My niece is pregnant with twins (two boys) they currently drive a mazda3 and are looking for something with easier access to load and unload the twins and carry groceries. She mentioned a Honda CRV or a Hyundia Santa Fe. Of course money is a factor?
Any suggestion. Thanks B
Minivan. 4-7 year old caravan should be 10-15k. For less look at kia vans. Mazda 5 is an option but it reallt isn't much more economical than a minivan. Small SUV are no better than her 3 at baby duty and only better at doing the same thing for more cost.
Minivan.
Odyssey, Caravan, etc.
Mazda 5
I don't know why people think a higher version of the sedan/hatchback/wagon with similar door opening size is somehow that much easier to load. Just me though.
I am personally really confused about this very subject. Infant seats are HUGE. I'm trying to convince my wife that minivan is the answer.
Minivan. Honestly, just like said above there is nothing better when dealing with car seats and the sheer VOLUME of stuff that small children seem to require.
BTDT
Minivan.
asoduk wrote: I am personally really confused about this very subject. Infant seats are HUGE. I'm trying to convince my wife that minivan is the answer.
It's not that. I have a rear facing infant seat in the back of my Saturn and it fits just fine.
Its this:
KyAllroad wrote: the sheer VOLUME of stuff that small children seem to require.
Just had 1 baby. Love the Mazda 5 we bought. Yea its smaller but you can drive it like a bat out of hell on a windy road and its still kinda fun. I can see how it might get a little cramped with 2 infants though. Because I am just thinking of the trip we just took with double the baby items.
In that case..larger minivan. Sliding doors are where its at. Or a 5 with rooftop carrier.
AWD astro. 
Pick out the stroller, then pick the car. Because a double stroller won't fit in the truck of a lot of cars.
Minivan is the right tool for the job!
I expect that she may come back with an answer like, "I don't want to be seen in a Minivan."
At that point, remind her that she's knocked up higher than a kite. No way around it, she's going to look like a parent for the next 18 years.
Sliding side doors are the answers to her original loading concerns.
I have a Mazda5 and one kid. With two kids she'll need larger. The recommendation of buying the stroller first is spot on. They can be huge.
Another +1 for minivan, I prefer the Odyssey.
We get a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, and 1st grader in our Mazda 5 and everything works out well. But I'm not in the loading-kids-into-the-car business anymore. When she was having to carry one or more kids to the car and had to do all the buckling and whatnot of them, my wife demanded that we buy something with remotely-activated power sliding doors. I thought they were a maintenance nightmare, but until the kids could open the doors, put themselves into the car, and then close the doors behind them, there was a considerable amount of convenience derived from the power doors on the 2gn Oddity that we had. Don't underestimate how nice a full-size conversion van can be with kids, though. When it's raining, you open the door, throw everything/everybody in, close the door, and then worry about getting people and things stowed once you're out of the wet. On a road trip, the shotgun parent can easily go into the back to soothe or beat an out-of-line passenger. The blinds and fold-out bench seat in the back are a great place for breastfeeding, diaper changing, and napping (both for the children and the parents!). As unfashionable as they are, our full size vans have been incredibly well-suited to kid cartage.
As a father of twins, A minivan is the answer (and it kills me to say that). Get a Dodge/Chrysler with the stow-n-go.
Two infant seats are a pain otherwise. I could get them in my Aurora (which has a huge backseat), but it wasn't easy. the sliding doors are the win. Get the remote opening ones so when juggling the car seats you can hit a button while walking up.
Sorry, but it really is the answer. We've looked at countless SUVs as well.
Not much is cheaper than the Dodge Caravan either. Decent MPG and tons of baby crap storage.
captdownshift wrote:
Dude, that isn't the answer to anything!
Except maybe "what is the second ugliest car behind a Kia Rondo?" 
Grtechguy wrote: As a father of twins, A minivan is the answer (and it kills me to say that). Get a Dodge/Chrysler with the stow-n-go. Two infant seats are a pain otherwise. I could get them in my Aurora (which has a huge backseat), but it wasn't easy. the sliding doors are the win. Get the remote opening ones so when juggling the car seats you can hit a button while walking up. Sorry, but it really is the answer. We've looked at countless SUVs as well. Not much is cheaper than the Dodge Caravan either. Decent MPG and tons of baby crap storage.
