Hate minivans

[Anonymous]

Like other PPs, I also HATED minivans and swore I'd never get one. But two kids later, we also concluded we needed one. Our compromise was to get the absolute smallest, shortest minivan we could find, which led us to the Dodge Caravan. Based on our research, it has the shortest wheel base of all minivans on the market. It has three rows in it, but we took the third row out for extra storage and it is fine. Maybe something worth checking out...

By the way, the Grand Caravan is a lot bigger/longer, and just the regular Caravans can be a bit harder to find, but it is all pretty easy these days with all the online options for viewing who has them in stock.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]When I first saw the title "Hate minivans", I thought it was going to be how minivan drivers drive. Wait unitl Jr. in the carseat is learning how to drive in a few years. Minivan drivers are the most aggresive on the road. Try not to tailgate my teenager next time you get behind the wheel of your minivan. Minivan drivers are the pits!![/quote]

I completely agree.[/quote]

Oh, give me a break. I'm sure there are a bad drivers who have minivans. But teenagers are far worse on the whole (myself included, back when I was in that category). And cab drivers. I have never once been tailgated or cut off by a minivan. This comment is meant to do nothing more than inflame people. And for the record, I drive a Civic, so I'm not being defensive.

[Anonymous]

The comment was meant to inflame. Maybe there is something about the dynamics of driving a minivan that make the driver more likely to tailgate. Getting tailgated by a minivan has been my experience also. My comment is meant to inform not to inflame.

[maynie]

Anonymous wrote:The comment was meant to inflame. Maybe there is something about the dynamics of driving a minivan that make the driver more likely to tailgate. Getting tailgated by a minivan has been my experience also. My comment is meant to inform not to inflame.

As well as being ridiculous, your comment makes no sense.

[HrCreuzi]

I'm from a 3 kid family and we always had a station wagon. Sure we sometimes were cramped on long drives, but we did fine. We only got a van when we got two large dogs and an exchange student, but as soon as we went back to just 3 kids, we got rid of the van.

It can be done.

Just my two cents/exerience.

[Anonymous]

HrCreuzi wrote:I'm from a 3 kid family and we always had a station wagon. Sure we sometimes were cramped on long drives, but we did fine. We only got a van when we got two large dogs and an exchange student, but as soon as we went back to just 3 kids, we got rid of the van.

It can be done.

Just my two cents/exerience.

I was from a five kid family, and we didn't have a van either. Mostly because when I was a kid, they didn't exist. When I was really young we had a station wagon that had the pop up seat in the back. Now the only wagons you can get that on are Mercedes and Volvo. When the minivan came out, they were certainly not as nice as the ones today, and not as roomy, or as reliable, as the Chevy Suburban we had. Minivans are so much different than those from just five to ten years ago, so experience from your childhood, really can't be compared with what the choices are today.

[HrCreuzi]

I was not offering a direct ratio comparison, merely stating that it is possible to have 3 kids and not get a minivan. Some families even do it without a station wagon and simply get a family car. If you don't want a minivan, you don't have to get one. There are other options that won't be as roomy or full of other features, but you can do it. If our parents could have 3+ kids and not have a minivan, why can't we?

JMHO

[Anonymous]

Because when most of us were young, minivans did not exist.

[Anonymous]

My parents had a Volkswagon rabbit for three kids and when I asked how in the world they managed my mom reminded me... no carseats back then! (1970's).

[Anonymous]

I too recently asked my parents how they had 3 kids and small cars (we were young during the oil crisis and everyone had small cars) and she noted we didn't really go anywhere. No need to have a big, roomy car when the longest trip was 15 min to the soccer field or 10 min to church! My 2 kid family, by comparison, goes to a lot of road trips. We have a Toyota RAV4 now but see a minivan in our future for the road trips.

[Anonymous]

Um, yeah. It was a little different back then. I remember riding around in the back of a ford station wagon, crammed in with a handful of other kids. I also remember routinely seeing (and doing it) kids bouncing around in the back of pickup tricks.

Nowadays, try maneuvering a kid in and out of that middle carseat (that's wedged in between two others) in the backseat. No thanks!

[Anonymous]

I remember piling friends and family in the back seat of a car. There was a lot of sitting on laps, and no one was wearing a seat belt.

[Anonymous]

I've fit an infant in the middle back, a toddler on either side. All in a family sedan. You get the infant (or other sized kid) out from the front (put that middle arm rest down).

I agree that you can do it w/o a mini-van. You just get a large sedan. It may be different now, just because something's available doesn't mean you need it. How did we ever get raised w/o cable, wipes warmers, boppys, swing chairs, dvd's (esp in the car), etc.

[Anonymous]

HrCreuzi wrote:I was not offering a direct ratio comparison, merely stating that it is possible to have 3 kids and not get a minivan. Some families even do it without a station wagon and simply get a family car. If you don't want a minivan, you don't have to get one. There are other options that won't be as roomy or full of other features, but you can do it. If our parents could have 3+ kids and not have a minivan, why can't we?

JMHO

Because when most of us were young, nobody used carseats, or if they did it was only for the first year or so. The OP has a problem because they will need to have space for three carseats once their twins are born. Most cars don't accommodate three across -- I have a Grand Cherokee and even that won't fit three (even if one is a simple booster seat) in the back seat. So, when I'm carrying an extra child (beyond my two, who are both still in carseats) for a playdate, I have to put one of the toddlers in the front seat! Not a great option!

Basically OP, there's three options: a minivan, a SUV with a third row seat, or a really large, older sedan like a mercury grand marquis (my parents have one of these, and it does fit three carseats in the back seat).

Of those options, the minivan is indeed the most practical. SUV is cooler, but the third row seat is harder to access. The sedan....well...I wouldn't be interested, personally. For us, I think we will go for a big SUV if/when we have number three. I just like the SUV style much more than a minivan, and I want to have 4-wheel drive.

[Anonymous]

Because when most of us were young, nobody used carseats, or if they did it was only for the first year or so. The OP has a problem because they will need to have space for three carseats once their twins are born. Most cars don't accommodate three across -- I have a Grand Cherokee and even that won't fit three (even if one is a simple booster seat) in the back seat. So, when I'm carrying an extra child (beyond my two, who are both still in carseats) for a playdate, I have to put one of the toddlers in the front seat! Not a great option!

Basically OP, there's three options: a minivan, a SUV with a third row seat, or a really large, older sedan like a mercury grand marquis (my parents have one of these, and it does fit three carseats in the back seat).

Of those options, the minivan is indeed the most practical. SUV is cooler, but the third row seat is harder to access. The sedan....well...I wouldn't be interested, personally. For us, I think we will go for a big SUV if/when we have number three. I just like the SUV style much more than a minivan, and I want to have 4-wheel drive.