<p>Once we had to drive around car possibilities with 3 kids under age 7 in the back, resulting in a detailed comparison of the cupholders in each one.</p>
<p>Some years later, when we couldn’t break the jam between our last two favorites, we actually used the kids’ opinions seriously. They sat in the back seat, including during a drive, and gave us feedback. One was a church pew while the other was “butter.” It would be up to your family which one you’d buy, given that feedback.</p>
<p>^^ That’s a good idea. I’ve asked my kids their opinions of the comfort of the back seat as well. There can be a surprising difference in this area in vehicles that otherwise appear similar.</p>
<p>My son was commenting today on how luxury car drivers give off ego emissions. The Lexus ES 350 has a V6 engine while the H3 has a straight 5. The mileage for an H3 is 16 to 20 not too far off from your sedan (though more fun to drive). Sedan’s don’t work for me as they are impractical (not capable of pulling a boat and nowhere for my dog to sit). I am quite tall so it is unlikely that I suffer from a “Napoleon complex.” No need for me to wend my way around road hogs as I drive the posted speed limit and observe the rules of common courtesy. Is it possible that different cars work well for different people who lead different lifestyles???</p>
<p>I still think that all hummer drivers should go to jail on two counts.</p>
<ol>
<li>guzzling energy</li>
<li>driving the ugliest thing on the road.</li>
</ol>
<p>We did purchase three new cars before - a 89 Accord, a 94 Mazda MPV and a 2000 Buick Century Limited, all in cash. After those, we realize how bad a deal buying a new car is and we start to buy 2~3 year old cars with low mileage and extended warranty. </p>
<p>Of couse, my reason of buying only used car is I like to change cars. If you want to keep a car for 10 years, it may not be a bad idea to get a new one and take good care of it.</p>
<p>I think the factory installed GPS is worth the extra money and would choose that over adding one. I have not been in love with the Blue Tooth technology - it has probably been improved since I got mine, but I don’t use it as much as I thoght I would.</p>
<p>Thedad…H was looking for a comfortable/quiet car to haul around golf buddies and teenage boys. The Avalon’s back seat and trunk sold him. I can see why you like it for real estate.</p>
<p>"ES350 30 - Hummer3 19 = 11mpg difference
Prius 55 - ES350 30 = 25mpg difference</p>
<p>Using the logic of mpg guilt, one should feel twice as guilty purchasing an ES350 over a Prius as one who purchases a Hummer3 over an ES350."</p>
<p>Not really. TheDad is in real estate business. That business requires him to haul people (family) around. A Prius would restrict his ability to make a decent living.</p>
<p>“I have not been in love with the Blue Tooth technology”</p>
<p>All this will will go away in the next few years anyway. Using cell phones while driving will be banned in the next few years.</p>
<p>My current employer demands that you do not use your cell phones while on company business. Violation of that safety rule could be grounds for termination.</p>
<p>go to CNN.com---->More most watched video and search for cell phone car wreck.</p>
<p>That’s why I wanted the Blue Tooth - it is truly hands free and really shouldn’t be any more distracting than talking to someone in the vehicle with you. Coupled with voice activated dialing, there is no reason to touch the cell phone at all. </p>
<p>The other thing I’m dependent on now are all the controls on the steering wheel. I feel very put out now when I drive a car in which I actually have to move my arm to change the radio or adjust the temp. Don’t even get me started on the voice activated stuff - now that my daughter is a teenager, it feels good to say something and actually get a reaction.</p>
<p>
Would that that were true! Unfortunately studies have shown that even hands free cell phone is much (four times) more dangerous than talking to passengers in your car. <a href=“http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=060815161706.0xbugxlr&show_article=1[/url]”>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=060815161706.0xbugxlr&show_article=1</a></p>
<p>I’d love to know what the mental shenanigans are that cause the varying degrees of distraction. I have talked on hand held cell phones, done the traditional hands free thing and the Blue Tooth thing and I agree that hand held and traditional hands free are very distracting - getting off the phone and not remembering the drive kind of thing. But, the Blue Tooth experience is different somehow to me and doesn’t seem to be nearly as distracting. I have no idea why.</p>
<p>At my company even a bluetooth will get you fired.</p>
<p>Most phones have pager functions. Many people have an answering message that says something like,“I can’t answer the phone because I am in a meeting or driving. If you urgently want to talk to me, please page me and I will pull over and call you back”.</p>
<p>cartera, root cause of any accident does not depend on just one cause - like a little dstraction. There is something called ‘swiss cheese’ model. Accidents happen when all the holes in each layer of the cheese block line up. Think of talking while driving as one of the cheese layer with a hole (big or small).</p>
<p>UCLA/UCSD, our second car probably will be a Prius. And if the Prius had a larger model that worked as a real estate car, I’d be on it like white on rice. As it is, there’s a difference between “average” mileage and “terrible” mileage compared to the body as a whole. A good friend of mine has a Prius and is getting 50 mpg actual.</p>
<p>Sax, I love the Avalon’s trunk when we’re either on vacation or even running to the airport. And the comfort of its rear seats has been important, both for family and for clients. A great car. As I noted earlier, if I were buying purely on “car” criteria, I’d buy another Avalon.</p>
<p>I’ve had a dedicated “hands free” hard-mounted cell phone in the Avalon since I bought it and in the Camry before that. I don’t even know the phone number, so I don’t take incoming calls on it. And my first concentration is always on the road…if my voice cuts out while I have to negotiate a lane change or sticky patch of traffic, whoever is on the other end just needs to understand. There I times that I’ve even shushed <em>passengers</em> in the car for a few seconds up to a minute so that I can concentrate on something really sticky. Using the hands free, I sometimes feel like a fighter pilot with a throat mike over the Channel. I don’t use Bluetooth ordinarily, because the feeling of something hanging in my ear is a non-starter. Plus, despite being as SF fan, I don’t like the “Mr. Spock” look and the idea of walking down the street where it looks as if you’re talking to yourself isn’t a fave either…and, frankly, a lot of the people around here with ear pieces are kinda self-important about it and my whole professional tenor is more “low key and comfortable.”</p>
