Time for a bigger vehicle, where to start?

I am almost done paying for my 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe (approx $2500 to go), but need to trade in/sell it for a vehicle to fit my newly expanded family! It is in great condition, new tires and 69,xxx miles.
New vehicle needs to comfortably fit two FFers (2.5yo in Scenera & 3.5yo in Nauti), a RFer (2.5yo in RXT) and booster rider (6yo in FR85). I am also hoping for the option of having room for another adult in back at times if possible.
I am completely clueless to the world of vehicle shopping and minivans so talk me through options and best course of action. I think I'd prefer a minivan over full sized SUV, but I am open to any suggestions.
New car seats are an option of course too!

Do you have a budget? Wish list of features? A minivan is typically a better buy than an SUV in terms of what you get for your money (more passenger + cargo space, less miles, etc). Generally the Dodge/Chrysler minivans are known for being hard for boosters. Kia Sedona 2006 and newer are very safe compared to other minivans of the same age. Odysseys and Siennas have lots of fans; also lots of threads here comparing the various model years. I think both underwent a revamp in 2011 model year, so watch that if you're comparing generations.

But yeah, I think you need to start with a budget and go from there.

We don't want to get into a car payment so I would say budget would be whatever we get for trade in or selling the Santa Fe (from KBB looks like private sale value is $6500, but no idea if we would get that any) plus up to $5000. Not sure we could go quite that high though.
I haven't really thought too far into features. I'm in Maine which means winter weather driving. Good gas mileage would be nice but I know with a bigger vehicle that is asking a lot. We need something with good longevity. There is also a very remote chance of a new baby down the line so that is something to keep in mind as well I suppose.
We are out of strollers but I do like the storage capacity of my SUV for road trip packing and such. Not sure how minivans compare for storage room.

For minivans, from a quick autotrader search, it looks like your typical options in the $11000 range are:

Odyssey model year ~2006 with ~100k miles
Sienna model year ~2007 with ~100k miles
Sedona model year ~2008 with ~70k miles
Town & Country model year ~2007 with ~80k miles
Caravan model year ~2008 with ~80k miles

Essentially there are two types of minivans in your price range - older and higher mileage Siennas/Odysseys, and then Kia/Hyundai/Dodge/Chrysler that are a little newer with fewer miles.

The only AWD option would be a Sienna with AWD, but they can be hard to find (especially in areas with snowy winters since people are less likely to want to trade them in or sell them). Generally you will do okay with snow tires on a FWD minivan.

Minivans usually have more storage space than all but the largest SUV's. There is some variation between minivans. We've found the space in our 2008 Sedona to be sufficient to pack for our family of 6 for a week of summer vacation in the Adirondacks (where mornings can be as cold as 45* and warming in the 80's through the day - so, a range of clothing is necessary!).

Also minivans usually get better gas mileage than similar SUV's. I haven't calculated ours in a while (if ever?), but the computer on the ceiling says we get 22 mpg. No idea how accurate that is.

You will have more seating options with an 8 passenger minivan, but you'd have to get a Sienna or Odyssey to get that, plus make sure the trim level has the 8th seat (not all do), and those can be hard to find and are often more expensive. So unless you really want an 8 passenger, or you luck into finding one, it might not be worth it. (Also the AWD Sienna does not come in the 8 passenger version, if that matters.)

A quick note, if you are thinking about maybe another baby, I wouldn't buy a Dodge/Chrysler or a VW Routan, very hard to fit 5 car seats in there!!! The Siennas, Odysseys are probably your best options! On older models, the Sienna is probably better than the Odyssey since its eighth seat is wider. On newer models(2011+), it's the opposite though.

HTH

Mag

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Car-Seat.Org

I would definitely recommend a Sienna or an Odyssey; they're unbeatable as far as minivans go for safety in terms of driver death rates and reliability (once you're past the '04 Odyssey generation).

Don't forget the 2006-2007ish Ford Freestar, another good choice of the era with reasonable crash test results.

www.informedforlife.com is a great place to compare composite scores that incorporate IIHS crash testing, NHTSA crash testing, vehicle weight and advanced safety features.