Off Topic: Vehicles for large families

[Sweepy]

Hi everyone, apologies for the off topic post but you are the people we are trying to get some ideas from since there's not that many families out there in the general public anymore with families of our size.

 

We have our #4 due in July and we also have my mom who lives with us and often rides with us. So we need a vehicle that seats at least 7: 3 adults, 2 elementary aged, 1 toddler and 1 infant. We currently have a 2007 Chyrsler Town and Country that has been diagnosed with a burn out engine and expected to die any day. Currently, we can see that when the baby comes with the infant seat, my mom or another adult will not fit between the 5 and 7 year olds who are in the very back and both still in boosters of some sort. We're looking at Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Toyota Highlander and/or hybrid, Nissan Quest and Nissan NV (full size passenger van). Here are some questions.

 

1. Any experiences with the NV? Is this an overkill for 7 passengers?

 

2. What do you drive now and what do you like/dislike about it? Any major repairs/issues with the car?

 

3. How has your vehicle been for the ages of your family? Good with littles (lots of carseats/boosters)? Good with older kids/adults who can use factory seatbelts?

 

Thanks so much in advance! We are very nervous about the pressure we're under right now to replace our van 2 years earlier than we'd planned with a 20% furlough expected within the month. Your thoughts really help to steer us in a postive direction.

[TraceyS/FL]

I can't compare to the newer Odyssey, but my parents have an 08 with the seating for 8. Honestly with 4 kids in seats, and an extra adult i'd lean towards the full-size van. If your mom being there is a temporary thing, then you could make due with the mini-sized. I wouldn't want to do your mix for more than an hour or two. The 8th seat is tiny and we normally make my skinny teen take it. With two boosters in the back (one doesn't fit in the middle back), you still have a small spot for a person. I hate sitting between them like that!

[sgo95]

You should try posting this on the Chat board as well. We have an Odyssey that seats 8 and we have 4 in seats/boosters. My mom can fit between the two boosters in the back row but she's very slim. Honestly, I've looked at the Nissan NV van online and I really like the idea of it. You can take out some of the seats so it's an 8 or 10 seater (the rows of seats are split 2+1, 2+1, 2+2). It's also not much more expensive than an Odyssey.

[VeritasMama]

We have a full size van. We used to have an Odyssey, before that we had a Sienna. I loved both my minivans.

 

When baby number 6 came along, my husband insisted on a full size van. I resisted, but gave in reluctantly. We have a Ford E series van that seats 11-14 (it has a back bench that comes out). We also looked at vans that seat 8-10, but the larger van was a great deal. Now that number 7 is on the way, I'm glad we went with the full size.

 

I still don't really like to drive the full size van, but I must admit that car rides are much more peaceful now that we aren't all packed in like sardines. We also have plenty of room for luggage, we had to use a car topper with the minivan when we went on long vacations. The kids can spread out more and they fight a lot less. We call it the airport shuttle. It is really nice to be able to drive our entire family plus our parents around town when they visit. I can actually take all of my children to pick up visitors from the airport, lol.

 

I really do like driving minivans more, they are so much easier to park and get better gas mileage. I think it is all a matter of how much room you want to have, and keep in mind your kids are only going to get bigger :).

[nukeswife]

Seriously if you're going to have a 3rd adult in there I'd go with a full size van or SUV, those "extra" minivan seats are just not comfortable for a full size adult.

[happypamama]

My minivan isn't one of the ones on your list, but I currently have the two older kids in the third row and the two small boys in the middle row. Obviously we will be moving things around a bit to accommodate an infant seat this summer, so we'll probably move the 4yo to the middle of the third row. We've done that when we've needed space in the middle row for another adult. The one thing that is tricky for us is that the middle of the third row only has a lap belt, no shoulder belt, so it can only hold a carseat with a harness.

 

Have you looked into replacing the engine in your current van? We are in the middle (as in, it's in the shop, and we're waiting for the call that it's done) of doing that in DH's commuting vehicle. Then we're going to do a big repair job on our van (new head gasket). In both cases, the repair was far less than replacement cost of the vehicle.

[Stellalarella]

A full size van will allow for children to be kept in 5 point harness car seats for as long as possible, which for us is an important consideration.

 

It's really hard for a grown up to sit in between two car seats. Really.

 

I would get a full size van.

 

Get a suburban with 3 rows if you don't mind kids always climbing over the seat or going in through the back hatch.

 

But as important as the need and the safety features are, I think another concern is getting something you can truly afford. Please let me be your cautionary tale...

 

We pretty desperately needed a full size van as we had 6 kids in 6 carseats crammed like sardines in a suburban--so we went and bought a full size van on a loan. Just a short time later, my husband unexpectedly transitioned from a job with benefits to self employment. In short, the Chevy Express is great, the van payments are.....not great.

 

If you do get a full size van, I think you will want one with a running board, or have it installed.

[AMJ]

I have a 7-seat Kia Sedona and a family of 4. What with family visiting, road trips, field trips with friends, and general shopping/shuffling we frequently max out it's capacity.

 

My SIL has 4 kids at home, another (her sister's) frequently in tow, a disabled Dad, and a DH. She drives a Chevy Suburban (same thing as the GMC Yukon XL). 5 kids and 3 adults gets a little crowded, but with one less things are comfy. When the 2 youngest were small she put their infant or toddler seats in the middle row, both in the unmoving part of the seat.

 

One family we knew had 8 kids and 2 or more adults to drive around. They bought a 15-passenger Mercedes "van" (looks more like a small bus).

 

I definitely recommend getting as large a vehicle as you can afford. Sitting next to carseats can be painful in a crowded row. Everyone will be happier with a little space. Whatever you seriously consider, try to get everyone involved in the test drive -- get them all to climb in, carseats and all. It's the only way to be sure of the fit.

