Acura MDX 2014 provided a wonderful transition from our Siena and Honda Odyssey. I wish the vehicle cost $15K less than it did but it has the room of a sedan but the convenience of an SUV. We also have a 2015 Subaru Outback but not the luxury we really need for long trips.
Can you keep the old van for occasional hauling trips and get whatever car you like otherwise without being constrained by that need?
Another RAV4 fan. Mine has seen us through D’s high school and college years, and is now serving well as an empty-nest car. If it ever gives up the ghost, I’m getting another one.
Something which we didn’t anticipate but are now grateful for: If you foresee a time when you may need to transport aging parents, the RAV is the perfect size. It’s no fun trying to hoist an 85-year-old into a taller SUV, and even less fun trying to hoist them out of a sedan. For this purpose you definitely want a car whose seat is at keester-level.
We are on our second minivan, a 2006 Sienna. Unfortunately it only has a little over $150,000 miles, so I think we have to keep it!
I am looking forward to my next stage in cars and have been fantasizing about a Subaru Outback for some time now.
I have a fairly low mileage 2000 Sienna, so will probably keep it until the mechanic says it needs more work than is worth doing. So far, mostly I change the oil, battery replaced periodically, and tires rotated and replaced periodically. My mom has difficulty getting in and out of the Sienna and has a better time getting in and out of regular sedans. When we drove my uncle who was in a wheelchair, it was useful driving the Cadillac because it had a huge trunk that easily fit the wheelchair. As long as we keep at least one sedan for driving my folks around, H can buy whatever his heart desires.
I’m having HIM do the research because tho he claims he isn’t, he REALLY is PICKY and this may be the last new car he buys, as we only buy cars once every blue moon. I bought a new car in 1986, and one in 1999. In the 29 years we’ve been together, H has never purchased a new car, tho we have had a few used cars enter our lives.
Yes, for those of us are aging or who have relatives who are aging (80s & 90s), it is good to keep practical considerations like the ease of getting in and out of vehicles in mind, as well as where wheelchairs, walkers, etc. can be stowed in vehicles.
We like to try to rent whatever car H is considering buying when we have a choice of rental vehicles, to get a better idea of whether that vehicle might work (or not). H has ruled out several vehicles based on rentals–they don’t handle as he’d like them to, steering and/or parking and/or trunk space.
I’m not sure we want to continue to take this on long trips and have a problem far away from home.
And thanks everyone for all of your comments. I’m making a list of vehicles to read up on and dealers for us to visit. BTW, another show stopper for us is run-flat tires. I had never heard of this concept and the Sienna came with them, and with no place for a spare, and we never want another such vehicle.
Some cars now come without a spare, and have non run flat tires. You might find just a compressor and fix flat goo in the back. There may or may not be a space to carry a spare tire.
The idea of a run flat is that even though the tire is ‘flat’ the sidewall strength of the tires will allow you to safely drive it until you can get to a repair shop to have it replaced, so you won’t need to stop on the side of the road. Sounds great, but they’re very expensive. I don’t understand how they can sell a car that have regular tires but not even a donut spare? Some tire damage is just too great for a can of temporary flat repair to fix. How’d you like to have a flat in the middle of nowhere in that situation?
Some of you go through cars like I go through underwear 
We put 170K on our Dodge Grand Caravan, and replaced it with the Honda Odyssey, which has 200K miles on it and runs like new. I am hoping to get at least another 100K miles out of it.
But DH and have discussed what to do if it needs a major repair, and we would likely go with another minivan, probably another Honda. It helps that SIL works at a Honda dealership.
^^LaMasa:
We LOVE our Honda Pilot. My 83 year old MIL just uses a small step stool to get in and out. No problems whatsoever!
Yea, maybe a small step stool would increase the number of vehicles that elderly riders could get in and out of, but so far, sedans seem the easiest for the seniors I’ve driven. I would hate for a stool to slip, as the SRs tend to have challenges with balance without worrying about slip hazards as well.
^^agreed, HImom. However my H or I are always on that passenger side of the car helping her in and out. It hasn’t been a problem for us, but then again I don’t think I would buy a car with my MIL in mind, since it’s pretty infrequent that she is in our car.
But it’s definitely a choice (sedans) for many others who may need to drive them around more often.
