every Sept we have a drinking get together with friends and it's always our car which gets to be the people carrier - 3rd row of seats is only for short distances with adults or peeps with very short legs!

I'm currently pregnant with twins (boys - aarrgghh) so once I get past Christmas, we'll have to start thinking logistics. 3 pre-schoolers in bulky car seats and a dog just won't fit in our current car options (other car is a VW Jetta TDI). One friend has a land rover which apparently gets three kids car seats in the back seat but I'm scared by the price. We considered the Honda Odyssey but discover that they don't do a 4WD model so that's out. On paper it looks like we'll be getting a Toyota Sienna; if I would let him hubbie would get a Tahoe or Suburban or even a truck in a heartbeat. That's the American in him - the bigger the better and sod the mileage.

PaulK

Land Rover Discovery 3, known here as the 'LR3'. Seats for 7 adults. You might be hard pressed to find a decent one for $20k but my '08 is a fantastic rig. The 4.4 Jag V8 is silky smooth, and it gets 20mpg on the highway.

Plus, it's British.

Bob

Was it still British back then? Isn't anymore at least

S Folinsky

I would recommend not thinking in terms of engine size. The United States does not tax passenger vehicles on engine or vehicle size, rather it is based on the monetary value of the car. This leads to different considerations regarding vehicle design -- a "small" vehicle may very well have a 3.5L engine but not in all that high state of tune. I'm noting a trend these days away from V-6 to turbocharged in-line 4 -- but I think that is more directed at gasoline consumption. Other than gas consumption, there is no reason to go for the smallest possible engine.

You mention "oomph." Do you mean low speed torque and acceleration or top speed? Hill climbing ability? My wife drives a 2004 BMW 525i with a 2.5 liter engine -- that thing is blindingly fast, but it lacks low speed "oomph."

As noted, the Imperial Gallon is 20% bigger than the US gallon. [Historically speaking, the UK used to have a "wine gallon" and an "ale gallon." In the 19th century, the UK standardised the "ale gallon" as a "gallon, while the former Colonies standardized the "wine gallon" as a "gallon."] So, the mileage of US cars will seem to be lower. [BTW, after one service, my wife told me that after a dealer service the the fuel consumption read-out on the dashboard showed a large decrease in fuel consumption on an MPG basis, but she was buying just as much fuel. We finally figured out that the "I-drive" had been reset to read in imperial gallons.]

Jerseygirl

I had a new LR3 a few years ago...never again. My husband had a new XJ...never again. We've never had so many problems with vehicles as we had with these two. Got rid of both within 2 years.

scrubbedexpat099

I have a F150, room for 6 plus bikes, dogs etc in the back. I have been moving wood, can fit 2/3rds of a cord in there.

Dog actually prefers front passenger seat, can stretch out, only problem is accidental application of door locks or window switches with her muzzle.

Scouse Express

I wondered how long it was going to be, before you threw your 2 cents in, on this one


Jim.