What are you driving?

We are only 13 weeks but our biggest debate at this time is what kind of vehicle to get. Right now we have a 3 series BMW which is very impractical for twins or even one I think (I babysat last week and put a rear facing car seat in and the passenger seat had to be almost completely forward leaving no room for the passenger). We have been looking at the VW Routan but aren't really ready for a minivan but it looks like what it has come down to. I am fine with a van but we are just not sure what vehicle is best. We also have two medium dogs that usually go everywhere with us as well. Just looking to see what is working for all of you and if the van would be the best choice based on others experience.

 

I drive a Chevy Tahoe and LOVE it! I am taller though, so it is easy for me to maneuver them in and out when needed. I know some people that are on the shorter side have had trouble in that area when it comes to SUV's. There is plenty of room for all of us, and our pets. We also have the third row seat which is nice when we need to bring extra people along. Good Luck with your decision.

 

Well, we have 13 kids plus dh and myself so we need a 15 passenger van, and will be looking for a bus in the not so far future.

Sorry, I'm no help with this one. :unsure:

GL finding the right vehicle though....I know it can be tough.

 

We drive a mini van, purchased when I was about 20 weeks pg with this pregnancy. We debated an SUV or Crossover with 7 passenger seating, but I just could not fathom two infant carrier bases locked into the second row, and my 5 yo DS climbing over all that to get to the back. So the minivan is the most practical way for us to go. I can already tell we'll be glad we did it!

 

My husband and I went through this same thing, and though we still haven't purchased our new vehicle, we have narrowed it down to two choices. The Toyota Highlander (new body still since 2008) and the Mazda CX-9. We took our infant car seat with base and our Britax convertible seat and tested them out in all sorts of mid-size SUVs which is what we were aiming for. These were the only two vehicles that the seats fit into while leaving us room in the front for comfortable driving and riding positions. Everything else was a ridiculously tight fit or just a complete NON fit.

Now if you're willing to go for a Minivan of course any minivan will work for you, or if you're willing to go with a massive SUV, but that just wasn't practical all around for us as we didn't need the large SUV space other than in the back seat.

Hope that helps!

 

We have a minivan. :good: We had an Altima and really tried to make it work and had to give in to buying a minivan. Great decision. Good luck with your choice!!

 

until the twins were 18 mos old we had a Ford Focus - fit us, the twins, a double stroller AND a weeks worth of groceries....but we didn't have pets...

 

We'll see how ours works. When we thought we were having one baby - we bought a Subaru Forrester. It has a new body style and rides great. When we found out we were having twins, we kind of wished we got a mini van, because we have a dog that goes everywhere with us. But, we are going to try to make it work. Sorry I'm not too much help. GL with the car shopping!

 

Hi, we have a Toyota Sienna Mini Van - DH made an offer without discussing it (I am so not a mini van mom!), but in the end I love it. We have a toddler, a dog and the twins on the way and it is so roomy! Can hold lots of car seats, strollers, diaper bags and groceries. My only advice would be to buy a used one - I don't think they are worth the value at brand new - we paid $11,000 for a 2004 which I think was a great deal. Plus we have only had it for a couple of months and it is already covered in spilt juice, raisans and cheerios.... and will only get worse!

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

We currently have a Jeep Grand Cherokee but it won't safely fit three carseats so we are also looking at the VW Routon. I never wanted to be a Minivan driver, but that one is actually really nice. One of my friends has one and really loves it. I don't want to get a big SUV because of the cost of gas, that is so unpredictable and when it got up to $4+ last year, I was not happy with my monthly gas bill.

The Chrysler van is nice too. Similar body style to the routon and has cool second row swivels seats. I've only looked online though, not in person.

 

I drive a pontiac montana but for me it is to small. We had to take one captain chair out just to get our three year old to the back.

 

I may be in a minority here, but I have a Suburban and love it!!! (Ironically, we bought it a few months before we even found out we were pregnant) We got a model with the two captains chairs in the second row so it's really easy to get all the way to the back seat, plus there is TONS of room in the back so your dogs could still be comfy in the way back while all your passengers still have plenty of leg room/car seat room. I am so not the minivan type, it's a great fit for me/us. Plus I'm on the shorter side and love being up so high and feel safer sitting tall. I will say that at first it felt like driving a bus, but now there is no difference between driving the Burb and driving my husbands Accord. Good luck, and it is a great idea to take the car seats you will be using to see exactly how much room you will have.

