Gary Palmer |
06-27-2006 08:39 AM |
Kid Hauling Consideration's: I don't disagree with any of the points or considerations which anyone has identified. However, their were several driving considerations for me and my wife, when our kid's were younger, then older and so forth.
-leg room: With a sedan and even many pseudo SUV's the leg room in the back is the pit's, unless the people in the front seats are pretty short. We upgraded from a Pymouth Reliant, Station Wagon, to a Plymouth Voyager, to a Dodge Grand Caravan, to a Chrysler Town & Country. In regard, the T&C has been a good vehicle. It has the leg room for adult's or large teen ager's. It has rear bucket seats, so that they are less prone to poke, grab, fight, argue, bikker and so forth. I know none of your kids will do that, but mine do. Mileage, not so great, but considering hauling a number of people, pretty good. My T& C has 178,000 on it, with the original motor, it still uses 1 qt oil, every 2,000 miles and it get's 20-22 mpg, on the highway, at 70-75.
I have a sister who has an Odyssey and in riding in it, I don't think it's as comfortable as the T&C, but I think she might get a little better mileage.
Bottom line, when you start counting kid's, if you can give them "space", it helps contribute to the peace, big time. It amazes me how much the rear bucket seats reduce squabiling and so forth. Just a consideration.
Timing. From my perspective, giving your kid's 2-3 years between helps reduce a lot of issues because they are close enough to play together and do things together, but they are far enough apart to not be directly competing with each other in school and so forth. Additionally, it gives them someone to talk to when mom or dad or both are being twips. Just my experiences!
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