From 3 to family of 5... What to buy?

I have a friend that has a late 90s suburban for a family car. He has been rear ended twice (once at 10-15mph and another time closer to 35mph) with zero damage either time excepting a few scratches. The car that hit him at a higher speed had the trailer ball all the way through its radiator. He then hit a large deer at close to 60mph. Major damage to the front end of the truck, but zero injuries to himself and his family. He was able to drive it home before going to a shop the next day. His insurance ended up totaling the truck, but he bought it back to have repaired at a body shop and still drives it.

My thoughts on the fuel economy issue - I’ve had a minivan and a suburban. The suburban did 12-13 around town and the van did 16-17. However, on the interstate, the suburban got 17-18 mpg while the van got 18-19. That was never enough difference for me to justify getting rid of the suburban, especially since the whole family likes the ride better. Plus I feel a lot safer in it - There’s something to be said for that.

I might consider a honda or Toyota minivan if I were buying a new car, but I’d never get rid of the suburban in order to buy one. I do agree with everyone else to ditch the Saab though.

I apologize - I had that divided into paragraphs, but all of the extra spacing and indents disappeared when I posted it.

Yep those trailer balls cause a lot of collateral damage(dont even know how many orthopedic visits they cause either) guess a person shouldnt walk that close to a truck or be running into other vehicles for that matter,but dont kid yourself these things arent that great in a front end collision with an immovable object or a similar vehicle(heck on the compacts though) been around chevy trucks all my life,anyway keep the Suburban,it has plenty of life left,just dont drive it as much-use it for its best characteristics( the saab is the one that has to go)-Kevin

Speaking of SAABs and hitches, I had that exact same occurrence. A friend of mine was a pretty accomplished welder, so when he suggested he could " make up " a hitch for my SAAB with few problems, I was in. When he finished, he had seven attachment points, many more then any after market. A months after installation, I was rear ended by a Caddy who managed to take my hitch all the way through his radiator with zero damage to me. Since, I have tried to install a hitch on every car I have ever owned omitting the Accords with too low clearance. Great attachment points for dragging out of ditches, bike racks, protection and the occasional utility trailer haul are all practical usages. A minivan can have one too.

A hitch does wonders to reinforce the backend of about anything(money well spent-but be careful if you leave the ball in all the time,hard on the knees and increases the over all length of the vehicle) if nothing else the towing point helps if you get stuck somewhere-Kevin

Kevin
In our car base SUV we keep a step mount inserted when not towing. Not that it will take a shot without deforming, but it is welded steel, offers some protection, allows one to step up to roof level and is much easier on the shins.

@Dagosa,sounds good-the trouble around here is,despite the plethora of talented welders its hard to get something done,seems like no one is interested,I would like to do a lot of this stuff myself,however
1.dont have the time
2.dont have the skill
3.dont have that much need
4.dont have the equipment
Now that being said,anyone who has the time and interest(especially young people) go for it and learn to weld(“a rolling stone gathers no moss”)-Kevin

Is this a hitch discussion?

@Cavell not really,but it came up(this happens all the time-perhaps a bit annoying but no real harm done)-Kevin

Little kids get bigger every day. If you’re uncertain, I’d just keep the Suburban a bit longer if you aren’t putting that many miles on it. Of course, that means you’re probably putting miles on the Saab instead, which is OK, but it commits you to keeping it unless you want to add those miles to the Suburban or your work van, neither very efficient (not that the Saab is super efficient, either). Anyhow, five is an awkward size for a family vehicle. Now, when they’re small, you might be able to seat them three across in your Saab’s back seat, but in the future that won’t work. When I was young six of us sat in a full size car, but those cars were designed for it. The back seats of even big cars seem designed for two people, with a third person having to sit on a hump in between. Kind of stupid given the available width. I guess they expect everyone with more than two kids to get something bigger than they really need.

So, minivan or three row SUV? Minivans are typically wider, and have more cargo space with their lower floors. The Honda Odyasey and Toyota Sienna are easily the best. The Chryslers seem OK, but their reliability is awful. The Nissan Quest is smaller and less clever in its packaging, and the Kia Sedona is ancient. The smallest possibility is the Mazda5, but that would only work for the few years your kids are small, as the third row seats are strictly for smaller kids. Likewise compact crossovers that offer a third row. Just don’t bother unless you want to have to buy a replacement in a few years.

Mid-sized (actually pretty big) crossovers like the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, and Mazda CX9 are all quite nice and offer ample room. Consumer Reports has given a glowing reccomendation to the Hyundai Santa Fe in this class (not to be confused with the smaller Santa Fe Sport.) It does seem a big improvement over the model it replaced a year ago. I especially like the Mazda, which offers a surprisingly luxurious interior that could come out of a Lexus. Consumer Reports also likes it. Access to the third rows is always worse on crossovers than on minivans with sliding doors, but the young can get back there easily enough. The crossovers do have the advantage of being readily available with awd. Of minivans, the Sienna is available with awd, though ground clearance is limited so it’s just for road use. The Odyssey is strictly fwd. With proper winter tires there are few places you could go in one but not the other, though the availability of awd is nice. Of course, all the crossovers have it available. If you find yourself filling up your Suburban with stuff, these will all feel small to you. The minivans are roomier.

If it didn’t have the annoying reliability problems of current Fords, I’d also be suggesting the Ford Flex, a more carlike solution. It’s one of the few vehicles that can plausibly carry three in its second row, leaving the rest for cargo (or more people, if you use the third row. I think my affection for it springs from it resembling the big station wagons of my childhood, the sort you could carry a 4x8 piece of plywood in back lying flat with the tailgate closed. The Flex is a bit taller and has awd available, but my dad would have felt right at home behind the steering wheel. You sit at a nice height in the Flex. You just slide right in, no climbing, no dropping. If you have very small kids, loading child seats would be easy.