2010 Veracruz

[Duaine]

I think your right I did see some information about a 2010 Veracruz diesel. I believe they run them in other countries now. I did have a 2005 VW Passat diesel that achieved up to 42 mpg on the highway. I think it would still be cheaper to run than say a vehicle running on gasoline that say gets 28 mpg.
The Passat, if I still had it, would cost $.10 a mile at 42 mpg with a current diesel price around here of $4.10 per gallon. The best I have ever got with my Hyundai Azera is 28 mpg. At a current price of $3.44 per gallon that figures out to be $.12 per mile. My Azera however usually gets more like 27 highway mpg.
What I'm saying is that on the bigger pickups and some of the SUV's you don't notice a tremendous difference in mileage like you do like a Passat or Jetta compared to their gasoline counterparts. You just have to do some figuring to see if its worth it. The diesel option in a pickup sometimes is a $5000.00 option to start off with as well. Now that being said.........if you want it for pulling something they have tons of torque. Also if you keep your vehicles until they fall apart a diesel engine will out last a gas engine by quite a bit.
One other note. I have been reading that Honda Accord is suppose to be offering a diesel engine soon. I will have to see it to believe it but some claims are that it can achieve 60 mpg on the highway. It's kind of hard to believe since about the best I ever got with my Passat was 45 mpg. But leave it to Honda to figure something new out. Good luck in your vehicle search!

 

[gopack504]

I'm actually surpised none of the automakers have comeout with or have plans to come out with a hybrid minivan. While SUV sales have dropped, I don't think minivan sales have (at least not that I know of). If you have a family of 3 or 4 kids you pretty much need a minivan.

 

[Michael_S]

I'm actually surpised none of the automakers have comeout with or have plans to come out with a hybrid minivan. While SUV sales have dropped, I don't think minivan sales have (at least not that I know of). If you have a family of 3 or 4 kids you pretty much need a minivan.

If you look at the price for minivans and large crossover SUVs, it looks like people pay more for crossovers. I'm betting the automakers are working on hybrid crossovers first, because it's more profitable.

For example, the Toyota Highlander costs more than the Toyota Sienna. If you want a Highlander Hybrid, it's $34,000. If you want a Highlander Hybrid with 7 passenger seating, it's $40,000. If Toyota can get lots of people to spend that much money, more power to them.

I would trade in my own minivan for a $25,000 minivan hybrid in a heartbeat, but I guess nobody is working on that yet.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Minivans have more room - but Crossovers are becoming more popular these days. It's only a matter of time before there are some Crossovers with more room than Minivans...

 

[gopack504]

If you look at the price for minivans and large crossover SUVs, it looks like people pay more for crossovers. I'm betting the automakers are working on hybrid crossovers first, because it's more profitable.

For example, the Toyota Highlander costs more than the Toyota Sienna. If you want a Highlander Hybrid, it's $34,000. If you want a Highlander Hybrid with 7 passenger seating, it's $40,000. If Toyota can get lots of people to spend that much money, more power to them.

I would trade in my own minivan for a $25,000 minivan hybrid in a heartbeat, but I guess nobody is working on that yet.

Good point. It all comes down to dollars and cents.

 

[Michael_S]

Minivans have more room - but Crossovers are becoming more popular these days. It's only a matter of time before there are some Crossovers with more room than Minivans...

Maybe. But many automakers are in their second generation of large crossovers, and nobody has come close to minivans for space yet. The biggest crossovers are the Saturn Outlook and its corporate cousins, and my wife and I test drove one extensively before we decided to get a minivan. The Outlook is big inside - bigger than inside a Tahoe, for comparison - but notably smaller than in the bigger minivans.

The Hyundai Entourage was very nice, but front seat leg room wasn't good for me. I'm 6' tall and 235 pounds, and I couldn't get comfortable. Back seat room was good, though.

The Nissan Quest also didn't have as much front seat leg room as I'd like. Otherwise, it was really nice and had a ton of space. However, I would only get one with an extended warranty because it's consistently rated among the less reliable minivans.

For some reason I didn't like the Sienna, even though it's extremely well rated.

The Odyssey was very comfortable in all three rows, had plenty of space, and handles surprisingly well for its size. I don't regret buying it.