OT: Need suggestions for a new minivan or SUV (family of 7)

[Tinatoo]

My fiance just traded in his Honda Civic for a Dodge Journey (that I'm now driving lol) The thing I like about it, is that it seats 7, but instead of having 3 crammed in back and 2 in front, its 2 bench seat rows that kinda look like this:

Front
D P
X X X
X X

Less storage but it has a roof rack!

 

[bacoach2014]

I feel your pain. I have the same situation. It is almost impossible to get something comfortable that gets good gas mileage. I miss the days of my conversion van

 

[angelmom27]

We have a toyota scienna with the extra middle seat. So we have three seats in both the middle and third row. It is very spacious. We have 4 car seats in it. 2 in each row. The extra seats that are open can fit a child comfortably. My fave van would be a honda oddyssey. I personally havent seen the inside so cant compare space to what we have. It does very well on gas too. We have outgrown our van too. The next step will be searching for a 12 or 15 passenger van for our family of 10. We currently take both our minivans on family trips.

 

[tbia]

We chose the Toyota Sienna over the Odyssey a couple of years ago and love it. The middle row middle seat (which you can remove and stow) is so comfortable my 11 year old wants to ride in it instead of the third row when we go to WDW in October.

 

[LONES]

Here's my experience, for what it's worth:

We bought the base model Honda Odyssey last summer, and really like it. We only have 2 kids, so we don't NEED a minivan or SUV, but wanted it for a few reasons. We wanted a larger vehicle for traveling. We wanted something that would comfortably seat the grandparents if they were with us, and space for "extra" kids for car-pooling purposes.

My parents owned Suburbans for years, and replaced their 2007 Suburban with a new Traverse shortly before we bought our Odyssey. In all honesty, I would much rather ride in the 3rd row of the Odyssey or Traverse rather than the Suburban. I know that seems crazy, but I felt the Suburban had the least room of the 3 for leg space in that 3rd row. Also, when we would ride with my parents, I found it very difficult to get my kids in and out of the 3rd row of the Suburban. They were both in carseats at the time, and it was a total pain. I find the 3rd row of the Odyssey and Traverse much more accessible.

After my parents bought their Traverse last spring... we did consider buying one ourselves. Ultimately... for us the Odyssey won out due to the better Cargo space, and lower cost.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Here's my experience, for what it's worth:

We bought the base model Honda Odyssey last summer, and really like it. We only have 2 kids, so we don't NEED a minivan or SUV, but wanted it for a few reasons. We wanted a larger vehicle for traveling. We wanted something that would comfortably seat the grandparents if they were with us, and space for "extra" kids for car-pooling purposes.

My parents owned Suburbans for years, and replaced their 2007 Suburban with a new Traverse shortly before we bought our Odyssey. In all honesty, I would much rather ride in the 3rd row of the Odyssey or Traverse rather than the Suburban. I know that seems crazy, but I felt the Suburban had the least room of the 3 for leg space in that 3rd row. Also, when we would ride with my parents, I found it very difficult to get my kids in and out of the 3rd row of the Suburban. They were both in carseats at the time, and it was a total pain. I find the 3rd row of the Odyssey and Traverse much more accessible.

After my parents bought their Traverse last spring... we did consider buying one ourselves. Ultimately... for us the Odyssey won out due to the better Cargo space, and lower cost.

The Acadia/Enclave/Traverse are unibody cars where a Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade are all built on a truck frame. That frame eats up a ton of space. So, I'm not surprised the 3rd row of a Traverse is more comfortable than the 3rd row of a Suburban. It actually makes perfect sense

Cargo space OTOH.......