Anyone go from minivan to compact suv???

[newmomto1]

I am considering trading in my Odyssey for a CRV.
My kids are 16 and 14.
I cannot remember the last time I used my 3rd row.
Has anyone made this change?
Any regrets????

[SnuggleBuggles]

We had a Mazda5- so a mini minivan- and went to a RAV4. I hate how much smaller it is some of the time. The back seat is cramped (especially with 2 growing teens) and storage is terrible for trips. We rented a minivan for college move in and, I'll concede that it is probably too much car for day to day. The 4 of us rarely pile into the car at the same time anymore so we are mostly ok with the RAV4. I feel for them when they are stuck in the backseat on a long trip though.
Do test drive the cars. i assumed we'd get the CRV but it really wasn't near as good as the RAV4 at the time. Things have hopefully improved in the past few years since we looked but the safety tech was just so much better with the Toyota. All around though the RAV4 was just better.

[mom2binsd]

My minivan died after 270k and I went to a Ford Edge. My kids were about 8 and 11 when I switched. We still did lots of travel hockey trips with two hockey bags in the back, 16 hr road trips to Canada and Florida (it's probably one of roomiest small SUV's). There have only been a few times I needed an extra seat but it was a great move. As they are older they can sit in the front so you can drive 4 kids if needed.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[mom2binsd]

I borrowed a CRV and I agree it's smaller than the Edge which had decent storage in back and the back seat was roomy (my 08 Edge was awesome, drove it 257k). Replaced with a 2016 Buick Envision which has slightly less space in back, but is so comfy but for 3 it's perfect.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[AnnieW625]

We have a 2006 Honda Pilot (so not a mini van, but we do have the third row), but we also have a 2017 Subaru Outback. I would look at the Subaru Outback and Forrester. The Outback and Forrester had almost the same amount of cargo space in 2016 when we were shopping, but I didn’t like potentially having to stack stuff in the back of the Forrester because the cargo space seemed shorter than in the Outback.

Tbh if we had to replace the Pilot today (it has 215k miles on it) we would probably replace it with a Honda Passport because it feels just like the old Pilot, but doesn’t look like a jelly bean like the current model Pilot (TETO style wise....we have plenty of friends who have the newest model and love it) and we really don’t feel like we need a 3rd row much if at all anymore (and honestly didn’t really use it much, it was just an added extra). It is also bigger than a CRV or other compact SUVs but not super large either. We would probably also look at the Outback and Forrester as well.

ETA: my only slight regret with the Outback is that sometimes the 4 cylinder engine is kind of gutless going up a hill, but once it gets going it is fine. Sometimes I have to drive it in manu mastic (paddle shifters) to get the extra power. This is due to the CVT engine which helps get better gas mileage, but if slightly lower gas mileage and a higher price isn’t a concern then I would look at the 6 cylinder engine as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hillview]

WE went from a minivan (Toyota) to a large suv and now have a small suv (Tesla model y) and no regrets. It has great head room. DS1 is 6’2” so far!

[ray7694]

I commute 70 miles a day so the CRV was decent gas mileage although the tank size stinks.
I have a 2018 and it has great safety and options. I will say our Ford Explorer is better for long trips.

[gamma]

I went from an Explorer with a third row, which was used all the time. Now that the older DGC are 20, 17, 16 we never used the third row. After considering a CRV, RAV4, Forester, Outback, the visibility out of all of the windows on the Subaru was so much better. I went with the Outback and absolutely love it! Compared to the others, it has a little more width so the kids aren’t on top of one another and leg room for the boys to stretch out. The cargo room is the same between the Forester and Outback, but shaped differently. The Forester is shorter, but taller and the Outback is wider and deeper, but not as tall. I preferred the shape of the Outback, since I hate my rear window blocked when piled with stuff. It gives me more usable space.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We flipped a coin to decide between the RAV4 and Outback. Ultimately the fact that the RAV4 was available as a hybrid finally tipped the scales. I think, in hindsight, I should have gone with the Outback.

[wendibird22]

I went from an Ody to a CRV 4 years ago and don't regret it. My kids are 11 and 13 and I still don't miss the 3rd row. We've taken several long car trips in the CRV and it was fine.