What's a suburban wife to drive?

I remember when our family first got a minivan--it was a big, boxy, Dodge Caravan that we affectionately dubbed "Big Red". (Apparently, this was a popular car back in the 90's because El Hubbo's family had a silver one dubbed--"Silver Bullet".) I loved the sliding doors and how roomy the interior was, but that fascination eventually faded to embarrassment. Maybe it was because it had gotten dinged up and old over the course of 10-years, or maybe because it became synonymous with suburban soccer mom's, or perhaps even, due to the GIANT phone number and name advertising our family's business all over the windows. Probably all 3, but since then, even though vans are incomparably useful during moving, I have averred against them.


Instead, the 18-year old me looked at shiny, assertive, stylishly towering SUV's with eyes shining in delight and decided that when I had a family someday, I would get an SUV. I'd be a cool mom, rather than the minivan, conservative jean-wearing mom.


Cue to 5 years later, when yet ANOTHER passive/aggressive suburban mom cut me off on the 73, shooting by, no doubt tearing off to drive her children to La Crosse practice. (This was when I lived in SoCal, where I normally drove a minimum of 80 on the stretch from the 405 to the 73). I realized then and there...SUV drivers can often be d*cks. I did not wish to be a d*ck. I mean, yeah, her faux blond highlights were awesomely sun-kissed and she was gabbing away on a fancy phone, but I did not like the attitude. It seems the higher the driver's vantage point is, the lower their willingness to follow general traffic niceties. Gone was my ambition to be an SUV driving "cool" suburban mom.


It has been several years since the 5 years later of my 18-year old self and while I still don't have kids, it is at least within the perimeter of the planning stages. Ok, it's still too early but my current car is 16 years old and it has died 2 times in the past 6 months, resulting in an ungodly shop bill. Although it's back on track, we are hedging our bets that it won't last more than 2-3 years. Since we want to buy a slightly used car for our next car, that means we'll end up purchasing cars around the 2010/2011 generation!


Cue the car search! (It's a great waste of time!) We currently have 2 sedans and we are really looking for a car with excellent gas mileage (so hybrid or electric is a must), cargo space, and all-wheel drive, under $20k used so we can pay for it up front to avoid financing it (since debt is the Great Evil that must be avoided or eradicated). Since we may have a family in 2-3 years, it would be great if it doubled as a family car. Some options we considered are:


1. Prius- Good price, best mileage, awesome for commuting, roomy interior, decent cargo space, but no AWD. Even new, it's attainable. 3 years old would drop it to the $18k category. Oh yes.


2. Prius V (Wagon!)- new car, coming Summer 2011.

(source)

Expected base of $28,500 for new, so a slightly older one will drop it under $20k. 40mpg average mileage, super roomy, awesome cargo space, but no AWD. I love that it's a wagon! Not an SUV! Not a mini-van! Just a super awesome modern family car that doubles as an awesome commuter car? Oh heck to the yes! But...no AWD and it's not always the best idea to get the first gen of a new anything. Still...this would probably be IT if it had AWD. Still a top contender though.

3. Lexus 400H (2008 and newer). Decent mileage for a hybrid SUV, looks curvy, decent cargo space, luxury ride. Cost would be about $25k for a 5 year old car but at that point, are we really just getting it for the name? Part of the consumerist,materialistic self in me says, "yes! I indeed want a nice abstract L on the grill of my car!" but luxury brand aside, it is a nice, compact SUV crossover that has all the functions we want: hybrid/gas efficiency, cargo space, and most importantly: AWD.

4. Toyota Highlander hybrid- looks ugly. Just can't drive it. I'm sorry. Not even if it was slapped with all the abstract L's, linked rings, and pie looking doodads available on it. I can handle the consumeristic/materialistic self, but I can't turn-off the superficial. Besides, the gas mileage isn't all that great.

5. Commuter sedan/electric vehicle- Tesla looks so cool but at $50k, even with the tax incentive, it is double our price point. Other electric commuter cars are around $30k and will probably drop a bit over the next two years, but that puts us back at the current situation of owning 2 commuter cars with no cargo space and no AWD.

So...what have I learned today? Well, the only nice hybrid family car with cargo space and AWD currently available is the Lexus, followed by it's country cousin, the Highlander. We wouldn't notice extra padding in our wallets because it'll require the same amount of fuel we're using now, but at least we get so much more car for it. Do we want a car that fits all the requirements moderately, or go for another car (such as the Prius) that BLOWS most of the requirements out of the water even though it lacks one of the most integral requirements? What would YOU do?