Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We keep cars forever. I'm wondering will a small car and a minivan be sufficient when the kids are bigger? We have 3 boys. I prefer driving smaller cars, and it seems wasteful to me to get 2 big cars when one car that can carry everyone seems sufficient. But, will I regret that in about 5 years when the kids are bigger and wish I had 3 rows in both cars?

Go with the small car. By the time the kids are big enough that they won't fit three across in the back, the oldest will be big enough to sit in the front. And if both parents are there, then we'll take the minivan.

+1
Also, in 5 years, there will be less need to bring everyone along. If you need to pick up middle from soccer, oldest and youngest can stay home by themselves.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We keep cars forever. I'm wondering will a small car and a minivan be sufficient when the kids are bigger? We have 3 boys. I prefer driving smaller cars, and it seems wasteful to me to get 2 big cars when one car that can carry everyone seems sufficient. But, will I regret that in about 5 years when the kids are bigger and wish I had 3 rows in both cars?

Go with the small car. By the time the kids are big enough that they won't fit three across in the back, the oldest will be big enough to sit in the front. And if both parents are there, then we'll take the minivan.

We’ve had a minivan since we added our 3rd. Kids now 14/12/10 and just replaced old minivan with new minivan.

Dh has always driven a sedan. We have never felt that we need a second minivan. He will drive 4 kids around occasionally if there’s one tall enough to sit in front seat. When kids were in boosters it was a little uncomfortable to smoosh all in the back seat. But now it’s fine.

Subaru Outback. 2 car seats and a booster(first), now two boosters and a car seat across the back. Buckling those boosters is a pain, though.

OP here. We keep cars forever. I'm wondering will a small car and a minivan be sufficient when the kids are bigger? We have 3 boys. I prefer driving smaller cars, and it seems wasteful to me to get 2 big cars when one car that can carry everyone seems sufficient. But, will I regret that in about 5 years when the kids are bigger and wish I had 3 rows in both cars?

We have a van and a still-going-strong 2004 sedan with 3 kids (7, 3, and 1). Next year, we're going to get a compact SUV (Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Ford Explorer).

Van for all 3 kids, smaller car for 1-2 kids.

Our kids are similarly spaced -

We have our 2nd car as an Acura TLX. We were able to fit 2 boosters and a car seat across.

It was less expensive to get the right car seats than get a bigger car.

We have an Accord as the 2nd vehicle. We found that a smaller, more nimble car for when there are just 1 or 2 kids in tow was best (gas, parking, maneuvering).

Acura TLX

I would get a larger SUV.

Rav 4

Depends on how often the whole family needs to be one second car. We have a Prius as the second car, but had to order narrower boosters and car seats.
That car is mostly used for commuting except for a couple of pickups a week, so it's crowded but fine.

Kia Niro. It's for commuting and errands and is super fuel efficient. I rarely use it for the whole family, as we use our minivan for that.

No our other car is an Audi that can’t fit three kids. We use that when one parent has 1-2 kids or it’s just the adults going out. We used to have two cars that fit all five of us but realized we almost never needed that option, and preferred a more sporty style for our second.

We have a sedan, and it is dying. I need to replace it, unexpectedly. Do we get another car with 3 rows? Something like an Outback? What do you wish you had? Our kids are 8, 6 and 3.