 

When I got pregnant I was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee that I LOVED. I drove that until the boys were 10 months old. At that point we finally bit the bullet and got a minivan (Chrysler Town and Country). Looking back I wish I had it when they were first born. The jeep was fine, but the van is much more convienient. It's a LOT easier to get the carseats in and out and the auto doors are a lifesaver. We have room for passengers in the third row and plenty of room for a stroller and groceries. I know you may not want to do it, but if you are thinking about it at all, I HIGHLY recommend doing it now. I wish I had it when the boys were tiny because it would have been SO much easier to go out to the car and just press a button than try to fumble with 2 carseats and all our stuff while opening doors. The Jeep worked fine, but just didn't fit anymore with what we needed in our vehicle. Could we have continued with what we had and been fine? yes Would it have been a PITA for us? yes.

My biggest selling points were the auto doors, the stow and go seats (which are great for us) and a DVD player. The extras that came with the car that I LOVE are the remote start and the satelitte radio, I'm not sure how I lived without either one of them before.

FWIW the Routan is nice, we looked at it, but ended up with the Chrysler since they are basically the same, but we were able to get more goodies on the Chrysler. You need to figure out what you think you can't live without and go from there, if you can get all those things on an SUV (we seriously considered a Suburban actually) then go with that, ig there are things you want that you can only get in a minivan, get that.....but my vote is for the van!

 

I just drove home my new Honda Odyssey! (I was driving a Honda Civic.) Even a few months ago I was saying "I'm NOT going to drive a minivan!" Ha! I thought I would get a Highlander or a Pilot, but once I started test driving and considering the seating and storage space the minivan made the most sense for me. The Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey have gotten the highest ratings from consumer reports for both safety & reliability, which quickly narrowed it down for me. Good luck!

 

I am a HUGE fan of my Suburban! Love, love, love it! I have my kids are 4, 2 and 8 week twins - we have the twins in the second row, two bigger ones in the 3rd row. I love the back-up camera, the DVD player, the seats that automagically fold down ... I could go on and on. It's the greatest!

 

Love my van (a Sienna). I'm short, and if I'd had to haul them up and down into an SUV it would have been torture. I am so glad we went van! We don't have any of the fancy stuff. We don't even have a DVD player, but I just love my van.

 

I have a Sienna also, and love it. I had a SUV when my older two were young, and I have to say the van is much easier to get them in and out of when they are young.

 

I had an SUV with my oldest DD and it was a bit tricky getting the infant carrier in and out of. I have a mini-van now, a Toyota Sienna that we have had for 5 years now and love it. :good: It is so nice having the power sliding doors, they were a lifesaver with having twins. :good: We have 3 kids so it's either a mini-van or a larger SUV and I didn't want a larger SUV. We can fit 5 kids in the 2 rows comfortably and the back has plenty of space for everything. Even on vacations when we had the double stroller, 2 pack-n-plays and all the luggage and sand toys, we have always fit everything in our van. I love it.


ETA: I have a Toyota Sienna and love it. :good:

 

What infant car seats did you have?...I have a 2007 Grand Cherokee and I'm seriously considering the Peg Perego seat (expensive but good quality/safety) but I am concerned about having enough room.

And for the minivanners...I've heard from other moms that the Honda Odyssey is awesome.

 

This is good to know, Nick and I were looking into getting either the 2010 Forrester or the 2010 Outback (larger than previous years). I think we are going with the outback b/c it is actually bigger than the Forrester lol. My little Outback Sport won't work very well lol.

 

We just made our vehicle purchase last week, and ended up with a minivan.
DH was having a hard time persuading me.. since I wasn't ready for a minivan yet, but I am now glad we went that way. I was actually surprised that DH had suggested it first!

We bought a Ford Freestar. We were originally looking at SUVs and cross-overs, but we couldn't justify the price differences and flexibility of a minivan. The twins will be our first children... and if/when we decide to expand our family, we didn't want to have to go out vehicle hunting again. This should last us a many good years!

 

Since we have 5 kids we may not be much help....

We have a Ford Excursion - a bit bigger yet than the 'Burb and just as awesome! All those things said above and more - it pulls our 34ft quad bunk camping trailer! I totally agree about not being minivan type - but ours stems more from needing to haul the trailer and room for the 110lb Great Pyrenees x Lab dog we have!

We have our older two boys in the back row in their 5pt harnesses, and in the middle row we have our daughter on the 40 part of the 60/40 split seat - she gets in last after the big boys are strapped in. The twins are on the 60 part of the split.