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How many kids does OP have? I thought it was one 6mo boy and many of you are talking about minivans. For one kid in a car seat and possibly two adults? That is crazy. My sister hauled her grandson around in a rear facing car seat in an … Impreza. There was plenty of room for him and three adults.
My nephew has a Forester. His daughter, wife and him had no trouble getting around all over the place in the Forester. That includes some long trips.
Assuming you bought one of those convertible car seats that grows with your kid, bring it with you when looking at cars. They normally take up the most room when the kid rides backwards. Try it in the car and you will be fine with most compact cars or larger. Just make sure it fits before you buy the car.
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I've got an Impreza wagon and a Sienna in my driveway, along with a 3500DRW.
The wagon is in fact just fine for one kid/carseat, the wife, and I, much better than a sedan. It's actually just fine with two kids, so long as you're only doing one major activity per outing. Try going to the zoo and then stopping at the grocery store and you'll wish you had more room.
The thing is, it's not just your kids. It's your kids friends, the carpool, grandma, camping gear, sports equipment, Costco runs, auntie whoever. Sometimes it's a couch, or a really cool crib at a garage sale, or even a few sheets of plywood. A van can handle at least several of those situations at the same time, SUV's really struggle.
My wife was adamant she wasn't going to drive a minivan, so we test drove all the the different SUVs first. Nothing seemed to suit (she's a little tough to buy a car for because she's short and busty) I was frustrated when she didn't like the 4runner when I said "look, there's a Sienna right there on the lot, lets drive it at least, look it over, if you don't like it then we can choose from these other options you don't like." She said "Fine, but it's a waste of time, I'm not going to buy it."
Like I said, I have a Sienna in my driveway. By the time the test drive was over it was all she wanted.