3 Kids: SUV Vrs Minivan Features

DON'T buy a Kia. Any make, any model. They are junk!

I have friends with the Honda Odyssey and they are awesome. The Toyota Sienna has favorable reviews as well.

I think with 3 kids, you'll enjoy a van more because you and the kids will have more room and not be so cramped.

Good luck!

I had a 2001 GMC Safari van. It seats 8 and the back seat folds down and is removeable. The only thing I didn't like was a sliding door on the passenger side only. I would've liked back doors on both sides. Loved the cargo space in the back even with all 3 rows of seats. Enough room to change a diaper there. My back door was a 3 way split. Top opened up and the bottom split and both sides opened out. I also liked the space between the two front seats. We could put a cooler there or have enough space to walk to the 2nd set of seats. It was a little tight getting into the 3rd row without folding down the 2nd row seat. Not real practical with car seats in the 2nd row.

The only reason I got rid of it was because my mother gave me her sedan after my father died. The van had 100K miles more on it than the sedan. I miss my van everyday especially when I need to pile more than 4 kids in the car. I have two but there are lots of friends.

Unless it has automatic doors, don't buy it! Sliding don't aren't nice, they are essential!

Also, unlike SUVs, the third row on the minivan is an actual row. I don't mind asking my nearly 80 year old father to go back there. It's great to be able to cart so many people (and things) around.

P.s. most of my friends are planning on getting rid of their SUVs and getting a mini. SUVs just don't have the space.

We have a 2006 Honda Odyssey. I LOVE THIS VAN. Everything about it perfect. Literally, I have no complaints. We have 4 kids ages 6-14. There is an optional 8th seat that pops up in the center of the middle row but we haven't ever used that. Instead, we have the two middle row seats pushed together for easier access to the 3rd row. The 3rd row is a 60/40 split stow and go and we drop the sections into the floor all the time. It's an awesome feature. The automatic sliding doors are great. We always have room for friends, bikes, hockey gear, things that we pick up at Home Depot, luggage, etc.

We have a 2004 Toyota Sienna 8 seat mini-van. We bought it brand new and when we only had 2 children when our Honda CRV suddenly felt very very small ofter our second was born. We added our third child a few years later. We have all 3 in the middle row. When my third was born all 3 were in carseats and boosters. We bought the Sunshine Kids ones and they all fit. Since then my oldest has outgrown the booster so he just sits in the middle.
We can fit the stroller, jackets, diaper bag, groceries, etc and so on and still have room. We have even been able to have people in the third row and still hold all of our gear. Changing a diaper in the back is super easy. I can climb right in or stand at the edge. We have yet to find an activity that we can't fit all of us and all of our stuff in there.
It drives like a car. It is built on a car base and not a truck base. It has an amazing turn radius.
We didn't buy the one with automatic doors or DVD player or any of those extras. We didn't want them. The car is still perfect for us. When it finally buy a replacement we will be getting another Sienna. They are worth it!

Never thought I would be a mini-van mama but I absolutely love mine! I always had 2 door sports cars - the least sporty I had was when my first son was born and I drove a Toyota Solara (with the big engine and spoiler!). When he was 2, a teenager drove down a state highway the wrong way and hit us! The Solara was totalled but we were both fine with no injuries due to all of the airbags. I decided to buy a mini-van then and test drove everything! I had always loved the Dodge sports cars and thought I would get a Grand Caravan but it was 2008 and they had just changed to the new model and I felt it had terrible blind spots. The Odyssey was nice but much more expensive and sluggish getting on the highway (it is a VERY heavy vehicle). I went with the 2008 Sienna and I love it! No complaints, no problems. We have 75K on it because most of our vacations are driving vacations! We love taking it on vacations. We have two kids now and currently they occupy the center seats - both in car seats. No problems in the snow and I don't have snow tires - we drive in the Upper Peninsula of MI. I've never been stuck - love my automatic doors (didn't specifically look for this feature, but it was included and when baby #2 came around - very handy plus great at school drop off as others have said). I carry 2 strollers most of the time - my 88 year old grandma has no trouble getting in or out of the van. We will buy another one when this one dies but in the meantime we will keep on driving! Oh, and we don't have the DVD player either - we sing, play car games, read, listen to CDs, etc.

