Minivans And Small Families?

[Nada.Leona]

Anyone here with a small family (4 members and under) have a minivan as a family vehicle? DH and I are looking to replace one of our cars and he suggested a minivan, as they are cheaper and big enough to carry a lot of stuff.

Right now it's just us, and in June it will be us plus baby, with plans for another in about 2 years. I don't think a minivan is practical for the size of our family. But I wanted to hear some outside opinions.

[andrew's mom]

We just bought one. There are 3 of us now and we literally bought it out of necessity. We travel to visit family and go on trips quite often and we were full to the brim with bags and baby stuff.
We bought a 2007 Town and Country and I love it. It has the Stow n' Go option which I would highly recommend. You can store stuff under the seats if it's full of people.
It drives nice, much more comfortable than our previous Mazda Protege, turns nice but it is obviously less efficient than a smaller car. If you plan on a second baby, a minivan will make you life so much easier.
Good luck.
M.

[monkeywrangler71]

We bought one because there were 5 of us, but now there are only 4 so I wish we had something smaller.

We took the back row out, so there is more space for carrying stuff. With the seat in you could barely fit a bag of groceries in the back. Ours is just slightly too short for a sheet of plywood, but I can arrange 2x4s in it - so it's not as good as having a truck. For luggage and such, I've had car trunks that I could fit just as much in. I don't move furniture around, maybe it would be good for that.

I had the kids in my parent's car when we were home, and they had a ton more leg room in the backseat than they have in our van. Also, the seats are narrow (I guess so you can fit them out the back door) so the kids don't have enough space between them for their stuff, and you couldn't fit the world's skinniest person in the middle seatbelt.

Ours is a caravan, the longer models might be more comfortable/useful.

[imagine]

We are a family of four and do not have a mini van and at times I wish we did. Like when the children want to take a friend or someone wants me to pick up or take their children. You know how it goes.

Until I had a child old enough to ride in the front seat I could only take 1 other child with me. And If I wanted to invite a friend (and her children) we would have to take separate cars if it was a friend with more than one child.

It was also a very tight fit when grandparents came over and we wanted to go out to eat. They did it when the children were little but started follow in their car when the children took up more room.

Just my experience with being an non mini van mom.

[Libby]

Have you looked into a station wagon or hatchback instead of a minivan? My gf was looking into this exact same situation when she married her current hubby. They now have 2 children. The hatchback is great for a family car - it holds them and their stuff and costs less to run then a minivan - they did the comparisons etc.

I'd only consider the minivan if you do a lot of long distance traveling/road trips OR plan on shuttling around everyone else's stuff and children. A lot of favours could be asked of you as a result of having the extra room.

[Neeley]

We prefer having a minivan over a car.

*When the kids were in car seats, the car was more difficult to get them in and out of. It meant bending over and leaning in to buckle and unbuckle them. It isn't terrible, but it is more difficult. On rainy days it is so much better to be able to climb in the back of the van to buckle the baby up instead of leaning in and getting your backside wet. With the minivan, getting them in and out is overall much easier.

*Going anywhere with infants and toddlers means you take stuff with you - strollers, pack-n-plays, diaper bags, riding toys for the park, etc...With the minivan everything fits much better and you don't have to remember to take the stroller out when you run to the grocery store so that you have room to fit the groceries in the trunk.

*Out somewhere and the infant changing station is either nonexistent or not a place you really want to even touch? Changing in the back of a minivan is much easier than in the backseat of a car.

*Field trips - I prefer to drive on my kids' trips rather than have them ride with another parent I may not know. With a minivan I was able to drive on field trips.

We travel a lot and it is so nice not to have the kids up our backsides for nine hour drives. They can stretch out their legs and are not cramped up right behind us or right on each other - which will always lead to some sort of fight. There is enough room for them to each have their travel activity bags, like activity books, paper, hand held games, laptops, snacks, a pillow, blanket, etc...

I can honestly say we have never been asked to us our vehicle to haul things or move stuff for people.

[happymomof4]

I am on my 3rd minivan and last. My family is getting smaller. We also have an expidition so that holds alot of people also. We have 4 kids but only 1 lives at home any more.

