Alternatives to the minivan?!

Hi all- I'm new to the forum, but have been lurking and reading for a few months now and I've already learned so much! We are 32 weeks today with boy/boy twins. We also have a 4 year old son... all boys for this family!

We'll need a new vehicle to accomodate all the kids and the gear. Obviously, a minivan has tons of space and would be easy to use. But we aren't thrilled with the gas mileage...or the price (but we are definitely looking at buying used too.) Does anyone with 3 kids have something other than a minivan that they love... a station wagon...or a crossover? Seems that it's not just the car seats, but the stroller, etc..

TIA and I look forward to getting to know you all.

-maria

 

:sign0016:


Sorry, I can't help you here......we have 8 sons and drive a Chevy Express (15 passenger van) as our primary vehicle.

Our other car is a 1992 Saturn SL1 that we bought new in Feb of 1992 (yep! over 16 years ago) and it has 183,000 miles on it now.....we are ready to pass this on to use as a family car (our oldest is 16, but we will still own it, because I am not planning on buying a car for each of my other kids as they get old enough to drive.......and if we GAVE it to our oldest, the older children would expect one also.

We are looking into getting a mini van also to use as a 3rd car, so that we do not have to bring the big van with us when the older kids are not going with us. We have children in 3 different size carseats (infant, toddler, and booster seat varieties) and that is not counting the kids that do not need a carseat......it is getting too hard to keep the correct carseats buckled into the car, there have been many times that I have had to drive the huge van with only one or two kids in it because the wrong carseats were installed in the car at the time.




Are you planning on having any more children? I would bite the bullet and get the minivan.....3 kids need A LOT of gear to travel with (diaper bags, strollers, etc) that if you put the items in a car trunk, you would not have room for groceries, and the like.

If you are planning on more children, I would just get the larger car now (it would save you having to trade it in later) not to mention if you wanted to bring a friend for your 4 year old, or maybe bring a different family member with you.....I would never go back to a car that had JUST-ENOUGH seats for the family.

 

Wish I could help you out..... We are in the same boat, but all of ours will still be in full fledged carseats (2 18 month olds and a newborn) I've looked high and low, and the only thing I can find w/ all the space we need is a van. Some people have had luck with the new Ford Crossover (can't remember the name) but we also have a large dog that needs a place to sit on long road trips, on top of all the kid gear!

I used to SWEAR I'd never be a 'soccer' mom and purchase a mini-van, but alas, I can't argue with the space and inside manueverability(sp?) We currently own a Ford Explorer with the 3rd row seat, and it's just to hard to maneuver to the 3rd row (it's hard enough w/o putting a car seat back there, that's virtually impossible)

I know for a second car, and one with better gas mileage, we were actually looking into a Toyota Camry (hybrid) Honda Accord Hybrid or one of the newer (not necessarily brand new) Nissan Altima or Maxima. I haven't looked to hard, but the Camry and Altima/Maxima seem to have enough space in the back for all 3 carseats that we could use for short in-town trips and some longer road trips where the dog doesn't have to come wiith.....


Good luck, Im interested to see other responses!

 

Hi and welcome to Twinstuf! :sign0016:

I am not going to be any help to you, I have a mini-van. And I love it! I was never getting a mini-van either, but you can't beat the practicality of it and with 3 kids and sometimes a friend of my oldest DD's, it sure comes in handy. The space in it is amazing. We have made it to the beach for a week with the 5 of us, 2 PNP's, double umbrella stroller, all our luggage, beach chairs/umbrella, toys etc. and everything fit inside the mini-van! The power sliding doors are a must with twins. I love mine. I have a Toyota Sienna!

It's something you might want to consider with 3 kids and all the gear that comes along with it.

 

Ditto for me. We finally bought a minivan after years of me saying I would never own one. We basically had no other choice. With 3 kids in carseats and a 12 yr old our SUV would no longer do. We have a Kia Sedona and the price was comparable to most SUV's as is the gas mileage. As for a crossover/station wagon we didn't even look because it would not fit our family.

 

I had a subaru outback wagon before. We have a 2yo and infant twins. I took it to the fire station to see if they could get the carseats in it, and the short answer was no.

