Let The Car Shopping Begin

So you may recall that back in the fall I wrote this post on car shopping titled, "To Minivan Or Not."

My car shopping has officially begun. With a lease return date at the beginning of June combined with the fact that we have absolutely no idea what vehicle we are going to get, we have to start seriously thinking about this now.  As you can imagine, with two kids, you can't exactly drop everything and head to a few dealerships and waste away entire days like the single days or just drop in here and there  when you have a spare hour or evening (these exist?).

Anyways, we attempted to bring the kids to a car dealership this past Saturday :) It went okay but it definitely was a cardiovascular exercise and needless to say no negotiations were begun nor any test drives ... just toddlers crawling over (and leaving their fingerprints) on every Toyota vehicle that was parked in the showroom.

So a few of the vehicles that are on the "let's check out" list thus far:

Jeep Grand Cherokee

We currently drive a Jeep and really like the feel of it. It gets the job done and isn't too fancy on the inside which is perfect for the family vehicle. We are, however, looking for a little more packing space.

Toyota Sienna

This is the minivan on the list to checkout.  Saw one on the weekend and man, when that back row comes out, it has a HUGE amount of space. It's pretty decked out as well with all sorts of fancy gidgets and gadgets.

Mazda CX-9

I like the inbetween feel of this car - not quite minivan, not quite huge SUV. We test drove a CX-7 (smaller version) when we bought our Jeep four years ago and I really liked it.  Looking to the larger model for the extra seat for when we have grandparents, etc. visiting.

Jeep Commander

 If we're going to be test driving the Grand Cherokee, might as well give this one a try. Both have larger interiors than our current.

Toyota Venza

I don't know what it is, but I love this car (the picture doesn't do it justice). I sat in one on the weekend and it just felt so nice (and like me, not that this is that important when you need grocery room).  I think though it doesn't quite have the extra space or extra seat we are looking for, although I did try to justify it after seeing it.

Toyota Highlander

Nice vehicle, but don't think it offers that much more storage for the price tag. It does have the option of extra seats though and a Hybrid version!

Chevrolet Traverse

Try it out. Don't know much about.

So there you have it.

The dilemma is whether to buy used, given how very few kilometres I put on my car in a year - I drive mostly around town with the car sitting in the driveway multiple days per week.

So ... anyone have any experience, ideas, opinions they would like to share?

(Picture sources from here here here here here here here)