I recently test drove a Dodge Caravan 08 for 1 week and DO NOT recommend it at all!! It is very narrow on the inside and hardly any clearance space for installing car seats safely. Both my girls are in the Britax Regents and I could not fit them in
comfortably and safely so I had to go with putting my oldest in theBritax Parkway and my 2nd daughter aged 3 in the Britax Marathon. I could barely lift her up to get her in the Marathon as these car seats run tall. Just having the Marathon and the Parkway in the back eliminated our ability to use the middle seat at all. So, instead of being able to fit 7 people in the van, we could only fit 6. The other thing is not all the seats have LATCH and those that do are hard to get to. I had the hardest time installing my DS's Britax Boulevard in one of the captain's chairs. I had to really think about where I was going to sit each child based on where my oldest would have more leg room which meant not putting the baby directly in front of her so that I could flip that seat forward so that she could get in to her seat and have the leg room she needed. What a nightmare! The only thing I liked about it was the GPS but then again you can get that with just about anything you buy now days. The whole console was too busy for me. The van was top of the line with regard to satellite TV and Radio, 2 Tv's, headphones, etc. I liked it when we were all in the same car and my husband and I could actually have a conversation without
interruption but other than that did not care for the kids watching TV so we turned it off. The lighting at night is neat but the van itself was not very comfortable. It was just too narrow. I say take your time shopping and test drive everything. Think about the possibility of more kids and where all the LATCH anchors are in the van. Also be sure that the middle seats have a headrest as some do not therefore you can not sit an adult there without a head rest or a shoulder type seat belt. We have a 2003 Toyota Sienna 7 seater but run in to this problem of not having a shoulder type seat belt with head rest for the back middle seat.
Dodge Caravan '08
Dodge: Caravan
"We have almost 7 yo girl twins and a 3 yo boy, and are expecting in June! So your questions re cars: we have a minivan. I have never had an SUV, although we have relatives who do, and I can tell you that my brother, who has three kids in car seats, switched this fall from a minivan to an SUV w/ 3 rows and he is so very sorry. It is hard to get to the child in that cramped back row and if you need the row up all the time, you have no space in the back for stuff you get at places like BJs or Costco. I think a 3-row SUV might be ok if your son was old enough, say 7 or 8, to climb back there himself and buckle in, but you will find it quite difficult, I think, to reach him over the infant car seats in the row in front of him. We have a minivan (just a Dodge Grand Caravan), which is frankly perfect for families with more than 2 kids. I won't say it's fancy, nor is it stylish! But the side doors slide back wide, easily letting the kids (and me) climb in and out, yet we still have room in the far back for groceries and stuff. Our twins are in the back row, which is perfectly comfortable for two in booster seats, and our son (and the infant to be) is in the captain's chair behind the front seats. I love that the minivan drives like a car, I (and the kids) can climb in and out without breaking an ankle (I swear I almost did break my ankle trying to get out of my sister in law's ford expedition!). I love the automatic side and back doors (meaning they open with the remote). As we come up to our car in a parking lot, I hit the button and the door slides open and all three of my kids know the rule -- climb right in and don't get back out ever! I can then help arrange seatbelts and buckle my 3 yo in. With an SUV, the doors need to be opened wide to get the infant car seat in and installed (if you have the pop out kind) and that can be very difficult when you are in a parking lot with other cars parked next to you! Before we had our minivan, we had our twins in a 4 door sedan, when they were in infant car seats, and sometimes I could not get one in her side, b/c someone had parked close to me and I couldn't open the door all the way! so frustrating!
So all in all, I don't know why people hate minivans, because they do exactly what they are intended for -- helping parents of kids get them around easily and safely!! Take some empty car seats and go visit car lots -- try moving the seats in and out, pretending someone is parked next to you and you are holding your 2 yos hand, etc. There is a range in minivans for space -- we rejected the Mazda outright b/c the sliding doors don't slide back very far. The Honda was great (my sister has one and loves it), but at the time we bought, about 4 years ago, they were requiring a $5K deposit just to look at one, so we opted for our Dodge. We've been very happy!"