LOTS of kids? What do you drive?

zeo2ski

Well-known member
Just starting to think about planning for our next vehicle. When taking into consideration top tethers for FFing seats and their possible locations in combination with other RFing seats and the practical ease-of-use aspect, our 1998 suburban is looking smaller and smaller! It'll do for now, but the next vehicle is going to have to realistically fit more CRs. We currently have 2 RFing DSs, one will likely have to FF within the year. We are also in the process of becoming foster parents to infants with the hope to adopt. We may also have more bio children. Bottom line: we will (hopefully!) have many children, and they WILL ALL be ERFed, EHed, and tethered as long as possible--let me rephrase that--as long as there are CRs that allow it.:thumbsup: The vehicle must be compatible. So that's what we're looking for.

So if you have (or know someone who has, or have installed CRs in a car that has) many children riding in it, what type of vehicles are they using? Good suggestions on minivans/SUVs are welcome, but I'm really interested in more like 10+ passengers. Thanks!!
 
ADS

zeo2ski

Well-known member
Sigh...yeah I'd LOVE a sprinter!! DH and I think that's probably what we'll ultimately wind up with--I just love the fact that there are head rests and l/s belts for all passengers! But the price tag is wowza! Just wondering if there's anything else out there that would work.
 

Kabes

New member
We dream of a Sprinter too. Unfortunately, everything else(passenger vans) has poor safety ratings and low seat backs or is a bus. There are several small bus (16 passenger) options but compared to a Sprinter they are huge, get terrible gas mileage and don't last as long.
 

christineka

New member
So far, the only option for me for a big van is the sprinter, but I will avoid that at all costs. The multimac 4-seater car seat is supposed to be out in the UK now and should be in the US by the end of the year. For 6 or less children I choose the sienna. It has headrests, tether anchors, and locking shoulder belts in all rear locations. I just invest in thin car seats. I put the rfing ones in the back and go through the cargo door. Should I ever be expecting a 7th, I will for sure invest in a multimac. When expecting number 8, I'll buy another. Hopefully by number 9 Ford will come out with a safer van.

I wrote to ford some time ago to request they put headrests and shoulder belts in all locations in their vans. They replied and said they were looking for just such type of feedback. Perhaps others could write to them about safety features as well.
 

christineka

New member
Number 1, I can't afford it. Number 2 the van has a really high top, so it doesn't fit in many parking garages (there is one at our hospital). Number 3- I hate big vans! (This goes for any big van- not just the sprinter.) I would drive one if I had to, but as long as I don't, I won't.
 

Kabes

New member
I'm drooling over the multimac now. I wonder if I had a bench installed instead of captain's chairs if I could put another multimac there. Their website only says in the back seat.
 

zeo2ski

Well-known member
Yeah, it certainly cannot hurt to write them! I will do so.

That multimac is so stinking smart!! Who would have thought. Excellent concept, but I wouldn't buy one until they improve it (which is a good possibility by the time I really need it). It really needs some SIP. Of coursse an american version would get chest clips too. And the infant attachment is supposed to be up to 18 mos, but 15 kg, which is 33 lbs, not bad as long as it's tall enough and it's allowed over 18 mos. I wonder how compatible it is with many types of cars though--humps in the middle would probably not work. Very cool that they have various size ones though. Thanks for pointing that out, I had not heard of it yet! It's definitely something to keep an eye on!!

The sprinter comes in a low top too! And I also hate vans--mini OR big, but when it comes down to it, I love kids more than I hate vans, lol, so if a van is what it takes, that's what it'll be. But it has to be safe, otherwise it's pointless.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
LOL..we drive a metro and an optima.
We looked at everything and came to the conclusion that taking 2 vehicles was just more practical for us. We get better milage with 2 vehicles than we did with our old van(35 mpg in the metro plus 21 mpg in the optima together is still better than the 9 mpg we got in our van). But we only have the entire family on certain days(divorce situation), so we don't always need to transport 7+ people.
the onyl time it is impractical is when there is only 1 adult w/ more than 4 kids at once.
 

zeo2ski

Well-known member
Yeah, I think in that situation I would stick with the two cars! But for us it would be one adult with the kids most of the time, so it's gotta be one vehicle.

