Advise on Family Car

I love my Ford Explorer. I see a lot of posts about mini vans... but having twins and a singleton (all in strollers) I find my Explorer has more room.

The trunk space in a Minivan just didn't seem large enough to carry my double jogger and regular stroller. Where as my Explorer does AND I can still fit a weeks worth of groceries in it.

I have 3 car seats in the back seat (Sunshine Kids Radian) and I still have a third row if I want to have travelers. We can fit 3 adults comfortable, 4 if needed plus my 3 carseats.

HTH

I love my Pontiac Montana! It is a great minivan with lots of room, easy to get in and out of. The seats fold down and/or remove very easily. The one thing I especially like about it is that, unlike most minivans, you can get it to seat 8 instead of 7. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is great to have that extra seat!

We have a Honda Odyssey and LOVE it! I, like you, didn't think I'd ever be a mini-van mom, but I love it. In fact, I have to fight my husband for the keys when we drive together. He loves driving it. We have lots of space and it is great for long trips. Last summer we drove from Dallas to Minnesota and back and this summer we drove from Dallas to Minnesota and then over to northern Wisconsin and back down to Dallas. We've had no problems with it at all. We bought it used (a 2005 with about 52,000 miles on it when bought). Good luck with your decision!

I love, love, love my minivan!! I too never thought that I would say that. I have had every kind of car out there and it is by far the easiest and most comfortable to drive. B/F the van I had Explorers to fit the kids and their stuff. Let me just tell you that the van is 100% better for everything that has to do with kids. You cannot beat the cargo room (much better payload than the SUV) plus you can re-arrange it, the ease that the kids can get in and out of and just how easy it is to carpool with a lot of kids. I will probably never not own one I love it so much. And you know what-I think that it takes a MUCH cooler person to drive a car that is actually perfect for their family than it does to drive a "swagger wagon" b/c it is cool and their friends and neighbors will be impressed and think that they are "with-it" b/c they own one. Its funny-I know several families who have huge and expensive SUVs but are still living with furniture from their college dorms. People are WAY too tied in with the type of car to drive. A mature and self-confident person does not get their identity from their set of wheels!! Ok-rant over.

BTW-My minivan is a Honda Odyessy and I have never had a single problem with it.

We have a Chrysler Town and Country and I love it. Buying a minivan was really hard for my husband to deal with (we sold his Durango to buy the minivan) but he actually likes it. We have three kids, all are still in car seats/booster seats. We can fit two additional people in the back then the passenger seat of course. The 'trunk" would fit two strollers no problem.

I was planning on trying to get a Chrysler Town and Country when I finally finish paying off my Mountaineer. It has great features for families. It's almost like a rolling living room, complete with real table in the middle if you get the right features, so it'll be great for some of the longer trips we have planned for when the kids are a little older. Of course, now I'm not so sure about getting anything made by Chrysler, but I'll keep an eye on the situation with that company and hopefully things will be better by the time I need a new car.

I think that mini-vans can't be beat for families.

We have both a van and an SUV. I never thought in a million years I would be a mom with a mini van. Before being a mom I always had sports cars. Now, I have a Nissan Quest and I love it! It has automatic everything, sunroof and tons of room. I also only have 2 kids. What I love about the van is the doors are automatic so I just push a button, the doors open (including the back for groceries) and the kids can jump right in and get themselves in to their seats. My daughters are both small & short so they have always needed help getting doors opened for them. Our other car is a Chevy Equinox. I like that too but only my 7 year old can get the door opened and even that can be hard for her if she has her winter coat on or has her backpack or a purse with her. The Equinox has a good size trunk and it has a very smooth ride but you can only fit two car seats in the back with room for one other person in the middle. The trunk on the Quest is roomy, I have even fit a wagon and a stroller inside. I get really good gas millage in it even with it being so big. If fits 7 total and the second row has two captain chairs so there is nice easy access to the backseat. I always put the baby or younger ones in the middle rows and it's so nice when you are carrying an infant carrier to just hit a button and the door opens so you can put them in. We have had my inlaws, us and our girls with us on a drive and everyone is safe and comfortable. Good luck, there are lots of choices out there.

Minivan. We have the Toyota Sienna - go test drive the Toyota vs. Honda - both good vans, same price, they just drive differently (smooth vs. sporty). Also the Town & Country is a great value on a budget. We love our sliding doors, remote hatchback and love the pop-up footrests for the kiddos so their feet don't dangle. We waited a long time to buy a new car (both our prior cars are 13/15 years old, but absolutely love our new minivan!!!

We have a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country that we bought used with low miles. We love it, and like most of the other posters, never thought we would ever be minivan people. We bought a new SUV shortly after our first son was born (we have two kids now) and it was a MISTAKE. You have to have the sliding doors for younger kids. And even though we don't always need the extra seat in the back, it can be folded down to give us more storage space, or use for our large dog on trips, and has come in handy to bring other people with us instead of having to take two vehicles. Get a minivan...any minivan.