IMO, there's no smaller car you can get to hold two infant seats and a convertible front facing carseat than a minivan. Anything that is big enough will have the same (or worse) gas mileage as a minivan. The honda's mileage isn't horrible. I've heard that mazda makes a smaller minivan type thing that might be slightly better, but not too much. I thought the minivan, mpg-wise was far better than any crossover SUV. Unless you get a hybrid, of course. Our van gets about the same mpg as our subaru outback got so we were ok with it. We have a smaller car (scion xa) that we use for commuting or going someplace with the 2yo - that alone saves a ton of gas.

The biggest benefit to the minivan is the double sliding doors - so thankful for that when i need to pop them in and out!

Jenny

 

We're currently looking for minivans to buy. We went over every option out there, researched wagons and crossovers and everything. We've got a 2 yr old and then there will be the twins, so that's 3 carseats like you.

Basically, there are some wagons & things out there that you can fit 3 carseats in, but not all carseats will fit 3 across. So you might have to compromise on having the top-ranked carseats vs ones that will fit. (if that's an issue for you--it sure is to me because I see that as potentially compromising safety!)

You've also got to think about what it's going to be like getting all 3 kids in the car--I can't imagine what you'd do if it were raining (or snowing, depending on where you are) and you were trying to get 2 infant carriers in separate sides of the car while also trying to get the older kid's coat off and have him/her climb into the middle seat....

And then there's the "other" factor. How is a stroller, especially a double, going to fit in the cargo area? Some of these double strollers barely fit in minivans! Do you have any pets? We've got a dog, and we'd never be able to take her anywhere if we had a stroller packed (somehow), too. What about if you have anyone else coming with you? My parents come with us sometimes on outings to the Zoo, etc, and we would NEVER have the option of going together. At least with a minivan we could try to arrange it to squeeze in an extra person or two.

The thing that sealed the deal for us on whether to get a minivan was seeing our friends' minivan in person. She's got twins and when DH looked at how much room the double stroller and the carseats & everything took up...it just didn't make sense how we could make due with less room.

 

I know your not looking for a gas guzzler but I have a suburban currently and I have 2 girls right now and 2 more girls on the way. My suburban will accomadate all of us and it has a huge cargo area. I'm able to put 2 double strollers in the back and then even a few groceries. I love it.

 

i'm looking at the sequioa 18mpg eww... They are coming out with the sienna hybrid next summer, if you can wait till then that should have better gas milleage.

Also check out toyotas highlander hybrid sitting around the mid to high 20's.

I also have a RAV4 currently and i get 23-30 mpg.

 

I don't have any suggestions for you on what TO buy but I have an opinion on what NOT to buy ...

My DD just bought a Chrysler Pacifica. It has two separate seats and a big console in the middle row and two seats that fold down individually but together make a bench in the third row. It looks very spacious -- when it's EMPTY! She put the twins' carseats in the third row and the baby is in the seat behind the driver. She keeps the other seat in the second row folded down but it doesn't "stow away" which would be really nice. (She may have removed it altogether by now, I'm not sure. That's what she wanted to do.)

The bench in the back is barely big enough to fit both carseats across, and they are not the huge carseats either. There is almost no cargo room whatsoever. She has an umbrella style double stroller and it fits behind the third row but it's hard to close the back hatch when it's there. I've been afraid of breaking the stroller when I've helped her, it's THAT hard to close. She can put the stroller on the floor between the driver and the second row but that takes up a lot of room as well. I have no idea what they're going to do if they ever travel in earnest, ie: suitcases, pnp's, etc. I guess they'll have to get a luggage rack.

Also, the doors on the Pacifica are so heavy. It's hard to hold the door open while holding an infant carseat and wrangling two 15-month-olds. The boys aren't old enough yet to climb in by themselves and it's exhausting just getting them in, and quite the acrobatic feat to wedge yourself in to buckle them into their seats.

I drive an Acura MDX SUV (three rows) and I have way more storage capacity than DD's Pacifica does. We've put all three carseats in my car and there is room for four adults, although the two in the middle seat with the infant carseat are a bit cramped. I don't get very good gas mileage though (around 17mpg on the highway) so that's not good. And obviously the Acura is at a much difference price point than most minivans or some of the crossovers.

