Family Car Recommendations

I suggest the Flex. Easy to get in and out of and LOTS of room... six car seats would fit in the back!

We have friends who just bought a Ford Expedition and LOVE it and others who just bought a GMC Acadia and also love it.

My brother with 4 kids has had 2 Chevy Suburbans. He's been happy with them, but the gas is costing him a fortune and he only puts the 2 older kids in the third row. The 2 still in car seats need to be in the 2nd row so that he can get them in and out and also hand things to them while driving.

Otherwise, you are crawling in and out of the vehicle to put the child in the last row. The car is big, but crawling back there is still not easy. Try it at the dealership to really get an idea of how much room you have between those captain's chairs to get back there. Also, it is very difficult to crawl back there if your other two are already in the vehicle - you have to have them stand to one side of the car or wait by the car in the parking lot. It's nearly impossible to get past someone's legs who is sitting in the 2nd row to access the third row.

Sorry to say it, but I'd look seriously at a mini-van. I have the Honda Odyssey and my brother says he wants one when he's ready for a new car. You will still have the issue of getting back to the third row for one of your children, but it's a heck of a lot easier in a mini-van and once one child can be in a booster, you put that child in the last row. Also, you may have the option of removing/stowing/sliding one captain's chair and keeping 2 kids in the 3rd row and then one in a captain's chair. Your options are better with the mini-van.

I know how you feel! I SOOO did not want to get a mini-van. The un-cool factor is daunting. However, I've come to realize that it's much more practical and... sadly... nobody really thought I was all that cool anymore anyway!! :)

We drive a 4 door jeep wrangler. traded in our two door when our 2nd child came. it has the hooks for the latch system for all 3 seats. can't tell you how they would all fit since I just have the one in a seat but we love the Jeep. Huge trunk, lots of leg room. It's no minivan. :)

It is safe for a carseat if the seat is equipped with proper restraints. If they have the hooks at the bottom and/or the hook behind it.

I haven't personally driven or seen every luxury SUV but we just bought a Denali yesterday and are so happy with it. We had to accomodate two carseats. If you get a large SUV with a bench seat for the 2nd row then you can put two carseats there and one in the back. If not, you can get a large SUV with a 3rd row and put two carseats in the back and one carseat in the 2nd row. If you do that, I would get captains seats for the 2nd row so you can access the back seats easy.

I would check out GMC Yukon or Denalis, Toyota Sequoia, Lexus, Infiniti, Nissan Armadas, Cadillac Escalades or Lincoln Navigators.

Good luck.

Hi S.,
My MIL has the Buick Enclave and it's really nice, but if you use the last row of seats, you'll have, like, no cargo space.

Whenever we go car shopping, we take a lot of time with the salesman, and put all our car seats in and out of whatever model we're test-driving to see if the set-ups really work well for us or not.

Have fun shopping!
T

I enjoy my Chevy Suburban. It looks big but it is very easy to handle and drive. It also can hold all the stuff that 3 kids can come with!

Hi S.,

I would suggest a Ford Expedition or a Chevy Suburban. I'm right there with ya on the mini-van, so I purchased the Expedition for that reason, but I haven't had the chance to make sure 3 car seats would fit, but you can always find one with a 3rd row.

Good luck

Hi S. -

Welcome to my world. I could not bring myself to a minivan either when I heard we were having twins. I wanted an SUV - but there were certain things I wanted, DVD player was a must and so was the suto-start feature for the AZ summers. We looked around and got a fully loaded GMC Acadia. I love it. It has 3 rows, we opted to have the second row with captain seats, and yes, they are safe, the twins sit there. When we have our neice who is still in a car seat we put her in the middle of the 3rd row. I am able to start it for at least 10 minutes when I am getting everyone ready to go and it is dreadfully hot outside like this past week and it cools it down tremendously!

Hope this helps!

L.

we bought a minivan after my second son because we knew we wanted more kids. We spent most of the pregnancy looking at vehicle and cargo space online and at the dealers our choices were narrowed to the grand caravan and Honda Odyssey we went with the Honda. Now with 3 kids I still love it. Like someone said it comes with sliding doors which are very convenient when you have your hands full and room to put the stroller or kids stuff that always ends up in the car. it gets good gas milage and drives very well. My 6 year old sits in the far back so I don't have to reach to put his seat belt on anymore since he can do it himself. most of my friends with 2 or more have switched to a minivan. I only got slack from 1 friend for driving a soccer van but I am a soccer mom and don't care, also she has 2 kids and has no clue how much easier it is when you have 3 and all the car seats fit nice and neat. Another good thing is if they are close in age you might want to spread them out. Road trips are good but after a while if they can touch each other(bicker or fight) you are going to give yourself a headache. I look forward to when my kids are out of their chairs but I am not in a hurry. Also my MV fits in the garage, so it isn't that long.

Hi S.,

After my first was born we bought a minivan and I loved it. I could get the kids in and out easily and the third row was easy to get to. Two years ago, we sold it and bought an Pilot. I don't love it. The third row is hard to access, especially for adults, it doesn't have the room that either of my vans had and the gas mileage is awful. If your looking for room, easy access, comfort and good gas mileage, I would reconsider the minivan. I was never ashamed to drive mine.
One of my family members has a Enclave and they are wanting to sell it after owning it for less then a year. If you decide you want to buy one, contact me and I can put you in touch with them.

I feel the same - can't bring myself to get a minivan. We are in the market for an SUV with 3 rows but do not want a massive vehicle. (we also have 3 kids). The vehicle we are most likely going to buy is a GMC acadia. It has 3 rows - you can choose captain seats or bench in the middle row. We went and looked at one - it feels like a minivan on the inside but doesn't look like one on the outside! If anyone can pass on whether they like their acadias, I'd love to hear. Thanks for the question!

Just be aware that in addition to the astronomical car payment for a luxury SUV vs a minivan, you have to put a LOT of gas in a SUV and they get horrid gas mileage. If money is no problem, at least look into a hybrid.

We have a Nissan Quest and we bought it because of the incredible leg room (12 year old son is already 6'1") and the automatic sliding doors. The back lift is also automatic and when you are loaded down with stuff and kids, it is a LOT easier. I couldn't imagine trying to get an infant carrier into the very back of an SUV.

We have owned two Chevy suburbans and we have LOVED them both. We still have one. We like the room they provide, the huge back end(especially for the strollers), the smooth ride and all of the other bells and whistles they come with. On our newer suburban we never had to fix anything!!! We had it for two years before we couldn't afford it anymore. It had close to 140,000 miles and it seriously was the best car we owned! We took it for regular oil changes and filter changes, but that was it. The guys that worked at the shop were always disappointed that there was nothing more to fix:)

We now have an older model and it has so far proven to be just as good:)

Not an SUV, but have you considered the Ford Flex? We'll be getting a 2010 one.

I wasn't too hip on buying a minivan either, but one of my friends convinced me to give it a try. We ended up buying a 2005 Nissan Quest and have had a great experience with it. I have another friend with four kids who swears by her MV. My favorite feature is the dual sliding doors. I can open them as we are walking to the MV so I have immediate access, the sliders are flush to the vehicle so I don't have to worry about hitting anyone else's car with my door, and it provides good access if I have to use the van for a big run to IKEA or Lowe's. I don't feel at all frumpy driving my Quest because it's super convenient for where my family is today (one car seat, two booster seats).