Paige Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 We currently have a Honda Odyssey that technically seats 8, but really only seats 6 happily. We have 6 people now, so that's fine, but we're expecting another this fall and I'm not sure if we'll be comfortable if we keep our van. We go on very long road trips often and there's no getting around it. I will only have one kid in a carseat and 1 in a booster. The others will be teenagers. I want a vehicle that will have an actual full seat for everyone and not one of those "bonus" seats in the middle that is always uncomfortable. If it was safe and it fit, I could fit a baby in the middle bonus seat happily, but I've never seen one that accommodated a big infant seat, and I don't want it to intrude on the seating spaces next to it. An Expedition or Suburban seems like a good choice, but I also have the problem of a narrow garage opening. My Odyssey fits now with about 2-3 inches clearance on each side. It's tight! I have enough trouble as it is, so I'm afraid a large SUV would be a daily headache. Is there a minivan that comfortably seats 7 with everyone in a decent size seat or an SUV that does the same but is as narrow as a minivan? I've looked at Edmunds and other online sites and can't really find the info I'm looking for. I don't want to go car shopping in person yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 I love my Nissan NV so much compared to my suburban but it's too wide and tell if you want it in a standard garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 I'm not sure what to suggest, but if you have a narrow garage opening, be sure to measure the height of the opening as well, to make sure you don't choose a vehicle that's too tall. Also make sure the garage is deep enough to fit the vehicle and that you'll be able to open the rear hatch to get things out without it banging into your garage door when the door is open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Dare I suggest a 12 or 15 passenger van? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 my old T&C is actually bigger than the honda or toyota. (4x8 sheet of plywood laying flat. not sure the newer ones could) I have the captains chairs in the middle row. I could do four car seats if I had to. we've done long road trips (with a car top carrier) with six adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 We loved our Nissan Nv 12 passenger, but it does not fit in a garage, nor have AWD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratford Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 We recently upsized to an Expedition EL and the best thing about it is that all eight seats are comfortable (even the middle of the third row! I tried it!) Third row visibility is excellent as well, which is important as every.single.kid in our family gets car sick. For reference, we have 4 kids: one adult-sized, one medium sized, one in a car seat, and one in a full back booster. We frequently haul a bunch of kids around and fill all 8 seats, no one minds sitting next to the monster car seat. Downside, it's too large for our garage so it's a driveway-only vehicle (too tall.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS83 Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 I so want an NV and have not nearly enough people to fill it. :D We don't even have a garage, so I'm for parking it outside. But...I also like my cars dirty. :blush: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 We currently have a Honda Odyssey that technically seats 8, but really only seats 6 happily. We have 6 people now, so that's fine, but we're expecting another this fall and I'm not sure if we'll be comfortable if we keep our van. We go on very long road trips often and there's no getting around it. I will only have one kid in a carseat and 1 in a booster. The others will be teenagers. I want a vehicle that will have an actual full seat for everyone and not one of those "bonus" seats in the middle that is always uncomfortable. If it was safe and it fit, I could fit a baby in the middle bonus seat happily, but I've never seen one that accommodated a big infant seat, and I don't want it to intrude on the seating spaces next to it. I have a 2014 Honda Odyssey and that bonus middle seat has worked just fine for a great big huge carseat. I have a believe it's a Graco Milestone. We had it rear facing until just a couple of weeks ago and now it's forward facing. We do scoot that seat more forward than the two sides seats but we have no problems with the car seat interfering with sliding the seats to get in the back row. I actually much prefer booster and car seats in the middle slots as they help provide a buffer between the big kids. But honestly we've found our Odyssey seats 8 quite comfortably. Much better than some of the other bigger vehicles we tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 I have a 2014 Honda Odyssey and that bonus middle seat has worked just fine for a great big huge carseat. I have a believe it's a Graco Milestone. We had it rear facing until just a couple of weeks ago and now it's forward facing. We do scoot that seat more forward than the two sides seats but we have no problems with the car seat interfering with sliding the seats to get in the back row. I actually much prefer booster and car seats in the middle slots as they help provide a buffer between the big kids. But honestly we've found our Odyssey seats 8 quite comfortably. Much better than some of the other bigger vehicles we tried. My Odyssey is older. I'll look at the manual again and see if it will hold a carseat. We thought it wouldn't because it's a tiny fold down seat. Is your seat like that? Maybe they redesigned the middle seat to be more useful. I can't stand the thought of not putting my vehicle in the garage and dealing with snow and ice scraping again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 My Odyssey is older. I'll look at the manual again and see if