Hauling A Family: In Defense of the Minivan

I recently received a phone call from an old friend. He's expecting his third child in a about a month and is faced with the need to upgrade his car. For at least the next year, he'll have three kids in boosters or infant seats at the same time and these simply won't fit in his Honda Accord sedan or his old Saturn LW300. In other words, he needs a car capable of seating 6 or 7 people to allow for the width of those infant seats. A few years ago he may have just run out and bought a used SUV or a minivan, but he's concerned about purchase cost, fuel cost, and drivevability. Neither he or his wife want to drive a really big vehicle that handles poorly and is a bear to park. What to do?

My wife and I have a Mazda5, which is essentially a miniature minivan with seating for 6 in three rows but compact and light since it's based on the platform of the Mazda3. However, while it works great for us (one child) I counseled my friend to check one out in person and to bring his big double stroller to see if it will fit with one of the rearmost seats unfolded. I like the car because of its flexible seating, reasonable price, and ease of use, but I wasn't sure that the fuel-economy trade-off between it and a larger minivan would be worth the relative lack of overall space for someone with 3 kids.

I started to wonder what the real mileage difference was between popular "crossover" SUVs, hybrid SUVs, and minivans. I picked some similarly equipped models to represent 3-row seating options from mid-sized SUVs, large cross-over SUVs, minivan, and a compact minivan. Here are some basic stats, thanks to Edmunds.com








First, I was somewhat surprised to see how large "mini" vans have become. The Odyssey is perhaps the standard bearer for the class and it weighs more than 4300 lbs. Then again, it makes efficient use of that bulk in terms of interior space. Fuel economy is about the same as the Toyota Highlander, a midsized crossover (albeit with AWD in this configuration). Though, that Highlander costs nearly $10,000 more (MSRP) than a mid-level Odyssey. The Odyssey's fuel economy is also nearly the same as the large Saturn Outlook SUV. The fuel-economy benefits of the Highlander SUV are quickly overshadowed by the huge cost of entry ($15k more than the Odyssey will buy a lot of gas).

While minivans suffer from an image problem, these days I might be tempted to argue that SUVs are suffering more. Despite the weight and poor fuel economy being nearly the same, I hear few people describing Odyssey drivers as wasteful. Perhaps it's because people buy these for very practical reasons: ease of entry and kid-loading duties through sliding doors, low lift-over height for the cargo hold, huge storage space... surely a rational decision for a family of 5. Our Mazda5 is a wonderful vehicle that is in a niche of its own here in the U.S. (The Kia Rondo is the only slightly similar configuration available), but once those rearmost seats are up it could become difficult to load all of the detritus that comes with hauling around a 6-year old, a toddler, and a newborn. For large families who don't need four-wheel drive (most people most of the time) a minivan seems to offer the best balance of functionality, cost, and fuel economy.


Steve Haas

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