C. - living the mini-van dream!

Love my mini van. I have the Nissan Quest. Best part about a mini van, IMO, is that you hit a button and the door opens up. Kids jump in all by themselves! No lifting. No waiting for Mommy to open the door. Super easy for them to buckle up. Less fighting because no one is touching each other! There was always plenty of floor room to change diapers. Drop off at school is easy. I hit the button, they jump out, I hit the button again and off I go. No getting out because the door wasn't slammed hard enough. Oh, and a wagon fits in the trunk, as well as a stroller, without having to fold down any seats! The only thing I don't like is where the valet hook is located. It's a pain to get at in my '07. We never thought that we would be mini van people, but the ride is so nice & everyone has plenty of space. Oh, & I love that my peddles move. I have power seats, but I'm short. I hate sitting on top of the steering wheel. I use to drive with my toes in other cars. Now, in the push of a button, the peddles move to me. I really love that feature. Not available on all makes. I don't ever want to have to go back to driving with my toes! :) I would test drive it, if I were you. Nissan will probably give you a nice trade in allowance for your Murano. :)

I have a 2000 Ford Windstar that I am getting ready to replace. I think the next one will probably be a Dodge Caravan, because Ford no longer makes a minivan. I love everything about my minivan. I love that there is room for my kids to bring friends on outings and to carpool to choir practice. I love that I have room for all of my groceries. When the kids were little I had room for the stroller or the wagon. I could change diapers on the tailgate. When I remove the third row I have room for all our camping equipment. Our van is fully loaded, but one feature that stands out for me is the back up sensor. As for snow, there is no place like Winnipeg for snow and ice, and my van has done just fine, and I have never even bought winter tires!

We have the new version of the 8-passenger Toyota Sienna (I think the XLE) and love it! We used to have the Hyundai Santa Fe SUV. We have two kids in carseats in the middle row with the middle seat of that row taken out (it stows in the back wall, very convenient!), so when we have others riding with us, they can climb through the middle row to the back through the middle seat opening. I would put your oldest in the back row (at 5 I'm sure they can buckle/unbuckle their own carseat) and the younger two in the middle row if you need to help the 4 year old with the buckles (if not, they might want to be next to the older kid in the back if they like to hang out together).
The back seats are extremely easy to fold into the floor if you need more cargo space. You can even fold only 1/3 or 2/3 of it down if you still need back row seating.

I can't think of anything I dislike about it.

Honesty, not only is the SUV a gas guzzler (I know minivans aren't any better but they can haul more people if the need arises and you get more space) so I would not do SUV on that economic/environmental standpoint.

If you love the design though, I must agree that the most annoying thing about the SUV is how hard it is for kids to move in and out of the seats. I wanted a Pilot because it seated 8 (so it's a special SUV that makes up for the gas mileage much like minivans do) but my sister told me her friend had one and they had small kids and she ended up hating the seating arrangment.

I'm not a minivan person. Hate it. But I have a Sienna and I have to say, the space I have is wonderful. And the automatic sliding door! OMG, I thought at first is was nothing big but it's such a blessing when dropping the kids off/ when we are loading and they run ahead of me... You have no idea how much time (little as it may be) that it's saved me just being able to hop in and not have to hover over the door waiting for the kids to load up. They just press and button (or you do in front) and viola!

We went with the mini van because it would seat 7 people. Most SUV's seat 6-7, but the back row is often difficult to access. Plus, the back row on the minivan folds down flat (unlike the SUV's I looked at) and I use the van A LOT to haul stuff. Furniture, boxes, gardening materials, etc. I always thought the auto-closing sliding doors on vans were stupid, until I got a van without them and my kids weren't strong enough to shut the doors themselves. Took them until they were 9 until they had the strength. I can't tell you how many times I have driven from school to work with the van beeping at me. I have an '06 Ford Freestar. I hate the road noise, and the wheel bearings go out like every 30k miles. I bought it with 12k miles for only 16k though. DVD player, leather (so easy to keep clean compared to fabric) all the features you can imagine. My only other complaint is it's just not cool. If I didn't need to haul lots of friends all the time, I'd have a Jaguar.

I'm an SUV or Outback person... because I need 4WD for snow. Vans are just plain dangerous in the snow. And they get stuck in sand. And on crappy roads.

To ME... the important features will be for what ELSE you use it for, and what you WILL be using it for. If it's just for in town, or backroads? Will you be carpooling other people's kids? Do you need cargo for sporting equipment?

I would suggest RENTING a van you're considering, and an SUV you're considering... each for a week... before buying. Plan those weeks to the 9's... to see what will really be the best fit for your family. (S'what I did last year in the winter -to test on snow-, and the gas saved by switching to an Outback from my Jeep is literally hundreds of dollars a month. Which is really, really key to me right now.) What's key for you?

We have 4 small kids in harnessed seats, and soon to be 5. We love the Honda Odyssey (2011). I can have 3 kids across the second row in seats, and my 3-year-old rear-faces in the middle, third row. We folded down part of that seat so he can climb in through trunk. With baby #5 we might not have easy 3rd row access, so we might have to load over the cargo area, but you'll have just 3 so you won't have that problem! :)

I love the van for its side-curtain air-bags, too. A HUGE plus as the kids get older.

