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I drive a Subaru WRX (2002). He can drive it due to very adjustable seat. Zero room behind him. And, he wouldn't last long-distance. The seats are not comfortable. But, its ok.
New Explorer - No. So many SUV's are so 'puffy' inside now all the space is gone. The new Explorers look really plastic now too. Off the list. Along with Suburban, etc.
Chevy Impala - rented one at Disneyland and almost came home and bought one. HUGE trunk, good room for kids. He was pretty comfortable. Was not something we had thought of before, but is on our list still.
Volvo XC90 - current front runner for us. Good kid room. OK back space, and third seat. OK for husband. As with all cars, mirror in the middle of sight path. I think you learn to deal with that though. Reliability issues with this car, so hoping the Yamaha engine is better.
Volvo wagons - no
Honda Element - GREAT IN EVERY WAY - EXCEPT! Knees on dash. Why on earth they make the car enormous, and then make the useless dash stick out I'll never fathom. No.
Mercedes R - Yes. We found this car to be nearly perfect. Right up until you have to pay for it. Figures! Great room in front, and in back. Comes as diesel. Too bad. Need winning lotto ticket.
Volkswagen Toureg. Adequate. Could work. Cant afford the diesel, though they are back this year, so maybe some used in a year or two. Similar mirror issue to volvo.
Volkswagen Bug - this actually works ok! Doesn't suit our lifestyle now, and my husband looks like he's exiting a clown car, but it works. Great seat and steering wheel.
Dodge Magnum. Hard to see out, but great leg room. I think OK head room. Eats too much gas for us, but otherwise, could work.
Good luck fellow tall drivers.
I am 6'5 and 400lbs so I fit the taller and larger part of this. Low console allows for hip room, tons of leg and head room. I have about the biggest shoulders of anyone i have ever met and I have room inside. I understand it is a niche vehicle, but it fits our needs and it has the things I want (4x4, power)
Great room and safety for kids too. Better mileage than an SUV.
Reminder: 6'8" tall with 38-40" inseam. Basically car shopping is a nightmare.
First more to cross off: Dodge Nitro and Avenger are a joke. Suzuki and Mitsubishi new SUVs, Nissan Altima and Maxima aren't much better. I couldn't believe I couldn't fit into an FJ Cruiser either. Now for cars I can't fit in ANY Nissan, ANY Toyota, ANY Honda/Acura. Fords don't come close and is best summed up with this experience with the new Mustang. "Wow...this is a nice-scaled model, now can I see the real car?" Oh what fun. My mantra: not going the "modify seat" route so if I brush the steering wheel with my knee at all as I work the pedals it's out--no matter what the dealer throws my way.
All the big Chrysler/Dodge cars are definitely roomy enough as if they were custom-built--300, Magnum, Charger. However, they do not fit into my "one car" garage--WAY too wide.
KIA--now this was quite a surprise! I get very close to fitting both the ('06.5-'07) Optima and the Amanti. The Amanti may look even more "grandfatherly" than a Buick (if that's possible) and apparently Infiniti (audio) didn't feel this buyer's segment knew what mp3 was. HOWEVER, this thing has the good kind of "GM" steering wheel tilt and the hot Azera 260HP powerplant under the hood. It's worth a look! The Optima has the regular tilt/telescope (comes close) and been outfitted with an underpowered V6 (get the I4), but a KILLER stereo in it complete with tape deck--and yes mp3. I'm picky and I was very impressed--one of the best stocks I've heard with a potent sub. And there's that warranty. KIA is "1988 Hyundai Excel" (owned by H) no longer that's for sure--if you are tall and car shopping I would check these out for sure.
My choice as the the later-model cars start to come down in price is the Infiniti M35--this one fits both me AND my garage. I remember trying it at a car show and it had way more room than the (Nissan) Altima or Maxima--it also has some serious performance and amenities. Now if it would just get better mileage...and they would dump the overrated BOSE systems and get the far superior...Infiniti (of course!)
Good luck all
Our other car is a 2005 Volvo XC90. I fit in that also. The XC90 also has the third row seats. So we can put one of the kids in the third row and I can put the seat all the way back when I drive.
Hope this is helpful. When I was shopping I also tested and fit in the VW Passat and Hyundai Sonata. I did not fit in the Hyundai Azera or any Honda products.
I traded a 2004 Ford Expedition for the Hyundai. The Expedition had more comfort and room but was a major lemon.
Thanks! :shades:
The Saturn Vue has better ingress\egress height (distance between roof rail and seat cushion) than every vehicle I have tried except the quirky Honda Element, and the Vue also has amazing legroom. :shades:
Definitely, you need to actually try out the car - published dimensions don't help much. Look for tilt and telescoping steering wheel, and power seats.
Short list of vehicles that fit:
2007 Nissan Altima with power seat (tilt, telescoping).
2007 Camry with power seat (tilt, telescoping).
2007 Ford Fusion with power seat (tilt, telescoping).
TOO SMALL, even with power seat etc:
Ford 500, Hyundai Sonata.
All Kias, all Suzukis, all Subarus, all Hondas, all Mitsubishis, Hyundais. All Toyotas (except Camry).
