SUV For Family of 5 - Milwaukee,WI

I have the GMC Acadia and love it. We have the one with the captain chairs in the middle row. We have my 3 year old's car seat in the middle of the back row, and that car seat is huge, and the an infant car seat in each captain chair in the middle row. The down side is, once we put the double stroller in the trunk there isn't much room for anything else, which hinders storage. However, when we travel we bought a bag for on top of the car for $40 from Dicks and it's been through a couple of rain storms and everything stays dry inside. If I didn't need three car seats, I would look into the one with bench seat for the middle row. This way, for everyday use you have the back row for more space for you 8 year old, but when you travel, you can fold down the back row and have the 8 year old sit inbetween the car seats in the middle row. The Acadia get pretty decent MPGs. I easily get 20 MPGs on the highway, if not more.

I also had no desire for a minivan until after #3 was born and we spent a few months with #1 having to climb in/out over the back seat of our SUV. Just a thought. I love our Sienna, the automatic door, the great mileage, the space between the kids.

You really should think about a mini-van. Your 8 year old can then take a friend along.

Chevy Traverse or any crossover type car. Love the Traverse. Gives you
plenty of room like an SUV and is not a minivan. Personally for me, I never did and never will drive a mini van.

We couldn't find one except the suburban but I felt like I was driving a tank after driving a minivan for 5 years. The Honda Pilot was nice but still didn't have the necessary storage space for overnight trips to my parent's house. We didn't like the ride of the Traverse and it didn't have enough room. We went with the Honda Odyssey and I LOVE it.

I positively love my Ford Explorer. We're about to have #3 too, and my oldest is 8 too, so I'm in the same situation. My ideal would be to get a mini-van, but my Explorer is paid off and runs great, so that's what we'll be using! It has a 3rd row so it will work great.

Hi... I know you said you had no interest in a mini-van, but we have a 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT and we love love love it! We have a 13 yr. old,, 9 yr. old and a 4 yr. old. We have taken it camping, across state lines for visits, etc... it's great on mileage, super comfy and _lots_ of room for everyone. I strongly suggest you re-think mini-vans... :)

Honda Pilots are very big and roomy.
I can't imagine the gas cost to fill one is low...

Something with a 3rd row, probably.

Mazda CX-9 is sweeet. I don't have one myself, so you'd want to test it out with all the car seats and folding/sliding to get a 3rd child in or in the 3rd row or whatever. But they are very nice, and have a lot of room. Sporty, too.

I know that you dont want a minivan. It really is nice though. I watch the moms with SUV's struggle to get their little ones in. There is always room for friends, and when they were little, i could "climb in" out of the rain and strap them in :)

Explorer! Or traverse looks nice too. But we loved our explorer. Plenty of room for all and stuff in the back.

Some Buick Rendevous & Honda CRVs have a 3rd seat. I have a Rav4 it will seat 3 in the back but it would be a tight fit.

We had a Honda Pilot and I loved it. It worked well when we had three kids...got a bigger SUV when #4 came and we're shopping for an even bigger one now that #5 is here. With the Pilot, there is a 60/40 or 70/30 split in the third row, so we would just put our oldest back there with part of the row up, still leaving cargo room. Mine was an '06, so the MPG might be different now, but I think I got in the low to mid 20's highway. It was a great car, we'd still have it if we hadn't outgrown it.

What is the difference between a mini-van and a SUV? I thought they were the same.

I have a Dodge Grand Caravan that works well with my grandchildren. The registration says it's a SUV. My daughter borrowed it before they bought their mini-van. A KIA something. My van has 3 rows of seats. The middle seat seats two with an aisle down the side. The KIA also has 3 rows of seats. The middle row has two seats divided with an aisle in the middle. My van has more room. Perhaps that is the difference between a SUV and a mini-van?

In both vans two children sit in the middle and the third sits in the third row. I suggest that seating this way is better than cramming 3 kids in to one row. They all have more personal space with less fighting. And, it's much easier getting them buckled in.

We've had a Chevy Traverse for almost 3 years now and really love it. We also have 3 kids and the oldest loves that he gets the back row all to himself. We have bucket seats in the middle, so he just walks back to his seat. Not sure why someone said they see moms struggling to get their kids in an SUV because ours is no problem at all. I get about 19-20 mpg, which includes both city and highway driving. It's expensive, but well worth the money in our opinion. Good luck!