You guys all make good points.
We borrowed an E350 from a dealership tonight to see how we like it (we get to keep it until tomorrow
). I liked the way the Sprinter drove better than the E350, but other than that, they're both just big, huge vehicles. The carseats all installed ok. The BLVD was FF w/a seatbelt, and went in beautifully. And KQ, you were right, the only place to install the RN RF was center of 2nd row and it would only install w/LATCH. I put the baby in her Snugride behind the driver, but I wouldn't have it there normally because it made the driver seat need to be way too far forward.
DS said he wanted to be in the 4th row, so I put him back there in the Pkwy. He changed his mind, though, after sitting in it for a minute because he said it was "too tipsy." So I had DS, DD2 (in the BLVD) and DD1 (in her Pkwy) all on the 3rd row. So it was set up the exact same as I have our Sienna right now. (The 4th row was empty.) We wouldn't keep that set-up if we decide to buy the van, but I just thought it was funny that that's the way it worked out tonight.
To answer some questions....
zeo2ski, I don't think there are any safety advantages of the Sprinter over the other vans. None of the big vans have side-curtain airbags yet along the back rows. I wish they'd do something about that.
Christine, the boosters are actually working great in the back of the Sienna right now. I have the 2 Pkwys on either side of the BLVD and because the BLVD is up on a base, the kids can reach the buckles just fine. I actually tried moving the BLVD over to the passenger side and putting the Pkwys side-by-side, but they couldn't buckle them that way.
KQ, I was quite frustrated because this van we borrowed tonight didn't come w/the instruction manual. I'm glad you'd said something about not installing carseats on the back row. Although I'd really like some clarification about that from Ford because it seems like it'd be just fine as long as you didn't try to get 4 carseats side-by-side back there. I looked, but couldn't figure out where to attach the TA on the BLVD, so I left it off for our ride tonight. I know you said they were there, but I couldn't see anything that resembled a TA. The good news is that I found a spot on the driver's seat that I could wrap a D-ring around to secure the RF tether on the RN. It is annoying that there are only 2 LATCH spots, though. That seems silly seeing as there's plenty of space for more. As far as adding headrests, many here (at c-s.org) I know look down on after-market things, but I feel like it's a safety issue to NOT have them. I know a man who does tons of custom work on vehicles. He can add headrests and TAs (I had him add TAs in the 3rd row of our old Odyssey). So we'll have that done if we get one of these vans.
Momof4Girls, living in UT, snow and ice are definitely concerns. And we have a very steep driveway. But DH reminded me that his family and mine both had rear-wheel drive vans while we were growing up, and neither of us remember having too many issues with them. So hopefully that will be the case. And I don't mind doing like you have and leaving the van at the bottom of the driveway a couple days a year if it's really bad.
Jennifer, I agree with your whole post. As long as these vans are driven carefully (like ANY vehicle should be), they are safe vehicles. Most of the accidents I've heard of have been teenage drivers doing stupid things, or people who weren't really familiar with the vehicles trying to make it do something it can't (like the things you listed).
Brie, we've considered getting an SUV, but I seriously hate SUVs. My brother has an Excursion and we call it "The Beast." An SUV won't give us anymore passenger room. They may be *slightly* wider, but they don't fit anymore seats, so I really don't see the point, other than the 4-wheel drive in the winter. Plus they cost almost double what these vans cost. I just can't handle that much money being spent every month on a vehicle I don't like.
I'm going to take the van in tomorrow to the guy I know who does after-market stuff and make sure he can add headrests and then we'll go from there. If he can't, I think that's probably a deal-breaker. So I guess we'll see.
I'd definitely be giving up a lot of creature-comforts if we switch, and that, along with a number of other reasons is making this decision extremely hard. So if any of you have more thoughts, feel free to voice them. I still really don't know what we're going to do and it's driving me crazy.