keep whatever car you like and get narrower car seats

[quote=Anonymous]OP here .. yes yes , I know I should just get a minivan .. just curious if anyone else has made and SUV work and loves it. I need AWD or 4WD for our driveway in the winters unfortunately … even with a dusting or slight rain / ice you cannot get out , very long 900 LF and steep. [/quote]

Put a bubblebum as the booster between two car seats. And keep your current vehicle.

If you're interested in the Pilot, might as well just get the minivan. The styling is so uninspired...

The Hyundai Palisade comes with all the bells & whistles, looks nice, and gets good reviews. I really liked it on the test drive. The Kia Telluride is getting good reviews, although I haven't checked it out yet. The 2020 Toyota Highlander was just released and also looks good. Note that this one is slightly smaller than the other 3rd row SUVs. I was surprised how much I liked the Chevy Traverse, also worth a look. The Ford Explorer is (was?) having manufacturing problems, so I would skip that one. My parents have a 2-year old one and I really don't like Ford's infotainment system. We've been waiting to check out the 2020 Highlander prior to making our decision.

https://www.motortrend.com/awards/best-suv-of-the-year/

following this too. I feel like all SUvs with a third row then have no trunk space. Need to be able to fit a stroller in the trunk. Even if the third row partially collapses.

Get an Outback.

We have a Honda Odyssey and love it. I also considered the Toyota Sienna - if you need the AWD go for that one. 3 kids in car seats and we have room for the grandparents when they visit, plus sports gear, etc.

I have 3 kids too OP. I'm very happy with my Pilot. It has captain chairs my youngest ones sit in those, and my oldest sits on his booster in the back.

The Honda Pilot and the Acura MDX have captain chair options in their higher end models. I have an older MDX, but my neighbor just bought the new MDX with captain chairs, and my friend has a pretty new Pilot with captain chairs. The Pilot is very spacious in the back compared to my MDX.

I love our Honda Odyssey. Our main road right out of the neighborhood is a massive hill and I’ve never had any problem in the snow or ice in that car. However, I always have issues getting up my driveway (not steep, just an odd angle to enter and ice collects at the bottom). FWIW, we are on our second Odyssey. I would get the odyssey or sienna. You will LOVE how easy it is with kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a GMC Acadia because I refused a minivan. 3 years later I traded it in for an Odyssey and I.LOVE.IT!! Do yourself a favor and just get the minivan.

The minivan is awesome but only the Siena offers AWD. It does great in snow and ice.

My friend has three kids in carseats and has a Sienna with AWD in rural upstate NY.

I live in the mountains in Colorado and our AWD Sienna is better than any of the SUV’s we’ve had for winter driving. The downside is that there is no spare tire so it comes with crappy run-flats. After the first set we just buy regular tires and snow tires and keep AAA platinum. 175K miles does far.

Anonymous wrote:Nobody thinks you’re cool while you’re hauling three kids around. Just get the van.

Once you see how nice the sliding doors you’ll be kicking yourself for waiting so long to get a minivan.

Sure, you can survive with a sedan or an SUV, but honestly, I feel kinda sorry for those people. If you have more than 2 kids and refuse to get a minivan, you clearly have something to prove. Nobody thinks you’re “the cool mom” because you suffer through buckling up 3 kids in an SUV.