Suggestions for a family of 6

Ask the Hackrs
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Hi all!

I did read a recent thread on someone that didn’t want a minivan with 3 kids, expecting a 4th this coming July, but I’m not set on a Suburban and have lease many times before and have realistic expectations.

We have 3 young kids (6, 3, and 1) and are expecting our 4th this coming July. I currently have a 4Runner which as worked great with 3 car seats because it’s 2 FF and 1RF car seats. For those that are impressed 3 seats fit, also note that we have HUGE car seats as my wife wants the most protection for our kids. For those that will comment on how safe it is because the seats literally go all the way across, I also have that same concern which is why I was already looking at new cars because soon our 3rd will be 2 years old and need 3 FF car seats. I was set on a full sized truck until we found out about baby 4.

Anyway, we live in Oregon and do a lot of outdoor activities. I go mild off roading at times, but nothing too crazy. A lot of mountain driving in the winter, drives to the coast during the summer, and a lot of in-betweens during the fall and spring.

Started researching cars this past weekend as we will have to switch out my 4Runner at least before March. I am open to switching any time from now to then. There are a lot of new models out there. I’m not keen on paying a premium to get the newest right away, but would really prefer a new gen model after the demand cools down some.

Here’s our list so far, and I’m open to suggestions, comments on pros and cons: 2021 Escalade ESV (2020 doesn’t work since the 2nd row doesn’t slide), Suburban, Expedition Max, Sienna. Also want to check out Sequoia, maybe Land Cruiser/LX? So far the best choice is the Sienna because of the practicality and price but am not sure how the AWD will handle our drives.

My budget is wide because as LHers know, budget can be relative. I feel that it’s more about the deal more than the monthly.

TIA for any help!

edit: forgot to add, I am open to a used as well as long as it’s a couple years old but from my research, the used market is hot right now.

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Oh here we go again :laughing: Please don’t be mean to us when we give you suggestions and feedback.

You need 3 full size car seats, one booster seat AND access to the third row. No 3 row SUV that I know of can handle full size car seats in the second row and still give access to the third row, but maybe someone can show us one that does. In that case your only option is for third row occupants to climb in through the hatch or climb under a car seat and then over the second row which is a total clusterf. So you need a vehicle that can do this:

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Odyssey is the best answer here IMO and they’re leasing pretty well at least comparative to historically. I haven’t seen a Sienna post on here in months so I assume that the deals are meh on them. I don’t believe the Pacificas can slide the 2nd row captains together due to Stow N Go, but you could flip one of the outer seats down and use the middle jump seat assuming they have one.

There’s a lot of websites and articles out there that review car seat fitment in vehicles. Here’s one with a very chauvinistic (:laughing:) name:

We have 4 kids in the household (5 ,5, 7, 11) and a 2005 Odyssey Touring for when we all go places together and absolutely love it. Third gen Odysseys are beastly vehicles but unless you’re comfortable in the garage to do the maintenance and repair work that’s required of any used vehicle I would lease a new one.

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I’ve seen deals, there was one in Cali with an e class wagon photo.

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Thanks for the reply and link on the car seat lady, she was one of the articles i read when researching. I just can’t believe some of the reviews that say X 3 row SUV is great and spacious. I sat in the Highlander and the 3rd row is not spacious.

We have an Odyssey! 2 years into our lease. My wife is driving that and though she said she’s allergic to minivans, she promised she would get one if we hard a 3rd. She did say after we got it that she cannot deny the practicality of it. The magic slide seats are MONEY. By far THE best for access to the third row. I’m not sure if we’re open to the idea of having 2 of the same cars because we don’t feel confident on the drive on mountain/snow and other activities that we do.

I’ve never owned a large SUV or really sat in one before so I was wondering if anyone had comments for me. The Sienna seems possible as it does have long sliding 2nd row chairs.

I doubt that my wife would want our 6 year old in a booster seat until as late as possible… Especially because my 3 year old daughter will want not want to sit in her car seat anymore. :stuck_out_tongue:

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You can check out the Atlas too. I know the used ones are pretty cheap especially the rentals.

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https://m.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?filtering=true&width=235%2F&ratio=60&diameter=18&autoMake=Honda&autoYear=2021&autoModel=Odyssey&autoModClar=EX-L&sortCode=53910#allTitle

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Sienna or Odyssey.

I’ve driven all the rest. Nothing beats them. My whole family is in car business. I have borrowed or rented everything on the market for at least 7-8 days. Only have 2 kids (6, 3) plus a 70lb dog.

Leased my Sienna and have extended the lease month to month till March. I’m just going to buy it.

I drive my sienna AWD all over the sierra mountains and west coast for the beach. I have blizzaks on it in the winter. At least once a week I’m on unpaved and unplowed roads (up to 12" of snow) for house appraising without fail. This thing is a tank. I came from F250/350 diesels before this.

My wife would never drive a minivan, neither would I as a car nut, until we rented 3 Dodge Caravans in about two months time. They are just too easy to live with and drive. We also have a 17 RX450h F-sport that she drives around town. I prefer the sienna in every case.

