Craving more space..but is a minivan the best option?

Spam

New member
We currently drive an outlook (traverse,Acadia,enclave twin) 8 passenger, it feels a little cramped though. Expecting #5...dh is anti minivan, it's the reason we went with the outlook, while I don't love the look of a minivan I'm envious of the sliding doors and cargo space.

To get a little more breathing room, what are the options? I've looked at expeditions and tahoes, which is what dh would want, larger suv, but they didn't look much roomier than the outlook. Maybe they are though?
 
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jjordan

Moderator
Personally I would go with a minivan! But to decide what *you* want, I'd look at some top contenders and just load them up with stuff and see what you think. Bring a bunch of (empty) luggage, baby gear (double stroller or large single or whatever), or enough stuff to approximate a good Cosco trip or whatever... See what vehicles stand out after trying that. My hunch is that to get as much space as a good minivan, you'd need to go so large with an SUV that the gas mileage would be terrible and you'd feel like you were driving a bus. But it might be that the huge SUV (Suburban maybe could be on your list?) is what you end up wanting.
 

bubbaray

New member
Dani just had #5 and has a Range Rover. You could PM her, she probably has a good handle on what works with a large family.
 

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician
For sheer space, I say you can't beat the large SUVs. I have 3 siblings and most of my childhood we had a Suburban. My parents downgraded to a minivan for a short while and quickly realized their error and got another Suburban (the empty nesters STILL drive one!) My sister had an Acadia for a while, and my other sister has a Traverse and neither are a match for the space in a Suburban. The biggest difference is the available cargo room when the third row's in use; no minivan can compare with it.

Personally, I'd be thrilled to have a minivan, but there's only 5 of us. I love having the Suburban available to us when we're visiting my parents and needing to haul us and our junk to/from airports and taking excursions with my parents and random extra cousins in tow.

HTH. :)
 

jennzee

Active member
Dh and I are anti-minivan as well....but, as of about 6 months ago--and due to the arrival of baby #5--we drive a minivan. It still pains me to *look* at it, but the practicality of driving it simply makes sense.

It probably depends on your carseat situation though. We still had all 5 in some sort of restraint, so being able to fit 3-across somewhere was important. Three boosters across any row is always tricky, as is 3-across in the third row of almost any vehicle, so we needed something that would accommodate 3-across the second row and still have a way to easily access that third row.

Two things steered us away from a larger SUV. First, accessing the third row when you have three-across in the second row was a problem that wasn't really solved by going bigger (we previously drove a Durango and could fit all five restraints in it, though it was tight, and third row access was hard). And second, we couldn't find a large SUV that fit our needs that had headrests in all three seating positions in both back rows....not a huge deal while the kids are in restraints, but definitely an issue when the older three would graduate from HBB, and then even moreso if we intended to keep it long enough for all of the kids to be out of restraints.

As it is now, we drive an Odyssey with two RF'ing seats and a backless booster in the second row. The backless is outboard, which allows that seat to easily slide forward for access to the third row, where we have two HBB.

Cargo space compared to our Durango is a dream and with kids, you can't beat the sliding doors! It doesn't handle as nicely in the snow, but we've had a very mild winter and managed to avoid the expense of snow tires for this year.

We resisted for quite a while, but eventually came to the conclusion that for where we are in our lives right now, a minivan simply makes the most sense. We won't drive it forever...eventually the kids will leave the nest and we'll be able to drive whatever we want. But, for now, we're driving what makes the most sense for us, even though it brought us down a few notches on the cool factor scale ;)
 
We had a rental Traverse for a few days and found that our Pilot (2009) actually has more cargo space -- seems roomier inside as well. While it's sufficient for us, with 8 passengers on a road trip there is no extra space. And a double umbrella stroller will fit fine but any other double could be a challenge.

If you're wanting to keep it at 8 passengers we found the options were fairly limited. If you need 4WD/AWD and ground clearance, that may knock out the Sienna and the Odyssey. If not, I know a lot of formerly anti-minivanners who love their Odysseys. I haven't found, when we've rented minivans, that they have THAT much more cargo space than the Pilot or the Traverse, esp. if they're 8-seaters, and I really miss being able to open the back hatch and change a diaper on the flat floor.

On the other hand, we rented a Suburban once and it felt like so much more space than we needed or wanted. Room for all of us and our luggage and a nice enormous flat floor... and I did feel like like I was driving a city bus. Trying to parallel park the beast was something I hope never to repeat. Suppose people get used to it. But really, I didn't like it. Maybe a Tahoe would be easier. When we were shopping, the Tahoe didn't seem to have that much more space than the Pilot and I seem to remember that none of the GMC/Chevy crowd we looked at had 3 top tether anchors across the 3rd row, nor were they able to be installed after-market when we called GM to ask. That knocked them out of the running for us. But I've read that some of the 2015 models have more seating positions with LATCH and tether anchors. Check this for a comparison of 2014 models: http://thecarseatlady.com/latch3rowvehicle/
 

DawgDad

New member
As others have said, make a list of needs and go drive the options that fit them. If you need space for 5 (and especially all 5 are in car seats), it's going to be very hard to ignore the practicality and safety of a minivan. If you need lots of storage while all 3 rows are up, then the Suburban XL will give you the most by a hair over a minivan...especially if you need to tote a crate for a dog. There is a big price difference between the two as well, so if budget isn't a concern then that's a moot point, but if it is...a minivan will win by about $15K in comparable features.

