OT- I need some car help

LaurenSara518

Hi ladies,

It's been a while since I was on the boards, but I recently moved from NYC to suburbia and am trying to figure out what kind of car to get. Right now I am using my in laws car for my toddler boys, but we plan to expand our family at some point in the near future- everyone around me has been saying it's minivan time, but I am still a city girl at heart and the idea of my driving a minivan just seems to be too intense. Am I ridiculous to think I could fit 3 kids into an SUV with 2 toddler car seats and an infant seat? I know the third row would be good to have, plus I am sure I will need stroller storage… anyway, I was hoping you guys might have some insight or tell me I am crazy and minivans are great…

Discuss

morrkim

I am in your situation as well.  I got the Ford Escape a few years back and planned on it being a family car, but now with a toddler and twins on the way I am going to have to get a bigger vehicle.  I really don't want to get a minivan, but I think we will have to.  DH says we should get a minivan, because it gets better gas mileage than a larger SUV.

dmurrie

We got a Dodge Grand Caravan and love it. The twins aren't here yet but even just with DD (3yo), it's wonderful. Lots of room, for now there is somewhere for other people to ride with us, and I love the stow n go seats. You don't need to remove and find somewhere to store them. Just flip them down, and when something comes up, fold them back up again. The grand Caravan and the Chrystler Town and Country are the only ones I know of with the stow n go.

It's super-easy to get to the back seats in the van, especially as we plan on leaving one of the middle seats stowed most of the time. Convertible car seats are no big deal. They fit fine. A lot of the other MoMs have the Honda Odyssey. We looked at it, and it rides very smooth and is a truly nice ride, but the stow n go won out for us in the end.

dmurrie

The SUVs we looked at just were difficult to get back into the 3rd row in (some you have to actually fold down one of the 2nd row seats to get in back), and the 3rd row just seemed cramped. Other people probably have more input on that though. As a side note, we discovered this weekend that 3 car seats will actually fit into the back of our Buick. There wouldn't be much room to spare, but now we don't have to worry as much about what we would do if something happened to the van.

Palan

I am totally anti mini-van for myself. We have a Dodge Durango on order for our 4 y/o and twins on the way. It has a third row with room for the double stroller with the third row up.

mommaoftrips

We have a Yukon XL and have all three seats across the middle row. LOVE IT and have sooo much storage space in the back. Sorry minivan people but the lack of luggage room in the back cannot compare to what we have .

Palan

AshB62 said:

I really don't understand the stigma around minivans. They are so practical. Especially if you have 3+ kids. 

I'm a mom. I'm doing good if Im wearing a shirt that doesn't have spit up or snot on it. Looking cool is pretty low on the priority list. I'll save the sports car for my midlife crisis.

It's not a stigma for me it's the performance and handling. I need/want a vehicle that has some get up and go and I could not find that in a mini van.

manateeliz

Not sure how old your kids are, but in my situation, I needed to look forward a few years and consider that I will likely have 3 kids in forward-facing convertibles at the same time, and therefore need 3 tether latches in decent locations. Of all the minivans and SUVs we looked at, the only one that had tethers at each seat in the middle and back rows was the Honda odyssey, which gives us more flexibility than any other seat. That made our decision.

lynnyrd80

I would recommend checking out a car show if you can.  It's a great way to compare different types of cars at once.  We were originally looking at larger SUVs, but after comparing our options, a mini-van fits our needs better.  They tend to get much better gas mileage, which is important to me.  We go on lots of road trips to see family, so we need lots of storage.  Loading three kids will be much easier for us in a minivan because of the sliding doors and it's lower to the ground.  We are currently in the market for a Honda Odyssey.

I also don't care about the stigma.  I'm a mom, so I don't really care that people think I drive a "mom car".

BabyKsMommy

manateeliz said:

Not sure how old your kids are, but in my situation, I needed to look forward a few years and consider that I will likely have 3 kids in forward-facing convertibles at the same time, and therefore need 3 tether latches in decent locations. Of all the minivans and SUVs we looked at, the only one that had tethers at each seat in the middle and back rows was the Honda odyssey, which gives us more flexibility than any other seat. That made our decision.

This exactly. The honda odyssey is the only one with all 6 seats that have top tethers. My twins aren't here yet but in already in love with it.

carrotcake06

No minivan for me. Just can't do it. I live in a city and prefer small cars. Easier to maneuver and park.

We have 2 SUVs. When we just had one kid, we got a Subaru forester. Compact SUV w no third row and enough storage for baby crap on road trips.

Them we found out we were having twins and we needed to go bigger, unfortunately. We went w an Acura MDX. It fits 3 across. We keep the third row folded down for storage. It's a big car but "small" for a full size SUV. I hate driving it in the city bc it's a beast.

Using the 3rd row w lots of car seats just isn't practical. Choose a car that can fit 3 across instead if you're going that route.

carrotcake06

From my research, the Honda / Acura platforms are the easiest to accommodate lots of car seats as far as having LATCH, top tethers, and lots of hip room in the back.

LaurenSara518

Thanks guys! I think I am coming around to the idea of a minivan- I have just never driven an SUV type car before and I feel like I am going from zero to sixty quickly… which is ironic because I think minivans are not known for that

My boys are 21 months, but I figured the car I have now barely has enough room and if I had to fit another infant seat in the car… I'm not even sure it would fit.  I have heard great things about the Honda Odyssey, so maybe I'll just go see it in person before I freak myself out an more.