Best cars, trucks and SUVs for family road trips
Fuel is as cheap as it has been in a long time. Air travel’s more stressful and cumbersome than most sane people prefer. Thus, there should be a lot of cars and trucks toting families to Grandma’s house over Christmas and New Year’s.
Your driving style and the size of your family make a big difference in where you want to spend your wheel time, but here are our favorites for that jaunt over the river and through the woods.
Subaru XV Crosstrek
Compact, two-row, highstyle SUV that has Subaru’s well-done all-wheel drive standard. Four-door hatchback that seats five. Base model is called “Premium” so you can brag-up the name to make it sound as if you got the fancy one.
Pros: Cold-weather features (e.g. heated seats and outside mirrors), power accessories and Bluetooth hands-free phone and streaming link all are standard. Styling means nobody’ll think you’re dull. Good mpg ratings for an SUV (up to 33 mpg on the highway).
Cons: Tight fit for bigboned folk. Today’s high-style could be tomorrow’s ugly. Don’t take the five-passenger claim seriously; four’s the maximum if comfort is a concern. Not everybody will like the “rubber-band” feel of the continuously variable-ratio automatic transmission (CVT).
Special family-friendly feature: Standard roof rails make it easy to attach gear for your favorite sport or mount cargo carriers to free up space inside.
Price: $23,820 and more (manual transmission model is $1,000 less; gas-electric hybrid starts $3,000 more, should be on sale in time for Christmas.)
Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen diesel
This compact wagon only comes with front-wheel drive. Most (about 80 percent, VW says) have fuel-efficient diesel engines, rated up to 42 mpg Most of the 2014 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen models have fuel-efficient diesel engines. VOLKSWAGEN (but diesels often get better mpg than their ratings, unlike most vehicles).
Pros: More cargo space than some bigger models. Low bumper, wide tailgate for easy loading. VW’s nicely done “leatherette” upholstery is standard; no cloth seats to soak up spilled juice.
Cons: Not all stations sell diesel. It’s more expensive than gasoline and it’ll bug you to pay the higher price, even though the engine’s better mileage more than makes up for it. Some VW controls aren’t easy to decipher.
Special family-friendly feature: Standard 115-volt household plug for quicker recharging of hand-held games, cellphones, Kindles, tablets.
Price: $28,170 and more (manual-transmission model is $1,100 less. Bare-bones gasoline version starts at $22,715 with manual.)
The midsize four-door SUV seats five, comes with rearwheel drive or AWD. Classier inside than many same-size, similar-price rivals.
Pros: Four-wheel drive system probably would get you to Grandma’s better than any other in the list. You feel as if you’re in a vehicle that’s a class above what you paid. V-6 engine and new eight-speed automatic are a smooth-driving combination. Exceptional leg and knee room in back.
Cons: Drinks fuel fast (rated up to 25 mpg on the high-
Jeep Grand Cherokee
way — though a new diesel is rated 30 mpg on the big road).
Special family-friendly feature: Rechargeable flashlight in rear storage area.
Price: Laredo starter model with rear-wheel drive is $29,790. Add $2,000 for allwheel drive. The one where most buyers would start shopping is the Limited, $35,790 for rear-drive.
Chevrolet Traverse
Big, three-row SUV for mainstream tastes; seats seven or eight.
Pros: More room inside for people, cargo than the Chevy Tahoe, which has similar footprint. Remarkably simple phone connection. Standard center airbag in front, to keep driver, front passenger from head-knocking each other in a side crash.
Cons: Power tailgate, power seats both optional, not standard. Third-row legroom’s tight.
Special family-friendly feature: Dual USB charging ports on the rear of the center console, to keep the backbenchers’ gizmos ready for action.
Price: LS front-drive starter model is $31,670. AWD is $2,000 more.
Chrysler 300
The big four-door sedan comes with rear-wheel or AWD. A new eight-speed transmission cuts fuel use.
Pros: Cool looks. High comfort level. Great cellphone connectivity and easy-to-use Garmin navigation. Exceptional rear-seat leg room.
Cons: Modest trunk for such a big car. Less headroom that most.
Special family-friendly feature: Optional heated/ cooled cupholders.
Price: Starts at $31,035 for rear-wheel drive. AWD is $3,005 more.
Toyota Sienna AWD
Toyota’s the only van-maker to offer all-wheel-drive, so it’s the one if you need honest family space plus enough traction to make it through. (If you can live with front-drive, you might like the Honda Odyssey better for its sportier feel.)
Pros: People and luggage space. Even if you use all three rows of seats, there’s still twice as much cargo room left as in the trunk of those big Lincoln Town Cars that pick up the special people at airports. High level of comfort and features, even on the least-expensive LE-model AWD version.
Cons: Not cheap to buy or fuel. Comes with the “dork” image of all family vans. Too big for tight urban areas.
Special family-friendly feature: Optional dual-view screen for the kids in back. All can watch the same program on a 16.4-in.-wide video panel, or it visually splits in two, so Johnny on the left can watch a show or play a game that’s different from the one Sally on the right is watching — and neither can see the other’s program.
Price: $33,780 and more.
It’s a full-size pickup that seats five or six, and has enough interior space that even the long-legged can stretch out in the back seat for 1,500-mile road trips. Flat floor is cargo-friendly when the back seat’s folded up. Doors are big enough for easy in-out (which is why it edges out the otherwise appealing, redesigned Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra).
Pros: Cargo bed lets you pack like the Joads (get a bed cover to thwart rain and snow). Four-wheel drive and good ground clearance get you to Granny’s even if she’s a survivalist in Nobodycanfindit, Montana. Dealers everywhere if you need fixin’. More finery than some luxury cars, if you don’t mind a $50,000 price tag. Discounts are common and generous.
Cons: Three tons and shaped like a brick, it has – a big thirst for fuel. Daunting if you’re not used to the size and wide turning circle.
Special family-friendly feature: Door pockets hold enough drinks to sate a soccer team in summer.
Price: Work-truck-level XL crew cab starts at $34,175 with two-wheel drive, but that’s vinyl seats, manually-adjusting outside mirrors; functional but cheap-o ambiance. Reallife starting point: XLT, $37,115. Add $3,425 for fourwheel drive and extras that come with.
Ford F-150 crew-cab