Must-MustHave New Car Features

About five weeks ago, I got into a pretty major car accident. Thankfully, the dog and I were the only ones in the car at the time and while I got pretty banged up and am still recovering {it's a slow process!}, things could have been much much worse. 

For the past few months I have been testing out cars. We knew that we would need to replace my twelve year old mini van that I lovingly referred to as Thelma at some point in the near future, we just weren't expecting to scramble to replace her after she was deemed a complete loss by the insurance company.

A lot has changed in cars in more than a decade since we bought Thelma so I'm glad that I had the opportunity to test out a few different cars to see what features I really liked and which ones weren't as important. I also had to give up a few of the items on my wish list because they just didn't exist in the car that we finally narrowed it down to.

Come along with me and hear about the tale of two Mazda's {they got me through the month after my accident before I got my replacement} and meet our new family car. Her name is Louise and see what my list of must-have new car features were.

Before I go on, let me fill you in a bit on the accident. I was driving to pick up my daughter at a friend's house. I was stopped to turn left and was waiting for traffic to pass when before I even knew what was happening, I was being thrown back into my seat.

My drivers seat broke. It literally fell back after I hit it on impact and that's when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the car plowing into me. The witness said he didn't even slow down. He must not have seen me. Before I knew it, my car was pushed at least 50 feet. I finally came to a stop and for weeks I have been dealing with the aftermath of whiplash, back pain and other bumps and internal bruises.

Thelma was a total loss and days later we signed her over to the insurance company and started the search for a new car.

In the meantime, I got this pretty little number, a Mazda 6 in this beautiful red.  I have driven the Mazda 6 before when my oldest son and I went on a little road trip to Eastern Washington this past summer. 

I must confess, it's been really hard for me to get back to driving. I'm quite anxious behind the wheel {to be totally honest, in the passenger side too}, but with three kids and a busy life, I can't decide to just stay home all the time, so I have been slowly easing back into it. I needed the small size of the Mazda 6 to help me feel confident on the road again. Plus, it had some amazing features which makes driving way more fun. 

With three kids that no longer need car seats, I thought that perhaps we could consider an SUV. Enter the Mazda CX-5.  This was another good looking car that was easy to drive. 

My favorite feature of the two Mazda's is by far the snazzy looking two toned leather seats. While my kids may have all graduated car seats, they have replaced their bulky car seats with gangly legs. This crossover is great as a driver or front seat passenger, but squeeze in all five of us and it just doesn't have the room we all need.

So what did we end up deciding to buy? We bought another mini van. This time, the original swagger wagon. A 2016 Toyota Sienna SE. Louise was made in Indiana just like I was and we got her brand spanking new off the train. 

I'm still getting used to the inside of Lou. When I drive, I feel like I'm sitting in a cock pit. There are so many buttons and screens and displays. But I do love her and the reliability of a Toyota and the updated features is what ultimately ended up winning out over all, even though I did love driving the Kia Sedona and Honda Odyssey. 

After six months of trying out several different cars, here were my list of must-have features:

Blind spot monitoring

Bluetooth connectivity

A USB port

Comfortable heated seats

A back up camera

Keyless start and entry

Seats that fold into the floor

High safety ratings

High reliability ratings

There were a few features that were at the top of my list that were wants, but not necessarily needs:

Dual moon roof

Adaptive cruise control

Heated steering wheel

Back up guide lines

Full camera {the Kia Sedona had a great camera system}

And there were some features that I just wasn't interested in having at all:

Lane departure warning {I find it super annoying at not at all helpful}

DVD player {never been a fan of in car entertainment}

heads up display {I don't like having something in my line of vision}

I know that not all of you will be as lucky as I have been to be able to review cars for a week at a time and make a running list of features that you like. Hopefully, you can go back to my car review posts to become more informed if you find yourself looking for a new car, especially ones that have features you just may not be familiar with. You can search car review in the search bar to the right.

I would love to hear. What are your favorite new features in a car? Did I miss any?

dislaimer: I was able to drive the Mazda's in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own. 

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The Kia goes with us on a college tour

It's an exciting time of life for our family. Our oldest son is in his senior year of high school and has started applying at colleges. 11 colleges in 5 different states to be exact.  

