Minivan, Station Wagon, Crossover or SUV?

I just got an 09 Toyota Sienna (minivan) this past Sept and I love it! It handled all the snow so much better than my car did! I have the 8 passanger, but they make a 7 passenger too. (we are a family of 4 but often go places with others and it's nice to be able to fit 4 extra people in!) I love all the extra room! the middle seats are captains chairs and independent of each - the middle one can be pulled forward for better access to a small child! the middle row can also be removed. the back row folds flat - TONS of cargo room - plus grocery bag hooks on the backs of seats, another unexpected joy - no bags dumping all over! It also has the automatic sliding door - very nice when you have full hands! I just wish I had it on both sides - my only regret for this vehicle, but I bought used, so you can't get everything you want, right? also, gets the same MPG my car did - mid 20s on average for me with mixed city/highway driving.

Good Luck - I hate car shopping!

Look into the new stuff Ford is coming out with.
They have several new models that are coming out that have great space and good gas mileage.
The new C-Max set for production yr 2013 has 70cuft of cargo space , as well as a 3 row seat and it comes in hybrid and electric.
The Escape hybrid does 34 city/31 hwy on gas mileage.
http://www.ford.com/
I personally have a Freestar, which is a mini van and I do like how I have enough room to go to lowes and not have to rent a truck
I can go places and take the dogs in their crates instead of putting them in the kennel.
I do miss my Explorer though.

I always said I didn't ever want to own a minivan, but we have one, and it really was a great decision. We have 3 kids, and the van gives us plenty of space for all the kid related stuff we have to carry around daily, as well as on longer trips. For a large vehicle, it gets pretty decent gas mileage, too. Ours is a Saturn Relay, which they don't make anymore, but it looks just like the new Chevy ones. Good luck!

I love my minivan and even though my kids are older, can't give up the extra room, etc. on road trips, etc. The only downfall of mine is the gas mileage - on average the ones that I've had in the past 8-9 years (Ford Windstar and Dodge Caravan) is 20-23, depending upon the type of driving you do. My favorite feature of the Caravan is the stow-n-go seats than fold flat into the floor - a lot easier than having to physically remove them from the vehicle. They also adjust front-to-back for extra leg room in the middle, just like the front seats.

I'm considering the crossovers for the next vehicle, however, haven't compared the features of those - I know my SIL has a Ford Taurus X and really loves it!

Its hard aint it!!! (haha) My husband bought me a truck for Christmas. (I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to be a minivan Mom) But, thats ok for me because I just have one kiddo. I do have a four door truck, but I digress.
If I were you, I would wait. Like you said...who KNOWS whats gonna happen...then where will you be?
Find out how MANY people are going to be in your family, then purchase accordingly....after all, you buy something new...it depreciates like no ones business when you drive off the lot.

Volvo xc 90 we bought ours used certified.. we have owned it for 5 yrs. Good in snow.. not too big but in a pinch the 3rd row seats great for kids. Seats 7.. oh such a safe car and the built in booster seat rocks. One flip of a lever. I like the way it drives and turns sharp.

We were in the same situation as you several months ago. Needed more room and we were planning on trying for #2 (IUI). We went through all our options and decided on the mini van. Hardest decision ever, because we were both anti mini van, but once we tried one out and saw all the room and extra storage it offered our decision was made for us.
Now we have #2 and I can't imagine trying to get both kiddos in and out of an SUV or Crossover. Our oldest is 3 and she LOVES the mini van.

Someone else asked a question after yours about minivans. Most people LOVE theirs. Even if you don't have multiples, minivans are great later for driving your kids friends. There may be a hybrid minivan now...

