What do mom's of 4 drive other than a van?

[Candygrl]

I have 4 small kids and we have a Honda Odyssey but I'm so over it. We need something with room other than a mini van. We also need something with decent towing capability. We are looking at Chevy Tahoe's because we like the size and the fact that we can tow large trailers etc. any suggestions?

 

[NTave]

Highlander, Pilot. I would think the van would be easiest to access them when they are small though.

 

[Niel]

My bil has 4 kids he drives a ford flex

 

[baby monster]

I'd say odyssey is much easier to get kids in and out but if you really want to go to an suv, take a look at Chevy Tahoe, gmc Yukon, Toyota Sequoia or Mercedes GL. They should seat 4 kids comfortably and tow. I have a Highlander and it's

​

a tight fit for 4 carseats and then there's no trunk space left.

 

[luv2sparkle]

We had a Honda Pilot and an odessey. The odyssey was much easier. You would have to go with a Tahoe or Suburban for something bigger with towing capacity.

 

[telephone89]

Any sort of 7 seater SUV should do fine. I'm a bit in love with the Acura MDX but they are terrible on gas. Ford explorer (new ones) have the option of 7 seats, excursions, pilots, highlanders etc.

 

[azstonie]

I frequently dropped my office's admin assistant at the dealership to get her Tahoe fixed...

 

[Diamoneecee]

I have five kids and we have a Chevy Tahoe, it's the only car that seats ALL of us comfortable. From rhe time we got the third kid we have had SUV's. My husbands hates the minivans as he likes vehicles with more power. Actually our first SUV a GMC Typhoon which had a corvette like engine and a Jimmy body anf did 0-60 in something like 5.3 seconds. The SUV was stolen as only like 5000 of them was every made and it appreciated and became a collectible car and we actually got more than we originally paid from the insurance but still less than we could actually replace one with as the price jumped. My husband loved that car so much and still misses it but we have out grown it with the amount of children we have now

 

[ponder]

How many car seats are we taking about? If you have 3 cars seats you are going to be limited to a larger SUV to fit them all. Not many smaller cars/SUVs can accommodate more than 2 car seats. I drive an ford expedition and have 3 car seats across the middle bench. All three middle seats have latch capabilities. We rented a Tahoe on vacation once and this was not the case. There were only two latch positions in the middle seat, and the one latch was in the same seat that allowed you to access the back seat. It was inconvenient and not very well thought out. That was 2.5 years ago, hopefully it's not like that anymore. Also, I would probably look more toward expeditions and suburbans, because if you are using the third row to hold people full time, it leaves little trunk space for groceries and road trip luggage. At least for me anyway, especially when I was lugging a stroller around.

 

[jaysonsmom]

All the big American SUVs mentioned so far will work. My husband had the Ford flex as a company car for a couple years, and we loved it....roomy and not too high up if you need to hoist kids into car seats. I have trouble getting in and out of a Tahoe, and I'm 5'7!

I have an Audi Q7, and my brother has the Acura MDX. While I think they are both great 7 seaters, they are a tight fit with little to no trunk space if third row is being used.....and if your kids are still in car seats, the accessibility to the third row is very limited, you'd have to take out a car seat each time you want to use the third row. It is a pain!

 

[jaysonsmom]

I hit submit too soon....forgot to mention, that when my kids were both in car seats, a minivan was the best thing ever! Dual sliding doors easy accessibility...and I only have two kids! If you want a cool suv, wait til the kids are all out of car seats and can get themselves in and out of the third row easily.

 

[Candygrl]

Thank you everyone!

Jaysonsmom it's not that we want the "cool" factor, it's that we need towing capability, And 4 WD.

We went and looked at Tahoe's again and I really like them but the cargo space is really lacking with the third row up. We have 2 in car seats and 2 in boosters. We have a double stroller, and that didn't fit at all :/. I think we will look at Suburbans or wait for the 2016 Tahoe which is supposed to have more cargo space. Bleh! The odyssey is definitely the best fit grrrrrr.

 

[butterfly 17]

I have four kids and I drive a Honda Odyssey and a MB GL450.
I got both cars within three months of each other knowing I would need a third row seat. My water actually broke the day I picked up my Odyssey.

I can tell you hands down that the Odyssey is probably the best purchase I have ever made. I love the sliding doors and getting in and out of the back seat is a breeze for my older kids.
I currently still have two in car seats and one in a booster. My oldest just stopped using a booster last year. Having a 4x4 is a pain even with the third row seats bc you have to slide one seat back and forth. When we use the GL, we keep one car seat in the middle and another one behind the drivers side seat.
It's manageable but just not as roomy.

When we were looking we looked at the Escalade ESV and the Navigator as well.
I just couldn't get used to driving such a big car, but that's me.

 

[Candygrl]

I know what you mean! The Odyssey is by far the best fit for our family other than the towing etc. oh boy this is tough. Other thing is we have the Odyssey Touring and hubby hates that the SUV's don't have all the fun gadgets lol. I do love my Odyssey for the kids, it's so easy. I think we are going to wait it out for a while

 

[butterfly 17]

We have the Touring as well and the DVD player comes in handy when the kids are bored.
You can get option packages for whichever SUV edition you purchase. Our GL has the seperate DVD players behind each front seat. I think we have package II for it.

I think that's the great thing about Hondas and Acuras btw. You pick a model /edition and it comes with whatever it says. I hate picking all the different options. Not only does it get expensive, but it's also hard to figure out what to get.

 

[amc80]

Take a look at a Ford Expedition EL. Or a Escalade ESV (I think it's called). Both should come in 4wd, have some towing capabilities, and allow 7 people without compromising trunk space.

 

[facetgirl]

Check out the Chevy Traverse- plenty of room because it has a 3rd row that can be converted to trunk space (meaning, you can collapse a seat if its not used - or the entire row.) Love it.

 

[rainydaze]

My friend drives a Lincoln Navigator and she LOVES it. She tows horses (I see it has a 9000 lb towing capacity). She only has two kids; I have been in it and it was niece but I have never been in or seen the back so I can't speak to how much room is left for 'stuff' with all seats up. Four wheel drive is an option. It has a nice smooth ride.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Lincoln_Navigator/

I'll throw this out there - the Toyota Sienna has AWD and a towing capacity of 3500 lbs. Hmm, looks like that's the same as the Odyssey.

 

[Laila619]

I have 4 kids and I went the minivan route.

However, I know people who love their Suburban.

 

[Candygrl]

We are going to look at the suburban in a few minutes . Yikes it seems soooooo large lol

 

[Phanie]

Nissan Titan or Armada.
It is huge but can carry around six to 8 people and we tow our 26 ft camper with it!

 

[ecf8503]

GMC Acadia

 

[amc80]

We are going to look at the suburban in a few minutes . Yikes it seems soooooo large lol

How was it?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

If you are looking at brands outside of Honda, be SURE you check reliablity, etc. somewhere like Consumer Reports. I do not like the height of those huge SUV's like Suburbans. Can you not get a towing package option on an Odyssey that is better than the standard one? I think if you are the one who usually drives the car daily, it needs to work best for you. Your hubby can get the car he prefers to drive for himself!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Mazda CX9 has three rows with towing and tons of leg room for kids

 

[Candygrl]

We ended up getting a 2015 Tahoe. So far so good. The kids like seem to like it. There are some differences that take some getting used to, like the lack of sliding doors lol. I think it will work well with our lifestyle, and if down the road we want to downsize we can look at vans again or some sort of crossover