Renting a passenger van for vacation?

[aunt83me02]

Me, my sister and her family, and my parents (3 kids in seats/5 adults) are all driving from Iowa to Washington DC in June for my niece's graduation. We think we can save a little money by renting a van that will take 8 passengers (my parents have a 7 passenger full-size Ford and my sister's family has a 7 passenger Sienna...darn!). We can all split the cost of the van rental and gas

We need 8 seating positions and enough room for our luggage (we'll pack pretty light but there will be at least one Maclaren Major special needs umbrella stroller and maybe a Chicco Capri umbrella). The carseats we'll be taking are probably a RF Britax DC (possibly a SS1 or Scenera), an Apex 65 or FF Radian 65 (we'll have to see what fits), and a Regent or possibly a Merritt Manufacturing Roosevelt. The other passengers will be two female adults that are a little over 5ft tall, one female adult around 5'4", one male adult around 5'8", and one male adult 6'4".

I'd LOVE to see if we could rent a Dodge Sprinter but I'm having a hard time finding evidence online that anyone in the Des Moines area rents them. We could also consider the Quad Cities area as well. I'm concerned w/ the big Ford/GM vans because I know they have an increased rollover risk and *I* need a booster for the shoulder belts and they don't usually have headrests either.

Also I was wondering what the LATCH (especially tether) situations are in most passenger vans (I only have the 2003 LATCH manual). We want everyone to be as safe and comfortable as possible

Thanks, any help or advice would be appreciated.

Marie
CPS Tech

[aunt83me02]

I called a local Dodge dealer to see if they knew of any places to rent a Sprinter and they didn't know of anyone (they also house a rental agency at their dealership).

Between GM or Ford which would you go with (based on shoulder belts/headrests/LATCH/Tether availability)? Can you get a 12 passenger on the regular base (same as the 7/8 passenger)? We don't need the big monster.

Thanks,

Marie

[daycaremom2002]

I would go with the 12 pass GM. They are shorter than the 15 pass and you can take out the rear bench to make room for luggage. They have a bunch of shoulder belts. Neither have headrests as far as I know. I know they have LATCH but I am unsure how many spots. My 2004 Chevy has 2 tethers on each 3pass bench. They work for either center or outboard. The GM vans have a longer wheel base (space between axles) that helps with the stability. The longer wheel base leaves less weight behind the rear axle and causes less instability.

Just make sure that you check that the tire pressure is the same as listed on the sticker on the door. Tire pressure is a major part of rollover concerns. Make sure that you don't overload one side. Try to balance the luggage weight evenly so that you don't put more stress on one rear tire. If possible, don't load anything heavy behind the rear axle.

We drove our 15 pass. Chevy van 15 hours to Disney with 4 adults and 2 kids with no worries. As long as you pay attention to your van, how you load people(and that they buckle up) and luggage into it and stay at a reasonable speed, you will be fine. Most problems with these vans are improper maintenance, tired drivers, and no seatbelts.

[ginny4]

we rented a 15 pass GM. it had no headrests. YUCK. it had 3 tether locations that i noticed. i only needed 1 top tether spot. i think all those with lower anchors as well. it was a GREAT ride for the 12hours each way. i just wished they had headrests

the sprinters would be awesome to try if you could. they have headrests at least the new ones do.

[Neatfreak]

My best friend's company rented two Sprinters for a work function a few months ago. If I recall correctly, they rented from a company that specialized in commercial/fleet rentals instead of regular leisure rental places like Avis, Hertz, etc. I thought I'd mention that in case it helps. The Sprinters do sound like a nicer ride!