This is way in the future for us--ok not WAY but 3-5 years.
 

strollerfreak

Senior Community Member
I wrote to ford some time ago to request they put headrests and shoulder belts in all locations in their vans. They replied and said they were looking for just such type of feedback. Perhaps others could write to them about safety features as well.

Every. Single. Time. that DH & I have one of the Econoline vans to review I always comment about the lack of headrests & l/s belts.

Since DH works at Ford and has contacts with the people that make the seats for both the Escape & Econoline, he asked them about getting custom benches with headrests & l/s belts and they said they could make them for us. :thumbsup:

Too bad we can't afford a new vehicle right now...:rolleyes:
 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I debated and debated on this one..and what we ultimately decided to do is this: Our primary vehicle is an 8 passenger Odyssey (previously an 8 passenger Sienna) and then our secondary vehicle is a small SUV (although for most people this could be a small car or whatever..) We use the van when we are taking short trips or when we have the kids. We use the SUV for snowboarding, boat hauling, or when it's just one of us driving. I've taken all four kids in the truck, as well, but my oldest is 5'6" and almost 13 ;) .. The SUV is great on gas, the van has variable cyl management but I still get 16mpg in it.

I think what would work for most families is having the gas-guzzler people-hauler and then having a second vehicle that's better on fuel (perhaps even one that can still people-haul, such as the Mazda5..?) Here in British Columbia, we don't get a discount for multiple car insurance policies so our car insurance is close to $4000/yr with 44% good driver discount for two cars.. If we DID get a discount, we'd insure a (third) compact car to drive when it's just one or two of us. It's unfortunate that we're just not that environmentally friendly here, since I certainly can't drive two cars at the same time.. I really cannot justify an additional $150/m expense for insurance on top of another vehicle cost just to "save" on gas and the environment.

-N.
 

loufrando

New member
Okay I only have 2 kids but now I am totally drooling over that Multimac! :love: I'd never heard of that before! Has it been discussed on this board before?

Is it really coming to the US? How high are the 'top slots'? They claim it fits four 12 year olds? How much does it cost?

That would be so awesome. I could keep my little car and still be able to do carpools and stuff. I'm daydreaming of Multimacs now... :p
 

zeo2ski

Well-known member
I guess it (the multimac) has come up here before--some people have heard about it:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=59637

I always thought I should give up my suburban for a minivan to get better gas mileage until I saw what kind of mileage the minivan people are getting! I get over 18 mpg in a 1998 1500 suburban with a V8. And that's not highway, that's the trip to grandma's house and back which is 200 miles of the biggest hills I've driven on plus stop and go villages along the route. So at least now that I see what the minivans get I don't feel so guilty anymore. Anyway, that's a good plan the way you use the different vehicle for different purposes. The snowboards and skis are an issue for us as well, but there is a great spot over the wheel well where they fit along the length of the vehicle as long as we put them in ski/board bags and strap them down. But luckily DH and I are ski/board instructors and we get a locker at the mtn so we only have to bring the stuff once and leave it for the season if we want--which is soooo good because we each have to have our skis and boards for lessons each day, plus we bring our "good" stuff and our "rock" stuff if you know what I mean on the east coast, lol. I figure a roof rack or thule will be in our future...or maybe a trailer! OUCH on that insurance!!! I'm glad my DH has a company car--and gas, phew!--but sometimes I wish he could put carseats in there. No back seat in his HHR.