it will hold a carseat. We thought it wouldn't because it's a tiny fold down seat. Is your seat like that? Maybe they redesigned the middle seat to be more useful. I can't stand the thought of not putting my vehicle in the garage and dealing with snow and ice scraping again! I totally understand the ice thing and my garage is small too. We eliminated SUV's very quickly because we didn't have the space to swing open the doors in the garage and a full sized van was too big. One other thing we considered was the Ford Transit (not the connect) but it just wasn't as comfy as the Odyssey. There was also a Kia which was okay but the salesguy was so high pressure we walked away. Many people love their Sienna's but I just don't find it as comfortable as the Odyssey They redesigned the Odysseys in 2012 I believe. The outboard seats move away from the tiny seat to give more space to that one and it is most definitely safe for carseats as it even has the built in anchors in that seat. The anchors sit up a little higher and aren't in the seam like so many are. It is actually much easier to install the car seat there than in most slots because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 We currently have a Honda Odyssey that technically seats 8, but really only seats 6 happily. We have 6 people now, so that's fine, but we're expecting another this fall and I'm not sure if we'll be comfortable if we keep our van. We go on very long road trips often and there's no getting around it. I will only have one kid in a carseat and 1 in a booster. The others will be teenagers. I want a vehicle that will have an actual full seat for everyone and not one of those "bonus" seats in the middle that is always uncomfortable. If it was safe and it fit, I could fit a baby in the middle bonus seat happily, but I've never seen one that accommodated a big infant seat, and I don't want it to intrude on the seating spaces next to it. An Expedition or Suburban seems like a good choice, but I also have the problem of a narrow garage opening. My Odyssey fits now with about 2-3 inches clearance on each side. It's tight! I have enough trouble as it is, so I'm afraid a large SUV would be a daily headache. Is there a minivan that comfortably seats 7 with everyone in a decent size seat or an SUV that does the same but is as narrow as a minivan? I've looked at Edmunds and other online sites and can't really find the info I'm looking for. I don't want to go car shopping in person yet! This is the point at which we flipped to a 15 passenger. ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 We debated on the 5th kid about getting an NV or the like. We have a small garage and so we went with a HOnda minivan, it is a 2015 and fits a huge carseat in the middle. I kind of would like the extra space of an NV, but I would hate not having the sliding doors, and climbing up into it all the time. But the extra room would have been awesome. It fits the 7 of us fine now. Not sure as when people are teens. But I have 5 huge carseats in it now. I looked at them recently. We had an dodge mini before that. Hondas are sooo much better. We have rent a kia mini on vacation and those are nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 Thank you so much! I think a newer Odyssey may be just what we want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 You might look at getting one with a trailer hitch so you can put one of those racks in back for additional cargo capacity on trips. We don't have a hitch, so we got a cheap car top carrier, but I've always liked those rear hitch ones. (Small sigh) https://www.etrailer.com/Best/Honda/Odyssey/Cargo_Carriers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 You might look at getting one with a trailer hitch so you can put one of those racks in back for additional cargo capacity on trips. We don't have a hitch, so we got a cheap car top carrier, but I've always liked those rear hitch ones. (Small sigh) https://www.etrailer.com/Best/Honda/Odyssey/Cargo_Carriers You can put a hitch on later right? Or get a rack on top. But the Kias were really really nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anmom Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 I LOVE my Nissan NV, however that probably doesn't work if you are wanting narrow. It is a beast, but the space is wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 My Yukon XL was the car love of my life. That being said, for an arrow garage, what about a Toyota Sequoia? I'd measure though or get specs online and see if you could get a Yukon in there. You won't be disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8Arrows4theLord Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 We love our Ford Econoline Van. Gets good gas mileage. We seat ten, but they make larger ones. Wish we would have gotten the size up- teenagers have long legs! Suggest the rubber floor matting instead of carpet- easy to hose all the mud and mess out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 We love our Ford Econoline Van. Gets good gas mileage. We seat ten, but they make larger ones. Wish we would have gotten the size up- teenagers have long legs! Suggest the rubber floor matting instead of carpet- easy to hose all the mud and mess out. What kind of gas mileage does it get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 We love our Ford Econoline Van. Gets good gas mileage. We seat ten, but they make larger ones. Wish we would have gotten the size up- teenagers have long legs! Suggest the rubber floor matting instead of carpet- easy to hose all the mud and mess out. This is what we have. Ford Econoline 15 passenger van with the back bench removed for extra cargo space, seats 11. We even have the rubber floor matting. Love that. Ours only gets about 14 mpg, but ours has a V8 engine and towing package on it. Bigger engine = not so great mpg's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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