5 kiddos and need a next size vehicle rec...

knlrachel · Jun 19, 2013

I currently have a Toyota Sienna 7 seater (2007) and it if full. I have five kiddos (ages 6, 4, 3, 2, 8 months). My 6 year old is in a HBB in the third row passenger side next to the two RF radians for the 3 and 2 year old. The 4 year old is in a Radian on the driver's side and the baby is in a Cybex Aton on the passenger side. I intend to keep the three youngest RF to at least 4 if I can. That being said, I am thinking of needing a bit more space. We will probably have more kids at some point, but I would like to be able to bring a mom and her kid along with us when we go places on occasion. I have thought of getting the Sienna 8 seater (2012) since my car payment would be the same, but DH isn't convinced it would be worth it. We had looked at the Nissan NV, but the mileage looks like a KILLER! I have looked a bit at the low roof Sprinter, but the diesel costs are making me question that one. Is the 8 seater really car seat friendly? What about fitting 5 car seats and a booster? What would you do?

AK Dad · Jun 19, 2013

knlrachel said:
I have looked a bit at the low roof Sprinter, but the diesel costs are making me question that one.

That was actually going to be my suggestion - a diesel Sprinter is going to give you all the room you need and excellent fuel economy. Diesel fuel is more expensive per gallon, but since you get more BTUs per gallon out of Diesel, you still come out ahead in energy output. On top of that, Diesel engines (compression ignition) are more efficient at turning the fuel into usable power than gasoline engines (spark ignition) so you're winning there as well.
Plus, it's easier to make alternative fuels into diesel (BioDiesel, gas-to-liquid, waste vegetable oil, etc.) so I consider it more "future-proof"
We have a guy in town who only has two kids but has a Sprinter based high-roof camper version that he uses as a daily driver and he told me he gets about 22-23mpg with it!

SafeDad · Jun 22, 2013

The full size GM hybrid SUVs (Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade) get low 20s fuel economy, but they are very pricey. Also, I think the hybrid versions only come in 8-passenger versions, but perhaps one of them has the 9-passenger configuration that is present in the non-hybrids.

TXDani · Jun 22, 2013

AK Dad said:
That was actually going to be my suggestion - a diesel Sprinter is going to give you all the room you need and excellent fuel economy. Diesel fuel is more expensive per gallon, but since you get more BTUs per gallon out of Diesel, you still come out ahead in energy output. On top of that, Diesel engines (compression ignition) are more efficient at turning the fuel into usable power than gasoline engines (spark ignition) so you're winning there as well.
Plus, it's easier to make alternative fuels into diesel (BioDiesel, gas-to-liquid, waste vegetable oil, etc.) so I consider it more "future-proof"
We have a guy in town who only has two kids but has a Sprinter based high-roof camper version that he uses as a daily driver and he told me he gets about 22-23mpg with it!

Yes to all this. We have a diesel F350 and the fuel economy is SO much better than my smaller/lighter less heavy duty gas SUV. Diesels are pretty awesome!

5 kiddos and need a next size vehicle rec...

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