For those of you who have/had both an SUV & a minivan

[mom2boys]

Background: We are a family of 4 - but like the extra space our minvan gives us. We drive to WDW - switching drivers with the adult passenger usually sleeping in the 3rd row seat.
We are just starting to explore the possiblity of replacing our van. Can't decide whether we'd be more satisified with an SUV or a minivan.
Which did you perfer? Why?

 

[Bichon Barb]

We had a Ford Windstar from 1995 to 1998 and LOVED it! But, we started camping and needed a tow vehicle, so we bought a Yukon. Just last week, we traded the Yukon for a very large crew cab pick up truck.

IF you don't need to tow anything, and IF you don't live in an area where snow is measured in feet, I would go with the minivan. They are better on fuel, and SUV's handle like trucks (well, at least the bigger SUV's).

We recently were in Florida and saw lots of Hummers and Escalades, Suburbans and Excursions, etc. with no towing hookups. I don't get it. Why both with a huge engine like that and 4WD if you have absolutely no use for it?

 

[TEENEE]

I have owned an SUV and borrowed a mini van for a trip. I really loved my SUV but after taking that van on a long trip I would stay with the van. We are also a family of 4. The van gave the kids more room to spread out. We didn't have to listen to any of the usual, stop touching me, move over, you know what I mean. We had just as much room, if not more, room in the van for luggage, cooler, snacks, all the stuff we take on long trips. The van we borrowed had two bench seats. We like to travel at night. That worked out great for us. Each kid had a seat to stretch out on and sleep. My next vehicle will be a minivan.

 

[AirForceRocks]

We just switched from a mini-van to an SUV because we needed something with more towing power. If it hadn't been for that, I would have preferred another mini-van.

 

[chadfromdallas]

Check out the infinity fx45

As much as I hate SUVs and Mini-vans....you can't hate the fx. Looks so nice


The new cadillac is very nice too. Don't pass it up

 

[ripleysmom]

SUV's, unless they're the huge ones, just do not have the same amount of room as a minvan.

 

[CamColt]

Originally posted by mom2boys
Background: We are a family of 4 - but like the extra space our minvan gives us. We drive to WDW - switching drivers with the adult passenger usually sleeping in the 3rd row seat.
We are just starting to explore the possiblity of replacing our van. Can't decide whether we'd be more satisified with an SUV or a minivan.
Which did you perfer? Why?

Ive never had a minivan, so this may not have much weight with what you are looking for in responses, but we have driven to WDW 3x each time in a Honda CRV(twice in a 98, and once in the bigger 2003) and weve done fine.
We do the driver switch too, but sleep in the front seat, reclined a bit with a pillow. Its not the most comfortable place or the best nights sleep ever, but it does ok for 1 night.

 

[FreshTressa]

We have a mini van and my parents have an SUV that we have used in the past on many occassions.

Unless you have a specific use for an SUV...like towing and rough roads, I think they are pretentious.

Also, unless you get one of the giant ones, the mini vans hold more passengers and the extra seats get used a lot (my kids friends, my parents). My mini van is easier to drive, it holds a little more cargo when the rear seats are out (the fold in ones are even nicer!)

 

[AirForceRocks]

It really depends on what you like to drive, and how much room you need. I have an Explorer (not a giant SUV) and it has room for 7, just like my mini-van. There isn't as much space for the passengers as I'm used to, but it is fine for hauling around the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.

 

[mouseclick1]

We leased a Suburban for 3 years, then traded it in for a minivan (Chevy Venture Warner Bros Edition). I really miss the Suburban, and think we will go back to it when we trade in again in 2005. There was much more room in the Suburban, especially in the back. It is noticeable when packing luggage, grocery shopping, and carting around our 2 large dogs. The Suburban also handled much better in the snow, which is important around here!

 

[floridafam]

SUV for us. I just don't like the feel of mini vans. Our Tahoe seats 7 because we wanted the buckle seats in the middle or it would have seated 8. Our Tahoe came with the towing package so we can. All we put on it right now is our bike rack and bikes.

Before the Tahoe, we had a Jeep Cherokee. I also liked that a lot.

I've had a mini van for a rental a few times and just didn't care for them.

 

[KarenC]

We have a Honda CRV and a Chrysler Town and Country. The kids drive the Honda, but right now we don't have a licensed teen driver at home, so we've been using it ourselves. Around town, we love the CRV. It's fun to drive and has been great in the snow. It gets almost twice as many miles per gallon in the city as the T & C. For road trips, it's an entirely different story. I took the CRV up to Minneapolis to see my DD. It's a six hour drive. My back was killing me. By contrast, we drove 14 hours straight in the mini van and I didn't ache at all.

 

[kasar]

We have a van and an SUV (smaller but still 3 rows). We're doing a long drive this summer and have decided to take the van. The gas mileage is MUCH better, the bench seats are better for sleeping/spreading out and the cup holder situation is better in the van (very important for us). In our SUV to get to the back seat involves opening the door wide open (those of you with nice luxury cars love to see kids opening up those SUV doors, don't you?) and putting up the 2nd row seat whereas in the van they can just climb back easily.

