[killer_carlson]

I thought I would log in to post.

As someone with three young kids (6, 5, and 3) who was a strong non-mini van person, I can now say I am a strong pro mini-van person. With three car seats plus adults, don't fool yourself, you're getting a family car regardless.

We have one vehicle when my wife and I want to go out, or if we are taking one kid out.

Then we have the mini van. It's a kia. We got it just when #3 arrived. It has repeatedly had the living crap kicked out of it by my kids. I stopped counting the number of times crap has been spilled, knocked over, muddy boots, and crap of all sorts dumped on the inside. You take the seats out through the sliding door, vacuum it out, and go on. Hell, when the little ones inevitably puke in it, I've opened both doors, gone to the wand wash, and blasted it clean out the opposite side. Remarkably effective by the way.

The mini van sliding doors are also very effective when little people try to open doors in crowded parking lots. When they are in the other car, you have to be conscious of them whipping a door open (or having the wind pull it out of their hands) and slam the door of the car next to you. In the mini van, you don't have that issue. You also don't get as concerned when you get a door ding, because it is a minor detail compared to what your kids have done.

My advice - go for a test drive with the minivan. Then think about it from a convenience perspective. I test drove the van the same day I test drove a Flex, Durango, and something else (a Lincoln I believe). There was no doubt the other ones were much more fun to drive. But the peace of mind of having my hands full, pressing a button to open a sliding door, and then throwing all 3 of the kids into the open sliding door to get them out of a crowded parking lot with all sorts of distracted people backing out of their stalls ..... the van offered convenience and peace of mind.