Wow. I actually bought a domestic.
 

I surprised myself by buying an American car. With a munchkin in the house now I needed a ManVan to cart people around. My Infiniti was awful with a baby seat in it. So Ford Flex with the DI Twin-Turbo EcoBoost engine it is. Spacious and surprisingly fast.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ee/Flex_06.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ee/Flex_05.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ee/Flex_04.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ee/Flex_03.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ee/Flex_02.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ee/Flex_01.jpg

So far I'm really liking it. If it holds up well, then I can see holding on to it for quite some time.

good call. FIRST ON RACE DAY!

now no more pics of the gheyo exterior, we all know that stuff ENGINE PICS!

Wheres the pics of the baby? Congrats on the new munchkin!

Congrats.
Never like 'em myself, just too ugly.
They supposed to get decent mileage??

What part is the man part?

The part with 355 hp.

Here's the little one. She just turned 5 months.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/jeffnee/web.jpg

is that a 4 cyl? if it is, 355hp isnt half bad at all.

I kinda like it, but i think it needs something, not sure what though.

looked into those, but they were as much as new vans, screw that and they still don't hold a candle to

'our xmas present'

used '08

http://i49.tinypic.com/akwp55.jpg


pic of your kid doesn't work!!!!

My parents just bought their second Odessey and absolutely love it. The '99 model they had was sleeper fast and I actually enjoyed driving it. almost 200,000 miles later (my dad doesn't want to sell but my Grandma would like it to help my Grandfather since he has trouble getting in most cars) and he just bought the white 2010. He really loves his
"soccer mom mobile".

Sorry, the Honda minivan is simply the ugliest vehicle I've ever seen. It makes the Pacer look sweet. I don't care if it features a bidet, I wouldn't own one.

Twin turbo 3.5L V6 and AWD

Congrats on the new wheels!! I'm usually not one for the boxy look, but I actually really like the Flex's. They ride like a dream, and even without the EcoBoost are still fairly quick, and with the EcoBoost they haul ass for what they are. I like the 110V AC outlet in the 2nd row seat console too :) The paddle shifters are fun too, heheh

I did a PDI on an EcoBoost Flex not long ago (I work at a Ford dealer), and was very impressed when I went and drove it! Ford is making some nice stuff now-a-days. Our transmission guy at work has the N/A FWD Flex and he absolutely loves it... no problems at all with it

It's a V6 with twin turbos and direct injection. Ford is coming out with an EcoBoost I4 though soon. This car gets basically the same gas mileage as any minivan but with the extra 90 hp or so.

I agree. There's just something missing from the design. Overall I think it's an okay-looking vehicle. A few cheesy bits here and there. But as a complete vehicle it had what I needed right now.

I was seriously considering an Odyssey. But we're still on kid one and I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that yet. Plus the Ody is up for a design refresh soon and I didn't want to wait any more. The older ones are known for being a bit loud and they're not as fast as the EcoBoost Flex.

With 355hp, why WOULDN'T it cost as much (or more) as a minivan?

Besides, I'm not sure why one newborn would justify a minivan anyway.

I like it, they seem to be built pretty well. Ford took the Scion XB look and improved on it in every way. Meanwhile, Scion's stylists went backwards (the new XB is horrible).

The new Kia box thing is kinda cute.

Still, if I wanted a box, I'd get an older Astro van, and put in an aluminum small block :)

i forsee thunder having a 2nd......... :lol

and IMO, the flex isn't really any diff then his FX.

fyi, they go up to $40k those flex's as well as ody's

cute kid!

The Flex is very different than the FX. First of all the obvious part is that it seats more people. It also has more room for "stuff." Ingress/egress is much much easier. An FX with a rear-facing baby seat is uncomfortable for everyone except the driver. The front passenger seat is pushed forward so far that only the short family members would even consider riding in it. The rear seat of the FX on its best day is 5x harder to get into and out of than the Flex because in the FX you basically have to climb up onto the rear wheel to sit down.

The Flex has MEGA legroom in the second row. I went to the auto show with a friend of mine who's 6'6". I adjust the driver's seat for myself and he decided to hop in the back. He had just bought an Audi Q7. It was about a week old. He got in the back and said "Oh my God! The legroom back here is ridiculous." It also has a legitimately useful 3rd row. I know it's not a Minivan but I really wanted the higher performance. I thought long and hard about the Ody and even went to the auto show specifically to see the new Sienna. I might end up with a minivan at some point but right now I'm happy with this decision.

The downside of the Flex is that while Ford has improved their interiors and fitment issues, they're still not quite there with the Japanese and Euros. Hard to beat a nice Audi interior. But the Flex's interior is pretty good. The leather and soft-touch plastics are nice. You can find a number of pieces that make you roll your eyes but they're not in-your-face easy to find.

The surprising parts are: The Flex is much faster. The Flex is much quieter. The ride is much better but the handling is comparable. The Flex has much greater outward visibility. The Flex actually has better technology gadgets on it. It's overall more fun to drive but it gives up a little bit in handling because the Flex seems to have more body roll than the FX.

Infiniti has really sacrificed a lot of function for their forms. My wife's G37s' rear window is like a gunslit. Not only is it very small, it's steeply raked and it has no wiper on it. So after a few days of being parked outside the visibility out the backlight is really awful. Despite having more power and goofy stuff like paddle shifters I think I really preferred driving my wife's previous car, and low-spec Mazda3 to the Infiniti. She's really waiting for the lease on the Infiniti to expire so she can buy another Mazda3. :lol:

Also, I bought the SEL with EB so I wouldn't get the sticker price up too far. I have nav on my iPhone now so I don't need a built-in system. And nobody buys domestic cars for sticker or even invoice these days. I got something like $4000 in incentives off of the X-Plan price (which is around invoice). My OOD price was a couple K less than the sticker.

