Sante Fe vs. Sorrento vs. Minivan: Family of 4 + dog + occasional nanny

[Anonymous]

We have a 2 kids, 5 and 7 years old. One medium sized dog who only comes on long road trips. One nanny who sometimes goes places with us, but usually not.

Kids walk to school. At this point, only have activities on weekends, occasional weeknight. We've been making do with a Mazda CX-7 and an old Mitsubishi. We can fit an adult in the back seat of the Mazda between the kids, but not for long distances - it's a tight squeeze.

It seems logical to have a 3rd row so that we can fit the third adult, give friends rides from time to time. We live in the suburban parts of DC, nanny only drives a tiny bit and isn't awesome. We'd prefer to keep her driving the smallest/easiest car to drive.

We'd likely buy a 2 year old Santa Fe/Sorrento or a 3-4 year old Odyssey. The debate is whether we buy into the convenience of the minivan or stick with a slightly more compact 3-row SUV.

It seems the minivan affords more flexibility, but is a bit more unwieldy. Definitely less cool, but that seems less and less relevant as I just passed 40. The SUV seems like it's more driveable, and probably cheaper by a few K (or we can get a slightly newer model).

Any thoughts from someone who had one or the other?

[Anonymous]

Just sold my 10 year old SANTA Fe for a new Honda Pilot. Hated the Hyundai and love the Honda Pilot.

If you’re considering the Santa Fe and before you go full minivan, look into the Pilot. It’s awesome.