SUV or Minivan: I am becoming my parents.

With Jack in our lives now, especially as he gets older, it's becoming increasingly apparent to Bob and I that we would like a little more room in our next car. Bob currently drives our Civic and I drive the Accord. I must say that I can't complain too much about the Accord...it is quite spacious for a sedan and rides just like we bought it yesterday, even though it's just about four and half years old.

Having said that, we do plan to add more members to the Looney Bin at some point in the future (no, this is NOT an announcement), so we find ourselves in the midst of the SUV vs. minivan debate. I have also become keenly aware that I am becoming my parents by even remotely considering driving a minivan, which as a high school student driving my mom's white Dodge Caravan (aka the "Egg Mobile"), I swore I would never do as an adult.

We've been round and round on this discussion and seem to keep coming back to the point that for the room, gas mileage, and cost, which are the big factors for us, a minivan is the better option. If I'm going to lose the great gas mileage from my Accord, I at least want to be able to carry more than 4-5 people comfortably, which a third row of seating allows you to do in a minivan. And while a Suburban or other large SUV has the third row seating too, you're going to pay a lot more for it in both vehicle cost and gas mileage. At least with the smaller SUV's you don't lose so much of the gas mileage, but then in most cases you don't get the third row seating either (although I know the Highlander has an optional third row seat with a tight squeeze). I've also heard other mom's talk about how nice the minivan doors are in a crowded area because they push back instead of outward.

What this debate seems to boil down to, in my opinion, is a trade off between functionality/cost and the "coolness factor". I know that the coolness factor of driving a minivan is pretty much near zero, and readily admit to drooling over the shiny new black 2008 Toyota Sequoia that drove through my neighborhood yesterday. Some friends of ours who drive an Odyssey summed it up pretty well when they said something like "We've never been cool people, and weren't going to become that way now by buying an SUV". I think that sums us up pretty well too.

I'm not intending to be critical of other people's choice in automobiles, just throwing this out for discussion about how we arrived at our decision. Who knows, maybe it will change next week!!

Anyone else want to chime in on why they decided to buy an SUV or minivan (or maybe just stay with a sedan)?