Those are very very well built vehicles. My co-worker has one and I could not find any loose interior panels. I also think it looks good.

Now...why people need to spend 35k just because of one kid is beyond me. A 4door Cobalt would do just fine. Just move the front seat up. lol

Well, my parents just moved here too. So I wanted something to be able to carry all of us together in comfort. My Dad squeezing into the front seat shoved far forward or trying to sit in the back was just making me cringe.

How very 78704 of you! :lol:

:nee: Just kidding... I couldn't resist...

Awww she is beautiful! She looks like such a happy baby!

turbo mini. cheaper, faster, funner.

New Mini? POS.

My friend was on the BMW race team that first campaigned them. He has horror stories. In short, they're total, utter, fucking crap.

If you mean old Mini, fine, but I'd sooner put a Gixxer 1300 motor in it, than a fucking hair dryer.

no no, 89-90 turbo caravan. a friend in texas had one, let me drive it after i hooked him up with a vintage mpp computer for an 89 daytona and helped him put a diode on his map sensor. one of the most fun cars ever. the looks you get are priceless.

:lol: It's definitely got a bit of 787XX in it. But there's no shortage of family trucksters in the 902XX either.

A turbo has no place in a Mini.

I just KNEW you'd get it :lol: By the way, CUTE kid!!

Thanks folks. It's definitely a huge change but that little kid can brighten my day with her smile. She's a smiley kid too.

so when you and wife and parents go out together, who sits in the third row, and how dexterious are your parents?

i had 4 adults and 2 giant car seats (inthe middle row) in this weekend, and other then removing the middle row middle seat so they could walk thru there was no yoga nec.

Well, I bought the six-seater. So if I remove my center console it's a walk-through similar to the Ody. With all of us, my dad sits up front with me, my wife sits in the third row and the car seat and my mom sit in the second row. I know it's not as spacious as a van, but I did cross-shop it with vans. I was || this close to going with an Ody or waiting for the new Sienna but the Ford's engine won me over in the end. Also, the Flex has a very low step-over height. Similar to the vans I saw at the auto show. It's not nearly as high as most crossovers. It's basically a little higher than a car's sill.

With all the incentives and the tax rebate this year was the year to buy and I don't want an Odyssey which is probably in its last year for this cycle and I didn't want to wait out for the Sienna, which will still be a lot less fun to drive than the Flex. I learned with the FX that even if I'm not driving around like a maniac I really like to have that extra power available to me. I like to be able to position myself in traffic and the FX and (based on the power/weight ratio) the minivans I was considering were too slow for me.

Congrats mang

Congrats on the Flex. Nice car.

fail!

Why fail? Now he blends in. Just another fat Oriental driving a minivan.

http://poopnugget.com/files/crackup.gif

Move the fuck over, Ed, you're impeding traffic.

What's the tow rating on the Flex? My lease is up on the GMC this year and I need a vehicle that can tow a boat.

4,500lbs

Same as my GMC. I smell a new ford in my future. Thanks!

I would only go with the AWD version though. I wouldn't want to be pulling a boat out of the water on a wet ramp with front wheel drive.

Good point. I've never towed with a FWD before.

I wouldn't wanna do anything with FWD, except fucking return the car.

I had an Altima once...and I even autocrossed it, and beat a Bimmer in my class (FTW), but it wasn't pretty. Took some serious 3-footed driving, and I hate that shit.

It is just personal bias about towing with front wheel drive, based on no actual experience or facts.:lol: Having a bunch of extra weight on the back and all the drive on the front doesn't seem like it would work very well. Traction control is useless once you have zero traction.

Can you lay all the seats in the back down flat or to the side - like the Honda Element? I have been casually looking for cars that can handle both big dogs and you can sleep in if my son and I go camping and it rains..

Yeah. You can lay down the second and third row seats. Also, it's supposedly good for towing because they come with trailer sway control standard (I think).

Any Minivan just doesnt do it for me...Unless you have an army of children...with people who have two kids or even one...My pickup truck works JUST fine.

And I'd buy a Subaru Wagon or Audi/VW Wagon before i EVER bought a Mini Van.

Even the Wifey is anti mini van...I love it

Yeah...I thought that too until I actually sat in a WRX, Legacy wagon, and Jetta wagon....

WRX was a tiny shit box (this is going back 3 year), Legacy was tight on legroom for the wife. VW's were just as cramped.
Having to move the seat all the way back and having barely enough room for a toddlers legs just didn't cut it.

so we bought a Mazda6 wagon (instead of a minivan)

Thanks!

Oh, one other thing that I like is that you can fold down the front passenger seat if you have very long items to carry. That's useful for me when I have to carry longer pieces of building materials for home projects.

Come to think of it I really like the Mazdaspeed 3 Wagon.

I don't really care for minivans but the Flex is pretty cool looking and has some nice features as well. Congrats.

I know minivans are great vehicles and people that buy them usually love them...but I don't have kids and have no desire to own one.

I would drive the Flex...especially with AWD. Yeah I know...you can get AWD in minivans too...I still don't want one. :lol:

The Mazdaspeed 3's are pretty cool too and I'd take one of them over a minivan as well.

Some people say the new MazdaSpeed3 has too much torque steer. My wife wouldn't want the speed version anyway. So her next car will probably be another blue Mazda 3 hatch. Fun car. You can feel some of the cheapness in it but it's surprisingly nice for the price. The last one we bought for her was $17k.