Okay we are thinking of trading in our 2010 Pathfinder for a Minivan...
we are about to take a long road trip and the thought of driving our tight fitted pathfinder the whole way makes me cringe. I have been thinking about trading this car in for a while, so the trip is just a reason to push us....

My husbands job requires him to go to work regardless of the weather so I am leaning towards the Sienna since its the only one with AWD. I would love the odyssey but it doesn't have that option.

I would love all 3 kids to sit in the 2nd row, but the Sienna AWD only seats 7..doesnt make sense but what can you do...

Anyone else out there that can give some advice?

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So if the sienna seats 7.... Does it seat three on the 2nd row or 3rd row? The Honda pilot seats 3 in the middle and 2 on the 3rd row is why I'm asking..

Usually the third rows DO allow for three to sit on the second or middle row.

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The sienna that has all shell drive only has 6 seats, 2 in the middle and 3 in 3rd row. The front wheel drive can seat 3 in middle and back

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Ahhhhhh I see

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Can I ask if you are buying a minivan for more room why you would want everyone in the second row? One of the joys - to me- of having a minivan is that I can have everyone have their own space for long journeys...

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Well for now my three are 5 and under so I like to have them close...i have a 5.5 year old , a 2.5 year old and a 9 month old. My 5 year old distracts the baby when he starts crying and I usually need to keep tabs on the 2.5 year old.

So to all of the minivan owners, what kind do you have? Pros Cons??

Bumping this

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Following! I have a 1, 2, and 3 year olds of my own, and wouldn't mind being able to throw some DC kids in. Our Chevy Traverse is OK, but I'd like to look into minivans with good safety/ carseat room!

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It sounds like you want a different car but you might also consider renting a van for a trip and keeping your current car. We rent a car whenever we have to travel long distances because my husband doesn't want to put extra mileage on our car. To us, the cost is worth it, because it isn't that much and it saves wear on our car.

Laurel

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I have the sienna and it is very roomy. I have twin 4 year olds and a 9 year old of my own and 3 daycare kiddos. I do not have AWD, so I have the one with 8 seats. I have yet to find a combo of carseats where I can put 3 across the 3rd row. Right now I have my twins in the 3rd row, dc kids in the 2nd and my daughter sits up front with me (she's 5'2 and 100pds). The only drawback is not being able to put 3 seats across the 3rd row.

We also have a Yukon that seats 7 and now that my kids are older its great, but when they were all small it was a pain getting them in and out of the car. And my sienna has much more trunk space for strollers, toys, etc.

Good luck on your search!

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I own a chevy express. Nice and super big. I would get something that doesn't have bench seats in the middle. You need to think long term. My middle child sits in the back because she annoys the others. My older one sits in the middle. But everyone wants their own space. Also, will 3 car seats fit comfortably. I just couldn't take all the fighting with 3 kids together (I've got 4) right now I have that needs to strapped to the roof because she drives the others crazy and she's 12.

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I have an 07 Sienna, seats 8 comfortably. The middle seats in both rows are real seats, unlike some other models / years.

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I have an '08 town and country... I LOVE IT!!! It also has stability control and traction control so when I throw on some snow tires it does great in the snow!
I have captains chairs in the second row and it holds 7 passengers total. I LOVE my stow and go!!! I can transport most anything I need too .
As far as reliability and convienence it's perfect! I had a third row SUV and it wasn't the same... Sold it and went back to the caravan-
We bought our van slightly used and it is loaded- my ten yr old's friends think I have the best ride ever!! Hahaha

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A good carseat for three across is the Diono Radian. They're pricey, but cheaper than a new car. I heard about these from car-seat.org website. Check out diono.com & you can see the specs. They are very streamlined & don't flare out like a lot of seats do. The radian rxt is also rear facing to 45 lbs! It goes from birth to booster. Very neat seats!

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Thanks ladies for the input
And I actually have the Diono radian for all three so it does fit 3 across in my pathfinder

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I have a Sienna 8 passenger van as well ... I use two britax carseats (Marathons) in the 3rd row and can fit any other carseat back there to get 3 carseats. It's the narrow base of the Britax carseats that helps out. I also love that the Britax carseats have the harness, are good for rear or forward facing, have a weight max limit of 70 Lbs and a Maximum Height limit of 4 feet (49 "). They also have a longer expiration date (7 years). Even my 4yo's can still sit in them. The only drawback is that they are spendy but they have a great safety rating.

Since I only have 2 Britax's, two "other" brand of carseats and 2 boosters that are good for 5 years I can just replace one of the "other" carseats/boosters each year and then skip a year and buy another Britax then skip another year and buy another Britax and then start over again the following year to stay within the expiration dates of all of my safetey seats.

Right now this is my set-up in my van:
1st row: Myself, DD (8yo)
2nd Row: Harmony Cruz Booster Seat, Harmony Cruz Booster Seat, Safety 1st Complete Air (convertible)
3rd Row: Evenflo Tribute (convertible), Britax Marathon (convertible), Britax Marathon (convertible).

I had a hard time finding a combo of seats that worked for me also at first and I had to run into the store, buy carseats, try them in the lot, return them, buy another one etc. This was the only combo that I tried that worked but I did it. I'm sure that a third Marathon could work in the 3rd row but $70 compared to $300 sounded good to me for the 3rd carseat .

And yes, I love the roomy trunk space for all of the toys, strollers and junk. My van is white and has earned the nickname "The Stretch" (as in stretch limo). Even the adults like it (our friends and family have been in it a few times on trips, no carseats of course).

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I have a '10 Town and country Limited. We bought it slightly used- so we got a great price on it and it only had 11k miles on it- still had new car smell! Even though it only has 7 seats, I like having the captains chairs so my twins get their own seats.

Sprouts- you're right- the Radians will fit 3 across.

I strongly suggest getting an extended version if you're going to have all the seats filled up with children. I noticed a lot of minivans don't have much storage if you have all the seats occupied. Some of my friends who have regular versions of T&C can't even put a double stroller in the cargo area when the 3rd row is up. My Limited has the extra room and I can easily fit our double stroller and groceries.

We were big minivan haters before kids. But my husband even traded in his beloved Jeep Wrangler in towards the van. I love how the minivan is made with kids in mind.

ETA: We live in Germany and it gets pretty snowy in the winters and the Germans aren't great about plowing and icing most of the roads. We use good winter tires (no snow chains) on our van and it's a really heavy vehicle, so we get around pretty good during winter.

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