Texas is one of those states, and with three universities in fairly close proximity of one another and one acceptance letter {and hopefully many more not far behind}, we decided that we should at least visit to see if Texas could be our son's next home away from home.  

We started and ended our college tour in Austin and were thankful that we had big red, our Kia Optima SX turbo to take us on our whirlwind trip from College Station {Texas A&M} to Waco {Baylor--and yes, we visited Magnolia Market} and back again to University of Texas {Austin}.

There is nothing like a mother son road trip! Thankfully, we have been able to experience a few of them. In case you missed it, you can read about our road trip this past summer to the Mumford and Sons concert in the Mazda 6.

While I am a mini van loving mama and plan on purchasing another mini van {the Kia Sedona or Honda Odyssey are contenders} when the time comes, I do enjoy driving a sporty sedan from time to time.  The Kia Optima did not disappoint! Come see what Aidan and I had to think about the Kia in case you are contemplating a new car purchase.

I have gotten spoiled by the bells and whistles on fancy new cars. My current mini van is being driven into the ground and while it was fully loaded 12 years ago, the new features in today's cars make me want to make an upgrade ASAP!

Being in a new city, it was so nice to have navigation. Not only could I see the navigation on the large screen, I also had it available on my dashboard. 

The inside of the car was spacious and the moon roof was massive! The car got great gas mileage. Some of my favorite features are the heated seats and the heated steering wheel. We tried the cooled seats but didn't really notice a difference. Maybe if they were on fire after sitting outside on a hot day they would have cooled more rapidly...not sure.  I wouldn't pay extra for that feature though.

There were some pretty awesome cameras with lots of different angles that helped us squeeze through a few tight spots in parking garages and I liked the adaptive cruise control. It's easily becoming one of my favorite new car features.

I did find that the car had a weird blind spot. It could have been that my son's seat was sitting further back and it could have been corrected but there were times when looking out the side of the car it was difficult.

As always though, since I don't really care about the mechanics of the car, and some of those features people care about when they really are interested in purchasing a vehicle, I'm turning this over to my son Aidan to fill you in on the details and let you know what he thought.

Aidan here. This Kia Optima is a truly excellent car. Gone are the days when Kia exclusively made cars for people too poor or too cheap to get something quality. In fact, the day has even passed when Kias are just good ol' normal cars to get. After having spent plenty of time in both the Sedona and this Optima, I can confidently say that Kias are no longer cars that other companies have any grounds to look down on; rather they are cars that companies and consumers would be smart to look up to.

As far as general features go, the Optima SX Turbo with all the options selected {like the one we got to drive} has pretty much everything you could ever need. The navigation system was really nice, the dashboard readout was convenient and informative, you could easily control everything from the steering wheel, the seats were comfortable, and the sound system was lovely. With the exception of a heads up display, the car had everything anyone could really ask for, though my one complaint is that some of the controls were a bit hard to access from the passenger's seat {where I spent all of my time due to pesky things like laws and contracts and things of that nature}.

The Kia was excellent in the other important was as well: driving. This is the first sedan we got to test that had a V6 engine {this one turbocharged at that} which instantly put it above the crowd. It handled 85 MPH on the excessively large Texas roads without breaking a sweat, and was able to jump through small gaps in traffic and pass the occasional tractor with ease. Though the turbo wasn't anything a JDM tuner {you'll probably have to look this up if you're over the age of 20} would lose their mind over, it definitely got the job done and gave the extra kick when we needed it. As for the mechanical components outside of the engine, the well built chassis allowed for precise handling and a smooth ride, and the road noise was minimal even going Texas speeds on the highways.

Because we used this car to tour future universities, I thought I'd take the last part of my time to answer every question asked by every well meaning adult that I have talked to in the last year. No, I haven't decided yet. Yes, I'm done applying. Yes, I know it's more expensive than when you went, isn't that something. Communications and Political Science with a Pre-Law designation. I'll go as far from home as I feel necessary. I have also heard that Texas is much hotter than Washington, what a coincidence. No, I truly could not care less that I didn't apply to your alma mater {as precious as North Wisconsion School of Literary Arts was to you}. Yes, it's lovely that your nonagenarian great uncle attended Yale but I fail to see how that applies. In all seriousness though, thanks for the well wishes as I begin a wonderful new chapter of my life, I truly can't wait.