[frugalwarrior2]

We are a family of 4 and are on our second mini van.
Babies come w/ a lot of junk. Porta cribs,diapers bags and strollers.
Kids have bikes they want to take to parks and friends that go to soccer,camping requires a lot of stuff
We have hauled countless things from garage sales and estate sales because I believe in buying second cycle goods.
When I haul huge loads to the Salvation Army I am so glad for my van.
If the dogs go to the park or beach it's the van all the way.
When I did dog rescue I was glad for the mini van.

Our van is like a member of the family. It is safer to have a van when the kids learn to drive.
I have debated about getting another smaller car when the kids move on but.. impromptu hauling. Love it. Has saved me $$$$.

[NewLeaf]

We got a minivan 7 yrs ago when I had my second child. We needed more room. It was easier to load and unload a carseat as there is no bending down like w/a car. Also I have the automatic sliding door- I just push a button on my keychain and it opens or closes. Much easier when carrying baby and diaper bag and groceries, etc....

My older son was 7 at the time and playing baseball, so we had plenty of room to carpool teammates and friends.

Vacations are easier because we have enough room for all of our stuff and the kids can still have plenty of room. We tended to take alot of baby equipment w/us.(porta crib, bouncy seat, exersaucer etc.)

Now that my kids are older , 7 yrs and 14 yrs I can carry balls, extra jackets, snacks, cooler on a regular basis.

It's much easier to carry groceries in too. The back hatch door lifts easily and there is plenty of room to carry groceries.

Warning: the more room you have the more junk can pile up....

[nuisance26]

~I love our mini-van too! We take long road trips and the space is such a great thing for that. I also appreciate the space when I do my big monthly shops. And I agree with Neeley about getting kids in and out of the car in the rain, and also the snow and cold. Not getting soaked or windblown(or turning your back to parking lots, hate that!)during the 2-3 minutes it takes to get each kid hooked in is a nice feature I appreciate!
Vans aren't much more costly to operate than a smaller car, especially when you consider how much more you get with a van including great safety features! They design vans with children in mind so I think the features are top notch comparatively.
And remember the bulkiness of car seats. Kids are required to be in them now until at least 8 years old. And that means if they want to pick up one of their friends there will have to be room for another seat or booster. I don't know of any sedan that can fit 3 children's safety seats on the back seat.
Ours was given to us but it's very cheap to insure, maintain and keep gassed up. Ours is a 6 cylinder but we still get over 20 miles to the gallon and it's a 2000 Dodge Caravan.
I do get annoyed that I'm always the one asked to drive at small group outings but mostly the mini-van has been wonderful to own!~

[Russ]

As poplular as they are, I do not understand why Ford and Chevy quit making them.

[leighcat]

I used to say I wouldn't be caught with a minivan. Then I got one. I miss it. It ran very well, had lots of space, and was a comfortable ride. It lasted longer than any vehicle I had, even with the snow and salt on the roads in Vermont. I was sad when it started to have too many problems to fix. I want to get a 4dr truck since it is just me and 2 kids and I am tired of having to borrow a truck to get stuff. It is good to have a minivan though, because of having company and kids' friends.

[jennordhavn]

We are a family of four (DH, me, DD10 and DD3) and we love our minivan. I was always in the "I will never drive a minvan camp" but when we needed a new car when my little one was 1, we decided to get a Dodge Grand Caravan. I love how long it is and I love that I can separate my girls so they don't sit next to each other and fight on long trips......lol. The back is perfect for a Costco run or big shopping trip. We'll probably have a minivan until my older DD goes off the college.

[Libby]

As poplular as they are, I do not understand why Ford and Chevy quit making them.

Russ - is it b/c they couldn't get it's base cost close to Dodge/Chrysler's - hence them always having the lower-lowest pricing?

We have a Chevy van and its definitely not mini. Its great for traveling and we do use it for buying big stuff at Home Depot - fits full size sheet rock inside *thumbs up* but now that area of our lives are over - its just cheaper for my dad to keep it for his 2 minute trip to the grocery store vs downgrading him to an SUV. You just can't beat free.

[Palooka]

I was told that so many wanted to get rid of the 'soccer mom' stereotype, that they replaced them with the Crossovers.

Different and more modern, but functions the same.