Okay, our grand kids are 8 and 5. BUT we end up hauling just about everyone is town around a few times per week. We also do sports, BMX, dance, gymnastics, etc...and I hate having a small van. It has some room behind the back seat, the shorter ones are useless for us.

I want a full SUV. Seriously, the seats are wider so that they fit an adult hiney, not just a skinny little kid's rear, and comfortably too. They are usually made to fit a man. So when the kids are bigger they will still have leg room, shoulder room, the ability to lean back and not be on someone's lap, etc...plus if someone is a full size figure the wider more supportive seat is way better for them too.

I also want to be able to fit several bikes, all the sports equipment, flats of water and/or Gatorade, 5 gallon water jugs, all that goes with the kids as they move through their lives.

One thing I always think of when I say I want an SUV is that with a Suburban, I can set up a pack and play behind the rear seat while we're parked at an activity and the little ones can lay down and nap if it's cool enough.

It's nothing like a regular van. We have had several. All with the extra foot of space behind the rear seat. Non were extended like a Suburban is. There are so many SUV's now that I am sure you will find just what fits your lifestyle.

The one thing that I love about our current van is that the middle seat has 2 integrated car seats in it. I have never seen more than one before. This is so great for me. I don't have to move car seats or clean under them anymore. I just flip them up or down as needed.

My boys were 4 and almost 2 when baby #3 was born. We upgraded to a Toyota Sienna minivan when I was pregnant. It was pretty new, but I'm not sure of the year... probably like 2007?

I love the automatic sliding doors. I use my key thing to open them ALL THE TIME. I love that the kids could climb in by themselves at a young age (my friends with big SUV's were still lifting their todders in when mine could get in alone) that's a huge plus with a newborn. I also like that the trunk door opens automatically too - I can push the button to open it while holding two kids hands in a parking lot.

I like the space in the back - my double running stroller fit.

We typically leave the second seat in the middle folded down unless we are carrying guests. My boys ride in the back seat (with a space between them) and my daughter rides behind the driver's seat. It makes the van feel really spacious, makes it easy for the boys to get in and out, and easy for me to buckle my middle child (he's still in the 5 point harness) even though he's in the backseat.

I dislike that the van we bought has the fancy sound system which takes up space that would otherwise be storage areas. Our first aid kid and tool box don't have cubbies to be stowed in... not sure what a van without the fancy speakers has but I know the Honda had a ton of little spots to store stuff...

I feel very comfortable, safe and the gas mileage is not terrible. We have low mileage on our car because we live in an area where I don't drive much more than 10 miles to get to anything (unless we are traveling), and my husband takes the bus to work.

I live in MN and we have snow. We bought new good tires for our van and it made ALL THE DIFFERENCE in the world for driving.

Good luck!

With the disclaimer that I only have 2 kids, I love my Mazda cx-9! I initially owned a 2008, but I just traded it in for a 2012. It is a 7 passenger suv. The third row folds flat and gives you a decent amount of storage in the back when the seat is folded down ( enough room for my family of 4 to take a road trip). We use the third row for our two large dogs and occasionally a person. It is harder to get in and out of the third row, but once you are back there, the space is fine. One of the nice things about the third row is that you can only fold down one side if you need the seat and also storage space. The second row comfortably seats two car seats (one convertible forward facing and an infant seat) and an adult. My only complaint is gas mileage' (around 20 mpg).

LOL. We are in a similar place in our lives. We have 4 kids: 10, 6, 4 and 16 months. We have an Expedition (we bought 10 years ago next month) and love it, but our oldest is having to crawl in and out of the back hatch because of the 3 car seats in the middle row. It was great for 3 kids. Afforded us enough room to grocery shop AND have a stroller in the back. With 4, the squeeze is tight. We do like the 40/60 split seat in the back row and that all of the seats lie flat when needed to carry cargo. We also LOVE the fact that the last row is full size seat with full size leg room, unlike the Suburban. If the Expedition EL was out when we bought ours, we'd have more room in the back and take out the center seat in the middle, so the configuration is like a minivan....but with the extra length, we can't garage it.

We are now looking at a Nissan Quest, since it has a lot more interior room AND the back seat reclines, so the kid's aren't crunched when they fall asleep. We are struggling with what vehicle to buy. We like the Mercedes Sprinter, but we can't se spending $60K on a vehicle that can't be garaged and there are very few used ones.

We are interested in looking at a Nissan NV2500 passenger van...but so far, none of the dealers around here have anything but it as a conversion camping van or a cargo van.