And with that, we wrap up another mother son car review. I would love to hear what you think. Have you written off Kia? I think it's time to take a second look!
disclosure: I was given the opportunity to drive the car in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own. 

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The Honda Odyssey mini van review

I am not one of those moms who thinks she's too cool for a mini van. I've owned a mini van for nearly two decades and I am unapologetic about it. I love my mini van. I even wrote a little love note to my mini van.

It's practical and to be honest, I don't think my three kids could have survived childhood had they all had to be squeezed in together in a backseat row. And now as they are getting bigger with gangly legs and big feet we need the room that a mini van provides.  I've tried to pretend that we don't. I've tried out sporty sedans and cute SUV's in hopes that maybe just maybe I could break free from the chains of a mini but I just can't. I am a die hard and will be a die hard until my dying day!

Heck, how else am I supposed to load up all of my garage sale treasures every weekend if I didn't have a mini van? And as we prepare to launch our oldest son off to college in the fall, I can see vans full of college crap loaded up for years to come as our kids trickle out of the house.

After I tried out {and loved} the Kia Sedona  I begged to try the 2016 Honda Odyssey. In my head, it's been the most logical replacement for our current 2005 Honda Odyssey that is lacking all of the bells and whistles {and vacuums} that the newer version has. And so, for a week, I gave the Odyssey a try to see what I would think of the much more sophisticated updated version of my current van that I am driving would be like.  

You might be surprised to see what I thought. And as always, my 17 year old son is writing the nuts and bolts review to let you know what he thought.

In an attempt to look less van like, I think Honda hasn't done the Odyssey any favors with it's new design. I'm not sure, but I think it's also lost a little interior room too. This summer, I was able to fit a row of vintage theater seats in the back of my mini and was still able to drive.  Not sure I could do that in this van. However, it doesn't seem any less spacious and for the normal driving excursion, I think it would be quite comfortable for our family.

The idea of having a vacuum attachment in the van is genius. I'm not sure how much it would actually get used. The kids did have fun with the novelty of it so until that wore off, I think the car would be pretty darn clean.

Overall, the Odyssey was easy to drive but it only had some of the features that I have tried on other cars and have put on my must have list.  In case you were wondering that must have list now has adaptive cruise control, heated steering wheel and blind spot detectors. I do know that some of these features are available on the Odyssey, they just weren't available on this particular car that I drove.

Before I thought that the Odyssey would be a clear contender and now, seeing other options, and driving this one, I'm not sure it's the front runner anymore.

Let's see what Aidan has to say about it.

Aidan here. The van that we got was one of the lower models, and as a result, it was very lacking in both the bell and whistle categories. This resulted in a rather bland interior. The seats were cloth, the center console was dreary, and most of the really cool stuff that was featured on the other cars that we've tested was missing.

Obviously things like leather seats and a fancy navigation system could be selected as options, but things like the awesome reclining chairs of the Kia or a futuristic heads-up-display like the one in the Mazda 6 aren't offered at all. Unique to the Odyssey, however, is the vacuum system, and though I spent a fair amount of time vacuuming the dog to pass the time, I doubt the novelty would stick around for long. At this point, you may be asking yourself if the Odyssey is still the king of mini-vans, a question I was asking myself after our week with this car.

After reading some reviews done by actual professionals comparing the overall mechanical quality of the leading vans {most showing the Odyssey as the clear winner} as well as having felt the stellar power and ride offered by the Odyssey, I started asking myself if the features offered by the other companies were added in a cunning and quasi-Machiavellian attempt to try and take your eyes off of the true king. 

Perhaps it's a conspiracy theory, but something much like this happens in the cell phone business all the time. You'll often see companies come out with phones that have one or two big features {like an amazing camera or a great screen} that make those of the top iPhones or Galaxy Phones look pedestrian for a moment, and in that one moment, you forget that the best phones are the best phones because of their greatness across the board rather than merely one outstanding feature. 

