An article by G. Chambers Williams III of the San Antonio Express-News, talks about how the Kelley Blue Book has come out with their “Top 10 Best New Family Vehicles.”  The list has small vehicles for small families and then the big vehicles for those of us that have several children.  Kelley Blue Book also took into account fuel efficiency when determining this list.  So, here’s the list. You can decide, which ones, if any, fit your families needs.

The list goes in order of roominess, with the first one having the most room.

Honda Odyssey - this is the best-selling minivan and most fuel-efficient.  It gets 17 miles per gallon in the city and 25 on the highway. The base price is $26,355.

Chevy Tahoe Hybrid - This is the most fuel-efficient full-size SUV, with seating for up to eight people.  The fuel economy is 21 city and 22 highway. The base price is $50,455.

Chevrolet Traverse - This is the largest crossover with room up to eight people as well.  It gets 17 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway.  The base price is $29,215.

Toyota Highlander Hybrid - This is a seven-passenger model, that is the most fuel-efficiency three-row vehicle on the market, according to Kelley Blue Book.  The vehicle gets 27 mpg in the city and 25 on the highway, with a base price of $34,700/

Toyota RAV4 - This is a more compact crossover, but it still can fit up to 7 passengers.  The fuel economy is 22 city/28 highway, with a base price of $22,900.

Ford Escape Hybrid - This is a five-passenger compact crossover getting 34 mpg in the city and 31 on the highway. The base price is $29,645.

Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI (Diesel) - The diesel is awesome, producing very low emissions and it get 30 mpg in the city and 41 on the highway.  The starting price is $23,870. 

Chevrolet Malibu - Kelley Blue Book calls this car a “fuel-friendly family sedan. It also edged out the Honda Accordto win our 2008 Family Sedan Comparison Test.”  It gets 22 mpg in the city and 33 on the highway.  The base price is $21,605.

Toyota Camry Hybrid - It gets 33 city/34 highway.  Kelley Blue Book says that this car gets “an average of 135 more miles from a 15-gallon fill-up than its gas-only counterpart.”  The price starts at $26,150.

Last but not least, for the small families out there, the Honda Civic.  The base price is $15,305 (very nice!) and it gets 25 mpg in the city and 36 on the highway for the regular gasoline model, and 40 city/45 highway for the hybrid, which starts at $23,650.

So many choices. That’s good, right? I like choices, and for most families only a few of these cars will be right for them.  Pick your favorite!

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 8:22 pm and is filed under Best/Worst, Green Vehicles, New Cars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.