We are getting ready to purchase a new car and I need some help. I posted this same topic on another car based forum but I need all the help I can get so I decided to post here too.

A little background on us. I am a stay at home mom in Orlando FL with 2 boys, 5 & 3 years old. Both are in 5 point harness car seats and will stay in them until they are 65 pounds for safety reasons. Right now I'm driving a 1999 Saab 9-5 that I really love due to the convenient features (radio buttons on the steering wheel, etc). We have a 90 pound rottie and a mix breed that is about 55 pounds. We don't really travel very far because we can never find anyone to watch the dogs. We don't live near any family, so when people do come to visit us, we usually have to take 2 cars to accomodate everyone. I have had to sometimes rely on friends to pick up my kids from school but can't ever return the favor because I don't have the space. The trunk on the Saab is large, but I can only fit the kids small bikes in there with no room for anything else. Forget it if we have to purchase anything large, we usually have to get a friend to help.

My husband is in Iraq for a year and during our chat Saturday he tells me to start looking for a new car but it can only be either a Ford, GM or Chrysler. He gets a discount with those companies so it must be one of them. Now normally my hubby would do the research on the web, narrow it down and then we'd go test drive. Well seeing as he's there with limited internet access, it's all me, and it's overwhelming.

So based on my company choices, I've narrowed it down to the Ford Flex, Chrysler Town & Country and the Buick Enclave. Here's my breakdown of why I like them.

Flex
**3 rows of seats for when we do need the space. I know you have to fold down the 2nd row to get in the back, so when we do have company, we could put the car seats in the 3rd row and then the 2nd would be open.
**I like the fact that the base model has my basic needs with the exception of the DVD player for the boys and the sun roof.
**3rd row folds down when we don't have extra people so I can take along the bikes, scooters and whatever else and not have to make the boys choose just one.

Town & Country
**Has the room that I would need and use.
**When we do have company, I wouldn't have to switch out the car seats, getting into the 3rd row would be easy.
**When the 3rd row is folded down we could take our dogs with us on trips.

Enclave
**3 rows of seats for when we do need the space. I know you have to fold down the 2nd row to get in the back, so when we do have company, we could put the car seats in the 3rd row and then the 2nd would be open.
**3rd row folds down when we don't have extra people so I can take along the bikes, scooters and whatever else and not have to make the boys choose just one.


I really like the Flex and being a stylish mom, but I've read that people in high humid areas are hearing squeeking with the brakes and that Ford basically has dropped the ball on them. I've read that the Enclave might have a challenge with the boys car seats. I can't remember which one, but one of the reviews posted that when they open the tailgate it hits the garage door. I park in the garage so I need something that works in there. We rented a minivan once and had to pull it out in order for it to clear the back wall. That isn't a make or brake, but when I'm coming home alone at night with the boys, I don't want to have to keep the garage door open to unload the back of it. I like to close it and do what I have to do.

I'm going to take test drives and will have the car seats with me but am also going to see if they'll let me drive to my house and test out the room in the garage. Which is where I can also test out the back for storage of toys.

So based on these 3 models and what I've posted so far, which one would you decide on? I've read mixed reviews on all 3 and am not sure. Which would you buy? Which would you stay away from? Thank you so much for your help with this. I really appreciate it.