This is not to say that the outstanding features offered on some of the other cars and vans aren't really cool {because some were pretty awesome}, or that the others are bad cars {because objectively they aren't}; rather it is to say that perhaps it is worth sacrificing some of the cool features offered by the other car companies so that you can rest easy knowing that you bought the tried and true champion, the Honda Odyssey. 

Interesting thoughts. As we start narrowing down the search for a new car, I would love to hear from you. Do you have a favorite feature you can't live without? 

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Trying out the 2016 Kia Sedona mini van my thoughts for review

In case you are new here,  for the past few months, I have been preemptively test driving new cars in an effort to be prepared to make a selection when my current 2004 Honda Odyssey mini van bites the dust.  I love Thelma {the name of our mini van} and have never been one of those people that has been staunchly against driving a "swagger wagon".  

However, my three kids are no longer lined up in car seats in the back, so I have been opening up the options for consideration.  I tried out the Mitsubishi Outlander {an SUV crossover} and while the sound system was amazing, the practicality of driving all five of us in this car at once wasn't realistic. My son and I road tripped to Walla Walla in the Mazda 6 and while it was the perfect car for a road trip for just the two of us, I just couldn't see my three kids sitting thigh to thigh in the back seat.

The benefit of trying out all kinds of different cars is that I am able to try out all kinds of different new features.  My 2004, though it's the high end model, can't really compete with the features of cars today. I've learned that I love adaptive cruise control and the blind spot detector, though I could totally do without the lane departure warnings.  

During my time with the Sedona, I took the kids to the local pumpkin patch and drove a team of six missionaries from all over the globe {the Russian's weren't as impressed with the Sedona's camera system as the American's were!} to Seattle to be a tourist for the day.

Out of all of the cars I have tried so far, this was our families favorite! I'm pretty sure that's a good indicator that we just aren't ready to make the switch from a mini van just yet.

The most impressive feature that had everyone talking were the middle row seats. I had no idea a reclining seat like this existed outside of business class on your international flights!

 source

The kids would tip their seats back, flip the foot rest up and stare up at their own personal sky light in the roof of the car.  Or on longer rides, they could pop the DVD player up and put on the cordless headphones and be entertained for hours.

The best part is that even with the middle seats reclined and the passenger in their full relaxed position, there is still room in the back row for passengers.  What our family has grown to love in Thelma is the spaciousness of the van, and this Kia didn't disappoint.  It drove like a dream, and while it did feel bigger than the current mini van I am driving, the full camera angles helped ease me into tight parking spots and city parking garages without any incidents.

I'm turning my review over to my son Aidan.  As a passenger, a new driver and a 17 year old, he's got some opinions and thoughts about cars that I don't normally care about or cover when thinking about the nuts and bolts.

Aidan here. As with all the aforementioned cars, I will be helping to write the review. The two cars previous to this one were fairly mixed bags. Both included things that I would really like to have in a car like leather seats, good sound systems, and nifty tech packages, but both lacked the most important thing of all: space. 

Because of my parent's decision to create many offspring and my mother and I's frequent need to transport a lot of things, we will definitely need a car with three rather spacious rows. Realistically then, the next car for our family will be a mini van simply due to the fact that we need to transport a lot of things all of the time.

Thelma effectively carried a glass coffee table, a TV stand, a medium sized sectional (one of those sections transformed into a bed), and three large humans with some room to spare. 

As you can probably tell, I wasn't lying about the need for space, which is why I was so excited to finally see a mini-van for review in our garage.

{and mom is back because, hello, did you all just read that?  A 17 year old boy was excited to see a mini van!!!  Carry on...} 

I knew this car was going to be great right when I stepped in. The beautiful leather seats complimented the interior trim nicely and gave the feel of a high end luxury car. As I sat down in the middle row, I was both thrilled and shocked to see that the two middle seats were full recliner chairs. 

The center console was great as well. Not only did it include an easy-to-use touch display, it also had real buttons so that you could control virtually everything without having to waste time in menus. You could also do a fair amount of controlling from the steering wheel, though those buttons were fairly small and you really had to look for the one that you wanted. 

Heated and cooled front seats in addition to the heated steering wheel were all nice features as well. The Sedona rides nicely as well but it lacks some of the get-up-and-go that Thelma has. Other than a couple of very minor things, however, this is an incredibly nice car that truly gives its competition a run for their money.

