Tall Parents... Need a New Vehicle

My husband is 6'2", FIL 6'3", and I am 5'7". Hubby sells and appraises used cars, so he drives them all. He feels the Ford F150 or Expedition has plenty of room. He also doesn't mind the Dodge Ram. Explorers are much smaller. BTW, the height calculator says the little one (a girl) will be 6'1".

DODGE DURANGO! I know they dont make them anymore but a good used one would be great. The head room is amazing. The third row is a full size third row that you can actually use and they are SAFE. My 6'4'' brother sits in the back just fine. We travel with high school wrestlers all over California in it (my husband is a coach). My father in law SWORE by fords, even staid we would be stupid to buy anything else, until he drove our Durango. This is our 2nd. As our first was driven off a cliff down 172 feet. There were 4 men in the car the 2 in the back were both over 6 feet tall. Ironically my father in law was driving it at the time. ANYWAY, 3 of the four men walked away and all 4 survived. The thing looked like a crossover it was crunched so bad, BUT the interior was intact! People thought we were crazy to buy anther Durango (bad luck or something) but a car that can survive that: is Priceless!
Anyway, probably WAY more than you wanted to hear, but I just got going on this one. Good luck car shopping!!!

I know what you mean about those long winters! We bought a minivan and surprisingly it does very well on the snow and ice. I have several friends who drive them as well and they have no complaints. I also have never bothered with the studded tires, I just have regular all terrain. I have only lived in AK for two years and was not used to driving in these conditions before either. I have had an SUV before and did not like having to fold the seats down, so I decided to go with a practical minivan and it is great. They can also be fitted to tow things up to a certain weight ( enough for ATV's & snow machines). We had a truck as a second vehicle and used that to tow with though, so I can't speak as to how well they tow things. Oh and my hubby is 6 ft and has no trouble fitting with plenty room to spare, just be mindful that the seat in any car is going to have to go back and eat up leg room in the second row. You could do a middle bench seat and slide it over to the other side, so the open space to access the third row is on the drivers side to give the driver and the second row the leg room. Hope that makes sense.

We have a Honda Odyssey. I am 5'8 and my husband is 6'1. It works for us. It works in snow, but doesn't have the clearance that an SUV does.

We have a ford excursion and it is huge inside. My husband is 6'3" and there is plenty of room. The only thing wrong(besides gas mileage:)) is the driver seat is not long enough for him, his legs kind of hang off and the seat doesn't support them. He drove a lexus RX, and said although it was alot smaller, it was much more comfy and the leg room on the seats were great. I'm not sure if it has 3 rows or not.

I'm 6'1... 37" inseam... and I would say to avoid a Jeep Wrangler. Plenty of head room (more with the top off... but brrrr, I always keep it on in the snow!!!)... but even with the seat all the way back my knees touch the dash as I drive.

My good friend in Northern Africa has one of the classic Land Rovers, and has been trying to convince me to buy one for years (he's 6'5). I'd only need an SUV 3 months a year that we're in the mountians... the rest of the time it's grocery getting... so a bit of a waste to boy a whole new car as long as we can nurse the Jeep along (stupid cooling system/ radiator... rocks bounce up underneath and knock tubes loose all the time, and for added fun, will bounce up and CRACK the dang thing).

R

I have a volvo XC90 but the leg room great in front and a little small in back.. my husband has an audi sudan we bought it used so much leg room more than my suv.. if I had to do it all over again I would of totally bought an audi Q7 suv used they have tons of leg room and 3rd row seats.. they are amazing and the precertified used are like brand new with great warrenty.. the quattro system is great in the snow although we haven't been in as much snow as you guys have.. my husband is tall too 6'3.
L.

My brother is 6'7" and enjoys his Honda Odyssey. You can get a great towing package on the new vans and pull pretty much whatever you need.

While my husband and I aren't as tall as you we have several taller friends and family and find that our car is extremely comfortable for them. We have a '99 Dodge Durrango. i don't know what years on the Durrango have the 3rd row seating but ours does. The only draw back is that room wise we suffer a little if we are packed up for a large trip. if you are an extremely active camper or go out alot then you may want to consider a suburban or one of the larger suv's.

S.

I'm 5'9, hubby is 6'2 and we have two kids ages 3 and 9. We have had my Honda Pilot almost 4yrs now and love it!! I babysit for friends so sometimes I've got to bounce my son's booster seat to the 3rd row or my daughter sits back there while friends of ours sit in the middle. We live in SC and have driven it to Indiana every Christmas too and he has done great in the snow and icy roads. Not sure what the towing capacity is for ours though but we've pulled things with it.

The best thing you can do is go sit in different ones and see how they feel for you guys!!

Good luck!
S.

Try the Ford Flex. We love it...and the 3rd row is actually comfortable for adults (probably not your husband).

My brother and my uncle are both 6'4" and they both own and love their Dodge Caravan minivans. We own a Kia Sedona minivan and my brother fits in that as well. Also, we used to own a Toyota Rav4 and I think I remember that there was a lot of headroom in that car. I really, really loved that one, too, but had to get a minivan when I got pregnant with twins. We used to pull a tent trailer with the Rav4 and it was only a four-cylinder! We also pull a tent trailer with the Kia Sedona and I know my brother and uncle have trailers for their cars as well.