The Pacifica is a super nice car and it drives great, but it certainly has its drawbacks when transporting three kids! I haven't asked DD about the gas mileage but I would assume it's probably comparable to a minivan. I do know that she wishes she had bought a minivan, especially for the sliding doors!

 

Hi,

I too never said I would buy a mini-van, but with having a 3 year old and now expecting twins, I really thought it would be our only option. . .But my husband does NOT want a minivan. . .I know you are not looking for a gas-guzzler. . .but coming from someone whose husband works in the car industry, SUV's are SUPER cheap to buy right now (especially used ones). . .so we did the math and it will be in our best interest to buy a used SUV (like a Tahoe, etc-with a 3rd row, of course) because our car payments will be a lot less and what we will be saving on the car payment will be going to paying for gas. So in the end, we will really have more room and spend about the same as if we were going to buy a more gas efficient, but more expensive, vehicle. It just depends on how much you will be using it. . .I know I won't be traveling with twins and a 3 year old too much after they arrive, so I think it is the best option for us!

Good luck in your search!!

Laura

 

We had a Honda CR-V ('02) before our minivan and it fit all three carseats and the trunk was big enough to easily carry all of our gear, even for road trips. The only problem is that you won't have good access to the babies on long trips because there aren't any extra seats in back. For that reason, and the fact that we wanted more kids, we went ahead and got a minivan.

To fit three carseats in a row, the Radian carseats are highly recommended. We had two Radians and a Graco Snugride in the CR-V.

 

I think I'm in the minority because I had a minivan (Toyota) and didn't like it. You could get lots of car seats in, but somebody was sitting way in the back My daughter (age 5) would never want to sit way back there - and even when adults were sitting back there it was difficult because they couldn't really hear what was being said in the front seat. So we traded for a Honda CRV. Like the PP, we got two Radian car seats for the babies (I'm also in the minority in that I can't stand infant bucket seats) and have a Brittax booster for my daughter. For longer trips, I intend to put my daughter in the front with the air bag turned off and I'll sit in the back between the babies. I can only do this because the airbag turns off, you couldn't do it on an older model.

The one good thing about a minivan is that you can do diaper changes in the isle. You can do them in the back of a CRV, but it requires getting out of the car. We can store just as much stuff in our CRV as we did in the minivan, unless the minivan's back seats were folded down but then it wouldn't hold three car seats anyway.

Good luck with your decision!

 

QUOTE(Grammy2TwinBoys+1 @ Jul 9 2008, 08:13 PM) [snapback]868346[/snapback]
I don't have any suggestions for you on what TO buy but I have an opinion on what NOT to buy ...

My DD just bought a Chrysler Pacifica. It has two separate seats and a big console in the middle row and two seats that fold down individually but together make a bench in the third row. It looks very spacious -- when it's EMPTY! She put the twins' carseats in the third row and the baby is in the seat behind the driver. She keeps the other seat in the second row folded down but it doesn't "stow away" which would be really nice. (She may have removed it altogether by now, I'm not sure. That's what she wanted to do.)


I second this. I drove a Pacifica when we had them, then got a minivan and DH started driving the Pacifica. We just got rid of the Pacifica, not due to space any longer (since DH drove it) but because it was a money pit. It was in for $1000-$2000 repairs every 3 months.

I think you'll have similar space issues with any crossover.

I am in the minvan camp too, I LOVE my minivan. The sliding doors, stow and go, and general space are so great. I drive a Dodge Grand Caravan. I don't even know what kind of gas mileage it gets, as I work from home and really don't drive too much. I fill it up maybe every 2 weeks, sometimes 3.

 

we just bought a 1999 volvo v70 wagon. it seems that it should fit two convertable and one infant car seat - i do know it can comfortably fit two infant seats and an adult. but i researched like crazy to see if all three could fit before buying the car because we will probably have at least one more and the only thing that would make me turn to a minivan is if we had twins again - not likely. we looked at a few of the crossovers like the mazda5 and kia rondo and it seems that the third row seating eliminates all trunk space. the volvo we can fit the double stroller and groceries including the huge boxes of diapers - quite easily. i even think my huge double jogger could fit with groceries. gas milage - ok - 19/25 - but intil they make an affordable prius wagon the is the way we will go.