There's no getting around it though--this car is expensive. We got pretty much every option possible and the grand total was about $44,000. This is a huge chunk of money, but it's cheaper than a Toyota Sienna and right around the same price as the Honda Odyssey when similarly equipped. Technically, you can get this car for around $25,000, but you shouldn't.
Power side doors aren't included with the base model, and don't even become available until the EX model which is just under 33 grand. If you're in the market for a mini-van, the Kia Sedona should definitely be included on your list. I really was shocked at how nice this van was.
There you have it.  A review on the Kia Sedona from mother and son. It's been a few weeks now since we had Pearl {yep, we name all our cars, even those we have temporarily} and the kids continue to talk about missing her.  "Remember when....I liked that she had..." While Kia would not have made my list previously in my search for mini van's it certainly has made the list now.  What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts.  Especially if you have any experience with the Kia Sedona.To read other car reviewsMitsubishi OutlanderMazda 6disclaimer: I was able to drive the Kia Sedona for a week in exchange for this review

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Road trip in the 2016 Mazda 6

I'm a proud mini van driving mama but our current mini van is nearing it's end of days with nearly 150,000 miles and at the ripe old age of 12 years old.  I like to joke that large money decisions usually take my husband 1 month for every $1,000 that is involved.  It took us three years to replace our last mini van {yep, my previous ride was a mini van we called the pickle because of it's awesome 90's hunter green color.  Be jealous.}.  Sadly, I'm anticipating the same long process as we prepare to replace my current van and since technology has quickly progressed and there are so many new features on cars {holy cow it's like The Jetson's!  I had no idea you could start a car with a push button!} I've started test driving cars to find out what features are important to me and deciding if now that my kids are all car seat free if my options have opened to allow for an SUV or a sedan. You can read our review from last month of the Mitsubishi Outlander here.This month, my oldest son Aidan and I test drove a 2016 Mazda 6 {zoom zoom} on a road trip {what better way to break in a car than on a road trip!} to Walla Walla, Washington for The Gentleman of the Road music festival {Foofighters and Mumford and Sons...the perfect mother/son bonding!}.

Because I care less about the nitty gritty of how a car works and more on how easy a car is to drive, Aidan will be writing up his thoughts on the cars features. I will be giving my two cents on what I loved and what I didn't love about this classy sedan after driving it for a week so that you can use our insights in case you find yourself car shopping.  For those of you who aren't familiar with our great state of Washington, Walla Walla is best known for it's wine tasting weekends and their delicious sweet Walla Walla onions.  Just over the mountain pass in Eastern Washington and about five hours from home, Walla Walla makes for a great weekend getaway.

Aidan and my husband are the ones that typically call out a car and talk about how nice it looks. Cars usually look like cars to me, but when I saw the Mazda 6, I couldn't help but think that it had a really nice shape to it and it was indeed a pretty sweet looking ride. The car also had some pretty sweet two toned leather sports seats with accent stitching making the car not only good looking on the outside but on the inside as well.

After driving the Mitsubishi Outlander, I sort of fell in love with the adaptive cruise control feature. The Mazda 6 has adaptive cruise control as well and it made it really easy to road trip. Adaptive cruise is high on my list of features that I want to have in a new car.  I also really liked the blind spot detector.  The Bose® sound system was a really nice feature too, especially since we were amped up after hearing some good live music.Now that I've hit on the most important features {for me at least!}, Aidan will give you his run down and thoughts on the car.

Aidan here. In the last review that my mom and I did of the Mitsubishi Outlander, I spent most of my time describing the Outlander as a good car that just fell short of its competition. This review, however, will be much different because while the Outlander had competition to try and live up to, the Mazda 6's competition must try and live up to it. 

First and foremost, I have to address how good this car looks. Most of the cars in its class all look like simple, run of the mill family sedans {which I guess is to be expected as they are family sedans}. The Mazda is different.

To find a car that looks similar, one must travel far out of the family sedan class and into the realm of high end luxury sedans like the Maserati Ghibli or the Mercedes C class. Inside, the car continues to play the luxury part with the two tone leather seats with accent stitching, a head up display that pops out of the dashboard when the car starts, a tablet-like navigation screen, and extra electronic assists that make driving easier and more fun.

