Another minivan or used larger SUV, trying to decide

[jerseygirl07067]

I have been loving my Ody for the past 10 years. I just put some money into repair and if anything else happens at this point I will be getting another vehicle. I'm not sure that I need to do new at this point since my oldest child only has 3 years left of high school, her younger sister 4 years left and then my youngest will be going into 5th grade. We are the type of family though that normally buys our vehicles new and then drives them until they die LOL. I've never bought pre-owned and it makes me nervous because you don't know what you're getting

So with our family of five we are often transporting kids during carpooling. I also do home visits which require me to keep a lot of supplies in the back of my car. It is important that I have room for all of those things even with a third row up in addition to lawn chairs and other things we may use during soccer season.

I really liked the Toyota Highlander and the Honda Pilot but neither one of them had cargo space large enough with that third row up. So I know that the other options start to get more expensive like Nissan Armada, Chevy Suburban, Chevy Yukon Etc. I have to decide if I want to pursue buying one of these vehicles pre-owned / used or just getting another minivan either new or a few years old. The main reason being that we don't need the vehicle for several years like we did when we first bought the minivan

I'd love to get one of those larger SUVs but the only way we could afford it is pre owned.

Anyone been there done that?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I've never bought used either because there are always safety features that I don't want to miss out on. Seems like every time we've been in the market, there have been some big additions that previous years didn't have in the particular cars we wanted (blind spot monitoring...). But, I feel like a lot of cars are now caught up and the must haves are offered on a lot of cars for the past few years so I wouldn't hesitate to buy used. I think I would want certified pre-owned but I have found that once you are looking at that class then the price difference between it and new aren't crazy different- might as well buy new then. I have been intrigued by places like CarMax though and no haggling. Sounds perfect and they have a lot of inventory.

For what you describe, I think a minivan is better. I think you'd be driving around way more car than you need if you get a giant SUV. Cargo space is just a heck of a lot better in a minvan. I don't get the anti-minivan attitude...they are just practical cars at a certain phase of life. But, luckily we live in a time where everyone can find the vehicle that suits their needs and personality.

[georgiegirl]

I’d just get another minivan. It’s the easiest car for carpooling and you can haul a ton of stuff in the back. Granted it’s not as cool as a SUV, but it’s super practical.

[PZMommy]

My husband drives a Nissan Armada and I drive a Nissan Pathfinder. His armada has plenty of space, but it is pretty big. Not sure how much stuff you need to put in the back with the third row up. I don’t think there is much more space in the back of his car vs mine. His car is wider and boxier, and his third row has more room than mine does. I had a minivan for about 2 years and then I got rid of it for my pathfinder. I just didn’t like the feel of it, and it felt so big to drive, especially compared to the pathfinder.

[AngB]

We have a minivan but it's on it's last leg and we rented a vehicle to take on our road trip to Florida. We waited too long to reserve something and were stuck with a Yukon. There was barely any cargo space at all. I had to leave the stroller behind (which was just a city mini single, nothing big), and even then it was a tight tight fit with only a rock n play brought along as baby gear. I can fit a ton more in my minivan then we were able to fit in the Yukon.

There are enough new features out that I am definitely buying new and my minivan is a 2012 (but it's a Dodge Caravan and pushing 130k miles.) Some of the features blind spot,etc. were really nice in the Yukon we rented, though, so I maybe would consider used if you can find something with them. (in our case our youngest is 3 months so we'll buy new because I'll be driving a ton of kids around for a long time to come.)

[WatchingThemGrow]

We used our first van for 9 years, and we got a new one in Aug 2017 (18 model Odyssey- the new one.) We decided on it because there's just no comparison for how much easier it makes life with kids. At first it was double strollers and many carseats, then it became many friends, and now it's instruments and many athletes. The new ones are SO much nicer than the ones made 9-10 years ago. I figure it's part of being a mom to many, and it's the best tool to get the job done well. When we feel like the van is no longer being used to capacity, we will make another choice. The seats that slide any which way, flip down for a huge IKEA load or bags of mulch or a party full of 10 year-olds heading to the trampoline park make life so much easier.

[smilequeen]

I have 3 hockey players so cargo space behind the 3rd row was really important. In my experience, for that you really either need a minivan or an extended version of the large SUVs...so a suburban, a Yukon XL, or an Escalade ESV (which is what I have). It’s enormous but it is a better use of space for my needs than a minivan (hockey stuff fits better if not stacked, I can fit the dog crates, etc. ). Another thing to keep in mind with a car that big is that a regular back up camera isn’t really adequate...a 360 camera is much safer and makes parking a breeze. But that’s an added expense. When we rent a suburban on ski trips they never have them and the back up camera only...sucks. I might get a minivan with your needs.

[KpbS]

I would go with what you know and get a new minivan. Your job and having 5+ years of still hauling kids around will be worth it.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i would get another minivan. i only have 2 kiddos, not into sports and not much carpooling and we love our Odyssey. like WTG said, it is just so versatile, for little kids (carseats, strollers) all the way to bigger kids (road trips, carpooling, sports equipment, etc).

like you we never buy used cars due to the whole uncertainty factor, and intend to keep cars for really long time. we only bought used once when we were forced to after our 4-year-old Odyssey was totaled in accident (and the only comparable vehicle available for decent price was a 2-year old Odyssey that was newer design). so we have our 2012 Ody and plan to have it until DS is in college (2028). we're about halfway there and luckily no major repairs needed - hoping that will continue for us.

i personally am a smaller/sportier car girl but if a big vehicle is needed, i'm allll about the minivan, especially the Ody. the sliding doors alone make it really useful when schlepping so many kids around (never having to worry about kids causing door dings or having enough space for kids to get out , especially when out parking at crowded venues). even with 2 kids, we appreciate the 3rd row (having space between kids is awesome!).we just went to IKEA and yeah, Ody is great in that regard. in my area there are a lot of people with huge Suburbans, Yukon, etc but to me personally it doesn't seem as convenient/versatile as a van. Again to me it's all about the sliding doors. also, the gas mileage is a concern as well. for us the Ody gets fairly decent mileage especially compared to larger SUVs.

[MSWR0319]

For what you're describing, I say stick with a mini-van. I drive an Infiniti Q80 and when we were looking we looked at all of the large SUVs, with cargo space being a specific area that we were comparing. None of the large SUVs, unless you get an extended version that is longer, have that much cargo space with the 3rd row seats up. We're a family of 4 and if I have the back row up, I can fit in a week's worth of groceries and that's it.