7,8,or 9 passenger van?

[KCmomma]

We found out today that we are expecting twins, so now we are trying to figure out what van to get. We are the kind of family that likes to buy out right and keep it well pretty much forever. We will be a family of 6, but I'm not 100% sure this will be my last pregnancy. If we get a 7 or 8 passenger we will go with a minivan which I like because of fuel economy. I am worried about cargo room and room to go with the minivan though. (We normally take cross country road trips each summer.) With a 9 passenger we would have room to grow and be able to have other people in the car ( carpool for the older kids school). The fuel economy scares me and for what I'm finding online we would more than likely have to get a loan in order to get the 9 passenger. Any suggestions or advice?

[Erin1712]

We have mini van and we are a family of 5 soon to be 6. One way we have combated the storage situation is a roof top bag. The soft ones so we can pack stuff of different sizes and not need to be a certain shape to close. Also it makes us really think about what we need to bring. I used to over pack! This last summer we took my husbands car on a road trip with 3 kids and 2 adults. we brought all we needed including cloth diapers and had room. We just needed to make sure we packed good. 4 days of stuff for us all and a stroller ect. All in a trunk.

My biggest advice is to get a van that is extended. My moms van is not extended and there is only enough room to lay a shoe box between the back seat and the van door. My van however has room to stow and go (older model) behind the back seat. Which means there is enough room to lay a stroller down between the back door and seat. And pile as high as you need!

[thekuligs]

A minivan worked for us when we were a family of 6--and though I eventually got all the seats in right we had really outgrown it when we became a family of 7. We are in the process of buying a 12-15 pass van now because we also road trip (husband is in the military) and it was a nightmare. We had to use the roof rack which killed has mileage anyway.