During our road trip, we were able to test out the car in pretty much every setting possible. We took it on city streets, long interstate stretches, mountain passes, and winding country roads and I found the Mazda 6 to be comfortable and luxurious in every setting. There were, however, some minor issues and one not so minor issue.

To start, the voice control system was utterly incompetent and basically unusable. Second, the GPS was very hard to program and I couldn't ever manage to find out how to turn up the volume on it, and lastly the center console controls seemed less driver friendly and more passenger friendly {though I'm sure they would get easier to use with time}.

The most major problem of them all, however, was the lack of an engine upgrade. The four-cylinder engine was just fine in the city, but when we had to go for a pass on a two lane highway in the middle of the night, some get-up-and-go would have been nice. Additionally, for a four-cylinder, the gas mileage wasn't even that great. We averaged 31MPG consistently on the freeway stretches which really isn't that great considering my turn-of-the-century Toyota Camry V6 gets roughly the same under similar circumstances.

In conclusion, if you're looking for a fast or fuel efficient car, this may not be the car for you. If, however, you are looking for a car that looks nice, has features that its competition just can't provide, will last a long time, and has room for your whole family at a good price {use this to determine what a "good" price is for you}, the 2016 Mazda 6 is the perfect choice for your next car.Thanks Aidan!  Some great insights from the road trip passenger.  I loved driving the Mazda 6, but even though my kids are getting bigger, I probably don't see us replacing our van with a sedan, simply because it's just not a comfortable option for a family of five. Three big kids lining the back seat just isn't my idea of a good time, especially if we had a long trip to make.  It would be a great car if you don't often have the max seating capacity full the majority of the time! To see what else I've been drivingMitsubishi OutlanderKia Sedona

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Starting to shop for cars. Replacing my mini van

I have driven a mini van for much of my adult life. I have three children and a mini van just makes sense. I couldn't even imagine my three kids sitting together, side by side in a bench in the back of my car.  I make no excuses and don't apologize at all about my choice of vehicle. In fact, I don't understand why there are so many people who are hesitate to jump on the mini van train.  I even wrote a post about it. They are simply the most practical car for a large family.That being said, my mini van that I love and have named Thelma {you name your cars too don't you?} is older than my youngest son who will turn ten in just a few weeks. While I fully plan on driving my sweet Thelma into the ground, the end is {potentially} near and I want to be prepared with a plan of action should Thelma decided to bite the dust sooner rather than later.My children are all getting older. Every single one of them can buckle their seat belts and none of them needs a car seat. In fact, several of my kids can even sit in the front seat safely. One of them can even legally drive a car! We don't need to be looking into vehicles that are using terms like tethers and rear facing. I may even be able to start looking beyond mini van's and thinking about an SUV. For the next few months, I'm going to be trying out some cars in an attempt to find the best fit for our family. A lot has changed since I last bought a car.  Cars are so much more technical and there are features that are brand spankin' new to me {adaptive cruise control...heck, even navigation systems!}. Because I care very little about a car beyond how easy it is to drive and work, my 16 year old son Aidan will be writing a little bit about the car discussing those features.I'm going to do my best to put every car I test through the wringer to give you the best information and my honest opinion.  This month, the whole family took the Mitsubishi Outlander up to Mt. Rainier for a day trip and a hike. 

Find out how we liked this SUV crossover for our family of five.

Aidan here. As she rightly stated above, my mother has no interest in cars outside of A) does it drive alright, B) can all of her offspring fit inside in such a way that touching is minimized, and C) can her garage sale acquisitions fit inside without any weeping and gnashing of teeth. This set of standards becomes apparent when her shouts of glee for a 2015 Odyssey vastly outweigh those for whatever exotic car I'm excited for zooms past because "the new Odysseys have built in vacuums don't-you-know". The big question now is "does the Mitsubishi Outlander GT meet these standards". By and large, the answer is yes.

In terms of the boring mechanical stuff, the Outlander GT's engineers "have much to be proud of" {Car and Driver}. This is an especially good thing because it means you probably won't have to decide between your kid's tuition or your car's transmission.