Love love love our new Chrysler mini-van! We have two girls. Perfect for us. Wouldn't want to drive anything else. Also, has great safety features so our insurance went down. For some reason it doesn't feel like a mini-van to me. Automatic doors so when my hand are fulll with groceries and kids I can just push a button and voila!

http://www.chrysler.com/en/2010/town_country/

I loved my Dodge Caravan when all 4 of my kids were little. We had 2 in carseats and so much stuff. There was room for everything, it was easy to get the kids in and out, it was great for camping and on long trips. Now I drive a Volvo SUV. I only have 2 teens left at home but having 7 seatbelts is great for carpooling. The backseat has very little legroom but my youngest is 5'7" and can make like a pretzel and sit back there. The only problem with the Volvo is the gas mileage, about 18 mpg on average and I do alot of driving. So I have my eye on a Honda CRV which supposedly gets around 30 mpg. There are only 5 seatbelts, though and less cargo space which may not be enough. Even with 2 kids and myself, we still have alot of stuff!

Love love love my GMC Acadia. Good gas mileage, good storage, drives like a car, with "captains chairs" in second row you have access to 3rd row. 3rd row folds easily. Drives like a car. Now, granted, you won't be able to fit 4 kids in it probably (if you end up with triplets), but maybe you could depending on how the anchors are (we only have 2 kiddos and a large dog and it works great!)
Good luck!

We have a Chevy Venture, and it is wonderful! the seats are removable and slide back and forth like the front ones do. It has two rows of seats, and still lots of room in the back. We took out the second row of seats, since both of our kids are still in carseats (one front-facing and one rear-facing). It's great because our 3 year old is up higher and loves to look out the window and see everything as we drive around. And it's very easy getting our 3 month old in and out too. the seats are super easy to adjust and take out/put in. And being a family of four that needs lots of food, it holds an amazing amount of groceries!! and our 3 year old can climb in and out on her own too, so it's not too high up - she goes from the ground, into the car, into her carseat on her own. our model also has an automatic sliding door on one side, and remote keyless entry. Our gas gage is broken, but it has a big tank and gets about 300 miles per fill-up, and is mostly driven on the highway, so it gets pretty good gas mileage. we bought ours (a 1999) used for about $5,000.

Suv. I have an older durango but I want the new 2011 one soooooo bad! I don't think I'd buy a car until you have ivf and know how many kiddos you are expecting so you know whether you need a 3 row or 2 row vehicle.

I vote for a Crossover which allows lots of flexibility. Go to cars.com and so some research on mileage, reliability issues etc. Great resource. I'm going through the same search as you right now and this has helped me alot. Good luck!

When my kids were little (they are now 10 & 12), we had a Chrysler Town and Country, which my husband drove primarily and we used for trips, etc. I have always driven a sedan. Now he has a Buick Enclave, which is great. Lots of bells and whistles and drives more smoothly than the Acadia, although a bit more expensive. He spent about 6 months researching and test driving almost every vehicle out there! I did not want an SUV because most ride like a truck. The Enclave feels like you're driving/riding in a luxury vehicle (I drive a Lexus, so that is a big endorsement.) I think that he is ecstatic about not driving a mini-van for image reasons; I refused to drive one, but we needed one larger vehicle. If you are moving furniture or something, nothing beats a mini-van. Some of the crossovers will carry a lot, though. Kids aren't little forever. By the time they are walking, they can climb into their own carseats. You will probably have the vehicle longer than you have children small enough to have to be lifted into it! Good luck with your decision.

I drive a minivan and love it! Kids in car seats have enough room and the third row is great to have. I love having the sliding doors so the kids can't slam their door open and into another car or something else. Also they make alot of them with automatic sliding doors, I wish I had one with that. I think that the new ones get pretty good gas milage too.
Good luck on your hunt.

I have a Dodge Grand Caravan and it works for our needs, we went from a family of 3 to a family of 5. When I am all done with school and have a regular job we are going to get a new vehicle and I am looking at the Chevy Traverse, at first I wanted to get a Honda Pilot but then my husband reminded me that he doesn't have the special tools for Honda vehicles (those repairs can get spendy really quick). I love our van for when we do family things and then we also have a Dodge Neon for the quick running around (it gets better gas mileage than the mini-van). A good place to check out vehicles would be Consumer Reports.