X7

I love my minivan. Would never replace it with an SUV that has less room, no sliding doors, and is less functional. But it’s not for people with fragile egos who care what strangers may think of them.

We have and love our Subaru Ascent, which is incredibly comfortable and spacious but with the third row seating there is very little trunk space.

We have 4 kids and are on our 3rd sienna.

We test drove the Suburban and Expedition, but the trunk space is lacking (minivan trunk space goes deeper/lower like a car while suvs are high/flat like a truck). The sienna is more comfortable, slightly more affordable, and gets far better mileage.

SUV’s look bigger/better, but they aren’t.

We have a Honda Pilot with the captain’s chairs in the middle row, which allows kids to climb into the back through the middle. The captain’s chairs also move forward/fold to allow entry directly.

The Pilot has a lot of storage space. At least once a year, we drive cross-country without issue, and we go to the shore every summer.

I have three teens.

My kids are 6, 8, and 11. We said goodbye to our Toyota Sienna recently and bought a Highlander. The third row is easy to access and overall we love the maneuverability of the car. That said, it’s not as spacious as the Sienna and the trunk space in the Highlander, while adequate with the third row up, is still smaller than our old van. And, while I get that sliding doors aren’t necessarily sexy or cool, it’s so darn easy when you have carpools or drop offs. I do miss that.

But back to your question - check out the Highlander. Have also heard good things about the VW Atlas.

Why do you need an SUV, OP? You will sacrifice comfort and space unless you want something enormous like a Suburban, but I think that would be outside your budget.

I also have 3 kids ranged 6-12. (Are you the poster who asked about Busch Gardens this summer?? If they are B-G-G can we be friends?)

We take road trips to WV with snowy mountain roads, so DH likes taking his 4Runner. We don’t have a 3rd row one, so the three kids are in one row which I don’t love because of inevitable fighting, but with a cargo hitch we have plenty of room. I still love my minivan but DH much prefers the 4Runner.

Get ready to be uncomfortable!

Sorry, an SUV that meets all your needs doesn’t exist. While the smaller space is not a big deal for local driving, you will definitely feel it on a road trip.

We have an Atlas. Roomiest we could find without making leap to giant car like a suburban

Suburban with captains chairs. There isn’t enough cargo space with the 3rd row up in the pilot, Highlander, etc.

Kia Telluride. Kids are those ages and our family is tall. We also have a dog and an au pair. It fits all of us and has decent cargo space. We LOVE it. We changed from an Audi Q7 which we had since #3 was born but the telluride with captains chairs feels much more spacious.

Honda Pilot is very comfortable, and can hawl 3000 lbs and carry a good load on hitch. So long trips plan on rooftop or cargo hitch.

We got pilot b/c it’s 1/2 foot shorter than the minivans and we had tight parking. And 4x4, though some Siennas are that. 36 mpg is amazing.

Why do you need SUV?

Everything you said describes us, except add 2 years to the kids’ ages.

There’s no SUV replacement for the minivan’s volume and comfort unless you move into the massive truck category (Expedition or Suburban). I’ve looked.

Get a Sienna, they’re all hybrids now, and enjoy the 36 mpg. That’s our next move.

And an SUV, what SUV with 3rd row seating do you recommend? We have a minivan now and would like an SUV. Kids range from 6-12. We need enough for them to sit comfortably and we also take long road trips 1-2 a year. Kids also play sports. So having at least some room in the trunk is important. We like to drive cars for 10 years and usually buy used. Looking to spend no more than ~$40k.