Now that the wife and I have moved, we are unable to see our nieces and nephews as much as we’d like. We would like to be able to go get them but with us and 2 kids we can barely squeeze one more into our vehicles. Are there any decent mid size 3 row SUVS out there can accommodate 6/7 people. Wife already said suburban is too much vehicle for her, and she’s been nagging on about a minivan.. and I realllly don’t want a minivan. Sounds horrible just typing it out.
Sorry, but once you try wrangling a kid through a sliding door you'll wonder what the heck took you so long. I get the whole stigma thing, but around here we tend to value functionality over a lot of other things, and a minivan is designed exactly to meet your requirements. (Your wife did not ask me to write this message.)
We've had 4, there's no substitute.
Think my biggest fear for owning a van is working on one. They Few I’ve had a pleasure working on were some of the most unpleasant.
Minivan is probably the answer. I had one and it was great at hauling stuff once the seats were removed, too.
In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :
What you need is a sweet used custom van. Like a minivan, but with a living room inside.
Minivans are sweet though, and IMHO are way more manly than a generic mommy crossover. If you have to have an SUV, at least get a land cruiser or something sweet.
If you insist on a CUV, there are a million of them and they're all probably fine, but maybe the Mazda one drives better than the rest?
Subscriber-unavailabile said:Now that the wife and I have moved, we are unable to see our nieces and nephews as much as we’d like. We would like to be able to go get them but with us and 2 kids we can barely squeeze one more into our vehicles. Are there any decent mid size 3 row SUVS out there can accommodate 6/7 people. Wife already said suburban is too much vehicle for her, and she’s been nagging on about a minivan.. and I realllly don’t want a minivan. Sounds horrible just typing it out.
Personally, I completely understand the aversion to the minivan, even if I happen to have one. My best suggestion for mid-size 6-7 seater would have to be the Dodge Durango. Good towing capacity even in base trim, 7 seats, not super massive, and it doesn't look terrible in my estimation.
Wife was dead set against them. Then we went to the auto show and actually looked at 3rd SUVs and minivans.
We bought a Pacifica Hybrid with the S package. She loves it. Kids love it too. This isn’t about you, it’s about your family.
Drop the rear seat and pull the captains and you’ve got a ton of room. What’s the problem?
Minivan >>>> Suburban unless you also need to tow something while carrying 6-7 people.
Surprisingly, I don't hate working on our Town & Country/Caravan. They're pretty well engineered. I think I used a few expletives when replacing the power steering rack in the 2005, but I can't imagine not doing that for any FWD vehicle.
We have 5 kids, so we added an extra seat to our Caravan so we can bring a friend along. A minivan is the answer.
Minivans generally don’t bury the engine like a traditional van so they aren’t quite as bad to work on. They really are what you want.
Stefan said:Drop the rear seat and pull the captains and you’ve got a ton of room. What’s the problem?
This. More room than an SUV.
With the thoughts of a 3rd row SUV, how old are the intended riders that will be seated in the 3rd row?
I have a '01 Montero Limited (that's the big Montero.) The 3rd row seat has 2 intended seat belts, but...
The space given for the 3rd row prohibits the use of any kid car seat in the 3rd row. At best, you can use a booster seat back there. This means you are limited to placing kids who are roughly 5 years old and older back there. Furthermore, in this limited size seating area of the 3rd row you will max out then at about 13-15 yr olds depending on how big your kids are. And, as your kids reach the max age range they're going to start to complain about the second class seating the 3rd row offers.
Minivans don't have this same problem. The 3rd row seats will fit most car seats of any kind as well as full size adults.
My wife LOVES her new Pacifica S.
In a 3rd row SUVs also take a moment to envision how the use of the 3rd row will really work.
Here is the big Jeep Commander.
Now,envision that you have a car seat at the window positions of the 2nd row. With these 2 car seats in place that means you will not be able to use the intended folding function of the passenger side 2nd row. Your intended 3rd row sitters will have to awkwardly climb past a car seat to get to the middle position of the 2nd row. Once at this middle position they will have to climb over to reach the 3rd row.
Grandma may be small but she's not going to execute this maneuver to get into the 3rd row.
If you have three car seats abreast in the 2nd row then no one is going to be able to reach the 3rd row without complete removal of one (maybe two) car seats every time you load people into the 3rd row. PiTA.
Of course, you might be able to load the third row occupant from the rear hatch. Once again, here is the rear view of the biggest Jeep Commander.
Your intended rear seat occupants better be pretty small to execute this climb over maneuver (yet big enough to not need a car seat or help buckling up.)
I suppose you could fold down one half and then have a pretty big area to load in. But, this then means you have a max capacity of one person in the 3rd row, defeating half the purpose.
It should also be noted that let's say you do magically have the right ages and you can seat three 8 year old kids across the 2nd row and 2 more 8 yr old kids in the 3rd row. With 2 adults in front and 5 kids you now have 7 people. Look at that remain cargo area that the Jeep Commander leaves you for 7 people. You are pretty much limited to what each occupation can hold on their lap.
Real Minivans have none of these problems.
Has anyone considered that a large crossover is just a minivan with all the utility removed? It still looks and drives like a minivan, but now it sucks as a minivan.
Minivans are mega fun. And practical. And now, they're kinda fast. Have your cake and race it, too.
In reply to Esoteric Nixon - Jordan :
Beautiful. That was surely a hoot to autocross!
In reply to Esoteric Nixon - Jordan :
iirc, the hoosiers generated enough grip to hurt the head due to oil starvation
If the kids are small I suppose a Mazda 5 could work?
Typical minivan ie transverse V6 FWD is pretty easy to work on, certainly no more difficult than a pass car of similar layout. It really is the answer to your question.
Ford Taurus X with the captains chairs in the middle. Usable third row - adults and baby seats can fit back there and access isn’t impossible due to the space between the center row seats. Usable cargo area even with the third row in use. Decent power, 6 speed auto, respectable gas mileage for the size. (We get about 19mpg average.) At this point the newest is about 10 years old so that’s your call on if you want something that old.
The Flex that replaced it might be another option.
But really a minivan will do the job better.
You want a minivan. End of story.
My wife drove a manual shift Volvo wagon which died. She wanted “a manual shift car that could seat 6 and get 25 mpg”. The only car that fit that criteria was the Mazda 5.
We went to test drive one. It was sitting side by side with an MPV. She was sitting in the 5 and enjoying it. Before she even got to test drive it, she realized how small the rear cargo area was, and refused to drive it. We bought the MPV, and never looked back.
I have 5 kids. We’ve had SUVs, wagons, minivans, and now a small crossover. Minivan is the ultimate people mover. There is simply no comparison.
Have you bought that minivan yet??
Both 2005 and 2010 Chrysler Town and Countries I've owned were quite easy to work on.
DId a wheel bearing on the 2010 a couple of days ago, took 30 minutes.
Yes.. you want the sliding doors with the key fob to open.
My family of 6 pulled a small popup all over the east coast with relative comfort.
Interior capacity excels on the minivans as well. 10 ft boards and 4x8 sheets of drywall will fit inside.
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