We love the SUV but the van is a better choice for long car trips. Just MHO.

 

[jsmith]

We have both-Dodge Caravan and Chevy Tahoe- and love them for different reasons. Definately the Caravan for a long road trip when you are not towing anything because of the gas mileage. We did take the Tahoe when we drove DS to college but we needed to pull a Uhaul. Also, I prefer the Tahoe for winter travel in Wyoming and Colorado. I will tell you that after years of driving vans, Trucks and SUV's I can't stand cars! I drove a monte carlo in honolulu last fall-honolulu has BAD traffic and I about went insane.

 

[jel0511]

I personally would never buy a minivan, and we have an SUV. We have an Acrua MDX and it is AWESOME!! Before we bought this car last year, we used to have Volvo station wagons because I dislike minivans so much. The Acura is awesome!! It can seat 7 people, and with the 3rd row folded down, it holds TONS of stuff. We have a DVD player in the car for ride down to WDW, and the kids like it. The car is very spacious and it is just do darn comfortable also. There are plenty of cupholders, so that's not an issue. The Honda Pilot is the Acura's cheaper cousin, and my friend has that one and she loves it as much as I love my Acura.

 

[TinkBoo&ElliesMum]

I'm on my second minivan and I hate it! Ok, I don't hate it, it's a nice van and we managed to get one with a bunch of extra features and the captains chairs we wanted. But it's a minivan!!

We had an Explorer that we traded in for the van - I liked the Explorer, it was fun to drive and didn't scream "Mommy!"

I'm hoping to convince DH to get rid of the van in a few years and move on to an Expedition (we're moving further out of the city into an area with a lot of hills and flooding)

My first minivan was a Mercury Villager that we drove off the lot with 2 miles on it, ohhhhhh it was horrid. That thing needed constant work and new breaks every 12,000 -15,000 miles.

I know, I'm not much help I guess it just depends on your needs, we're a soon to be family of five and I'm not sure how we'll fit three kids, two adults, strollers and baby stuff and the dogs in the van - time will tell!

 

[rascalmom]

I also have the Acura MDX, which I love. I drove a Dodge Caravan and then a Honda Odyssey minivan for years. As much as I love my Acura, if I had 4 kids I would go with the minivan. Just more roomy when you are fully loaded. My MDX can seat 7, but if I do that I have very little cargo space and the rear seat is not as accessible as in the minivans.

If long roadtrips aren't your norm, or if your kids are of an age where your aren't hauling all 4 of them at the same time you might consider the SUV. We just have 2 kids, so on longer trips we fold the 3rd row down for the cargo space, but if I'm hauling a bunch of their friends I can still seat 7. Plus some of the SUV's are definitely more luxurious than the minivans. I like that plus the ride height and quiteness compared to my old van.

Plus, the age of your kids is something to consider too. I think the minivans are easier to load with little ones. My 2 are big enough to load themselves - actually next month the oldest will be big enought to drive herself. Yikes! That's a whole different thread. LOL!

 

[Lynn CC]

I've had several SUV's and one minivan...Dodge Caravan. I would choose the Minivan over an SUV. More room, better gas milage and we had a lot less problems with our minivan than SUV's. We just gave the minivan to my SIL and now she's enjoying all the room. The new ones have so many options too!

 

[Bichon Barb]

Yeah, I guess it's hard to flirt at the red lights when you're driving a minivan.

We are talking about big price differences here, right? When you say SUV, what are you thinking about? A V6 or a V8? Like I said, we just bought a new vehicle with a larger engine (well, 2003 Sierra with 14,000 miles). We looked at the new SUV's, and if we were to replace what we had, we'd be talking $40,000! Personally, I think SUV's are overpriced right now, because they are such hot sellers.

 

[RUDisney]

I just got my minivan for Christmas... a Town & Country. I used to have a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I swore I'd never have anything but an SUV, but when the van came around and DH could get it for such a steal, I now drive a van. I really liked the way the Jeep drove. It drove like a truck. I liked the height of the drivers seat and the storage room in the back. I got about 14 MPG in the city and 19 on the highway.

I like the van. It gets similar mileage to the Jeep, but I can transport 3 more people. ( I couldn't transport 3 people in the back of my Jeep because of DD's booster seat.) The van is better in snow, actually, than the Jeep. I think it's because the weight is lower to the ground than the top-heavy SUV, even though it doesn't have 4WD.

We borrowed a van last year for our driving vacation and we loved the room in it. If we didn't take that, we'd have taken DH's Durango. That's also a very comfortable ride.

To me, really, I liked both, so I guess I'm not much help.

Barb, typically, those SUV's in FL don't usually have 4WD since they don't need them. That saves a little on the gas mileage, but they still get the rugged look of an SUV. Friends of mine tried to sell their Jeep after they moved back to PA. They practically gave it away here and wish that they had sold it when they were still in FL.