Does a cost-conscious family of 4 need a minivan?

[elessar78]

Simple question.

[disneysteve]

No.

Simple answer.

[disneysteve]

Now the extended answer.

It depends. Are they routinely transporting people or cargo that would warrant having a minivan.

We are a cost conscious family of 3 and we have owned a minivan since 1996. But we often go places with a couple of other family members, so 5 people in the vehicle. And when we vacation together, 5 people plus luggage for 5 people which would never all fit in my car. Also, we used to regularly sell at collectible shows and we'd pack that van wall to wall, floor to ceiling with merchandise and supplies needed for those shows. Again, not something we could do in my car. There have also been numerous times over the years when we've made purchases that we couldn't have gotten home in a car. We needed the van to move the stuff.

So there could be perfectly valid reasons for owning something bigger than a car regardless of family size.

[elessar78]

Now the extended answer.

It depends. Are they routinely transporting people or cargo that would warrant having a minivan.

We are a cost conscious family of 3 and we have owned a minivan since 1996. But we often go places with a couple of other family members, so 5 people in the vehicle. And when we vacation together, 5 people plus luggage for 5 people which would never all fit in my car. Also, we used to regularly sell at collectible shows and we'd pack that van wall to wall, floor to ceiling with merchandise and supplies needed for those shows. Again, not something we could do in my car. There have also been numerous times over the years when we've made purchases that we couldn't have gotten home in a car. We needed the van to move the stuff.

So there could be perfectly valid reasons for owning something bigger than a car regardless of family size.

Yeah, I don't know if we have valid reasons. Sure we need a big piece of furniture once or twice a year. But we have family nearby with big trucks—not usually a problem. Or when my mom or extended family comes to visit, but we could still do that in a bigger sedan.

I just don't want to get stuck with the cost of ownership assoc. with a bigger vehicle when we'll only need the bigger vehicle less than 3% of the year.

[elessar78]

Also is there a threshold, can put it as a percentage of uses per year, where the minivan would be necessary? Also projecting into the, say, 5 year future and we may need to haul cousins and kids' friends more regularly and maybe carpools.

[phantom]

Yeah, I don't know if we have valid reasons. Sure we need a big piece of furniture once or twice a year. But we have family nearby with big trucks—not usually a problem. Or when my mom or extended family comes to visit, but we could still do that in a bigger sedan.

I just don't want to get stuck with the cost of ownership assoc. with a bigger vehicle when we'll only need the bigger vehicle less than 3% of the year.

I would say that in general, very few families, even those with more than 4 people, need minivans. But, whether owning a minivan would be worth it for your family is a much more useful question than whether families your size need minivans in general.

If you only need a larger vehicle a few times a year and can borrow or rent one when you do, I doubt there's a good reason for you to own a minivan.

But, how old are your kids, and do you see any possibility of your vehicle needs changing in the near future as they grow up? Is there a chance you'll soon want to drive around a bunch of kids in a car pool? Might your kids soon take up an activity with lots of bulky gear to haul around? Are your kids getting to the point where they poke and prod at each other constantly if you can't physically separate them? (I'm mostly joking about that last one, but I do think that was one of my parents' reasons for buying a minivan.) If you think some of these things might change before you will be ready to buy another vehicle, you might want to buy more vehicle than you'll use right now.

[elessar78]

I would say that in general, very few families, even those with more than 4 people, need minivans. But, whether owning a minivan would be worth it for your family is a much more useful question than whether families your size need minivans in general.

If you only need a larger vehicle a few times a year and can borrow or rent one when you do, I doubt there's a good reason for you to own a minivan.

But, how old are your kids, and do you see any possibility of your vehicle needs changing in the near future as they grow up? Is there a chance you'll soon want to drive around a bunch of kids in a car pool? Might your kids soon take up an activity with lots of bulky gear to haul around? Are your kids getting to the point where they poke and prod at each other constantly if you can't physically separate them? (I'm mostly joking about that last one, but I do think that was one of my parents' reasons for buying a minivan.) If you think some of these things might change before you will be ready to buy another vehicle, you might want to buy more vehicle than you'll use right now.

