8 passenger vehicle

I'm thinking an 05 Toyota Sienna if that's in the budget.

Suburban?

3 across the 3rd row of a Suburban can be tricky. That row actually sits within the wheel well so it is narrower then the 2nd row which you can certainly do 3 across easily. Ford makes an Expedition EL, same length as a Suburban without the 3rd row space issue. It does lose cargo room compared to the Suburban since the 3rd row is so roomy. The 3rd row of a Suburban has much less leg room then the 3rd row of a Sienna for example. I know larger families that make the Sienna work, my issue is lack of daily cargo room, I often have 6 in my car and the gear that is needed for all of us, pushed us out of the Sienna. If you are not an active family (sports, etc...) then maybe it wouldn't be an issue. Th Expedition EL started being produced for the 07 year I believe, I have no idea what they run used though.

Sienna, if it affords you the cargo space you need. I can do several 3-acrosses in my 3rd row, and the second row accommodates almost anything. (I have an '06.)

I have an '07 sienna, which is supposed to be the same as an '05. We love it and I can get 2 sets of 3 acrosses.

I LOVE the extra room and towing power I have in my Safari (same as Astro) compared to my SIL's Sienna. But it has 2 lap belts, which limits who you can carry (I have RF seats in those positions). They're super cheap. We planned on ours being "disposable" LOL. It's still going strong at 230,000kms. You can do pretty much any 3-across you like.

Keeanh said:

I LOVE the extra room and towing power I have in my Safari (same as Astro) compared to my SIL's Sienna. But it has 2 lap belts, which limits who you can carry (I have RF seats in those positions). They're super cheap. We planned on ours being "disposable" LOL. It's still going strong at 230,000kms. You can do pretty much any 3-across you like.

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:yeahthat: They have bad crash ratings and poor gas mileage, but the 8-passenger versions are quite roomy. Ours is like a tank - still starts just fine, in spite of the fact that it's been sitting for years. We charge the battery and think "surely it won't start..." but it does. (Ours is a '97.)

Defrost said:

:yeahthat: They have bad crash ratings and poor gas mileage, but the 8-passenger versions are quite roomy. Ours is like a tank - still starts just fine, in spite of the fact that it's been sitting for years. We charge the battery and think "surely it won't start..." but it does. (Ours is a '97.)

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I had decided the astro was the van for us without actually seeing one. We test drove a 2004 astro and a 2006 sienna one right after the other. We had the money to buy the astro, but the sienna was quite a bit more costly. I wanted a new van then, but there was no love for the astro. It was roomy side to side, but I found it difficult to install all of the then 3 car seats along with the two boosters. The astro had four outboard shoulder belts with headrests and full sets of latch. The middle seats had only lap-belts- no top tethers. I knew that my 5th child would eventually be forward facing and after him my 6th child would as well, and then they'd move to boosters. I intended our van to last as long as possible. I'm also not a big vehicle driving sort of person. I was scared driving the astro because it felt like a big bus (and I had been driving a ford aerostar), while the sienna felt like a big car. I also thought that there was more room in the cargo area of the sienna than in the astro. It may or may not have been, but it seemed like it. There was more room for passengers, but not for cargo, unless you were stuffing it in the passenger area.

So, I recommend getting recommendations and trying out various vehicles because everyone wants something different out of their vehicle.

Oh, those are good points, too. Yes, the Astro is on a truck chassis, so it doesn't drive like a car - it drives like a truck. Takes some getting used to if you've never driven a truck.

How much cargo room you get depends on the model. Some have longer beds than others; I'd forgotten that, and you're right - the shorter ones don't have much in the way of cargo space behind that third row.

There's also the fact that there's only one sliding door. It's really inconvenient to load 4+ kids through a single door, especially when the weather's nasty.

I'm really not sure about carseat installs on the newer models. Mine has neither lower anchors or top tethers, but I never had trouble with installs.

So yes, definitely shop around.

I had a Safari, and now I have a Pilot. I was not a fan of my Safari, but couldn't afford to get a new vehicle... until I totaled it and had no other option. I did not like the crash tests and with just four lap-shoulder belts and three of those being the only tether positions, it meant my options for the center were quite limited. On the plus side, as the others have said, you can fit any three-across you can imagine on either row.

The Pilot will work for eight only in certain combinations. On the upside, it has lap-shoulder belts, adjustable headrests, and tether anchors in all six rear positions. On the downside, the third row is VERY narrow, only certain combinations (I think I've only *maybe* two, have a theory on a third) will fit three-across. If you have skinny kids, you could put seatbelt-only kids back there, and they will five step in the third row sooner than they will in most other vehicles. Also, if you have all eight seats filled, there is almost no cargo room. It works great for me, since I either have the kids (while at work) or I pull out the seats and have plenty of cargo space (like when my brother and I took it out of town for Christmas.) If I had six kids of my own, and needed to pack it with luggage for eight, we would have been in a bad spot. I just barely manage a day trip with all of the kids, a packed lunch, and all of the "stuff" I haul to somewhere like the science center or the zoo.

Do you have six children? Or is it a combination of kids, adults, animals, etc? That will probably affect the recommendations of members here. Generally, though, a 04 (?) - 10 (NOT 11) Sienna is what is recommended here for someone needing seating for 8.