If you aren't pulling anything, get a minivan. Especially since it will be at 2/3 the price

Claytie Williams a minivan. Lol
That's next level right there

100% minivan. The sliding doors are life changing with small kids.

Get the minivan. They are practically as heck. The kids will be able to open the sliding doors and climb in themselves without denting the cars parked next to you. We easily fit a double bob stroller behind the third row and it's easy to get in and out.

No dilemma at all. You are parents 3 of soon to be 4, that's awesome! It's a sacrifice, but it's just that time in your life. A minivan does not equal you or your wife's personality.

Just getting small kids in and out of car seats in a parking spot is enough to recommend a minivan. Plus more useable space, more efficient, etc

We drive expedition max. Four kids. A minivan is super practical but neither of us wants to drive one as a daily.

Just picked up our 4th kid and a 2003 Excursion. Wife has a minivan but I hate it with a passion. We take the excursion everywhere. Can't recommend it enough.





Excursion is the best multi purpose vehicle, hands down.

Minivans are the best multipurpose vehicles. Toyota or Honda.

Another vote for mini van. Honda or Toyota. Your choice.


We had two kids and a third on the way. Similar to you, we were set to have 3 under 6.

Wife wanted a minivan, I thought not a chance would we get a minivan.

She convinced me one day to take three car seats to a dealership and get all that garbage in and out of various vehicles.

I had the salesman pull a handful of 3 row SUV. I went through putting seats in. I immediately realized anything in that third row was a lost cause. Just a giant pain.

He then pulled a minivan up. They slide those doors open and did some magic trick to give me easy access to the third row.

I was sold in 2 minutes. It's not even close.

Couple years later we had twins. We have bad that Van 10 years now. It's gone all over with all sort of kids in it and i have regretted my decision for 0 seconds. I would hate to actually peak in that third row now as 5 kids have lived back there. No telling what you might find. It's been awesome.

One day you will be out of the minivan stage and you can move on.
As you described it sounds like you are right in the middle of the minivan era. Embrace it and buy it. They can't be beat for convenience and family.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Rent a minivan and drive it a week. They are amazingly agile, comfortable, and maneuverable

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This is our plan for vacation

Just go for the Ford Transit van. Leave lots of room in the trophy case for future hardware.

In before "I drive a 4Runner and my wife drives a Kicks".

Aggietaco said:

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An Odyssey would barely squeak in our garage with mirrors manually folded and a spotter vs a new sequoia,

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According to Edmunds, a 2025 Oddy is 1.3" more narrow (without mirrors), 2.9" shorter (in length) and 7.1" shorter in height than a 2025 Sequoia

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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We drive expedition max. Four kids. A minivan is super practical but neither of us wants to drive one as a daily.

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1agschasin4kids

GrapevineAg said:

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In before "I drive a 4Runner and my wife drives a Kicks".

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"I have no experience with minivans"

Yukon XL/Suburban/Expedition Max has a usable-for-adults third row plus good cargo area behind it.

I bit the bullet on a 2024 Suburban because the 4 runner was too small and piling crap into the back of a pickup over and over again was tiresome.

I think your wife would be impressed with the Yukon XL. It is easier to drive than it looks.

Malcolm52 said:

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• Minivan. I used to be the classic Minivan hater, but upon becoming a dad I see their value. Especially in the situation I am in now with young kids and all the gear. These cars were literally created to help families like mine get around. Great features and gotta love the price point compared to a Yukon XL. Main problem is my wife thinks driving a mini van will be the last straw in whatever is left of her pre-mother pride ( I already told her that is long gone so might as well Claytie Williams it at this point). We can always upgrade to a Yukon once the kids move past the carseat stage.

My wife is trying to say we can stay in the Telluride with four, but she will eventually give up this charade and we will get one of the above options. I just wanted to see if the Auto board recommends something else. Its a shame that the new Sequoias are so small or that woudlve been an option.

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When we had #3, we bought a Honda Odyssey and it's been awesome with 3 little kids. It's low enough to the ground that they could/can climb in without needing us to lift them up, and the doors they use slide open so no worries about them slamming a door into a car parked next to you in a parking lot or your garage. Speaking of...it fits fine in any garage if you're one that actually uses it for it's intended purpose.

6 adults could comfortably ride from Houston to Dallas because the 2nd and 3rd row seats are roomy and lots of headroom. We keep the 2nd row middle seat out and in the garage most of the time, but it's easily put in and removed when we need it. Oh, and the 2nd row captains chairs are simple to remove for when you're doing your semi-annual deep clean of it to get all of the crackers, french fries, and toys that find their way under the seats. 3rd row is not removable, but no big issue to clean. Our 3rd row has 2 different fold options. One that allows for it to be folded down but still have full access to the rear, or a 2nd option that folds into the rear for a fully flat surface.

We road trip each July to the family farm in Iowa, have road tripped to Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida in it for vacations and softball tournaments, and there is zero obstructions of the rear window with all of our luggage, beach gear, softball gear, and cooler. I chuckle when I see Tahoes/Suburbans/Expeditions/etc on these same road trips loaded to the brim and having a luggage box on the top of the vehicle or a luggage rack on the tow hitch.

All of that and 30mpg on a road trip.

You can get a fully loaded Odyssey or Sienna for ~$50k. You're not touching a similarly equipped Suburban or Expedition for that. My pride gets me in a lot of trouble, but $15-20k+ will make me swallow it quite quickly. Honestly, the hardest part of buying a minivan is overcoming the stigma of a minivan. If you're fine with wearing clothes from Target and not giving a f*** about what others think, a minivan would be wonderful. If you need to wear name brand anything so you can impress others, may I suggest the a Suburban/Yukon XL. Outside of needing to tow something while hauling the whole family, most anti-minivan people can't give you a good reason outside of being too insecure to drive one.

As far as your wife's pride...after 4 kids, she probably pees a bit if she laughs too hard or sneezes. Pride left her after that first push.