That's awesome that there's at least the option of getting the custom seats from Ford. Do you think you could get replacement seats for an old van? Probably would be pricey anyway though.
 

strollerfreak

Senior Community Member
I always thought I should give up my suburban for a minivan to get better gas mileage until I saw what kind of mileage the minivan people are getting!

I figure a roof rack or thule will be in our future...or maybe a trailer!

Yeah, I get basically the same gas mileage in my Suburban ('99) as I did in my Montana ('01), and it didn't cost any more to insure and I like driving my Suburban MUCH better!

We have both a 4x8 enclosed trailer and a hitch-rack/basket...we use the hitch-rack more often, it's been worth the $50 that we paid at Menards last year! :thumbsup: We used it last winter when we drove from MO to MI at Christmas, we could put 3 totes across it...one had Christmas presents in it, one had winter gear (coats, boots, etc), and one was empty so that we had room for all the crap that we knew we were going to have to bring back with us from Christmas for the kids. :rolleyes:
 

zeo2ski

Well-known member
Does that plug into the hitch receiver? Doesn't it get in the way of opening the doors? Or, well, I guess what kind of rear door do you have? Mine are cargo doors.
 

erinnicolevan

New member
That multimac is BRILLIANT! I wish I could get one by April!!

To answer the OP, I am going to have 5 kids all 5 in carseats (2 Parkways, 2 Roundabouts - one FF/one RF, and an infant carrier). I am trying to figure out what would be best for us. It's narrowed down to the Sienna (I think, even though the thought of driving a minivan makes me sad. lol) - either the 7-passenger XLE Limited (DH's choice) or the 8-passenger LE with added leather (my choice). He says if we get the 8-seater Sienna, he'd rather just get a Suburban. I like the practicality of the Sprinter, but if I can't see myself driving a minivan, I certainly can't see myself owning a Sprinter. LOL
 

hockeywoman

New member
We currently have only 4 kids :) and our main vehicle is a 2003 sienna. We have 3 across the backseat (marathon, radian, and FPSVD), and a nautilus in the 2nd row, with the other 2nd row seat up. Our 2002 protege has a nautilus, radian and FPSVD in the back seat, and we use the nautilus from the van in the front seat in emergencies (only happened once so far). We're thinking about our next vehicle, as we are waiting for our next foster placements, and DH says no to the 8 passenger sienna, since we'd outgrow it too fast ;)

I'm looking at the newer chevy express vans (12-15 passenger), with stabilitrak and at least the shoulder belt in all 3 positions of the 2nd row. I figure that we shouldn't have issues keeping the kiddos in HBB after they're out of the harnessed seats, and we'll have kiddos small enough for harnesses/lap belt only seats for a while. Now I need to plan where we'd park it, since it won't fit in the garage.

I'd love the Sprinter, but they are way too much $ (we only pay cash for vehicles). In addition, the 12 passenger models are hard to find and I'm not sure if the 10 passenger would last us very long.

The multimac looks cool, but I don't know if the 1 more seat would help us much at this point, and it would be more cost effective to go with the larger van.
 

strollerfreak

Senior Community Member
Does that plug into the hitch receiver? Doesn't it get in the way of opening the doors? Or, well, I guess what kind of rear door do you have? Mine are cargo doors.

Yes, it goes in the hitch receiver. We have a locking pin to run through the actual hitch so that the rack itself can't be stolen and when we stop for the night, we take the totes into the hotel room first, and then get THE overnight suitcase out of the backend. In theory I guess we could have packed our overnight stuff in the empty tote...:rolleyes: Ooops.

We've got the cargo doors as well...I hate the ones with the lower tailgate and upper glass gate. :thumbsdown:

We've also got a soft roof carrier, and we've used that before with the hitchrack just to make sure we've got spare room. It's easy to stuff suitcases & pillows/blankets/camping gear into and doesn't take up as much room to store when not in use as a hardsided one like a Thule. Oh, and I couldn't pass it up either...it was NIB at Goodwill for like $9.99. :thumbsup:
 

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