car recos

janinekrause

I am having twins in december and have a 2 1/2 year old. I hate minivans but might be only option with 3 car seats. Anyone have non-minivan suggestions or have the VW Routan?

 

 

redtop40

We are in the same boat. When the babies were born, DD was a little over 2. As of now, I am driving a Toyota Sequoia. The seats are all in the same row, and they fit, but it's tight. The fire dept installed them, and they basically told us that 3 convertible car seats would not fit in the same row of that car.

So, we are probably buying a....gulp...mini van. I never thought I'd see the day. But people swear by them, and tell me that the remote control doors are the best part. I need ease and convenience, and my back needs a break from lifting this kids up and over into their seats.

We are going with the Toyota Sienna. 

janinekrause

Thanks. i am deciding if we need to be able to fit them in both cars or not.  I can't afford 2 new cars. I have a station wagon that is a convertible third row. I am not sure if its legal since it faces other way but has seat belts etc.

MamaCrystal

The Routan was modeled after the Town & Country, which we have.  We LOVE all the features and there's tons of space.  Our double stroller and a cart-full of groceries only fill up the back halfway, plus the stow-n-go space holds even more. 

The only complaint that we've had is that the design doesn't handle windy days on the highway very well.  On days like that, we don't feel comfortable going much over 65 mph.

janinekrause

thanks! i am going to try and get a  used one

~Lynchie~

We're kind of in the same situation, we JUST bought a new car and then we found out we were pregnant with twins...  My new little mazda definitely doesnt fit 3 car seats so we are going to trade in dh's car for either a Honda Pilot or an Acura MDX  both of which are non minivan options that can fit 3 carseats across the middle row.

Good luck!  

pawstech09

My husband is a car salesman for Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/Kia, and while we won't buy anything but Dodge/Chrysler we definitely looked at everything they (and Kia) had to offer and the Mini Van was the best option. It was the best option for an assortment of reasons, and while I don't have 3 children (yet?) it's nice to be able to fit their huge double stroller and a whole cart full of groceries in the spacious back compartment (like PP mentioned). That still leaves the third row seats and the two bucket seats WITH the stow and go compartments for even more storage! I also say the Mini Van was a good option because of gas mileage... there are larger SUV's available out there comparable in size/space but they get absolute crap for gas mileage. We didn't buy the brand new 2011 T&C (like I wanted!), but it actually gets the best gas mileage out of the dodge/chrysler lineup (including all previous years) right now.

And, you can't beat the automatic doors! Ours even came with an automatic back gate, which isn't absolutely necessary but it sure is nice! And both of my new Lady GaGa CD's fit in the 6 disk changer... it's definitely not the coolest car ever, cause it's a van (Some days I really really miss my cute little Caliber), but the conveniences are worth it!

Rangergal9

janinekrause:

Thanks. i am deciding if we need to be able to fit them in both cars or not.  I can't afford 2 new cars. I have a station wagon that is a convertible third row. I am not sure if its legal since it faces other way but has seat belts etc.

It is not legal to put a car seat in seats that are rear-facing. 

 I never thought I'd have a minivan but with 3 kids it was the only vehicle that made sense.  We looked at the larger SUVs but it was going to be too difficult to get all 3 in the seats once there were 3 convertible car seats.  The power doors are awesome on the minivan and there is so much room to tote all our stuff.