<p>Cartera, I’m not wild about voice activated stuff. It’s the first step on the road to your machinery arguing with you.</p>
<p>===</p>
<p>I’ve seen lots of dogs, including big ones, riding in sedans. Worst case, change it out for a cat. Even when towing a boat, nobody needs something as ghastly as a Hummer, imnsvho. </p>
<p>Hummers and some of the other mega-SUV’s do make me wish for a 20 mm. cannon under my left headlight. Their drivers can be as courteous as they want but they still hog the road and obstruct vision. Our beloved governor used to tool around town in a pink one.</p>
<p>Re: sedans and dogs. So that my dogs don’t fall off of the back seat in my sedan while riding in the car, I use a dog hammock that I ordered from petsmart. <a href=“http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524441809945&FOLDER<>folder_id=2534374302032886&ASSORTMENT<>ast_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1181923775897&itemNo=1&Ntt=hammock&In=All&previousText=hammock&N=2[/url]”>http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524441809945&FOLDER<>folder_id=2534374302032886&ASSORTMENT<>ast_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1181923775897&itemNo=1&Ntt=hammock&In=All&previousText=hammock&N=2</a>. It is easy to put in and take out. And you can still use dog harnesses with the seat belts.</p>
<p>My friend who shows AKC beagles thinks that transporting dogs in a car without using a crate should be a felony. If seatbelts are required for people, she says, why wouldn’t you require a tethered crate for a dog? </p>
<p>I don’t feel (ahem) about dogs quite the way she does, but I also wouldn’t want an untethered 50- or 100-pound dog flying around the cabin in the event of an accident. I have a (different) friend who had his neck shattered by an errant briefcase in an accident. I wonder what a Newfoundland would have done?</p>
<p>If you have a crate in the back seat, I’m thinking a Malibu would work nearly as well for the average dog owner as a Suburban, unless your dog is unnaturally large, in which I recommend a pony trailer…</p>
<p>TheDad - there is nothing hanging in your ear with Bluetooth in the car. The sound comes out of your car speakers and the radio or stereo automatically shuts off when the call comes in. Your phone just has to be in the car with you and can even be in the trunk. </p>
<p>The Prius is surprisingly roomy - I know it doesn’t compare to the Avalon though. I had an Avalon a few years ago and loved it.</p>
<p>TheDad: This might interest you</p>
<p><a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/103120/the-luxury-driving-vacation[/url]”>http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/103120/the-luxury-driving-vacation</a></p>
<p>European Car Makers Sweeten Vacation Deals for U.S. Drivers Who Travel Abroad to Buy </p>
<p>Europe’s luxury auto makers are taking an unusual tack to lure American drivers: offering them incentives to travel abroad to buy a car and merging the experience with a high-end driving vacation.</p>
<p>The Prius may be roomy, but if I was in the real estate business I would not buy it. Right now such cars are still ‘making a statement’ cars. Buyers like me would be impressed, but TheDad certainly would lose business from collegemom (Hummer drivers</p>
<p>simba:
I think you’re generalizing too much against Hummers. There’s a big difference between an H1 and an H3. The H3 is much smaller and gets better mileage. Did you know that the H3 is shorter in length than both a Camry and an ES350? The H3 really isn’t much different than many other SUVs. Granted, you might think they’re ugly, but that’s just a personal subjective opinion. I happen to think the Prius is ungainly and hideous but it doesn’t bother me that other people either like it or don’t care and purchase it anyway. Note - I don’t have a Hummer.</p>
<p>TheDad:
If you’re considering a nav system you might want to look for one with a real-time traffic update that shows you where the backups are so you can try to avoid them. Most cars don’t offer this but some do (such as Acura).</p>
<p>Also, have you seen that the Camry is now available as a hybrid (assuming you’re interested in hybrids from your post)? It gets about 40mpg, has just slightly more shoulder room and almost the same leg room as the Lexus, and would likely be the same from a quality perspective (many same components).</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, if you want the Lexus then that’s what I think you should get.</p>
<p>Regarding dogs:
It’s much more convenient and less wearing on the vehicle to put the dog in the back of an SUV or wagon - properly restrained of course. A dog’s nails can do a lot of damage to fabric or leather seats and their hair can go everywhere around where they’re sitting. They can also distract the driver if they’re physically too close to them. This can vary depending on the individual dog(s) of course.</p>
<p>Regarding the beastly SUV:
I have an SUV (Hyundai Tucson) that’s shorter and narrower than many of the sedans out there. People need to get over the idea that all SUVs are large, ponderous, beastly vehicles that are identical. In reality they can be very practical and serve many people well. Just as TheDad has his reasons to purchase the 29mpg vehicle instead of a 50mpg vehicle, many others have their own reasons for their own vehicle purchases. I think TheDad should get whatever he wants just as Collegemom should be able to drive whatever she wants without all the pre-judgment on the part of people that know nothing about their situations and preferences.</p>
<p>I have rented a car with the built-in nav system and I own one of the aftermarket systems. I do not think the built-in is worth paying a lot more for, particularly in a case where you have buy the top level of the car if you would not otherwise do so. Aftermarket units can be mounted in other ways than the suction cup on the windshield and you are not limited to whatever the manufacturer picked. I feel the same way about sound systems - you get more bang for the buck and have better choices by buying them separately.</p>