What kind of car do you drive?

@olaitan Honda Pilot and it is wonderful. I bought the AWD Touring model with entertainment, navigation and tons of safety adds on. It also has three rows of seating. I previously had a Volvo XC-90 and this is a better car for less money.
 
@olaitan I feel like I have pretty good insight here. My husband is a Toyota auto tech and due to him being able to fix up cars, we've driven a lot of different vehicles. Currently, we have a 2008 Honda Odyssey van and a 2004 Lexus sedan. The Odyssey is amazing for kids and my husband (a Toyota guy) prefers it over the comparable Toyota minivan.

When my twins were born, I was driving a Lexus SUV that I LOVED, but sliding doors or the minivan are a game changer. It makes it so much easier to not worry about dinging another car, and being able to push the remote to open the doors from across the parking lot. We only have two kids, but we sometimes drive their friends, and I'm sure that will only increase as they get older.

Since kids, we've also driven a Land Cruiser and a Sequoia - both are big and higher up, harder for me getting kids in as I'm only 5'3. And a Honda CR-V, which I also loved, but would be tight with 3 kids.

So tl;dr Honda Odyssey
 
@olaitan I have 3 and drive a Ford Expedition max and could not drive anything smaller. We live in snowy mountains though. We take a lot of road trips and bring bikes/skis/etc and there is lots of room and it's safe and comfortable.
 
@olaitan I drive a crv. But right now I only have 1 baby and plan to stop at 2. Even then when they get to the age where driving friends around is a thing I wouldn't be able to in this car.

If I were to have 3 kids, and maybe when mine are older, 100% minivan. So much more versatile than any 3 row suv. Also the sliding doors vs kids whipping them open into other cars or your garage walls, bug plus.
 
@olaitan I drive a full size SUV (Honda Pilot). I have two kids in car seats and two giant dogs, and it works for us.

Having grown up in a large family, I would recommend a minivan to anyone with three or more kids. The comfort and space is so much better in a minivan than any SUV. My family had both growing up (first minivan then SUV). It's amazing the difference in usable interior space and seating between the two.
 
@olaitan I have had a lot of vehicles and I drive a lot. My favorites as far as safety and reliability (no mechanical issues @100,000 miles +) are the Mazda CX5, the VW Atlas (gas mileage is not wonderful, but third row/trunk space is AMAZING), and the Toyota Highlander (third row, but second row has 2 captains chairs- not bench seat).

Stay far away from Jeep. Mechanically, they are absolute garbage. I had a faulty transmission, replaced by 2 other faulty transmissions, and was stranded in the middle lane in downtown traffic with a 6 week old baby in the car. I did win a pretty decent settlement, though 🤷‍♀️.
 
@olaitan Three kids here - a teenage stepkid and two in car seats. I drive a Ford Expedition XL with 2nd row captain’s chairs. It is amazing and I love it. A bazillion cup holders, the third row is the roomiest I have ever been in and it even reclines! The captains chairs actually elevate forward with a push button, and as long as you are using the anchors and not a seatbelt, the entire car seat just moves with the chair so you can still climb in the backseat that way. But there’s actually plenty of space to climb between the captains chair. Our carline for school is drop and go, and my six year old can easily get his coat and backpack on standing in front of his seat - just so much space! And I think it drives really easily. It doesn’t feel like a tank or like it’s unmanageable even though it’s big.
 
@olaitan *cries in sedan*

I only have 2 and don't plan to have more. I drive a Chevy Cruze and it fits our family of 4 just fine. I'd love to have a Honda Pilot as my hot mom car, but for now we're balling on a budget in our sedan. I will say that I've heard wonderful things about the Highlander or really anything from Honda & Subaru
 
@olaitan Op. I had a Yukon for years with captain chairs. I sold it earlier this year cause I wanted to get back in a Sequoia. I was really let down by the redesign of the Sequoia so I got a Lexus GX with a bench. (We had a lapse in judgment with leaving a Toyota for a GMC and I wanted to go back to Toyota).

I have no intention of going back to the larger SUV. I have an almost 6 yr old and a 16 month old. We have also taken two trips in it already and do not miss the Yukon or captain chairs. I struggled to be able to reach the kids in the back in the Yukon and my oldest couldn’t reach the baby in the captain chairs either.
 
@ireadgoodmom I’ve read several replies here and have done a bit more research and think I’m back to wanting a bench in the second row for the reasons you mentioned. We do plan on having a third kid so we need a wide bench or to repurchase car seats to fit in a my current vehicle (Lexus LX). I took my two kids out of town this weekend and we were crammed and can’t imagine tracking to pack in a third. I think I’ll have to upgrade in size for a little while until we are out of the baby things phase (so much stuff for such a small person). Eyeing the Yukon, Navigator, and Escalade now…
 
@olaitan Honestly with little kids I’m more of a bench person or captain seats in a smaller suv or mini van cause you can still reach back. My best friend has a newer Tahoe with a bench and she make all three ride on the middle row. She has one in a car seat, one in a booster seat and the oldest in the middle. They oldest helps her because she is short cant reach back while driving.
 
@olaitan I only have one kid and a very large dog, and I just got a Suburban. It’s amazing. Our other car is a Subaru Outback, which works well for town, but I can’t imagine it with more than one kid and a dog, lol.
 
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