I was going to lease a Navigator L or Expedition Max 3+ years ago but I kept watching my friends and families with those new SUVs always yelling at the kids for every tiny mess in their $100k SUVs. We have enough to correct our kids on, we let them treat the sienna like their own little living room back there. Of course I have rubber mats and factory dvd system. Can’t live without those.

As my lease was up in Oct, I again was going to go the Navigator/Expedition/X7/GLS route. I visit leasehackrs at least once day trying to convince myself, haha. I just can’t pull trigger as my oldest (6) will never forgive me for letting the van go.

A very close family to us just got a 2021 Yukon XL Denali with factory dvd package. Their 4 kids are very close to my kids and they all still prefer to ride our van.

If an auto company would put siding doors on these large SUVs then the decision would much harder. I starting going down the customization road on putting sliding doors on an Expedition but stopped and have decided to just buy my van. I will get a sports car in spring for the times it’s just my wife and I.

Hardest part was getting over the soccer mom minivan thing. All horse s*it in my opinion as I now know. I now just watch those others struggle with their $100k suvs and multiple kids day to day. It just cements my decision.

Hope this helps.

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Just get a minivan man…

You’ll see why suburban soccer moms love them.

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Ah nice! I wish I had the magic slide seats!! But hard to justify spending $40k to get them when ours does the same thing with some effort and swearing :laughing:

Curious to hear your guys’ input after you test drive some vehicles and test fit the car seats! I have driven many a 3 row SUV and I just can’t bring myself to get one. I am totally pining after the 2021 MDX, the nifty flip up center console/jump seat combo solves a lot of potential access issues BUT again our 2005 Odyssey does the same trick with the swearing and effort of switching from the center console to the jump seat :man_facepalming: these vans are just built for kids and big families. At least the good ones anyway.

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Based on my experience and recent forum experiences, the suburban soccer moms seem to demand THREE ROW SUV’s.

Honestly at my kids elementary school pickup line, I see far more SUV’s than vans. IMO vans will come back in popularity again once the three row SUV becomes seen as the soccer mom mobile that it’s become.

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IMO, they’re more status symbol than anything. Half of them probably only have 1-2 kids, so it’s a waste anyways

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Very well written ! Now thats a realistic opinion which OP can hopefully use instead of the numerous others who will just come on here and bash minivans. I’m not a minivan person myself but simply can’t deny the advantages of one when its in front of me.

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Check out the 2021 Chrysler Pacifica AWD. My wife loves her 2017 Touring-L. Although, we only have 2 kids (3,6) we like having the third row for family/adults that come to visit. There is a lot of room in the back.

Good luck with your search.

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I’ve got some fire sale priced X7’s with captains chairs. :slight_smile:

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Even has a front bench!

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I agree totally. Same in my kids elementary district .

I believe the soccer moms feel “safer” riding up higher and gas nowadays is cheap so everyone goes SUV route

A lot of it also is that stigma that as soon as the first kid comes then they automatically need an SUV.

I fit 2 kids with sports equipment just fine in a sedan.

Another thing to realize with vans are that they are very easy to get in and out of. If you have older parents and/or in-laws getting into a SUV might be difficult. My mom has 2 total knee replacements and she’s cringes anytime she has to get into my 3 series. Same goes for any SUV.

My boss at work loves his minivan. Can remove the seats and make Home Depot runs (mulch , drywall, plywood, etc) it’s amazing what you can stuff back there. Heck, he said he even put a full size refrigerator in there and was able to close the rear latch .

OP, with 4 kids you really need to look into one.

The forum tried telling “Karen” earlier but she went bezirk on everyone.

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4th kid? Obviously you need to do more outdoor activities;).

Your 6 year old is going to be in a booster pretty soon. Your wife needs to realize that at least 1 of your cars has to be a minivan. I don’t think it is necessary to have 2 vehicles that have max passenger room & max cargo room for all 6 of you at all times. We have 3 kids (14, 11 1/2, & 9). We are on our 2nd Pilot.

I’d recommend a Suburban or Yukon XL as opposed to the Escalade ESV. I have a friend who has a “money is no object” car budget. In 2018 he bought a loaded Yukon XL Denali because he couldn’t justify the massive jump in sticker price from that to the Caddy. The expedition Max is really nice too.

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As someone else pointed out to me a while ago, the QX60 has 2nd row seats that will slide/tilt forward even with a carseat in place. So maybe give that a gander.

I’ll admit that the 2nd row sliding to one side is slick, but if the man wants AWD, it doesn’t matter.

I second the Pacifica. It is very easy to walk to the back through the opening between the seats.

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Even largest SUVs will not be nearly as practical as a minivan. You need a minivan for six, period.

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I fit a new double mattress and twin (bunk beds) in my Pacifica just fine with seats all folded flat (stow n go is a seriously cool feature for anyone who has tried to remove middle row seats before…) the practicality is unparalleled.