Wife had a Mazda 3 when I got my G and our thought was that we wanted something with AWD in the event weather got bad in MD; which it will occasionally do. Also, planning for children which impacted the decision for the AWD sedan. Hence, why my search started with American "muscle" cars and Coupes and I went with the G37x. Fast Forward two years and my wife is now in a AWD SUV... . However, I am happy I had the AWD G37 after some of the weather we've had since we moved.

New plan is to dump my Volvo ASAP and move the G to permanent DD duty and grab a third vehicle as the weekend/fun car until the G is ready to retire. I think your statement regarding a truck confirmed my decision to do exactly what you do and rent one if it's required. When we first moved, my dad was stressing me out saying I needed a truck for when we start projects around the house but I couldn't think of more than two future occasions where I would need a truck. It would just sit in the driveway the remaining 360 days of the year.

 

I'd love to keep my sedan, I was even going to look into getting a C43 or GS F Sport, she's pushing the SUV Idea, She wants the RX, I think they're ugly. New RDX is really nice, Discovery Sport too.

I just order big stuff like that online. Would only need it for one kid, Stroller, Bags and all fit in the trunk just fine. She's stuck on this SUV idea

 

My neighbor pays $600 a year for collision insurance on a beater truck to "haul stuff" with. Figure another $100 a year for gas and an oil change/maintenance etc. I could rent the Home Depot truck/van like 30+ times and still be ahead.

The only way I don't think the G sedan would work for family duty is if you and your spouse were over 6'. I'm 5'10 and a rear facing child seat only has ~2" of space between the seat back. Fortunately my wife is only 5'2, so there is plenty of room behind her seat.

She's telling YOU what kind of car to get? Dude. You need to lay the smack down.

My wife can't even drive manual

 

However, if your kids participate in sports, having a SUV (big or small) is a big help. My girls are in lacrosse, field hockey and soccer... as well as summer soccer leagues. Plus my youngest is a goalie in all three sports. If you've seen what a field hockey goalie has to wear, you'd understand the need for a SUV.

And if you routinely cart other people's kids around to these events... again, SUV.

 

Good points.

When my wife did consulting/worked from home, carting other peoples kids around was a key consideration in rocking a 7 passenger SUV. Now that she has gone back to a corporate 8-5 job, now, not so much.

It seems like our kids have inherited mom and dads athletic ability (read: none) so we've avoided and hope to continue avoiding the time suck that is sports

 

A Jr. Golf membership is the cheapest babysitter you can get in my eyes, so long as you have a course that allows jr members to play unaccompanied. Drop them on your way to work with a lunch and pick them up on your way home.

It is time extensive, but can be viewed as buying yourself 5+ hrs to do your own thing.

 

SUVs do absolutely nothing for me in general but the GLK we picked up for the wife has checked all the boxes thus far. Good looking, roomy, comfortable, 3.5 V6 provides plenty of power and most importantly: top marks for reliability. Echoing Rochester, if the (future) kids get involved in sports or other activities, SUVs are great for hauling equipment. Passengers also appreciate the extra room compared to the G37 as well; can't blame them.


My wife taught me how to row gears . I can still hear her giggling as I struggled to leave the driveway.

 

She's not telling me what to get lol, she's telling me what she wants and I'm telling her what I'd get. Figure I get the RDX and everyone is happy, Trade off for it is i'll be grabbing an old s14 or 07 STi to play with which is what I'd really love.

Same, I'm 5'11 she's 5'0.

 

Having a toy car to mod isn't a bad idea. Spouses tend to be less than enthusiastic if you can't pickup the kids because your car is up on jack stands getting a turbo back exhaust

 

SUVs also help if you have pets and do road trips every now and then. A family of 4 plus a happy ol puppy on a 5 hour drive is not the greatest or most comfortable. With a SUV, you can put the dog in the back instead of the middle seat in a sedan.

Overall though, I prefer sedans unless its a performance suv (G wagon, x5/x6, range Rover, etc)

 

I have never really felt the need for an suv. When I was growing up everyone had cars or station wagons. Suvs were not even a thing and we made it work regardless of how many friends I brought along as a kid or how much sports equipment we needed to haul. I raced BMX as a kid and we fit my bike and tools in the back of my dad's Camaro Z28. We even drove it in the winter to an indoor track with summer tires before I knew what summer tires were. (Obviously, the roads were not too bad.)

I work at an enormous car dealership so if I need a truck or an suv I can just take one. But even if I didn't, I could easily rent one on the extremely rare occasion that I would actually need one. I would much rather have a car that I can enjoy driving every single time I get behind the wheel (as good as therapy) than drive some stupid truck or suv that I really only get any use out of once or twice a year, but sucks to drive 100% of the time.

I think sometimes we forget how large the trunk on these cars really is. Own and Evo X and replace it with a G and it will seem like the trunk is large enough to rent out as a small apartment. However, I do wish the rear seats would fold down.

 

Although I went to KIA a few months ago to check out their Stinger, yesterday I saw my first Stinger GT in a parking lot, in yellow, and took another moment to walk around. Damn fine looking car. Just the right proportions. Love that hatch design.

 

I was just reading an article in car and driver about the stinger. In a nutshell, great straight line cruiser, no so much when the road starts to turn. Hatchback is nice and adds lots of utility.

 

I'm starting to see them more frequently. They look nice, but no stick shift, no care.

 

Neither are our cars without suspension mods. I suspect a set of aftermarket swaybars would go a long way to improving things.

Yep, pretty much.