[plain jane]

Hi everyone, apologies for the off topic post but you are the people we are trying to get some ideas from since there's not that many families out there in the general public anymore with families of our size.

 

We have our #4 due in July and we also have my mom who lives with us and often rides with us. So we need a vehicle that seats at least 7: 3 adults, 2 elementary aged, 1 toddler and 1 infant. We currently have a 2007 Chyrsler Town and Country that has been diagnosed with a burn out engine and expected to die any day. Currently, we can see that when the baby comes with the infant seat, my mom or another adult will not fit between the 5 and 7 year olds who are in the very back and both still in boosters of some sort. We're looking at Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Toyota Highlander and/or hybrid, Nissan Quest and Nissan NV (full size passenger van). Here are some questions.

 

1. Any experiences with the NV? Is this an overkill for 7 passengers?

 

2. What do you drive now and what do you like/dislike about it? Any major repairs/issues with the car?

 

3. How has your vehicle been for the ages of your family? Good with littles (lots of carseats/boosters)? Good with older kids/adults who can use factory seatbelts?

 

Thanks so much in advance! We are very nervous about the pressure we're under right now to replace our van 2 years earlier than we'd planned with a 20% furlough expected within the month. Your thoughts really help to steer us in a postive direction.

 

 

Dh and I just test drove a Nissan NV last night!!

 

I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it. I currently drive a Suburban so it wasnt that much bigger. Ok. It was. Lol. But it was do-able.

 

I think gas consumption would give me a heart attack but other than that it is one nice vehicle. It has the same footprint as the 15 passenger Ford Econoline but since it "only" seats 12 that means everyone has more space to spread out. I love that all the seats have a shoulder belt and head rests!! But. That said, 10 full sized head rests in a rear view mirror leave you with no view and you have to rely heavily on the side mirrors. It does have a back up camera, which I am sure would be exceptionally handy.

[Dahliarw]

Have you looked at an older used Sienna? The pre-2011 models have a very large 8th seat in the 8 seater (as in it's not that skinny middle seat). You could leave it out of your car, and then put it in when your mom is with you. You'd easily be able to fit 2 kids and one adult in the middle that way, and then 2 kids in the back.

[Shellydon]

We have a Expedition EL for 4 kids

[2squared]

I'm not understanding why an adult would have to sit between car seats in a 7 passenger van with only 4 kids. We have three seats across the back of our van - 5pt FF harness and two boosters.

 

If I had 4 kids and a MIL to seat, I would put three kids in the back and MIL and last kid in the middle. We have bucket seats in the middle, so they would be very comfy for an adult.

[amyrobynne]

I'm not sure how different the Town and Country is from our '07 Dodge Caravan SXT, but today we fit 5 kids and 2 adults in it. My newborn niece and my 3 year old niece were in the middle row (rear facing infant seat and FF convertible). Those are captain's chairs and an adult would fit as well as a carseat. My three kids were in the back row -- my 9 and 7 year olds were in backless boosters on the sides and my 2 year old was in his skinny Radian 65 FF in the middle. Fitting them 3 in a row is fine and I'm pretty sure a backed booster would be okay too, although I had to help my 7yo reach his seatbelt. I think if I had a 5 yo instead of a 9 yo, I'd keep him in a 5 pt harness because once that's clicked into place, you don't have to reach between the seats.

 

I used to have my 3 kids in the back row of a Civic using an infant seat and 2 Radians -- they're great for squeezing kids into tight spaces.

 

I hated giving up my 30+ mpg for my 18 mpg minivan. It would be even worse to drop to 12 mpg with a full-sized van if I didn't have to.

[boscopup]

For the configuration you'll have, an Odyssey would work fine. Just get narrow seats (like a Radian) for the back. Put 3 kids in back, baby in the middle driver side, MIL in the middle passenger side.

 

If the 7 year old has outgrown a Radian harnessed, see if a Harmony Light Rider backless booster will work. They are fairly small boosters, yet they fit well. Love them (and they're cheap!). I'd stick the K'er and 2 year old in the Radians (2 year old RFing, K'er FFing). The 7 year old can help buckle/unbuckle everyone back there. Then you have baby where you can reach it easily for easy buckling/unbuckling.

 

The hard part with 3-across in a van is when you get kids in boosters, because they have to be able to reach their buckle. 5-pt harness is soooooo much easier.

 

I don't think you'd need your 8th seat in the Odyssey for this situation, and that seat is very narrow (at least in my '08 it is). I can't even fit a booster in that seat. The Harmony was a tad too wide (with Britax Frontiers on either side).

 

I'd wait on the full sized van until you have more kids (if you're planning more). The gas mileage will be quite different. Buy used, so you can replace it easily as your family grows.

 

ETA: The Odyssey has been wonderful for us. We are on our second one ONLY because the first one was in a garage fire last year, right next to a burning truck (our F-150 self-ignited one night). Insurance didn't total the van, but it had some gremlins after that fire. Funny thing is that I had been thinking the week before that I really didn't feel like we needed to replace that van anytime soon. It was going strong. It was an '04 and had over 100k miles on it, and there were zero problems. My previous van had been a Pontiac Montana, and toward the end, it was breaking down about once a month, and it had electrical gremlins. Anyway, we replaced our '04 Odyssey after the fire, as we just didn't trust it due to the smoke/heat damage. It was 2 feet away from a truck whose entire engine block was now a puddle of goo on the garage floor. Plus you can never get all the smoke smell out. We traded it in for an '08 Odyssey, and it's getting close to 100k miles now. I love it. When I'm driving an Odyssey, I don't feel like I need to have AAA on speed dial. ;)

[UmMusa]

My neighbor has a diesel excursion. That thing is b i g.