Third baby on the way and need car advice

Amen to JeffB on figuring out a way to make a Jeep sound like a better idea than a minivan. I had to get rid of my TJ for the fam. I want a Commander but sticker-shock turned me off. I am going to keep my eyes open for a good deal on one now.

So, first things first— you have to trade in the neon. Why? Go ahead and try to trade in an SUV (of any size) and see what you get for it. You'll fell like someone kicked you in the wallet, and then slapped you. Every car dealership in America (where I am guessing you live) has a sea of SUVs on the lot (keep this in mind for recommendation #2) and yours has virtually no value to them whatsoever. You know what they don't have, though? Good condition used cars that get decent gas mileage. Bingo, you've got one of those to sell. Gotta go with the neon.

Recco #2: Don't shy away from SUVs. Yeah, I know the gas saga, but there is absolutely no deal like the one you can get on an SUV right now. I just got a 1-yr-old loaded Jeep Commander at a price that is seriously outrageous (keep this in mind for recommendation #3). The sticker price on the car was $11k less than new, and we got it for $7k less than that. Why? There were 35 other SUVs taking up space on the lot, and an occupied space on a car lot is square footage that ain't makin' money. So, we got a car that stickers at about $36k new, for about $18k and has tons of warranty coverage left on it. A minivan, which is lucky not to share the SUV's bad gas reputation, doesn't have that problem. Therefore, while you might see the sharp difference from brand new sticker to gently used sticker, you won't see that extra $7k come off. Do you know how much gas $7k can buy?

My Commander, with a 5.7L Hemi V8, gets an estimated 18 MPG HWY versus the Toyota Sienna minivan at 21 MPG HWY (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm). So, for giving up an extra 3 MPG's I have a car that I love, even when I'm cutting that check every month. Admittedly, that 3 MPGs does equal an additional 54 miles per tank of gas...my crazy math lands that at 45 fill-ups per year vs. my current 52 fill-ups with the Jeep, assuming equal tank sizes. If you assume an average of $3.00 a gallon, that's an annual savings of $378, but don't forget my extra $7K savings on the car in the first place. That gives me a little over 18.5 years to enjoy the better financial decision before they draw even.

That brings me to my 3rd and final recommendation. The third row in this car is very comfortable for kids in car seats, and we've found that putting the two oldest kids in the very back, and the youngest in the middle allows us to keep one side of the middle row folded away/down adding tons of room for all the kid/baby paraphernalia, as well as easy in/out for the kids sitting in the back. I would recommend this car for a family your size without blinking. It is roomy, loaded with features, tough, AMERICAN MADE, and it looks great. Did I mention that it drives well, too, and has a class-leading towing capacity of 7,200 lbs.

Okay, I'm done. I hope that helped.