Minivan

Sienna

A minivan will serve you well for the next 10 years with their ages. I wouldn't hesitate to get one as long as you don't need a lot of ground clearance or towing capacity.

Ours lasted 16 years and was handed down to our youngest when he started driving. He had it into college.

Too old?

No.

You want the Expediton Max, just get it. You will be happier
as you will not constantly be trying to justify upgrading anytime you have a midlife crisis in the future (boat, RV, etc…).

I have 4 kids. And some dirtbikes. And a boat.

Just sayin.

Minivan works great for hauling adults. No reason why it won't work for teens.

I own both a very old Tahoe (2007) and a '22 Pacifica Hybrid. We are a family of 3 that lives near Dallas and drives cross country for vacations every summer and usually again in the fall or at Christmas. Occasionally my elderly mom makes us a family of 4 on these road trips. We just got back from DC a few weeks ago, last summer we were in Minnesota and Chicago, and in the fall we went to Denver. Lots of road trips.

The Pacifica is my favorite road trip vehicle ever.

Even in the mountains it is better than my Tahoe, as long as front wheel drive is sufficient, because that is the one thing the Tahoe has an advantage on, 4wd.

The passing power at altitude is better since it has the electric assist, and the 'Low gear' for max Regen braking did a better job slowing us down on 6% grades than being able to shift the Tahoe into 3rd or 2nd, plus it was recharging the battery as opposed to revving the **** out of the ICE.

I will admit, some of my love of the Pacifica also comes from the fact that it has modern features like radar based cruise control which was awesome in traffic jams in DC once I learned to trust it.

I also love it as a plug-in hybrid because as my wife's DD she puts gas in it once every 6 weeks or so, as opposed to once every 6 days in the Tahoe.

But, if any of your children are tall or if there is height in their DNA I would suggest skipping any vans that don't have decent leg room in the 2nd row. I drive with the seat all the way back, and the 2nd row spot behind me would probably not be terribly comfortable for even my short daughter on a long trip. The hybrid battery probably killed some of the 2nd row leg room, and it also eliminated the stow-n-go capability.

If I could have bought any van I wanted back in '22 I would.have gotten a Sienna, AWD, with the reclining 2nd row seats, but at that time, the wait list to buy any Sienna for MSRP was 18 months, and the Toyota "ordering" system is stupid as hell, not allowing you to actually order anything, but rather just lets you get in line to buy whatever the hell they decide to build. Getting AWD with the reclining seats required a very specific trim/options, and there was almost a 0% chance any dealer in Texas would have ever gotten one so equipped. I think getting AWD in Texas would have been very difficult regardless of trim.

So instead we got the plug-in hybrid Pacifica which has been great, but is a Chrysler product, so it could burn my house down or just stop running any day now...