I LOVE my Honda Odyssey. We looked into a Toyota Sienna - also a nice van, but I didn't really like the way it drove. It drives like a Toyota, which my husband loves, but I was used to my Mazda 3 and I wanted a van that drove similarly (as similarly as possible considering the difference in sizes!) I also looked into a Dodge Caravan and the Kia Sedona, but I was going to have to purchase the most expensive models to get what I wanted. When I found my Odyssey, I knew! I like the dual auto-sliding doors, and the optional 8th (jump) seat in the second row. It depends what features are important to you (besides size, which most vans besides the Mazda 5 will have), how much you want to spend, and how you like your cars to drive. Go out and test drive them and play with the different features! I think you'll know when you find the van you're looking for.

I have owned a Toyota Sienna, and currently own a Hyundai Veracruz (crossover) and a Honda Odyssey. The crossovers are nice - the give you the "non-minivan" feel when you drive, yet have lots of space. However, when all the seats (7) are in use, there isn't much storage space. I did recently test drive the GMC Acadia and it has alot more space for being a 7 passenger crossover than I expected and it drove really nice.

Between the Toyota and the Honda, I prefer the Sienna a little bit over the Odyssey, but really, they are both nice. The one thing that I don't like about the minivan vs. crossover is my crossover has 60/40 seats in the back so I can lay part of the backseats down for a little extra storage without sacrificing all of the back row seating. Neither my Sienna or Odyssey do that, but perhaps it is an available option.

Good luck!

I absolutely HATED minivans...until the day I found myself needing to make an immediate purchase and that was the only thing in my price range that would fit my growing family of 5. I always thought they were so big and awkward, until it was parked beside my car and realized they were the exact same length. I hate to say this--but I've grown rather fond of my minivan. I love all the options I have with it--the tv, power doors/hatch, navigation system, etc., not to mention how the kids are separated and have to work harder to pick on one another. It makes our annual 17 hr drives to Florida much more pleasant. We're Ford people and my hubby is insisting that our next vehicle be the Ford Flex. I hate the looks of it, but the interior is actually very nice. Perhaps something like that would work for your family?

I've heard the Toyots Sienna has a lot of storage, and is a good one to go with. Honda 's Odyssey with the 3rd seat option for the middle row would give you an extra seat, and still have lots of room for storage. But whatever you do, don't make my mistake. Opt for stow and go, where the cargo area drops down below the seat level, the extra storage is a definite necessity!

The Sto and Go seats are the thing I absolutely love the most about my mini-van. It provides me with so many options for traveling with different numbers of people and storing small to large items. Not sure what vans have this option, but defnitely check it out.

We just bought a Honda Pilot. It has 3 rows. We have #3 on they way and plan to put all three kids in the 2nd row. We travel with 2 golden retrievers who will ride in the 3rd row harnesses in seatbelts. The third row has enough leg room for an adult (more than our other vehicle, a Tahoe). We use a cargo box on top of the truck for long trips. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to fit our things inside any type of car (van or other). Good luck!

My mom LOVED her van, but she had hers maybe 10+ years ago. Hers was a Dodge Caravan. There were 3 of us kids, so it was great for us.

I love my Chevy Colorado Crew Cab truck :) We only have one child right now, but plan to hopefully have a second one day. I can easily carry my daughter & my nephew both in car seats though. Plus of course you have a TON of room in the bed of the truck to haul stuff!

I don't know much about vans these days. I do see other moms with the vans that have the sliding doors on both sides, with remotes, etc. We would have loved that when we were younger! haha

How many of you ar there? That makes a difference. One kid, two? How old are they?

M:)

We have two kids--6 and almost 3--and a third due in December, and we just bought a Sienna. The crossovers were too hard to fit kids in the back seats, and we need a lot of room for travel, since family lives 7 and 9 hour drives away. The kids love playing in the way back with the rear row down, and we've been amazed at how much we can haul with even two-three kids in the car. For us, big was a good choice, but I totally get not wanting more car than you need.

I was sooo anti-minivan, but when we had to replace my car my husband insisted we buy a minivan since we were planning baby #2. We bought a Sienna and I love it!! It is so easy to get our kids (1 and 3) in and out. I think the Sienna is easy to drive. It drives more like a car than any if the minivans I used to drive at a former job. I also love all of the space. We recently went to visit my parents for a family wedding that involved a lot of travel once we flew there. My parents rented a 2011 Sienna so we wouldn't have to use two cars. We easily fit 2 car seats and 4 adults in the car. Plus, 2 large suitcases, 3 carryon bags, and a double stroller in the luggage area and all the other little things you accumulate on a road trip. At one time we had 5 adults and the 2 car seats. Now I wish I could trade in my 2008 van for the 2011. It did take me awhile to get used to driving a big car--I have a horrible time parrallel parking! But I love my Sienna!

We love our Honda Odysssy. We compared the Sienna when we were looking and I felt that for the same amount of money, the Honda had more features. Believe me, we felt the same way but we LOVE our mini-van. Good luck!