 

I drive a Ford Expedition. The minivan thing just wasn't me. The gas mileage is up there but not really as bad as you would think. I get about 15-17mpg driving around on our small island. (roughly 35mph all over...)

 

hi
this isnt what you want to hear but
i hated mini vans , i told my husband i wasnt ready to drive a mini van, low a behold, i got a used 94 trans port 7 passanger for $3000. i put $60 a week in gas fill tank once,
i got because i had 2 kids new born and 2yr and the double stroller wouldnt fit in my trunk.
now we are haing twins , i have room for everyone and everything,
i think a anythign but a van would be to close quarters for fist and flying legs, and other items.
good luck

 

We are looking into purchasing a minivan as well. We plan on having more children in the future and don't want to have to upgrade again. Toyota Sienna's are supposedly very reliable and affordable. They get better gas mileage then an SUV and they have better crash safety ratings so they are less exspensive to insure. I never pictured myself driving a minivan, but after all the research we've done, it's a smart choice for our family. Good luck to you!

MJ

 

I am dying for a minivan! I never thought I'd want a "loser cruiser" (I say that jokingly, of course) but we have an explorer and even though it's big enough for all of us, it's not very conveinent. We've only got one row of seating (though you can have 2) but we have our oldest in the middle so she has to be in her carseat before I can get the boys into theirs. It's just not convienent at all. My dh also has an explorer but it's a 2 door and only has 2 seatbelts in the back and we're doing the car switch every day at work (we work at the same place, thankfully). Anyway, I don't think there's anything better than a minivan, unless it's an SUV with 2 rows of seating- oh and 4 doors! Good luck!

 

I have been anti-minivan for years and years but alas, I had to give in and get one. We found a Hyundai Entourage ( used ) and I am very happy with it. I never thought I would like any minivan but this is a nice one and gas mileage is good. Lots of room for our 3 kids, double stroller and even groceries! Lots of extras you can get as options if you want to get a new one. I've owned Hyundai's before , actually had the same Hyundai for 10 years and never had any problems with it the entire time I had it. I am hoping for the same luck with my mini-van.

 

We had a sedan when the boys were born. And it was hell on our backs. It's hard to get them in and out, especially when they fall asleep. We are now going to upgrade to a minivan even though they are almost 5 y/o. I could are less about the "cool" factor. My back deserves more respect than being "cool."

 

really a minivan seems to be the only way to go for us... suburbands are nice but not good on gas but then again Im not sure my minivan is either .... but we all fit .... good luck and welcome to the minivan club LOL

 

I am the grandmother of a two year olf girl and 2 month old b/g twins. We will be babysitting for the three of them when my daughter goes back to work next month. My husband and I decided that we needed a car that would be able to transport the babies when we had them....so, we did a lot of research and decided on the honda minivan. We love it and it is so efficient. We keep the middle row captains chairs positioned to each side so that there is an aisle down the middle. It is spacious enough for the three car seats and to transport my daughter and son-in-law with us when we have a big family outing. If we just have the two year old, I sit in the back with her. We get approx 25 miles to the gallon which is comparable to the VW bug that we have. I would recommend this van to anyone.

 

QUOTE(mom2betimes2 @ Jul 10 2008, 10:21 PM) [snapback]870860[/snapback]
I have been anti-minivan for years and years but alas, I had to give in and get one. We found a Hyundai Entourage ( used ) and I am very happy with it. I never thought I would like any minivan but this is a nice one and gas mileage is good. Lots of room for our 3 kids, double stroller and even groceries! Lots of extras you can get as options if you want to get a new one. I've owned Hyundai's before , actually had the same Hyundai for 10 years and never had any problems with it the entire time I had it. I am hoping for the same luck with my mini-van.

Ditto! We purchased our new van by Hyundai Entourage Limited Edition 2007 (last year). I used to be an anti-minivan but they are WORTH for functional for my twins! It has great cargo space and etc. I'm glad to hear a positive feedback on it long-term!

D, w/Rianna and Justin