I have a 2.5 YO and another one on the way. I've always hated the idea of excess. We can always seem to justify or rationalize why a minivan would make sense but does the need really pan out? DisneySteve seems to be able to despite having 3 members in his family.

[Blessed]

I say nope. We are a family of 4. We have always had 1 compact and 1 mid sizes sedan. My kids are now grown and almost grown. There were a few times we used 2 cats when we had a bunch of the kids friends for an activity but it was not that often.

[disneysteve]

I've always hated the idea of excess.

I don't think a minivan counts as excess.

Even when just the 3 of us vacation, we take the van. When we drive to Florida every year, especially when going for 2 weeks, we do not pack light. We bring a large cooler, a couple of cartons of groceries, clothes and more. We couldn't cram it all into my car. Plus, in the van, it is all easily accessible. When we're on the road and hungry, our daughter can lean over and grab stuff and hand it out to us. She can reach the cooler and grab a soda or juice box.

Maybe I'm over-justifying but a minivan isn't a 60K Escalade. It's a 20K family vehicle.

[Goldy1]

I am in a family of three. We just went from small car to chevy equinox. It's actually considered a station wagon. I guess it can seat 2 in front and three in back. I love it. Not sure but I guess a mini van would be quite larger.

[elessar78]

I don't think a minivan counts as excess.

Even when just the 3 of us vacation, we take the van. When we drive to Florida every year, especially when going for 2 weeks, we do not pack light. We bring a large cooler, a couple of cartons of groceries, clothes and more. We couldn't cram it all into my car. Plus, in the van, it is all easily accessible. When we're on the road and hungry, our daughter can lean over and grab stuff and hand it out to us. She can reach the cooler and grab a soda or juice box.

Maybe I'm over-justifying but a minivan isn't a 60K Escalade. It's a 20K family vehicle.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the minivan was excess in your case. What I meant was that you have valid reasons for the minivan.

[MonkeyMama]

I'd say a minivan is excessive for most. IT costs more to buy, more to maintain, and gets lower gas mileage.

I think most people buy minivans and SUVs without thinking. {It is so rare to see a family of 4 driving anything smaller in the city I live in. Which is really kind of absurd if you think about it}.

Full Disclosure: I own a minivan. If I could turn back time I probably wouldn't bother. Our other car is a subcompact, and is just as useful. Except we drive it more because it gets double the gas mileage. SO the smaller car is more useful I guess. Obviously a larger sedan is not that different from buying the minivan. But a small car can be considerably more economical.

We got a minivan because no one in the family had one any more (in-laws sold theirs) and honestly just didn't really think it through. It's worth more to keep it than to sell it at this point in time. The irony is I could see it more useful when kids are older (longer legs), but I think that is about the time we give in and go back to the sedan. They'll be getting their own cars anyway. The van would be nice on road trips, but the car always wins out with double the gas mileage. There is no doubt we would have been better off just renting a van or truck when needed. This is why I have often cautioned posters here to not run out and buy large vehicles due to big carseats. That was the kicker for us, but looking back it was just a very short window in time. The minivan would probably have been better for 6-foot-tall teenagers, but I doubt the van will last that long, and don't plan to buy another.

[MonkeyMama]

I would say that in general, very few families, even those with more than 4 people, need minivans. But, whether owning a minivan would be worth it for your family is a much more useful question than whether families your size need minivans in general.

Exactly.

Just because I don't see the point, and I know a pile of people who bought big cars without ever *thinking* about it, doesn't mean it never makes sense.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

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[sblatner]

We love our minivan. We are a family of four with two teenagers. We have used it to carpool, take long trips, etc., very comfortably. I don't think a minivan is an extravagance. We don't get cars/vans fully loaded (no DVD/GPS/etc.), we don't get leather seats, etc. Just a basic van. They are much smaller than most SUVs nowadays and really don't cost a lot more than some cars.

Also, we go bike riding with another family. They have a Tahoe or some such SUV and have to take the tires off their bikes to get them in the back. We don't. The bikes go right up the middle between the seats or we fold down the back seats if we need more room. I was shocked the first time I saw them taking the tires off and gave thanks for my minivan!