I am almost 6 feet tall and my husband is an inch or two taller than I am. We bought an Acura MDX and LOVE IT! We both thought it had great room (although rear facing car seats make the passenger seat less roomy) and it's a very comfortable ride. Good luck with your search!

We have fallen in love with the Chevy Traverse. We had rented a Saturn Outlook in Arizona and it is no longer made - but the Traverse is identical. SO MUCH ROOM... we had FOUR tall adults and a child in a car seat, stroller, luggage and did great. When we can afford it, it will be our next vehicle. We have test drove it twice cuz we like to 'dream' :)

My husband is 6' 3" and has a Honda Pilot. He loves it and it is very roomy for him. He has had problems in other cars with his head touching the ceiling but has no problem in the Pilot. It also is a great handling SUV in the snow!

My husband and I are both over 6' and have two kids and a large dog. We had a medium size SUV but found it was just to small after the second baby came. We drove four different large SUV's (Expedition, Yukon, Darango, and Tahoe). Comfort, MPG, price, and handling in different weather we chose the Expedition. It has been wonderful. Pleanty of room (head and leg). The back rows were even roomy. We always sit in the back seat before we even test drove a vehicle. If we aren't comfortable then who could be? The third row is easy to fold down and bring back up if nessasary. Plus has great towing capabilities for those toys.
Hope this helps a little.

My husband is 6'5 and is comfortable in our grand caravan. The only caveat being that rear facing seats in the second row squish either the first row or the third row to make sure there is plenty of room for them.

My hubby is only 6' but he is all legs, he wears a 34 inch length pants and we own a Chevy Suburban. It is an excellent SUV! We had an explorer before we bought the suburban and liked that too but the Suburban is way better...lots of leg room, I promise! Ours seats 9 because we got the bench front seat, but it seats 7 way comfortably and it has tons of storage space in the back! We love it and plan on driving it till it dies!

Have you and your hubby tried sitting in a Subaru? Hilarious! I remember my hubby couldn't even get his legs in one of those when we were car shopping last:)

I'm 5'9" too, and love my Acura MDX, 2006 model. The new design had some complaints, but they may have overcome them. Gas mileage is not good, 18mpg, but otherwise it's awesome.

My husband is tall - 6'1" and long waisted so his head always hits the roof. I had a Jeep Liberty and his head always hit. We tried out a Range Rover and rented a Land Rover a couple of times and he fit in it beautifully!

My brother, all 6'6" of him, has a Chevy Tahoe. He is easily able to carry all 3 of his kids plus his other stuff when they go somewhere. We were supposed to take a trip a few years ago and it would have been him and his kids and me and my 3, easily fit and it came with DVD players. He loves it.
We have not had huge snow storms in our area in a few years bu tI am sure it could handle it.

We have an MDX and my 6'5 hubby fits in it. I'm 5'10 and love it as well. When we run this one into the ground we'll be getting Tahoe. My sister and BIL drive one and it's so much roomier than anything else we've test drove. Plus it could haul your toys without a problem.

we have a dodge grand caravan, which fits us and all of our tall guy friends when we go to the Renaissance festival. We also love the stow and go seating.

We own a Nissan Armada and love how roomy it is on the inside. The third row of seating is pretty comfortable and folds down flat when you're not using it. It offers lots of options in seating arrangements. I'm only 5'6 and have to move the seat way up to drive so I'm guessing it will have enough room for you guys.

My husband is 6'4 and I'm 5'7. We have a Honda Odyessy that works well for us. He can comfortably ride in the third row. We only found that in minivans. The Toyota (if you dare! :) Sienna has AWD which might be beneficial in AK. We can attach a tow hitch to our van to pull some of our toys, but haven't done it yet. It's an option though. Just check the tow weight to see if it would work for your trailer/toys. There's also room behind the 3rd row for the junk that goes with toys like bulky coats, snacks, helmets, etc. Right now, behind my third row I have: a wagon, double jogging stroller, snap and go stroller, travel high chair, bag of extra clothes, box of extra diapers and wipes, King size blanket, and some other misc. things. I can still see out my back window though.

My BIL (6'9") and his wife (6'2") have a Toyota Sequioa, but I was uncomfortable in the third row. I had to sit with my knees turned sideways. It's also a gigantic vehicle. They have to fold in their side mirrors to get in the garage and it's still within about 1" between the sides.

With what I know, I'd pick a minivan (no matter the stigma) over a Sequioa any day.

With my husband at 6'3" and my teenager at 6'6" we have a Chrysler Town & Country van and we love how much room it has. My teen has both head and leg room in all of the seats.
He has ridden in a Suburban and Kia Sedona, the Surburban does -not- have enough leg room in any of the seats and the Kia Sedona -does- have just enough head/leg room for him but not as much as the T & C.
We love our T&C.

We have not tried any of them in snowy weather.