Vans vs. SUVs: A Mom's Dilemma

I am actually not in the market for a new car. You'd think the thought of putting 3 car seats in the back seat of my small SUV would be scaring me. It's not. More experienced mom's are laughing at me right now and thinking, "Give it 6 months, Sweetheart, and you'll be in the market for a new car."

Fair enough.

If you make it past the two kid mark (possibly even before then) you may be noticing how cramped your car is and thinking to yourself, "This vehicle just ain't cutting it, we need something bigger." It's true. Kids take up more real estate in your car than you can imagine. So here comes the dilemma:

Should we get a van or an SUV (one that seats at least 7)?

Let's look at a picture comparison:




Now let's pretend that you just landed here from Mars. You never went to school, had friends, attended a playgroup, or did anything remotely social, and you saw these two vehicles next to each other. I may be putting words in your mouth, but you might say, "What's the big difference?" One's kind of round and one's kind of boxy. Both have 4 wheels, both drive.

Aesthetically you may prefer big and boxy over round, but I'm going to call it a tie in my Mars scenario.

Let's look purely at practicality:

The Van has sliding doors, a middle aisle, costs less, gets better gas mileage, allows kids to get in and out easily, but only has 7 seats as opposed to 8 offered in some large SUVs.

The SUV handles well in the snow, can hitch a boat, and has a bigger more powerful engine.

When I was teaching and compared the two, I saw moms in vans push a button and their kindergarteners hopped right in, sat down, and they were on their way. SUV moms had to get out, fold down a seat, help their kids into their car, particularly if they were going to sit in the third row.

So I'm giving a point here to the van for pure mom practicality, unless you have a need to haul something or more than 5 kids.

At this point, the choice for moms seems clear. If you could get more of the practicality you needed for less money, why wouldn't you choose a van over an SUV? Because of this, my friends:


Mom jeans. We're all afraid of the stigma that comes with driving a van. The fact of the matter is that we didn't come here from Mars. We did go to school. We do have friends. We do attend playgroups. We do and have done things remotely social and we're all a little afraid of getting old. The auto industry knows this and uses it to their advantage. They know that if they offer people a cooler solution, they'll bite at it, no matter the cost, no matter the pain.

Even I who have done the comparison am still a little unsure about what I would decide if given the option because I am, if anything, cool. Stay tuned. I'll most likely be reporting back on this issue in 6 months.