Time To Move To A Minivan?

[Diamondog]

We have 1 daughter 8.5 months and has moved to the second stage car seat, still facing backward but not in the removable type of carseat anymore, we bring her to the car and strap her in.....we use the middle seat of the back seat....It is an absolute pain in the ass at least for me to get her in there as I am very tall not so bad for my wife but she doesn't like it too much either. Now with a 2nd baby on the way the backseat will be full. With me being very tall no car seats can go behind my seat as I have it all the way back.....sounds like time for a minivan to me but the wife says we'll manage.....arggggh!

[Toronto]

Don't do it man! It's not worth it! You'll become one of "them"

[GT108]

Once you moved into a minivan, you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

We switched to a minivan shortly after our 1st turned one.

Going out will no longer be a chore of wondering where to put things.
You are going to need space for two stroller or a double stoller when the second child comes. Your car trunk will be full just carrying that.

We could not have been happier with our choice of getting a minivan.

We consideredd a SUV too, but for the value, additional space, and cost of maintence, the minivan was the way to go for us.

[Shaf]

same here... we were tired of bending into the Civic to put our one yr old... then we were expecting our second one so decided to get a van... got an Odyssey... and very happy with it...no more bending and lots of space...

[DarcyC]

We had a similar discussion when we started working on baby#2. Now that she is here, we have the 2 carseats in the back of our car, one on each side. That basically fills the entire backseat. If we go for groceries and forget to take the stroller out of the trunk, we can only buy essentials or we have no room. I said we'll manage and we have, but since our car is 7+ years old, I have finally caved. My husband was originally talking minivan, but has finally decided on an 7-seat SUV. He was thinking Caravan, but discovered that he was too tall for it. Although the Outlook isn't efficient enough for that green rebate, it also doesn't qualify for the new nasty gas-guzzler tax. The payments are going to hurt though.

I didn't want to be minivan folk either, but I'm not sure that it's possible to retain all your cool, once you have 2 kids to lug around everywhere

[bionicbadger]

why settle for a minivan, get a full sized van. Tons of room.

though fuel efficiency isn't so good.....

[Spidey]

I was dead set against a minivan. Just because it was a minivan. Dont knwo what I was worred about.

We had 2 cars and 2 kids and then were having a third. There was just no way that would work out with 3 kids.

Upgraded in 2001 and its been great. Easy to get in out of, no more bending down. Lots of storage.

I looked at SUV's as well, but just dont have the seating capacity. We got an 8 passenger one, since if we gonna get a minivan might as well get the maximum seating,

[charliebrown]

surviving with a B200 right now For some reason, there arent any LATCH hooks in the rear middle seat; so we've got the rear facing car seat on the side

Trunk space easily fits an umbrella stroller + our weekly groceries & other stuff

[Jonavin]

We got a Honda Fit with one child coming and don't plan on a minivan unless we have a second or third child. Another friend have two kids and do fine with a compact car.

We invested in a nice light and compact folding stroller. Although it was more expensive than a large stroller, this delayed the need for a large car until later. With our Pliko P3 stroller in the trunk, there was still plenty of room for groceries in the trunk of our Honda Fit.

Unfortunately the problem I have with most minivans is that they are just too large for a family of 3 or even 4. Something like a Mazda 5, B200 or the older/smaller Honda Odyssey would be more appropriate than the larger "mini"-vans that are available these days.

I'm hoping more manufacturers offer this type of vehicle instead of building on all those compact SUVs.

With just one child, I would suggest you look at the Mazda5. It even has a sliding door like a minivan.

[Spidey]

surviving with a B200 right now For some reason, there arent any LATCH hooks in the rear middle seat; so we've got the rear facing car seat on the side

Trunk space easily fits an umbrella stroller + our weekly groceries & other stuff

Just wait till you go on a long trip that requires

playpen
big stroller
multiple suitcases
toys

[Jonavin]

Just wait till you go on a long trip that requires

playpen
big stroller
multiple suitcases
toys

People give the same argument about why they buy a car larger than what they need. But in reality it's a lot cheaper just to rent one when you need it, than to have the cost of the larger vehicle and extra fuel costs just so you can use it for those rare occasions.

OTOH, insurance may be cheaper on a larger vehicle. So 4 cylinder Accord/Camry may have lower total cost of ownership than a Civic/Corolla.

[Spidey]

People give the same argument about why they buy a car larger than what they need. But in reality it's a lot cheaper just to rent one when you need it, than to have the cost of the larger vehicle and extra fuel costs just so you can use it for those rare occasions.

OTOH, insurance may be cheaper on a larger vehicle. So 4 cylinder Accord/Camry may have lower total cost of ownership than a Civic/Corolla.

There no way id worry about having to "rent" a vehicle when you have kids. when you need it, you need it.

Hey kids lets go to the beach today. Oh sorry we cant, the rental place is closed.

What about middle of the nght emergencies

Post must be from someone with no children

[patrob]

...I didn't want to be minivan folk either, but I'm not sure that it's possible to retain all your cool, once you have 2 kids to lug around everywhere

Who says you can't be cool anymore...we have a BMW X5 with 3 kids in the back No minivan for me...& we fit everything ok. And if we will be going on a camping trip, we just get a "cargo box carrier" that you put of the roof rack & off we go

[Jonavin]

There no way id worry about having to "rent" a vehicle when you have kids. when you need it, you need it.

Hey kids lets go to the beach today. Oh sorry we cant, the rental place is closed.

What about middle of the nght emergencies

Post must be from someone with no children

Well, not everybody has the luxury to go on random trips in less than a days notice. All the power to you if you if you have that kind of flexibility and free time. I can't imagine that I would ever be in a situation that a trip couldn't be planned for.

And I can't imagine what kind of real emergency it would be that I would be hulling large stuff that would require a minivan anyways. Please enlighten me.

My argument was for one or two children (like the OP), if I had 3+, a minivan is starting to look very good and probably mandatory at that point because of my dislike of SUVs. One argument FOR buying a large minivan is that it'll be (generally) much safer in a crash.

[Spidey]

Well, not everybody has the luxury to go on random trips in less than a days notice. All the power to you if you if you have that kind of flexibility and free time. I can't imagine that I would ever be in a situation that a trip couldn't be planned for.

And I can't imagine what kind of real emergency it would be that I would be hulling large stuff that would require a minivan anyways. Please enlighten me.

My argument was for one or two children (like the OP), if I had 3+, a minivan is starting to look very good and probably mandatory at that point because of my dislike of SUVs. One argument FOR buying a large minivan is that it'll be (generally) much safer in a crash.

Random trips. A trip to the beach thats 20 minutes on a Sunday afternoon away isnt something that I would call a "trip"

Hell I have to plan a trip to Calgary 3 hours away

And emergency trips, yes those are unplanned for, Hence emergencies