The Great Car Judgment

With three kids and an equal number of car seats, we are quickly outgrowing our sedan.  Usually with our tax refund each year we plan something fun to do along with paying off bills and storing some away for a ‘rainy day’.  This year we decided the best thing to do would be to find a larger vehicle.  This begged the question: Which vehicle should we get?

At first I was pretty set on a Ford Expedition.   I like the size and the look but after talking to our local mechanic and a CarQuest employee, I discovered the Expedition’s engine doesn’t have much life to it after a certain number of miles and has conned the nickname – Ford Exploder!

The one thing both parties agreed on was the durability and life of the Chevy Suburban and Mini Vans. 

Now, those who know me know that I lean more toward large trucks and SUV’s as my preferred mode of transportation.  Vans have never been my number one choice and the thought of driving a van causes me to involuntarily shudder.  Although I would never put it past the Good Lord to drop a van in my lap and chuckle because He got me driving the inferior vehicle. 

What I have quickly learned is that when it comes to those who drive mini vans and SUV’s there is no middle ground between the camps.  Those who love mini vans swear by them and will go to great lengths to convince you of the cons of owning an SUV.  Then again, those in the SUV camp would not be caught sight of in a mini van. 

There are many reasons why a Suburban appeals to me but my one hang-up was the increasing gas prices.  I didn’t want to blow my entire budget on gas alone.  So Andrew and I sat down and did some quick calculations.  Andrew manned the computer and I controlled the calculator.  If ever you were wondering, “What really is the difference between a Suburban and mini van when it comes to gas?”  here is your answer….

A 2000 Chevy Suburban has a 33 gal. tank getting a combined total of 13 mpg. This equals $132 at the pump when gas is $4.00 and equals a total of 429 miles per tank.

Now let's figure vans: a 2000 Dodge Caravan, Toyota Sienna and Chevy Ventura have a 20 gal. tank getting a combined total of 19 mpg which equals 380 miles per tank. This equals $80 at the pump with gas at $4.00 but there's a deficit of miles which equal another $10.52 to equal the miles of the Burb totaling $90.52.

I'll spare you the calculations of the Nissan Quest and Windstar but the Quest would cost $93.80 and the Windstar coming in at $100.92.

On average it costs only $38.75 more to pay for the gas in a Suburban than a mini van. This is less than one meal at a restaurant for our entire family.

With our weekly average of 100 driven miles, it looks like we can feasibly fill up once a month and work it nicely within our budget. 

Do you know what this means?  This anti-mini van girl can safely skip into the SUV camp with a clear conscience that my preferences won’t destroy our budget. 

Happy Driving!!