Sorry if this is long and painful... I'm a day or two away from picking up a 4.8i for my wife...I think. At the moment we have an 08 Sequoia which is a nice vehicle though quite big. We sold our 06 XC90 V8 because we felt it was getting very tight with the 3 kids. They were all in boosters or car seats and had the associated detritus that goes along with 3 kids under 9. After almost a year with the Sequoia I really miss european driving characteristics of even the Volvo (I drive an E90 M3). And it seems no matter where we park it people bounce off of it. It got hit twice the first weekend we had it at our ski condo. One minor dent which I was able to pop out myself and on big cave in on the rear bumper which I haven't had the time or inclination to fix. It seems the thing is made out of Pepsi cans. My wife is quite careful about how she parks because she knows how neurotic I am about our cars so I can only conclude that the metal is very thin (cheap) and that there is more to come. I guess in a word, it is a great family "appliance". I really only drive it on Fridays after work in the winter when we make the three hour trek to our ski condo - and then Sunday nights for the trek home. Usually the roads are diabolical and the Sequioa is a very good vehicle with Blizzaks all around. But the headlights aren't all that great. I am confident the X5 would be as good or better. I took a 4.8i home for the weekend last weekend and absolutely loved everything about it. My wife on the other hand is convinced it is too small and wants to keep the Toyota. The much larger Toyota can only take an extra bag or two over the Volvo as the cargo area isn't really that big and non-existent with the 3rd row up. But the kids do seem to have quite a bit more room - laterally anyway. When they got in the 4.8i they instantly started bitching about the size though my daughter said she had better leg room (?!). If we put the dog kennel in the back thats about alll that will fit so I was thinking I'd split the cargo area with a pop in divider so we could have him on one side and the cooler and a few bags on the other. The rest of the crap can go in the Skybox Pro up top (we leave our equipment and clothing at the condo). Are there any members out there who put a 5 person family in their X5 for trips? Is it as bad as my kids are trying to make me believe it is? I know its small, even compared to an XC90, but I'm kind of the opinion we take more stuff along because there is more space. I know what I'd rather be driving but its not worth it if the rest of them are going to be crammed in and hating it.
Trust me... There's an old saying...he who plans the trip enjoys it most. Well in this case, it ain't about you. I'd suggest you don't try to make it about you. Take it from an old, long married fart with 3 kids. Though mostly grown now, I've been there and feel your pain! Please learn from my mistakes and save yourself grief and what will be much more money in the long run. If you hear what your wife and kids have already said, you'll keep the toyotoa. Trust me, you will not be happy behind the wheel of ANYTHING on any trip if you wife and kids are complaining about the room. EVERY time the kids complain about space, your wife will take it out on you in the form of I told you so, or tell your father. Grin and bear it my friend and think about the good time you allowed your family to have that weekend, therefore the better time you will have. Also, take comfort in the fact of what you'll be driving Monday morning! You are going to blink and the kids will be old enough that momma can have a nice car. You'll be surprised how quickly... "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"!!!!
Sage advice. My wife got home yesterday and the Toyota had been hit yet again. Goddam people around here. This latest one will definitely require paint. You'd think people would excercise a modicum of caution around a basically new vehicle. I know its not her, she's a very good driver and with all the technology she has, pdc and back up video, I think it would be darn near impossible to scrape a bumper. I'm certain it has to do with the size. It takes up the full width of most parking spaces and obviously sticks out. I do think that with a short adjustment period the kids would get back to watching movies and playing video games like they do in the Toyota. Only one of them is in a car seat (booster) now so they get to take full advantage of the seat width, actually put their feet on the floor etc. The very low centre hump in the X5 is a nice feature. I think this is why my daughter professes to have more rleg oom. The hump in the Toyota is higher and the one in the Volvo ensured that whomever sat in the middle had their knees up to their ears. My middle boy used to complain his butt was falling asleep. We'll see what we end up doing. The deals are pretty spectacular on the 08's and size nothwithstanding I think the X5 is a much safer vehicle than the Toyota. The driving dynamics are certainly head and shoulders above the Toyota.
When you have young kids, you just need that beast of burden vehicle for awhile. One that has room and takes the hits inside and out. I went through your exact situation. You are at least fortunate that it's a Sequoia. Mine at the time was a Sienna. Now I have a 328Ic and we're shopping for an X3 for her. Our youngest is 16. Good Luck, trust me - keep the bigger vehicle, for awhile. The X5 will not work, for long. Your wife will be wanting something bigger. Over the next 4-5 years as the kids get bigger and need the space. More than they need today. A 3rd row is ideal in that situation, but at the very least, width of rear seat. Add too this, when they want to take friends as they get older. (That's next) Ever heard the old bull, young bull story?? These 2 bulls are standing on a hilltop looking down into the valley. In the valley is a herd of lady cows. The young bull says to the old bull...Let's run down there and have us one of them cows! The old bull looks back at him and says...SOn, let's walk down and have them all! Good Luck young bull...
This was something that I saw on another forum. I think someone did some sort of photo shop program. This is not as far as I know under development for real. I'd like to say thank goodness, but, there was a time, when my kids were small, that I would have prefered one of these to the caravan and sienna that we had during those years!
Minivans= in my book. My wife has 3 kids from a previous marriage and we have one together so that equals 4 kids in total. Yet we have 3 4-door cars. No need for a minivan because: 1) Her two oldest sons like to stay home and play games on the computer 2) Only her daughter and my son Peyton go out in the car with us 3) Rarely 100% of the time you will have over 5 people in the car
Sounds like you're working to make it work. Good for you, minivans suck... I wish I had discovered BMW's 20 years ago!
At this time back then, you would have had a great selection of cars: 88 M5 88 E32 7's with a stick 89 E34 535i with a stick 88-89 M3's 88 M6 E30 325is
"I know!" I really would love to have an e30 325is... Someone in my town has a black one from Georgia with a little under 60k on the clock. It's black & beautiful.
Well, we did it. Took delivery of an X5 4.8i Sport and Activity packages, 7 passenger Monaco on Beige. What a fantastic vehicle in comparision to our outgoing Sequioa. Fits the family (including the dog) just fine. With the dual screen RSE it keeps everybody occupied. Easier for my wife to park and she actually admitted to really liking it. A win all around. Looks good, drives better and is a safer place for them to be.
Lacking a bit compared to an M3 but for an SUV its fabulous. Very smooth, torquey. Passing on the two lanes is almost an after thought. We are getting great gas mileage compared to the M3 as well.
Update For those who are interested, we are now well into X5 ownership and have amassed 14000 km since January. My wife loves it and the kids seem pretty happy. Its no Sequioa inside but that thing was obscenely big, to the point where it was full of junk all the time. We installed the Invision dual rear seat entertainment system, very slick set up, 2 screens, 2 remotes, 3 wireless headphones, usb port for Ipod, uses fm to broadcast through the radio (stereo sound!) and has game ports for external video, audio and game consoles. A real all in one solution. Invision's customer service was spectacular. It seems like a superior solution to the single screen factory unit. I love the roar of the V8 and the handling for an SUV is very good. Knock on wood we are problem free through 14000km. Not even the Toyota pulled that off. It feels like it will stay tight as a drum for as long as we have it (100,000km). In a nutshell, in spite of the size difference we are very happy with the vehicle. Now if they'd do an X7 with a 35d - that's the ticket!!
