I need help deciding on a new (2205 or 2006) car to be purchased or
leased between now and the end of November, at the latest. I need
fabulous mileage, either 7 or 8 seats, a very good safety rating, a
good to great greenhouse factor as well as some version of cute (I
would get the Element or Scion if I didn't need a lot of seats or the
Prius because of it's mileage.) I live in Southern California which
has its own emissions standards and a trip to the gas station to
fill-up my 2003 Land Rover Discovery has been running 75.00. I am so
confused. I would so love some help on this. I'd get the Honda Pilot
in a heartbeat but the mileage is not as good as I'd like; it has most
of the amenities (DVD option, etc)and reliability I would like to have
and the price is decent. Help!!!!

As I assume you have found from your shopping, there is no car that
meets all of your requirements.  Generally room for 7-8 people (larger
size) is a tradeoff with fuel economy.  You are not going to find a
vehicle that is very good at both.  The Honda Odyssey might be a good
compromise for you.  My wife drives one.  It gets around 22 miles per
gallon in mainly local driving, can comfortably fit 7, and it has
surprisingly good acceleration for a mini van (better than many cars).

A vehicle often overlooked is the Suzuki XL-7 which gets 18/22 MPG.
http://www.suzukiauto.com/sr_06/xl7/

Good safety features.
http://www.suzukiauto.com/sr_06/xl7/features/safety.php

It was the Consumer Digest "Best Buy" in 2003 and 2004.

Of course, that should have "Consumers Digest" above.

count the Dodge Darango out, we have one, we love it and our 4 kids
love it but.... i need to have a fuel truck follow me around...


good luck

I've been looking for the exact same thing. I've decided on the Toyota
Highlander Hybrid with the optional 3rd row of seats. You can get one
for about $37,000 with the 3rd row of seats. It is reported to get 25
MPG but I don't know if that's city or highway. The nice thing about
Hybrids is if you do a lot of city driving you get better gas milage
because of the stopping. I have never seen a bad review or test on
this vehicle.

In addition to my comment above. I just read in my Parents magazine
that the Toyota Highlander is the first Hybrid with optional 7
passenger seating. It gets 31 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the
highway according to Toyota. Here is the link to the configuration you
would be looking at.

http://www.tmsbuyatoyota.com/configurator/config_frame.asp?ptt=4348493130&ptz=3534343031&ptd=3438303433&pth=686F6D6537&tda_id=3&dealer_id=522&zip_code=54401&series_id=69

One thing to consider - paying $10K extra for a hybrid vs the
comparable gas only car, you are going to have to do A LOT of driving
to break even with cost.  Let's assume the long term cost of gas will
average $2.50 / gallon, the hybrid gets 30 mpg and the comparable gets
22 mpg.  You would need to drive 330,000 miles before you broke even.

I was just told that the new 2006 Toyota Rav-4 is coming with an
optional 3rd row seating. I couldn't find the specifics online but my
boyfriend showed me an article in one of his car magazines (Road &
Track or Car & Driver) about it. According to the article it will be
coming out in late 2005 (most 2006 models will be out around late
October 2005).

It is a 268 horsepower (very powerful for an SUV) loaded with the
optional 3rd row seating for around $25,000. There estimates/tests put
its milage from 25mpg to 30mpg. It's a little smaller vehicle with
good gas milage and seats up to 7.

Here's a list of the ten most fuel-efficient SUVs available. I hope this helps. 

http://www.autobytel.com/content/shared/articles/templates/index.cfm/article_page_order_int/1/article_id_int/148

Another possibility is the Saturn Relay.
http://www.saturn.com/saturn/vehicles/relay/overview.jsp

Here is a review of the Relay.
http://www.roadandtravel.com/roadtests/reviews/2005roadtests/newcarreviews/saturnrelay.htm

"...
And the powertrain earns favorable fuel economy ratings -- 21 mpg in
town and as much as 32 mpg for highway driving in FWD mode, or 20/30
mpg (city/highway) on the AWD version.
...
Standard equipment includes air conditioning, a remote keyless entry
system, cruise control, power to the driver's seat, power controls for
door locks and windows, heated external mirrors, an audio kit with
AM/FM/CD/MP3 and six speakers, plus the backseat DVD video unit.

MSRP begins at $23,770 for Relay 2 and runs to $29,885 for Relay 3
with AWD."

If you get an SUV with two row seating, you can try adding a 3rd row. 
I found this web site and it looks pretty cool. I haven't tried this
but, it seems like a great alternative to a mini van.
http://www.littlepassengerseats.com