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---Sensible Car for woodworking and 2 kids ?---

10K views 30 replies 28 participants last post by  Martyroc 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Jocks,

I need to replace my Nissan maxima but have some woodworking/family man concerns. Both my kids are still in car seats, so a 4 door mid sized truck is what comes to mind. Namely a Nissan frontier or Toyota Tacoma. The problem I am having is the gas mileage is not that great. Like most of you I will need to carry lumber,4×8 sheet goods, finished projects and other odds and ends like tools, kids bikes etc. The car will split time between family and work. Since my jobs are slow right now ( i just started my company ), the truck bed would be empty most of the time. But do I have to get 14 mpg in order to have these capabilities ? Also, I don't have the space for a trailer, seems like a good idea but a pain in the butt to deal with when not in use.

Does anyone have advise on a car that can handle the demands of a woodworker, family and still have sensible gas mileage ?

Thanks !
 
#28 · (Edited by Moderator)
My choice has been a stow-n-go minivan for a few years now. Two things a minivan does, besides seating people when you want, is that you can get wood home or deliver inventory with inclement weather. I've picked up 200+ board feet of mostly 10' rough sawn in my minivan. The stow-n-go floor hooks make good points to attach ratcheting hold downs. Sheet goods fit inside if you move the front seats forward a bit. I would be reluctant to transport cherry plywood sheets, walnut/cherry/exotic… boards in an open pickup bed or trailer with wet or winter weather.

If you only buy 8' big box boards and have the sheet goods broke down at the store then there are other SUV options I am sure. One vehicle that I would like to consider is the Ford Transit Connect, which would seem to get great mileage, has some seats and quite a bit of storage.

Another side story is that once we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for lunch and couple guys in the parking lot were really mad that someone had taken a couple Walnut boards from the back of the pickup while they were inside eating. No security if you stop or leave outside overnight.

Steve.
 
#29 ·
My 4-door Frontier gets 23+ mpg. For sheet goods I have a 5×8 lightweight trailer, for longer lumber I have a bed extender that mounts into my receiver hitch which extends out 6' from the bumper I usually get lumber in 14'-16' lengths. For the really big stuff I have a 20' trailer that the Frontier pulls with no problem as long as I don't over load it to much.
 
#31 ·
I went with a minivan, my old Altima could not keep up with the crap I piled on the roof all the time. When my daughter was in the car seat I could take one of the seats out and the back 3rd seats were stow and go. I was driving an hour to and from work so a full blown truck would have killed me on gas. If I need full sheets of Plywood, I can carry up to 8 but both rows of seats need to come out. I originally purchased it because getting a child out of a low car from a car seat or even getting her in was a strain on my back, being 6'2" all that bending forward was killing me. We went with a Kia Sedona, because it had everything the Toyota had except Toyota was an add on and came to 9k more for what was standard on the Kia, plus it was rated the safeest minivan with up 23 MPG, ( that's when the wife drives with me it's like 17, I tend to have a heavy foot).
 
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