It really comes down to what is needed and not necessarily "what is cool" as jenzee pointed out. They came to the conclusion that the minivan fit their needs the best, but if I remember correctly it was only after they did an assessment of how they would operate the car on a day to day basis and found it just wasn't possible to live in a large SUV with 5 kids...especially still in car seats.

Test drive them with the kids & "stuff", make a needs list, and evaluate the budget both at purchase and long-term cost (gas, reliability, resale value, etc). You should get a spouse that will at least look at it objectively speaking from a guy's point of view.
 

Spam

New member
Thanks for the replies..all 5 will be in car seats, oldest is 6.5 and just moved to a booster so lots of time for car seats still. We had a caravan as a rental last summer while the outlook was getting repaired after a too close an encounter with a falling branch. Anyways, we didn't love it but it wasn't an oddy or sienna. I'd prefer to keep an 8 passenger. Suburban seems soo big, but I guess we should check it out. I like having awd, we live in a lake effect snow area.
 

aept

New member
Thanks for the replies..all 5 will be in car seats, oldest is 6.5 and just moved to a booster so lots of time for car seats still. We had a caravan as a rental last summer while the outlook was getting repaired after a too close an encounter with a falling branch. Anyways, we didn't love it but it wasn't an oddy or sienna. I'd prefer to keep an 8 passenger. Suburban seems soo big, but I guess we should check it out. I like having awd, we live in a lake effect snow area.

You do NOT want a caravan for 5 kids! I have one and there's no way I would want to keep it if we were expecting #5 (fortunately I think we will be ok with 4.)
Ody, Sienna, and perhaps Kia (if they are making an 8-passenger - I think they are now?) are the only way to go for 5 in car seats. Don't even think about that rental you had, if that's what you are basing your opinion of minivans on.

(I don't actually hate my van, ;) I just know it's pros and cons and it won't work for you!)
 

jennzee

Active member
You do NOT want a caravan for 5 kids! I have one and there's no way I would want to keep it if we were expecting #5 (fortunately I think we will be ok with 4.) Ody, Sienna, and perhaps Kia (if they are making an 8-passenger - I think they are now?) are the only way to go for 5 in car seats. Don't even think about that rental you had, if that's what you are basing your opinion of minivans on. (I don't actually hate my van, ;) I just know it's pros and cons and it won't work for you!)

I agree! We set up shop in both our neighbor's T&C and my brother's Caravan to see how they'd work for us when we were looking....100% not compatible with what we needed!
 

bubbaray

New member
One thing to consider if you live where you get snow is clearance. All vans, even the AWD Sienna are pretty low. If your area gets snow ruts , you might need more clearance in winter.

Personally, I would love to have a Suburban, but I love driving large vehicles. With only two kids,mi can't justify the expense
 

kaysmom

New member
Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents since I have done the mini van and the Yukon route!
I liked my van just fine, but we frequently travel with our two kids and my Mom and Step Dad and we often used all of the cargo space and wished for more. We also live on a gravel road and have a hilly, gravel driveway and I would get stuck (even with very good tires) at least every other month and have to wait with the kids, and usually groceries, or whatever else to get pulled out and then have to wait until my DH got home to plow before I could go anywhere.
I started working full time and my DH backed into my van and we got a Denali XL. I'm just going to say I LOVE it. The cargo space compared to what my van had is awesome with the 3rd row up, I don't think I've ever wished for more room (ok maybe after Costco;) but not often) it's so nice to drive and I like that I don't have to worry about getting stuck anymore, the AWD is so awesome to have. It is also the best riding vehicle I've ever had. The only downside I can think of (we have an 08) is that the seatbelts in the 3rd row are definitely small for adults, like you can buckle in just fine, but they tend to lock up a lot. But I don't ride back there a lot thankfully so it doesn't bother me much!
Now I do not have soon to be 5 children, so it might not be the vehicle for you, but we really do love ours!
 

Guest

New member
There are really only two "large" SUVs that can equal or surpass the space of a minivan.

The big GM truck based SUVs (Suburban, Yukon XL, Escalade ESV) or the big Ford version (Excursion EL, Navigator L).

The shorter versions (Tahoe, Yukon, regular Excursion, etc) are drastically smaller. They can be a bit wider in some seats, but the cargo area is pathetic. The Toyota Sequoia, Nissan Armada, etc are included in this category.

The thing is, even the not as big inside Tahoe and the like are dramatically bigger overall than a minivan. The Suburban and the like is even more ridiculous. They're just that much harder to drive, park, etc. Now, if you live in more rural areas, that's not as much of an issue. However, if where you live tends to have a bit more people, the buildings and parking areas tend to be a bit tighter. That's when driving a Suburban really starts to hurt.

Plus, I'd like to see a Suburban sniff my Ody's 30+ mpg on the highway.
 

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