The car, thanks to pleasant Japanese men in lab coats, is pretty quiet while driving and isn't completely drab. Don't get me wrong, the car isn't exactly sporty, but at least if you go for a pass {as we frequently had to do as Washington drivers are incredibly slow} you can be reasonably confident that you won't be testing out the five star front collision safety rating. The model my family had for the week was the model with the v6 engine {must have}. Not only does the v6 allow for you to be reasonably confident that the car will go when told, it is the only model that doesn't come with a wretched Continuous Variable Transmission, a "transmission" famous for never actually working. {one very good reason not to go near a car with a CVT}.

There are other pretty nice driving features that you can {and should} select as well, like a blind spot monitor or a Lane Departure Warning sensor that warns you if you veer out of your lane by accident. My mom turned off the LDW because it was "annoying" {it turns out that she just is unable to stay in her lane. Perhaps, as I suggested, leaving it on would make her a better driver}. The paddle shifters are another great feature to have because, unlike in most cars, the car actually shifts gears promptly when told. That seems like a given but shockingly many other car companies seem unable to make paddle shifters that succeed at their only given task.

One of the best things about this car is its cost in relation to other cars in its class. The model we had {the Outlander GT with Touring package} was just over 34 grand, but the base model is only $23,000 {$28,000 if you get the v6 GT with all wheel drive}. This may be a lot if your income {like mine} is determined by how many of your neighbors you can convince to hire you to mow their lawns, but if you're serious about getting an SUV for your family {for your sake read this before you make that decision }, the Outlander GT is probably the cheapest option.

Sure, if you're feeling especially sybaritic you could buy a Range Rover Evoque with all of its insane off road capabilities {for all those wild treks across various grassy knolls to your child's soccer game} and an interior {much thanks to Victoria Beckham} that is comparable to that of a Maybach, but you'll set yourself back 100 grand easily. Even if you don't make the class jump from a family SUV to a luxury SUV, the Outlander is the only car of its 11 close competitors to not be in the $40-$50,000 range when fully furnished.

There are, however, some things that are honestly not as great about this car. The third row "seating" was deplorable and could not really be used unless you slid the middle seats far forward thus making it more uncomfortable for the middle seat passengers creating a loop of cramped leg room and likely misery for said passengers. Then there was the navigation system which {unless you really want to see a map while you're driving} could easily have its job taken by Apple Maps on your phone {which is saying something}.

The problem with not getting the navigation is that {to my knowledge at least} you can't get the exemplary sound system {and I do mean exemplary, I've never heard that good of a sound system come with a car before} without also getting the navigation as well which seems to me like just an extra expense. Also, the automatic tail gate is cool but very slow.

These three relatively small problems though are vastly outweighed by the huge amount of good in this car. The technology inside is easy to figure out {though that's coming from the mouth of a youth so perhaps it should be taken with a grain of salt} and is super customizable so that you can get the car to work for you, and the aforementioned Japanese men in lab coats designed a car that you can buy with the knowledge that it will last mechanically as well.

The Mitsubishi Outlander GT is a good car. It's not just good because of its cost in comparison to other cars like it, it's good simply because it is a good car. The car is certainly not just any car that you can buy, it is a well thought out machine that will last a long time and be exciting the whole time. Should you happen to be in the market for a car, I would recommend that you make your way to a dealer to check one of these out.

Thanks Aidan! I think he did a great job wrapping up the essentials of this car don't you?!  I told you we were going to put this car through the wringer and knowing that a new car purchase is one of the biggest ticket purchases you are going to make, we want to make sure we are helping you make an informed decision.

The Outlander is certainly a car to add to your list to consider if you are looking for an SUV. I think it would be the perfect car for the first time buyer in their early 20's {you heard about the great sound system} and would last them well into the first few years of parenthood.  It would also be great for the older couple who only occasionally takes passengers but likes the room and presence on the road that an SUV provides. For our growing family of five though, it just didn't provide the interior room we needed to be comfortable.  I loved driving it and would highly recommend it.

Stay tuned for our next car review.  Aidan and I will be heading to Walla Walla, Washington to a concert festival and will be reviewing a Mazda 6.  Zoom Zoom!To read other car reviewsMazda 6Kia Sedona{and Aidan, though I don't have that sweet script thing to go with my name}

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