I have an 8 year old honda odyssey and I love it. My friend bought her SUV around the same time and is on her second one now because the first one was no longer drivable. When we take our kids bike riding, I have to take one of her bikes because she can only fit one in the back -- I can fit up to four, I have that much more room. I used to love the sliding doors, although they freeze in the winter, so that's one thing I don't like. I will absolutely replace it with a van (unless I can hang on to it long enough for them to move on -- but then I'll need the room to move them to college!)

ETA: by the way, I've never had any trouble with my van in the snow.

Van.

So easy. So useful. Fits a ton of stuff/kids/stuff/people.

And yep, easy to do diaper or clothing changes in.
Lots of room.
And for stroller storage.
The 3rd row, is easy to fold/remove.
I can even "walk" around in our van. Good access to things.

I love the Honda van !

We had a Ford Escape for the last few years and just loved it, but there would be no fitting 3 carseats in that thing. We recently upgraded to a Chrysler Town & Country minivan and I don't think I could ever go back to an SUV again. We can fit both our kids and the grandparents in this thing, and still have enough room for a cooler and a suitcase in the back. Or I can lay down the 3rd row of seats and fit our double stroller, the cooler, all my groceries, and still have enough room to change a diaper back there. I even fit a small tree in there once! Our model also has a dvd player, which is not something I ever wanted, but again, I don't think we could live without it now.

My husband wanted a newer model with the remote-open side doors, but to me it wasn't worth the extra money. Our neighbor has a Dodge Caravan with remote doors, and sometimes the button will get pushed in her purse and she'll come out later to find the doors wide open in the parking lot!

I think what you're asking about using the third row, would be to put the new baby in the 2nd row bucket seat, and your older children in the back? That would work great if they can buckle & unbuckle themselves, but I don't like to climb all the way back there unless I have to. The nice thing would be if you get a van with the 2nd row swivel seats, that's what ours has. When we went on a family trip, grandma sat in the very back, and I turned both my kids around to face her so they could play, and it was awesome. If you get a convertible carseat for the new baby, you could turn the whole bucket seat around to be rear-facing and all the kids could see each other!

We have a dodge 2010 caravan. Here are the things I like best about it:
Automatic sliding doors on both sides as well as trunk.
Fold and go seating (for diaper changing area and easier access to back row to buckle in kiddos)
Fold down DVD player.
Remote start. I didn't think this would be as useful as it has been but I am a convert on that feature now!
Independent controls for the AC/heat for each front passenger and separate controls for back (I tend to get cold easily whereas the rest of my family have normal body temperatures...)
I also like that we can fold all the seats down and it holds a whole sheet of plywood (just barely, but it fits!) so this van has been essential for our home depot runs too.
I think those are my favorite things. Hope this helped!

I have a town and country with the stow and go seats, LOVE it! The extra storage space is nice and you can also haul things in it! Our van is older, a 2005 and it has over 200k miles on it but it still runs good and I won't get anything else untill mine has to go to the scrap yard.

You definitely have to get something bigger BEFORE the baby comes! We had 2 kids and 2 sedans and once the 3rd child came, we were unable to fit 3 kids in the back seat with 2 car seats. The 2nd kid was 7 and had to be taken out of the booster seat immediately when the baby came because it was completely impossible to fit 2 car seats + our older kid ( who was 12 at the time) in the back seat.
Your kids are way younger, so you have no choice but to keep them in car seats, and no way will you be fitting 3 car seats across the back of a sedan.
We finally just got a Ford Expedition and LOVE it. Now, if we had our choice we MIGHT have gotten a minivan, but we had friends who gave us a deal we couldn't refuse on the Ford and even though it is 10 years old the mileage was only 65K. I can't believe how long we squeezed all our kids into a sedan, especially when bringing sports gear, stroller, all that stuff. The Expedition is awesome, because it has 8 seats which can all be put up and down in all sorts of arrangements. You can completely fold down the 3rd row seats if you need extra cargo space for strollers and such. We also sometimes fold down the middle seats and stick the surfboards inside in the middle so we don't have to bother with putting them on the racks on top.
I have to say that compared to our old Mercedes V8 engine, the Ford gets way better gas mileage. It doesn't feel super huge when driving it.
We are really happy.
I guess if I had to compare vs. a minvan, I'd say the big difference is diaper changes are a lot easier in the back of the Expedition vs. the side of the minivan. (We had a minivan many moons ago with the 1st 2 kids, lol.)
The other thing is the ability to easily fold the seats into all different kinds of setups. That works great for us with the surfboards, but that is sort of a unique situation for us. Not sure you are worrying about that just yet :)

Honda Odessey is awesome... automatic doors, it helps so much!