Wife and I are looking at buying our two year old twins a powered ride on toy,e.g., power wheels jeep or john deere peg-pergo for Christmas. Any thoughts on these things? 6V vs. 12V power wheels vs. the peg perego. Some of these get into $500+ range. I don't want to spend that much on junk. The will ride it in our back yard.

Raising 4 kids, we've had our share of Power Wheels over the years. I wish they had them available when I was a kid...

Yeah, stick with 12v/dual motors if possible.

They had a huge recall years ago over some wiring getting hot and they took good care of us.

We trust them.

Good luck!

I found a quad on the side of the street during a community yard sale with a "Free" sign on it. Battery was dead, went and bought a new one at a service center in the next town. Works great, it is powerfull enough that I can ride it :-). My 2 1/2 year old is just starting to ride it. We have a jeep from my daughter and he has a tougher time with that so I think the quads are a little easier to drive for the younger lids. Make sure the kids wear a helment.

I was given a Power Wheels Jeep about three years ago and the daycare kids ride it daily in the summer. It's taken a fair bit of abuse but it's still going strong. I'm impressed with the build quality.

how young are the kiddies when they start with the riding toys?

My son started driving his little power wheels Jeep when he was around 2. It was a smaller one, single motor on one wheel. It was good for when he was smaller. We gave that to a friend who still uses it.
My wife picked up a John Deere by Peg Perego at a yard sale. Thing was obviously well used and it still goes great. The gear shift is broken, no reverse. Doesn't stop him though, he runs that thing everywhere. One of his friends figured out how to do wheelies with it, pretty funny.
We bought him a Power Wheels Lightning McQueen last year for Christmas. I'd say it is pretty decent as well. Not as well suited for our yard as the tractor due to tire size. Draw back there is only one seat in LMcQ. But the gear shift came with a lock out so high gear is disabled.
Over all, the Peg Peregos are pretty nice and seem to be better built, IMO. But they also seem to be a little more costly. I'd say either bought new will last for as long as they'll fit in it.

Just dropped a Barbie Jeep off at Goodwill last week.

They work pretty good. I like the ones with 2 batteries. Replacement batteries are a ton of money though.

we've got a 22 month old and a 7 month old and i'll suggest to their grandparents what a great holiday gift a set of wheels will be for the older one. i'm guessing that by the time the the younger one is 2, the older one will still be using his (he'll be close to 3 and a half then). if so, i guess a single seater should do now (and then another single seater later for the little one). or, would you guys suggest a 2 seater?

with the recent bailout package passed by gov't, i guess there's a rebate for buying one of these since it's an all electric vehicle..... yeah, right.

I really like this and I bet the batteries never go dead:

http://www.skuut.com/

Of course there are lost of mods you can do on these:

http://www.modifiedpowerwheels.com/

yep, just bought one for the first mate at the kids "re-use" place. $50 and the thing is in great shape!! she wont really drive it yet though, in time I am sure.

a friend of ours had one for his kid and modified it for more power. he's and electrician and now it can actually kick gravel up!!!

their kid was about 2 I think when they got theirs

I'd go with the two seater because of the age of your kids. There will be a year in there where the older kid will be driving around the younger one which is fun for both and the following year there will be less fights if they don't have to wait for their turn.

My little guy (now 3) sports a Power Wheels Escalade. Pimp wheels, working stereo, and room for two. My oldest, now 16, had a Power Wheels Porsche and used it till he out grew it. We gave it away to some friends and their two kids used it and they gave it to someone else.

english - thanks. that sounds like a better plan. i better start working on their medieval shields and lances for when they inevitably start jousting on the things. this is something my twin brother suggested we do with brooms and garbage can lids astride our lawn tractors when we were in our early 30's. good thing he lived out of state or the paramedics would have been needed.