VAN Or SUV for Family of 5!

M.,

We own both a suv and a van. I love my van for the space and overall comfort. My husband however loves the suv. If you ask my kids they like the van for space but think dads suv is cooler cause it has a sunroof. We are a family of five.

One thing to consider with vans is the sliding door vs. the swinging one. I love that I can take my time buckling my children in without having to worry that the open door is blocking someone from getting in or out of an adjacent spot. And, that my son can open his door without nailing the car next to ours. :) We own a Mazda MPV, which I like because it's smaller and zippier than some of the others. It has much less cargo space, but I felt more comfortable in the shorter van (it was the same length as my old Saturn SL1!).

M.,

We have seven children and will have to adventually go for a SUV (9 seats)that being said. We LOVE our Toyota Sienna 8 passager van. WE had a Town and Country before which was great but if you have 5 kids you may want to consider the extra seat.

Easy to access the back row. All three of the middle seats can slide backwards or forwards. Far back row of the Sienna can fold into the floor for easy moving of things. It has truely been an excellant van and that is why we are now just driving aroudn two vehicles because I don't want an SUV. It is nice because it is taller but, when trying to put a baby seat up there it can be difficult.

Have fun shopping!
A.

one more thing you might want to consider is the gas mileage - especially with today's gas prices and the newly proposed gas tax on top of that! As much as I think an SUV is "cooler" than a minivan, the practicality of it points to having a minivan. My sister has an expedition, and although it's a cool car the maximum miles they've had on the highway is 17 miles/gallon (that was pushing it). The caravan that we have has gone up to 20 miles/gallon. Plus, they had to rent a topper for additional cargo space - we didn't have to with the minivan..plus on long trips, I'm usually going back and forth from the front to the back for the kids etc. It's nice to have the room to move around...

I'm suprised at all the votes for a van! We have a Suburban and we LOVE it. It fits all our gear, two large dogs, one 19 month old, another on the way, and 4 more adults if we want! It also pulls our boat and trailer when needed. The gas milage isn't as good as a van but it's certainly not bad. Plus I like that we can take out the third row seat, fold down the second seats and haul large stuff when we need to.

I vote for minivan, all the way... better gas mileage, smaller in overall size, yet more spacious, quieter, smoother ride, more versatile, less expensive, more practical... oh, but you'll be called a "soccar mom" and "uncool". Too bad. I LOVE my minivan!!! I have a 2 year old Dodge Caravan, got new for $15,000. Before that, I had a Plymouth Voyager (same car, different tag) for 12 years without a single problem until the very end. When I did the research 2 years ago, I believe the Toyota Sienna was the most reliable, but started at $30,000. The Dodge was also very high rated, for half the price.
I am SO against SUV's.

We have both, and for me the VAN was the greatest. (I did finally trade in the Van for a crossover now that my kids are 15 and 16, but will admit, I miss the space and a few other things from the van). I drove a Ford Windstar for many years - had two of them over the past 14 years and never had problems.

I agree with the 2 posts below. Van definately!. A few years ago, before we had kids, I was in the market for a new car. We knew we wanted a family so we decided to move to a van or SUV right away. I really had my eye on a few SUV;s, but they just weren't in the price range we were looking for. I settled for a van and boy am I SOOO happy I did.

We have gone so many places and had the back part of the van, just stuffed. I know there's no way we would have had the room for all that stuff with a SUV. We also sometimes take both kids (and carseats) and my parents and ourselves in the same care to events. We all have pleanty of room. ...I don't believe that room would be there in an SUV. If you already have 5 I would definately go with a Van. It will be more roomy, and will accomidate you much better, I think.

I would go for the VAN!!! We just a bought a Tahoe and I wish we would have gone for the van. I have 3 girls and I do daycare so the van would have been a plus. We got a great Deal on the Tahoe, but I think in the long run a van would have been the way to go. Next time for sure. :0)

Have a great day!

L. :0)

M.,

I am not sure what the ages of your children are, but we have a Tahoe and a Town & Country (kids are 10, 4 and 4 months). I love the Town & Country when it comes to room and carseats.... We can't use the 3rd row in the Tahoe because the carseats are strapped in and you can't move the seats (we actually just took them out and are storing them in garage).

We just barely get 3 carseats in the 2nd row (infant carseat, turbo booster and the new Graco Nautilis). It is very hard for my daughter to buckle herself in (turbobooster) because there is next to no room, we actually have to remove the armrest from the side she buckles in. The other two have the 5 point harness, so no need to buckle them.

I would honestly have 2 vans if we didn't need the larger vehicle to tow. Also, gas mileage is better with a van than the Tahoe. Oh and we have the automatic opening doors on the van and stow and go and it is so nice to have with little ones!!

We just bought the Honda Odyssey. It has everything (Navigation, DVD, sunroof, heated leather seats, etc.) and fits 8 if you want. The back row seats fold right into the floor (only need one hand to do so) and the second row seats can be removed easily if needed too. I love the way it drives and their is so much room and tons of little storage spaces hidden throughout. Besides all that, the safety ratings are five star. They are spendy, but worth it in my opinion.