Question should I give up my Suburban for minivan or other?

I currently drive a 2004 Chevy Suburban,which I love exept for the gas mileage. I have 2 children, ages 11 and 2. (will not be adding to our family any more, lol) I have always been concerned as to whether I am driving an unsafe vehicle. I read all of the safety ratings, new safety features being offered in newer vehicles, etc...but I just feel that no safety feature can defy the laws of physics. In the event of an accident, the bigger vehicle would protect my children better would it not? That coupled with the fact that my youngest is seated in a Britax Boulevard 70 CS, in the center of the second row. I realize the rollover rate and accident avoidance is not in my favor in such a large SUV. Therefore, I am wondering if someone can point out reasons why I should sell my suburban and what are the safest family vehicles out there?? I prefer not to buy a CAR, I like the room to tote other kids and cargo. Safety is my ultimate concern though. Thank you for your input in advance

If you were to replace the Suburban, would it be with a newer vehicle, or are you looking stay in the same price range? If so, what is that price range?

I ask because there have been a lot of advancements in safety in the last 10 years.

In general, minivans do tend to do better than suvs because of the lower center of gravity. Of course everything is dependent on what kind of accident you have and since we haven't found that crystal ball.... In a perfect world, I'd want side airbags to protect the non-car seat passengers.

According to informed for life (informedforlife.org), it's in the bottom 10% for safety for 2003-2011 vehicles. It's figuring it doesn't have side airbags or stability control to help prevent a roll over. Your numbers would be better if yours has either of those. It gets great frontal impact scores and not so great roll over scores. Informed for life isn't fool proof. I know if they don't have a reading for something they just put an average score. But it gives a pretty good over all idea. It takes ratings from several vehicles and factors in roll over risk and vehicle weight. I'm not meaning to scare you or say you should go right out an replace it. I'm sure it's much safer than vehicles older than it. We all do the best we can with what we have to work with.
http://www.informedforlife.org/getscore.php

Melanie said:

According to informed for life (informedforlife.org), it's in the bottom 10% for safety for 2003-2011 vehicles. It's figuring it doesn't have side airbags or stability control to help prevent a roll over. Your numbers would be better if yours has either of those.

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:thumbsup:

Even a newer Suburban with side curtain airbags and stability control would mitigate much of the risk associated with truck-based SUVs of the 90s and up until a few years ago when they finally became more prevalent in trucks.

Therefore, I am wondering if someone can point out reasons why I should sell my suburban and what are the safest family vehicles out there?? I prefer not to buy a CAR, I like the room to tote other kids and cargo. Safety is my ultimate concern though.

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It's hard to match the current Honda Odyssey or the large GM crossovers (Acadia/Traverse/Enclave) in terms of crashworthiness.