What vehicles seat 6 or more? (Canada but should be pretty much same as USA)

equilibrium · Dec 16, 2011

We aren't shopping around yet

But, we are soon to be a family of 6. I am curious what is out there for vehicles that seat 6 or more. We currently have an 06 G. Caravan but it guzzles gas. Hmm...could be our winter tires on and needing another service...

I know of the Mazda 5. That's about it. Any other ones?

canadiangie · Dec 16, 2011

So you need seating for two adults and four children?

There are lots of vehicles that can accommodate your needs. However, very few are going to be better on gas than your current van. Mazda 5 probably would be, but it's smaller than your GC by quite a bit. Suv's with a 3rd row really aren't going to be good on gas...

mkmama · Dec 16, 2011

8 passenger Sienna, pre-2011 (so 2005-2010 model years). We'll be a family of 6 in a few weeks, and that's why we upgraded from a 7 passenger windstar to an 8 passenger Sienna...even as a family of 5 I am loving the extra seating arrangement options the 8 passenger has over the 7 passenger.

amyd · Dec 16, 2011

There's the Rondo. Unityco got one recently, I think. I have a 5 and pink sparkly heart love it but it would be hard to do 4 kids in it all the time, I think. It's definitely possible, but there's not much cargo space left. I can get my double stroller back there (BJCMD) but it's hard to do groceries without laying at least one third row seat down. I'll be keeping it if/when we have a third kid but would probably go to a full size van if I were to have a fourth.

I should mention that the 5 was the only one we looked at that had head rests and tether anchors in all rear positions. That was important to us but might not be if you'll have booster riders. Not sure the ages of your kiddos.

unityco · Dec 16, 2011

amyd said:
There's the Rondo. Unityco got one recently

Yup, sure did. It's fine. I don't sparkly-heart

it, but it suits our needs better than the 5 did (which we looked at) and better than the Focus did (which is what it replaced.) No tethers in the 3rd row, which is a real bummer, but not terrible for us since DS is in a booster now. Fuel economy has not been as advertised :thumbsdown: Lap/shoulder and headrests in all rear positions, and the seller for me was a 3-person bench in the centre. :thumbsup:

I wanted >5 passenger capacity for when we have out-of-town guests, so most of the time, our 3rd row is down. Someone looking at full-time 3rd row use will likely have different needs.

The new Chevy Orlando is really appealing to me (also a 7-seater 'micro'.) I've refrained from looking in-depth at it for fear of having buyer's regret.

Its fuel economy is supposed to be good. :shrug-shoulders:

amyd · Dec 16, 2011

I've wondered about the Orlando too, not that I want to replace my 5 anytime soon. Another feature that was important to me was a manual transmission (I'm really bad at driving an automatic

). I also loved that I was able to get the highest trim level + the luxury package for less than I could have gotten the cheapest Sienna (which felt really cheap to me).

tl01 · Dec 17, 2011

How much cargo space do you need? Are you carrying 6 people on a regular basis? If that's the case, I'd keep a minivan and get a more gas efficient one. But if that's the only thing you are looking change, then getting something new or newer usually costs a lot more. If you would save $300 a year on gas buy purchasing a different car but the car costs $3000 more... It would take 10 years to be even. Of the minivans out there, the current odyssey is supposed to have the best gas mileage. It should only cost $200-300 more per year in gas driving 15k miles a year than the smaller Mazda 5.

equilibrium · Dec 17, 2011

I am curious about more fuel efficient vans for sure. I would love another seating option than our 7 seater even... (8 seater) but would feel better if our back and forth car-not the regular driver with all the kids -would sit 6.

Our kids (will be) needing three tethers (canada) and one is out of a booster now but seriously the size of an adult (he's 9!). I also would love the 3-4 tethers since I have younger niece who could come with us more often.

I think for our main vehicle-I totally forgot that we would need cargo space. The 5 did not appear to have that at all but for the commuter car might work? I have to read the postings again to see if anyone mentioned the TT issue.

Ahh...I would love to upgrade vans

equilibrium · Dec 17, 2011

Since Sept 2009 to now we have put on almost 70K Kms (not miles) on our van and since around the same we have put on almost exactly the same 65k on our car. So just over two years= 135Kms. Yikes. Our gas a month is like.....astronomical since DH works 45 minutes away, schools are 20 mins away, etc.

chay · Dec 18, 2011

I agree with the above, the three mini options are Mazda 5, Rondo and Orlando (it's new so I'm not sure about it's tether anchor situation). If you want 3-4 tethers then I'd skip the Rondo since it only has 3 and they are all in the 2nd row for a tight 3 across (although I think I remember someone on here getting a successful 3 across). The Mazda 5 has TT in all 4 positions.

I drive a mazda 5 and also pink sparkly heart love it but for a family of 6 with any sort of luggage I'd look at something bigger for the main car or I guess there is the option to get a roof box and learn to pack really light

As a commuter or something to round up the kids after school it is a great smaller option.

What vehicles seat 6 or more? (Canada but should be pretty much same as USA)

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