Needing a larger SUV for growing family? What to do?

While I am not a parent, I grew up with 2 siblings and our family of five only ever had sedans. Eventually had a mini van but that was short-lived. I see plenty of families with a sedan and two car seats. Given the current market conditions, if you can wait to see if it’s an actual issue, I would do so.

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Buy a cheap beater van until next year.

Buy a Delica

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Which sedans do you have that won’t fit two child seats?

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out of personal experience - you can get along fine with 2 kids and a sedan. its 3 kids that tips it over into van territory. if you’re set on a bigger SUV, look into mazda cx-9

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Keep in mind most SUVs are not necessarily bigger than comparable class sedans except trunk space. So check actual measurements before you commit.

Why? Genuine question.

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Ina similar experience, however, with an RDX the answer to that for me was pregnant wife demands.

Two kids and a medium dog in a sedan would be tough.

But two kids in a full size says A8 or G90 with a trunk that swallows is great, A8 looks good with a roof box also. Midsize could even work if you aren’t hauling shit. But have you seen what a pack and play does to a trunk.

Current sporting an Infiniti Q50. With road trips to Indianapolis (family lives there) it’s hard to fit a stroller plus our luggage and the kids luggage today. That world only gets tighter with the arrival of another one. If we had a larger sedan I feel like we can make things work.

My question isn’t what’s leasing well. My question is what are other people doing in this same predicament. Would they wait, bite the bullet, or do something entirely different.

All of those threads have lots and lots of discussion about exactly that.

I got a rickshaw for family duty. Kidding aside.

Somehow I ended up with 2 suvs. Which was a mistake. I like driving so i should have just got 1 suv and 1 fun car.

The true question is how much $$ safety of family is during car trips and transport is worth to you.

Also kids will disrespect the car. So tolerance to destruction of nice stuff also to be taken into account.

Deal of car was less important.

Your budget is way above mine but with two kids you can get away just fine with a mid-size SUV. There is no need for XC90.

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The convenience of an suv for a family with small children is more about the cargo space for hauling around strollers and such. Also, having the flat platform to change diapers while on the go is invaluable.

Regarding child seats, the rear facing ones take up a massive amount of space. So, depending on required configuration (eg. 2 rear facing kids at once), a midsize SUV may be necessary. Front facing seats are no problem and can be handled by almost any sedan. I had 2 kids in rear facing seats at the same time, and there wasn’t enough space in my sq5, whereas my wife’s q7 handled it with ease.

Once the kids are 3 or 4ish and can ride front facing, are potty trained and don’t require strollers all the time, then a sedan is much easier.

It’s the first 3 years or so where an SUV is much more convenient.

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Minivan. Makes much more sense anyway. And the Siena/Odyssey/and others rides a hell of lot nicer than an SUV. Also, why an XC90? Plenty of less expensive options out there. Its a car, not a fashion statement. Especially with kids. :slight_smile:

Our family cars have been minivans apart from one, where we went with a large SUV.

The minivans are way more practical, especially for loading younger kids in the car when you are in a parking lot and you have cars parked either side. When we had the SUV, it was a two person process, one holding the door, the other loading the kid.

Even though our kids are older now (the youngest is 12), we are sticking with the minivan because it’s way more practical for big box store shopping. We have loaded 8’x4’ sheets of drywall, dryers, big screen TVs without any fuss.

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A larger sedan like a Volvo S90 or similar will help with rear seat legroom for a RF infant seat but won’t materially give you more luggage capacity. This is coming from a sedan guy.

Like I can imagine you or your spouse wondering at some point “we spent all this money to upgrade but I’m still struggling to fit everything in.”

A Volvo V90 or Mercedes E400 wagon might fit the bill better.

I would imagine 2 strollers, or a double stroller, would be extremely tough in the trunk of any sedan.

Never used a double stroller. Was even given one as a handme down and promised it would be really useful. Never used it. Kid was 3 when the newborn arrived.

But YMMV. I can see it being useful if the next oldest is very young.