5 Or 7 Passenger--Trying to Make the Wisest Choice.

My vote would be to go with a 7 or 8 passenger. I know gas can be a concern, but look at it this way, it's still cheaper to take one vehicle than 2. My girls are now 14 and 16, I have a 5 passenger, hubby has a 7 passenger. Numerous times over the past years I've needed to swap cars because I need to transport a larger group.

We also take lots of trips, it's so nice to be able to fold down that back seat and have all that extra storage.

I would recommend getting the larger car. As your children get older/bigger, they will appreciate the extra leg room. You also will love the extra storage space when needed. We are a family of 8 (pregnant, so soon to be 9, Lord willing), and I drive a 15 passenger van. We took the last row of seats out, so we have a ton of storage space. Each row of seating only has to hold 2 children each, so they are comfortable. We travel a lot, so this is very important. We love the van! I cannot imagine a smaller vehicle for us. Even a 12 passenger would be pushing it for us. If you have all the seats in, you have zero storage in the back We'd have to have every seat filled if we did that! With teenaged sons, that would be tough. Get the largest you can afford and is reasonable for your family.
Oh, and if we need to, we can add the last row and take along 7 more people, which is great when family is visiting, or friends are here and we want to go somewhere together.

Go for the 7. I have a Nissan Pathfinder, the mid-size SUV. I get about 18 mpg. The 3rd row has 2 fold-down seats that can be folded down independantly. There isn't a lot of leg room in the third row though. This is my 2nd pathfinder and we love them. The full size is the Nissan Armada ~ they are wider and longer and the engine is bigger so harder on the gas mileage.

I have two boys ages 8 and 10, and I'm already wishing I'd gone with the 7 passenger seating. With camping and sports and fishing and road trips, having that extra space is SUCH a luxury! If you can afford it, you won't regret it.

3 years ago I got a 5 passenger Nissan Murano. I love the car, but have had so many occasions that I would love to have more room ie. car pooling and picking up more than one other child, driving for field trips, and when my youngest (3) actually has friends that come over too. My boys are 3 and almost 6 and we will probably sell ours and get a 7 passenger in the next 2 years.

If you're not towing, you could open yourself up to a CUV as well! I should say, depending on what kind of towing if you are too. Ford still has the best for towing capacity in cars, SUV's, CUV's, and Trucks.

I've always been a mini-van hater [not comfy driving em at all].

SUV? Yup and it took me 'settling' for my Saturn Vue to turn me onto a CUV. My husband and I call it "Peppy". HP it has. Mileage isn't so bad either. Combo driving [more city than hwy] and I get 22mpg.

Anywho... Saturn is no more, but I love the Ford Flex which comes in 7 passenger for a CUV.

Then for SUV's - you have a bunch of GM products out there (they have CUV options too). I like the Dodge Nitro too.

And believe it or not... The Ford Explorer is now technically a CUV.

There are a TON of 7 + passenger vehicles available now!

I still miss the good ol' days of the 9 passenger station wagon with the 3rd row REAR facing benches!!!!

We bought our Expedition just before we had our first baby. 140,000 miles later, we still have it and 4 kids. We love having the extra room, well, no extra room these days...but camping, Costco runs, and even dinner with family, we can pick up my parents and grandma and head out to dinner in one car. You can't go wrong with extra room. We almost bought a Honda Pilot and now we laugh when we pass one, thinking what a big, expensive mistake that would have been for us.

My best advice is to rent one of each for trips and see how it goes. It may be expensive to rent, but WAY cheaper than buying the wrong vehicle for your family.

you will never regret getting the bigger, but you will kick yourself alot with a 5 passenger.

I have a Ford Conversion van/Waldoch. Its like a mini family room. We have taken trips across country in luxury. We have a hitch for a rear cargo carrier. You can put bikes on this, luggage & coolers.

We recently had a minivan rental & my kids were begging for our van back. All 3 of them felt cramped in the minivan & the tv was so tiny compared to ours.

And yes I do a lot of carpooling, ride shares, & friends too. All the kids beg to come with us rather than there car.

I have a 2008 Hyundai Veracruz and LOVE it! It can seat up to 8 with the 3rd row. And when the 3rd row isn't needed it folds flat for cargo space. We are family of five (9yrs, 5yrs & 3mos) and fit comfortably with the 3rd row folded. I love that we have the option to grow in it.

We have a 2005 Toyota Highlander with fold-up 3rd row seat and it works out fine for our family of 4 (our kids are 9YO now). There's not much cargo space when the 3rd row is up, but that hasn't been a problem because when we've got a lot of cargo (camping trips, vacations, etc.) we don't need the extra passenger space, and when we have extra passengers (grandparents, classmates for field trips, etc.) we don't have a lot of cargo. It's a bit inconvenient to have to flip part of the second row forward to access the third row but we can live with that (it was a bit more of an inconvenience when our kids were still in harnessed car seats because it limited where I could install their car seats when we needed to access the third row)

I have had a 7-8 passenger vehicle since my oldest was born and don't think I'll be without one until the kids are grown and out of the house. I currently drive a Honda Pilot, it gets 15-18 In town. And has done great on the drive up north and to San Diego. My only complaint is the road noise.
We are considering new car and are looking at the Ford Explorer and Jeep Cherokee, both are redesigned and getting good reviews. We have also looked at the GMC Acadia. We won't get another Pilot because of the noise, but others who have them love them.

I just got the Saturn Outlook it seats 7 does pretty good on gas and has enough pep to get you up the hills. the equavilent would be the chevy traverse and the buick enclave (sp) we bought ours used and we are very happy with it. also its loaded so its got the towing package which is great.

I say do a highlander or a pilot w the 3rd row. Think of all the gas and insurance you are spending with the "opportunity" for more people if you get the bigger car. It's only about 4 or 5 times a year we have more than 4 in our car and popping up the seat is no big deal at all. (we have had the highlander for 6 years w/a 4 and 6 year old...so we are in the same boat). And I can fit the same amt in my car as a huge suv if needed for carpools.

Not sure if you've considered a minivan. We love our Honda Odyssey. It does great going up north for camping as far as the pick-up and room for packing. That's one of the reasons why we chose the Odyssey, because of the large cargo area, especially with the 3rd row folded down. Whatever you decide on, I'd recommed going bigger. You probably will end up car-pooling or taking friends along camping with you. Yes, we carpool. As the kids get older, they tend to get more involved in more activities and the greater the likelihood of carpooling. Consider how much will fit into the back of each of the vehicles you are considering. I like the idea of renting one for a weekend and going on a road trip. Will it fit coolers, tent, chairs, water jug, duffel bags, sleeping bags, tubs of camping items, camp stove, etc.?? Be realistic. Happy shopping!

I would say get the larger vehicle. I down sized last year from an Expedition to a Nissan Rouge. Although I really like the Rouge (great gas mileage, great horsepower for a 4 cylinder) I do miss having the extra room for long trips or visiting family. We usually have to take two cars now when the family visits.