We could not find any small or medium SUV that fit -
not RAV4, Highlander, Pilot, CRV, Ford Escape.
One more thing: don't count on the sales person to know their products: the first Ford dealer showed me several vehicles, but not the Fusion. The first Toyota dealer didn't even suggest the Camry.
1. 2007 Toyota Avalon
2. 2007 Nissan Altima
3. 2007 VW Passat
4. 2007 VW Jetta including the GLI
5. 2007 VW GTI
6. 2007 VW EOS
7. 2007 VW Rabbit
8. 2007 Mini Cooper Coupe (not convertible as the 2007 rag top is the 2006 style body)
If you want a great reliable used car try out a 2003 or 2004 Toyota Avalon XLS. Not a pretty car but very plush on the inside. Besides who cares what it looks like on the outside when you're riding in pure luxury and comfort.
Joe
- For 2008 the Ford Five Hundred will be called Taurus, and it's twin, the Mercury Montego, will be called Sable.
- The Scion Xb and Saturn VUE will be all-new for 2008. Measurements on chart apply to the 2007 models.
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Cars For Tall People \ Vehicles for Tall Drivers
The biggest problem I have as a tall driver is the driver's leg room and lack of leg support. Given that, I have to take exception to the Honda Fit. It has a particularly short driver's seat travel, regardless of what the numbers look like. As mentioned in a previous post, the VW Rabbit and Jetta models have much better than average leg room/support (too bad their current fuel economy is worse than average.)
I agree with you, longleg, that legroom measurements can be misleading. For example, the Honda Pilot (not on the chart) is rated with 83.3" legroom but feels totally cramped to me (It feels like the seat needs to go back another six inches). However, a Saturn VUE with a rated 81.9" has legroom so spacious that I had to move the seat forward 2" to comfortably reach the pedals. The 2007 VUE has tons of headroom too, and it has excellent ingress\egress.
Best thing to do is find a few tall vehicles you can easily get in-and-out of, then determine if the legroom setup is also comfortable.
Unfortunately the time has come for me to get another car, and I dont want to buy another bimmer because the reliability and maintenance costs have driven me insane. My search continues...
No suprise to me. The BMW 3-series is way too low - you have to scrunch down and bend your neck to get in-and-out - :sick: or else bang your head. Because Ingress\Egress is so important to tall people, low BMW sedans are definitely not a good choice...except maybe the convertible with the top always kept down.
Right, because the .01% of your time that you spend getting into and out of your car is just as important as the 99.9% of your time that you actually spend driving it. Sorry, I definitely fail to see the logic in your response. I commmute 2 hours each day, so actual DRIVING POSITION means everything to me. Besides, I've never hit my head getting into or out of my car.
By the way, he is very comfortable in his GMC pickup truck and OK in our family Chevy Trailblazer.
xsquid99, you must a have a perfectly healthy spine. Congratulations.
I gather you are simply not conscious of how much you bend your back & neck while squeezing into cars.
Regardless, having to "scrunch down" 8 to 12 times per day getting in and out of a car is harmful to the neck and back.
Seat cushion height (ground to seat) is an important factor. Additionally, the greater the distance between the seat cushion and the roof line, the more comfortable the Ingress/Egress.
Consumer Reports publishes a less specific measurement called "Door Top to Ground" for comparison.
Ease of Ingress/Egress is becoming increasingly more important as the population grows taller (on average) and lives to drive to an older age. Back & neck problems such as degenerative-arthritis-of-the-spine make it difficult for many people to deal with repetitive ingress/egress discomfort caused by low slung vehicles.
The Ingress/Egress test is an entirely different test than "headroom" or "legroom" which merely measures capacity once the occupant has already climbed inside the vehicle.
Fortunately, some inexpensive and efficient new cars, such as the Toyota Yaris hatchback, Honda Fit, & Nissan Versa (aka.Renault Clio) offer 60" in height, which provides fairly comfortable Ingress\Egress. Legroom is adequate for those under 6'3". The Kia Rondo is also generously tall for its price.
The vehicles with the greatest available H2 measurement (ingress\egress) are the easiest to get in and out of.
--
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
For the first 7 or 8 years after getting my license, I thought trucks were all I could ever be comfortable in. Plus I came from a truck family, so it was just natural. I owned a Jeep CJ7, Toyota 4runner, and Dodge Dakota in that time. Then I realized I really hated truck handling. So I went to a mazda 626. My mistake was getting one without the power seat. It was fine on a short commute, but then when I started driving more than 100 miles a day, I realized how horrible it was. Then I got my Volvo. Wow!! What a difference! Since that time, I am convinced that just about any mid-size or larger vehicle with an 8-way seat can work for us tall drivers.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
In fact, a little Hyundai Accent is just fine once settled in, and no harder to climb in-or-out of than any other typical sedan. Still, tall cars and most SUVs have better ingress\egress.
well, no. For a tall driver, your knees would be resting against the center console and door, maybe even hitting the steering wheel, and your head may be hitting the roof. Trust me, after driving even a decent sized mid-sized sedan for 25k miles per year, it is NOT comfortable without a fully-adjustable seat. I traded that car with a permanent dent in the side of the center console where my knee was always pressed against.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Bob