Thanks for the thoughts guys.
We do love the beetle. The new rig will be Katie's (my wife) daily driver (remember--our most recent set of wheels is the bike) and what we drive to all of my daughter's activities. We plan to keep the beetle for me to commute and pretty well park the truck.
Since it will be Katie's drive, she gets more votes. Her first choice is actually the VW Toureg, but they are pricey. 2nd to that is the GMC Acadia/Saturn Outlook--nice rig, but again pricey and neither of these will get much better mileage than my truck. My sister has a Liberty and both she & I like it, but again not much better mpg. The Saturn Vue isn't big enough in the front seat shoulder area.
The beetle is a stick, but Katie's knees beg for an automatic now. Here is her list: 1. sit up higher 2. as much as I try I can't convince her to look at TDI's 3. not a wagon (neither of us has ever owned anything with 4 doors) 4. better mpg 5. moderate storage/hauling space 6. and remember that you are talking to someone who owns a Triumph--I'm not looking for the Yamaha/Star Roadwhatever of the car world
So that's the path that has led me to the hybrid escape.
Thank you for not suggesting a van. One of my college buddies and I made a wager that the first one of us who bought a van would owe the other $100. Ha!