@chocchipcookie - Glad you have a solution! The one time we loaded my mom into my brother’s Pilot, he had to push from the back and I had to get in the driver’s seat so I could pull from the front. Other than that, though, he does like the car.
The problem with run flat is if you get a nail in your tire they won’t patch it up, you have to get a brand new tire and that’s very expensive.
Re: aging parents (and dogs!), some SUVs have ride height control systems.
We wet from one minivan to the next until my husband decided to make his dream car our next vehicle for the family ( aka , my car ) that was in 2002 and it was the Toyota Landcruiser. It was a big leap, but at the end of a 12 year period of owning the same car, he figured it was less money than making a new car purchase every 4 years like we may have if not getting this SUV.
We are now on our second LC and will likely have it at least as long, if not longer.
I liked the Highlanders from a few yard back , but not the current model .It’s probably an awesome vehicle, but to me it looks like a smaller RAV4….my sister has an RAV4 and she loves it. Toyotas are great vehicles , a long as they are built in Japan. We have had trucks for our business as well as Sienna van that were not from Japan and they were less than great
I traded in my Dodge caravan after 14 years for a RAV4. Have been very happy with it for zipping around town (as has my D!) We also drive it to S’s and now D’s college which is an 8 hour drive; it’s easy to drive on the highway and has good sight lines, but I agree that it’s not the most comfortable car for longer rides. Not a game-changer for us, particularly since we liked the Rav4’s lower price tag, but if you do a lot of travel driving you may want something with more comfort features. For move-in/move-out days and one longer college tour trip (PA to AL) we just rented a mini- van from the Enterprise right down the street from us - that has solved the problem when we needed more car than the Rav4 or my H’s sedan. Have also used it to haul plenty of stuff, with the seats folded down. I think it’s pretty roomy - we only have an issue with cargo space if we have more than 2 passengers and can’t use the entire back trunk.
I too am surprised by how many cars some of you have had - we have kept all of our cars for at least 11-12 years. Except for the one Dodge Caravan, all have been Toyotas!
We went mini-van to Subaru Forester. My main criteria were higher seating than a sedan (have to see around all those SUVs in my neighborhood) and good visibility out the back windows. I’m afraid the visibility has gone down for every new car, but that’s another thread.
I’m searching for a replacement for the 9 year old forester because D2 needs a reliable car ( so I can sell her my forester and get something new) and will try the Accura and BMW mentioned above but will probably just upgrade to an Outback.
We’re on our second Honda CR-V after graduating from the minivan years–or perhaps more accurately, transitioning from the minivan years because our last minivan overlapped with our first CR-V for several years. CR-V #1 still runs great; gave it to D1 as a college graduation present and she couldn’t be happier. We’ve loved both of our CR-Vs: excellent cargo space even with rear seats up but especially with rear seats folded flat, comfortable front and back seating with ample head, shoulder & leg room, nice climate control, good gas mileage (not surprising as it’s built on the Honda Civic platform), smooth, quiet, sedan-like ride, surprisingly nimble and fun to drive after a minivan, extremely reliable/low maintenance. and the AWD works great in ice and snow which we get plenty of here in Minnesota. We did careful comparison shopping with competitive “compact SUVs.” Subarus, both Outback and Forester, have always had a stiffer, slightly noisier truck-like ride to me, plus less cargo space and less rear legroom and less comfortable back seats, though in recent model years the Forester has come closer to the CR-V in internal dimensions. RAV-4 and Ford Escape are also close contenders but rear seating and cargo space gave the edge to CR-V both times we were buying. These things can change from one model year to the next, however, so examine the specs carefully and take each for a test drive. There are others in this size class but we pay close attention to customer satisfaction and reliability ratings and price points and for features + value those were the top contenders for us when we were buying (most recently in 2014).
Regarding access for senior citizens, some of those boxy cars (Kia Soul, Scion xB) marketed toward young people have found popularity among senior citizens, because they have low floors and high ceilings (no high step up like in many SUVs, nor low stooping needed to get in under a low ceiling in swoopily styled sedans).
Here is a list of vehicles claimed to be good for senior citizens:
http://www.boston.com/cars/news-and-reviews/2015/04/06/good-vehicles-for-seniors-and-the-rest/S88jsct0bOnkUZMEK0Oo0O/story.html