No, not at all. And now we're expecting a third and still don't plan on getting one.

Kids are 8 and 12. Don't regret not getting one. We did just move to an SUV that can truly fit a person in the middle, and I'm happier. We don't often carpool, though. Usually it's just one or two extra, which fit fine. I don't need to take my second kid with me to practices, so I have two open seats.

We did need another seat once when we were going on a road trip, so we rented.

If you have a vehicle where you can truly fit three pepole in the back seat, then no, I don't think you "need" a minivan or third-row SUV. We initially had a Rav4 as one of our vehicles, and I regretted not getting a minivan once we had our second. It meant we had to take a second vehicle any time my elderly mother came to visit or have a car caravan if when my ILs visited, which was stressful to me because my ILs don't have/use any sort of GPS so we had to be very careful about them following us.

If DH would have been willing to rent a larger vehicle for when they visited, it would have been a non-issue. But he wasn't, and the visits are usually several times a year. After the Rav4 was totalled in an accident, he agreed to a minivan.

We have friends who went from a Subaru Outback to a minivan around the same time when the Subaru finally died and they love having the extra space for carpooling. They had made it work with the Subaru, but the minivan makes it so much easier.

We have a 5yo and 2yo and are planning to get a minivan. Carpooling is a very compelling reason for me. I SAH and we can bring one friend on a play date, but it would be great to take two (and then that mom would take both of mine!) Also, the sliding doors seem awesome. my oldest can get himself buckled/unbuckled and in and out of the car, but I worry about him opening the door into another car, even though he is careful. These may seem like minor things and not relavent to your life, but I am in the car all time and think they will really help. Plus just extra storage space when the back row isn't in use. We are having a third this winter so need more space anyway, but even if we were sticking with 2, I'd get a minivan.

I don't do carpooling and don't need a minivan. If you want to carpool, you will need a minivan or third row.

OP, I have 2 kids older than the ones you have and we have a Honda Fit (which we love). Not everyone needs a mini-van (or even an SUV) and with the exception of the occasional camping trip when we need a lot of space, our car is sufficient for our family of 4.

I have three kids and have never driven a mini-van. The only time it became a problem was when they were all doing rec soccer and I couldn't ride share with other families. NBD now that we aren't doing soccer anymore.

Anonymous wrote:Get the third row. We have a 9 and 11 year old. We started car pooling to their activities years ago. Without a third row, we couldn't do it unless we brought only one extra child. A third row meant things like:

--I drive once every fourth baseball practice

--I drive once a month to the early morning running club. Three other moms drive the other times per month.

That said, the trunk space isn't great. We have a highlander. Love it.

Agree with this and also have a highlander and love it. Trunk space is fine if the third row is not in use (which is most of the time).

Anonymous wrote:We also keep our cars a long time - minimum 15years. We have a TSX and replaced our A4 with an Edge. We do long road trips (9-12 hours+) 2-3 times a year plus short 2-5 hour ones, so the smallish SUV has been great for those. BUT for day to day we do not need it -- even for sports. We also don't have grandparents often. When they do come, my mom is able to fit in the back with the kids, and my inlaws prefer to drive on themselves.

We don't regret not getting a mini-van at all. We could also make due without the SUV if we had a sedan larger than the A4.

PS in a couple years our oldest could ride in the front seat, so bringing two friends to events will soon. E possible.

We also keep our cars a long time - minimum 15years. We have a TSX and replaced our A4 with an Edge. We do long road trips (9-12 hours+) 2-3 times a year plus short 2-5 hour ones, so the smallish SUV has been great for those. BUT for day to day we do not need it -- even for sports. We also don't have grandparents often. When they do come, my mom is able to fit in the back with the kids, and my inlaws prefer to drive on themselves.

We don't regret not getting a mini-van at all. We could also make due without the SUV if we had a sedan larger than the A4.

We have two minivans. Makes 3 across a piece of cake.

Oldest of 3 kids, spaced 6 years apart, so wide range of car seat(s) and gear at any given time. Our family never had a minivan, only a series of station wagons. Once or twice my parents rented a minivan for long road trips to visit grandparents, but even most of those were done in the wagon. It can be done, esp. with 2 kids.

Get the third row. We have a 9 and 11 year old. We started car pooling to their activities years ago. Without a third row, we couldn't do it unless we brought only one extra child. A third row meant things like:

--I drive once every fourth baseball practice

--I drive once a month to the early morning running club. Three other moms drive the other times per month.

That said, the trunk space isn't great. We have a highlander. Love it.

I have two kids and had to have a three-row SUV when the kids were 5 & 7. Now they're 8 & 10 and I hate having a big SUV. I do not need the third row and wish I had a sedan. Like you, we keep our cars a long time so I'm stuck. Unless you plan on having a third, there is no need for a minivan.

We have 2 kids (ages 2 and 4--we're done) and are planning to purchase a new car soon to replace our 2002 Accord. We keep cars for a long time...

We're leaning towards getting a Subaru Outback or maybe a Forester. For various reasons I don't really want to get a mini-van--mostly because I just don't feel like we "need" all of that space to justify driving it every day (vs renting on the occasions that we do need one).

But I acknowledge that the fact that I'm not in the serious kid years yet (with extra-curricular activities) makes this decision more difficult. I wonder if I'm going to regret not having more seats as they get older. Is that one middle seat going to be enough? I just ordered a couple of Diono Radians (which are narrower seats) to better visualize how much extra room in the middle that would give us...

Would love to hear from others who have btdt. Thanks!