I'm also a father of twins, and I'll echo everything said above...except I'm not a Chrysler guy. We've gone with the Kia Sedona. They're dirt cheap, reliable as gravity, can take a beating and carry tons of crap. The Stow-n-Go is a neat trick, but I could count on one hand the number of times I wish I had it. We just thought the Kia was a better value. Either way, there is zero question that full size minivan is THE answer here. Trying to stick two infants in anything else will be more pain than it's worth.
Sister has 4 kids and an 06 T and C. 3 8 is a thirsty motor. Like 20 mpg thirsty.
Pretty much all full size minivans are thirsty. Not very aerodynamic and they're heavy. Our Sedona gets 18mpg in suburban driving. Last weekend we took it 500 miles each way to Disney, 99% highway cruising at 80mph and we barely broke 21mpg. It is what it is.
Been there, done that, have the trail of cars we went through. Minivan is the answer.
We had the Graco carrier seats with the removable base for the first year. We also had the matching double stroller, inline not side by side, that the carriers could just lock into. Bases were in my wife's protege. She'd get them all set and locked into the carriers inside before she left and then just put the seat into the base. Worked great. Trunk was big enough for the carriage, but not much else. Did that for 1.5-2 years.
Moved to a MPV for another 4 years until it was just a little too small, even with a roof box. Got a Sienna w/ 22k on it. Now over 180k.
Minivans are the answer. You can do it with a sedan, for a little bit, if you can do the buckling outside the car. But once you have to buckle them into the seats in the car, minivans rule. Sliding doors are awesome.
Congrats on the upcoming nephews. Twins are great. One tip for your niece. Put them on the same schedule. If one gets up to feed/change, get the other one up. You will never get any sleep if you don't and it will drive you crazy. Also, split the work at night. We both got up, one got the bottles while the other changed diapers. Then we each took one of the boys and fed him. We could have them up, changed, fed, and back in bed in about 20-25 minutes.
And have fun. Take lots of pics!
Spinout007 wrote: Sister has 4 kids and an 06 T and C. 3 8 is a thirsty motor. Like 20 mpg thirsty.
My 05 will get up to 25mpg. the 2010 we just got is closer to 20. Still better than an SUV with similar seating and storage size.
Edit: the minivan makes a better changing room than the mini-suvs as well. Yes, they will be changing diapers, clothes, etc in the vehicle.
Actually, in the short term I would keep the Mazda. Putting car seats in a van is not so easy since there is more lift and reach involved.
Our daughter was raised either in a Miata front seat or the rear seat of a 2 door Mazda 323. I found it easier to install her in the rear seat of the 323 since you are doing it from a head-on position and the seat buckles do face forward. Big issue with twins is that you are going to be visiting both sides of the vehicle no matter what you buy.
I had a Mazda5 with one kid and it would be OK for twins, but don't expect to fit a dog or anything else in there. Even with the manual trans, it also never got as good gas mileage as I thought it should. 22-25mpg was my average. They're available for very reasonable prices used.
Plan on needing to fit at least the following: Double stroller, two pack-N-plays, large diaper bag, and feeding supplies. Might need to fit a bouncy seat or two if visiting grandparents.
Personally I'd get a Grand Caravan/ Chrysler TC. I'd also look at the Ram Promaster city Wagon, but I'd bet the Caravan would be the better and cheaper tool for the job. We rented a Caravan on a trip around Yellowstone, dragging along both in-laws, a 2 year old, hiking gear, and suitcases aplenty. It didn't break a sweat, and had room to spare. Comfortable, and we averaged 25mpg.
Mazda5-Mazda 3 with extra space. Seats 4 very comfortably, great for rear facing car seats. Has 2 extra seats for people in a pinch. Folded flat, great space for luggage and baby stuff. Thanks to the generous floor plan arrangement our 50 lb mutt rode with the kids and laid between their seats leaving the back for stuff.
In reply to KyAllroad:
nonsense, no roof or window pillars to interfere with seat and child loading and unloading. There are very few thing the cross-cabriolet does well, kids in safety seats are one of them though.
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