I lost (and miss) my 08 Blue Pearl in an accident in 2008. After the accident i bought a truck. Well fast forward to now and I'm married with kids. so here is my debate. My truck will be traded in for a family vehicle (SUV or minivan with 3rd row). My wife has allowed me to trade in her boring sonata for a car of my choosing. I have narrowed it down to 2 options.

1) loaded Dodge Caravan R/T (est 30k) and Subaru BRZ (Scion FRS) (est 28k)

2) loaded Honda Pilot (est 41k) and Honda Fit (est 18k)

As you can see both vehicles will total to about the same cost. I know i'm opening myself up to witty "smart" remarks but I love this forum and trust my fellow fitfreakers to give me useful advise. And don't be biased cuz you drive a Honda.

 

Double Honda FTW. I never liked Dodge vans. Ive driven in allot of Honda Odysseys and they are excellent vans. I would go with the Pilot and fit or Oddy and BRZ. Have you checked out the Odyssey?

 

Good luck fitting the kids in the back of that

I would love more than anything to have a coupe or roadster, I always have, but the pain of moving child seats and children into a coupe made me buy the Fit (among other things). If the kids aren't going to be riding in the smaller of the two very much, I guess it's not that big of a deal. My wife and I swap carseats every day though, so a 2+2 or coupe is a no-go for me. How old are your kids?

If I didn't have to deal with that, i'd get the BRZ or FR-S in a heartbeat, even if it's first model year. I hear the new Caravan is actually a great family hauler with some trick stuff.

 

My wife just traded her '11 Pilot (reluctantly) for a Kia Sportage. The Pilot was an excellent SUV for loading up people, hauling moderate loads (we maxed out the 4500lb limit a few times) and never had to go to the dealer for an issue (sans the seatbelt recall but we never took it in for that). It did only return marginal mileage numbers, though (20mpg avg, max 23, low of 15 [when towing]).

But now for the important issue at hand - your car If it were me, I'd buy the Subie over the Fit. The Fit is fun, but the BRZ is balanced 50/50 and will handle like a dream. It will also have some upgraded technical and electrical equipment, but like anywhere, you get what you pay for. 28k is a hell of a lot different than 18k!

 

Yeah but overpriced for a van.. IMO. The wife loved the Pilot, but only fully loaded (upgraded int. entertainment pkg). Me too honestly. The Odyssey is very basic at about 30k. There arent any racetracks here, I make up my track as i go... backroads or whatever.. so the fit would be driven exactly where the brz would be driven. The Caravan is fully loaded at 30k. I guess i'll see if Honda will give me a good deal if get 2 hondas instead of one. Maybe I should not be so selfish.. get her the loaded pilot, n take the fit? She also doesnt like Hondas warranty and thinks the fit is a teenage girls car (at least my 07 Vivid blue pearl)... ugh.. hate this..

 

She doesnt like Honda's warranty? I dont know why people get all worked up over warranty lenght when buying Honda's you probably wont even need it.

 

Could have you have possibly picked cars with less in common?
Caravan vs Pilot? Really?
Do need AWD? Do you need the space? Why these two? Suv vs Mini-Van?

Fit vs BRZ?

Do you want a sports car or an economy car?
How much does outward visibility matter?
Will you be hauling kiddos around?
But more importantly...How do you fit in either car?

Questions to ponder...

 

We need a third row vehicle.. hence Pilot (wife liked) Caravan (best price for fully loaded 3rd row veh) all other crossover suv's w/ 3rd row are tiny in the back.

I probably would be hauling kids around.. Sports car or not, it must be fun to drive. Visibility doesnt matter. Havent driven a BRZ, but i had an 07 civic si and i'm assuming they will be very close in size.

 

As much as I dislike the Dodge Caravan (my sister has one)...

Why not split the difference? Get the Dodge Caravan with the Fit and save yourself 10k?

 

Actually, it would save me about 23k.. Caravan vs Pilot dif is about 13k, and Fit to BRZ dif is about 10k... hmmmmm...

 

Uh... no it wouldn't, since you don't mention a Pilot+BRZ combo.

That combo would be roughly 23k more than the Caravan+Fit combo. The combos you brought up are only roughly 10k more than C+F.

 

Skip the Hondas. Nothing against Honda, I own two myself. If I had the combo choice I will go for #1. Caravan and BRZ. I am not into SUV or Minivans, but if I had a choice, I would pick a Caravan over a Pilot. The BRZ / FR-S looks like they would be a fun car to drive.

 

Oh yeah.. sorry.. yeah the pilot brz combo is too expensive.

lets see

+fit= fun to drive/ can haul the kids/ cheaper to buy/ cheaper to mod
+BRZ=funner to drive/ will compensate owning a minivan/maybe
-fit=may leave me wanting more/ wife would rather i buy something else (more mature she says)/?
-BRZ= not functional everyday use, but a fun commuter car for me only

or keep the sonata. Everybody here has good suggestions... but none seems like a hands down way to go. The idea that makes the most sense is to go the cheapest route/ caravan + fit= extra $ for mods and trips.

 

My only advice to you would be SIT IN THE BRZ before you decide. I Sat in one at the NY auto show and was very uncomfortable. Unless you are a rail you will be very uncomfortable. Im 5'10" 185lbs and the seat bolsters were digging into my side, and the roof was very close to my head.

 

That's a negative my friend.

 

You know..there are other cars that are fast...practical...less 17yo girl...

 

Go with the hondas. That subaru is out of it's league for the price point it is set at.

 

Wow... Good looking out... As much as the brz looks hella fun.. Its looking less and less practical. The wrx and the lancer evos are nice but im trying to stay under 25k... I keep coming back to the fit... Maybe I.ll just drive the boring sonata for a while. Thx everybody... I.ll let u know what I do.

 

Are you only looking at new cars?

 

yes new cars only. Call me crazy but I had an 07 civic si, got t-boned, then got the 08 fit. I actually found the fit to be funner to drive. HP doesnt matter to me... fun factor/ funtionality are top priority. I was really wanted RWD, but maybe i'll wait a few more years. The family vehicle is first priority, then my DD.