Without knowledge of actual crash ratings and passive and active safety systems on current minivans and SUVs, please DON'T GO THERE. Certain minivans are among the safest vehicles on the road and are less likely to roll over than SUVs.

Please...a huge motor home hit a minivan or vice versa. It would have decimated any passenger vehicle. They died due to no seat belts and physics, not because they passed on the X5 with adaptive drive...

X

eurogreek1...A friend sent me this when i was looking for a larger SUV...thought i'd pass it along. The ad-series is pretty funny...happy hunting :D

wow triplets, you are in for it... we have twins and it's been no picnic the past 2 years... I can only dream of handling just 1 baby. You will have no free time whatsoever. We have a nanny in their grandma and even so, I barely have time to myself. :D

One thing to keep in mind with 3 seats across the 2nd row (since you can't use 3rd row at all)... they will be rear-facing for at least 1 year and you won't be able to tend to them so well. My wife sat in the middle with our twins so it worked out ok, but it will be tough for you guys - I'm guessing there will be those mirrors you tie to the headrests back there plus a few pull-overs on the side of the road and things like that.

I would go minivan without a doubt. The Odyssey's 3rd row is remarkably large. We would've pulled the trigger had it not been for a dealer unwilling to deal during cash-for-clunkers.

EDIT>> One other thing, sliding doors is a god-send on minivans... I can't tell you how many times I've had to back out of a spot to put these little buggers in their seats in the X. There's just not a lot of room for the door to swing open enough for you to stand there and do your thing with them. Now imagine others trying that next to your X... can you say door ding? Parking far away has been the only solution.

That wasn't in dispute. Sometimes I think when we respond somewhat emotionally to a post, we can miss things. I don't think there is any connection made between their potential survival and owning an X5 with adaptive drive. You should reread the post:

Originally Posted by 2thdr
I was visiting my inlaws in British Columbia this weekend and my wife and them decided to make an impromptu trip to Calgary on Sunday. Unfortunately, the highway was closed for what was thought to be either a forest fire, or an accident. We later found out that it was an accident in which a minivan driver drove into a RV. The pic is below. All six people in the van died.

Now, the rear seat occupants were not wearing their seatbelts, so obviously I am not suggesting that this would have happened even if they were. But, I think it is important to realize that (IMHO) minivan crash safety does not quite compare to that of an SUV. I would kindly ask anyone here to chime in on this.


Having said that, I did look at the link that FSETH posted and he is completely right about the safety of minivans. Thanks for the link, FSETH.

the R class comes in 4matic and is pretty good in the snow, especially the NE this past winter. One of my brother's lives in PA and drives one.

First of all, congratulation on the triples !!! 2nd, either GL class, or x5 7 seater. I'd go for x5 cuz its just a bimmer :D

:iagree: executive membership:thumbup:

I guess I did need to chill.

I detected a bit of that first time parent attitude of "we'll just make sure we don't lose our coolness and that hip no-kids lifestyle we had just because of a pregnancy"...

Actually the link above to that commercial series is spot on- selling the idea that people in minivans still have sex and that they can be cool.

If I was having triplets, the last thing that would concern me is whether my wife 'would be caught driving a minivan, HAHAHA'. The conversation would be "what color should the van be?" and "what color vinyl seating surfaces should we get?".

I am sure that you will get salesmen selling seats and cars who will tell you "those will fit". But as an adult, and as a parent, you reach a point in your life where you recognize that that voice saying 'I want it' is overruled by the voice saying 'this is the best thing for the situation'.



GL

A

If Minivan is definitely out, how about:

Honda Pilot? They are pretty roomy and have third row seats.

Escalade's also have captains chairs in second row and are really spacious...

My advice: Forget about SUVs, no matter how large they are. You may not like it, but Mini-Van is the only way to go.

Imagine that it is pouring rain outside, or snowing heavily in a blizzard.... and imagine buckling your kids one by one... not fun, right?

Now imagine getting all your kids into the mini-van and close the doors immediately. Then take all the time you want getting them settled and all buckled up safely in the warm comfortable enclosed environment without dealing with all the rain and snow. And you can then slip into your driver's seat without getting out of the car.

So it's not just the extra room and luggage space, it's how you can use it as mobile diaper change room, or even mobile washroom if you kids are boys ;). No SUVs allow you to do that.

This would be my recommendation too.