Need recommendation on used SUV

[alarson82]

I have a family of 4, soon to be 5 in about a month. Right now we have a Kia Sedona minivan and I've decided that we need MORE room. I've been looking around and have really been leaning toward a suburban. I want something with 3 rows of seats and quite a bit of storage room in the back. Looking to spend between $8,000-$12,000. Anyone have any suggestions or experience with higher mileage large SUV's?

Thanks

 

[Fenixgoon]

how big of a minivan is a sedona? you might just want to look into a bigger minivan (chrysler T&C, toyota whatever, honda oddessey). FWIW i come from a family of 7, and we never had issues using a minivan.

 

[vi edit]

What year of Sedona? If it's the older generation it's a lot smaller than the newer ones. The new ones are pretty big. A Sienna is a touch bigger. With a suburban you are going to be getting a bit more depth to the vehicle, but you loose out a TON in passenger & cargo height.

Would a cargo box for your van be an option for when you need it?

 

[alarson82]

What year of Sedona? If it's the older generation it's a lot smaller than the newer ones. The new ones are pretty big. A Sienna is a touch bigger. With a suburban you are going to be getting a bit more depth to the vehicle, but you loose out a TON in passenger & cargo height.

Would a cargo box for your van be an option for when you need it?

Its an earlier Sedona, 2004. We 'upgrade' from a 1998 Windstar to the Kia, the windstar was bigger but we go up to our cabin a lot in the summer, and wanted something more mechanicly sound. This last trip we had an extra 4 year old with us, and with the dog in her kennel the van was PACKED! now subtract the extra 4 year old and add a new baby in about a month(with all the baby stuff; pack and play, diapers, clothes, etc) packing the van will not be easy. I suggested to my wife, a Thule box that you can mount either on the roof of the van, or on the trailer hitch. However she wants more room between the actual seats, so the kids have leg room. From my experience in most minivans its almost impossible from my adults to get into the 3rd row seats.

So my question was whats one of the more reliable large SUV's when it comes to high miles.

 

[Throckmorton]

I think Suburbans are supposed to be pretty reliable. There aren't really any other options for 3 rows + cargo space unless you go up to the massive Excursion.

I would think you'd want AWD for the snow

 

[Bignate603]

The suburban is built to take some abuse but often are owned by people that never leave pavement. If you find one that spent its life as a grocery getter it should have plenty of life left in it.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Sprinter van?

 

[Tristicus]

Trailblazer or a Suburban would do it.

 

[Bignate603]

Sprinter van?

The old Astro and Safari vans would have been exactly what the OP was looking for, unfortunately they haven't made them in a while. It sat 8 without being incredibly crowded and still had a ton of room for stuff.

 

[kornphlake]

An Astro/Safari will be the same age and mileage as a comparable suburban in that price range, probably newer with fewer miles actually, a little cheaper on gas too. The SUVs really don't have as much cargo capacity as you expect them to, would you consider a full size van? Unless you need off road capability a full size van has more utility than a sport utility.

 

[SearchMaster]

I have a family of 5 and have never felt like my Odyssey was too small especially with our roof luggage carrier. You may find yourself missing the sliding doors if you 'upgrade' to a Suburban. How often do you plan to be completely full?

This is assuming that the '04 Sedona is comparable in space/efficiency.

 

[vi edit]

This is assuming that the '04 Sedona is comparable in space/efficiency.

It's not. The older Sedona is quite small compared to the latest Gen Ody/Sienna/Sedona.

I find it hard to believe that a family of 5 and a dog can't fit in one of those with cargo carrier easily.

With a big van like that you can put two kids (or three) in the 2nd row, another in the 40/side of the 3rd row split bench and then still have room for a large dog carrier on the 60/side of the third row folded down and then the remaining room behind the 3rd row seat. Add in cargo carrier on the top and that's a shitload of people & hauling space. At least with a van you can slide the 2nd row forward to give more leg room to the third. A lot of the suburbans with the fixed benches don't have that luxury.

 

[Throckmorton]

It's not. The older Sedona is quite small compared to the latest Gen Ody/Sienna/Sedona.

I find it hard to believe that a family of 5 and a dog can't fit in one of those with cargo carrier easily.

With a big van like that you can put two kids (or three) in the 2nd row, another in the 40/side of the 3rd row split bench and then still have room for a large dog carrier on the 60/side of the third row folded down and then the remaining room behind the 3rd row seat. Add in cargo carrier on the top and that's a shitload of people & hauling space. At least with a van you can slide the 2nd row forward to give more leg room to the third. A lot of the suburbans with the fixed benches don't have that luxury.

With a Suburban you can carry all that stuff without a cargo carrier on the roof. Plus you have a vehicle that is more durable, gets the same gas mileage, has 4WD, and doesn't make you look like you're whipped by your wife.

 

[Gooberlx2]

My parents have been owning Suburbans since....as long as I can remember. Early-mid 80s, certainly. They've always been reliable and gotten very high miles out of them.

 

[kornphlake]

It's not. The older Sedona is quite small compared to the latest Gen Ody/Sienna/Sedona.

I find it hard to believe that a family of 5 and a dog can't fit in one of those with cargo carrier easily.

With a big van like that you can put two kids (or three) in the 2nd row, another in the 40/side of the 3rd row split bench and then still have room for a large dog carrier on the 60/side of the third row folded down and then the remaining room behind the 3rd row seat. Add in cargo carrier on the top and that's a shitload of people & hauling space. At least with a van you can slide the 2nd row forward to give more leg room to the third. A lot of the suburbans with the fixed benches don't have that luxury.

There's a lot of cargo space in a mini-van without the seats, but with the seats the cargo space is really limited. In most of the mini-vans the back of the rear bench angles into the cargo space while the hatch curves forward leaving just a few inches between the headrests and the glass. A single large suitcase in the back of my '01 sienna uses up most of the available cargo space, newer vans have a little more available space, but it's only usable for smaller items. A minivan without any seats is pretty cavernous, I've carried uncut sheets of plywood in my van with only the seat backs folded down and 2 feet of plywood hanging out of the hatch.

 

[alarson82]

There's a lot of cargo space in a mini-van without the seats, but with the seats the cargo space is really limited. In most of the mini-vans the back of the rear bench angles into the cargo space while the hatch curves forward leaving just a few inches between the headrests and the glass. A single large suitcase in the back of my '01 sienna uses up most of the available cargo space, newer vans have a little more available space, but it's only usable for smaller items. A minivan without any seats is pretty cavernous, I've carried uncut sheets of plywood in my van with only the seat backs folded down and 2 feet of plywood hanging out of the hatch.

You are exactly right. I can fit 2 kids in the middles seats, and 1 in the back. I took out half of the 3rd row back seat to get the dog's kennel in there and then that leaves some room for the luggage.

We have a cabin on a lake about 3 hours away from the house, so packing up the van for the weekend and heading north the cabin is a very regular event for us in the summer.