have you considered downsizing and opting for a "cargo management system"

with a few carefully placed bungee cords you could have unlimited seating options . . .

I just had to think of the Griswold's family truckster when I think of station wagons.. how COOL. heh. you must strap a wreath to the front, and leave it on year round.

I am kind of panting for one of these babies:
http://www.volvocars.us/Showroom/XC90/

it looks so much better than my mighty Grand Caravan. ugh.

We have a station wagon and I don't recommend it to anyone. The very back row of seats is too crowded for anyone over the age of 10.

It's tough when you have to add that third car to accomodate a newbie driver. On one hand the unburdening of having to cart them around is liberating...on the other hand, those late night calls that begin with..."uh, don't be mad at me but i kinda had an accident," are enough to send you straight through the stratosphere. Oh, oh, and it's always pleasant when your wonderful insurance company notifies you that based on "junior's" recent spat of accidents they won't be renewing your policy...oy vey! But that's all in the future...don't worry about it now...won't do any good anyway.

Have you looked at the three seat Chrysler Pacifica? CUTE car.

We have a family of 5 but all three kids are in car seats. Currently we have a Mazda MPV minivan and a Nissan Altima. The entire family can ride in both, but 3 kids in car seats gets crowded in the back seat. I am hoping that it will get a little better as they get old.

The Altima is a bigger sedan and leg room in the back is not really a problem when there are 4 adults in the car. Plus it has a HUGE trunk. I leave my golf clubs in the trunk and can still make most Sam's Club runs.

Usually when we are all together we take the minivan, but we can all fit in the Altima when we need to.

I was in need of a mini-van, but upon sitting in one realized I just wasn't a mini-van kinda girl. I ended up with a crossover buick rondezvous which I love very much - I average 17.5 mpg, have the 3rd row flip down seat, and a towing package so we don't need a truck - I also got the heated seats because here a girls ass needs a little warmth.

We have a station wagon (here's the URL:http://myowncircleofconfusion.com/100_0801.jpg for a picture of it-I've forgotten how to do clickable links-GAH! What's wrong with me?!?)

The "third row jump seating" really isn't very useful except by really short people not going very long distances. So technically we can get 7 people in there, it's not really very practical. And like the front seat, the BoyChild can't ride in the back which causes great consternation whenever the GirlChild sits back there

The Ford Freestyle will allow 7 people to sit in there, but don't think about taking 7 people on a trip. We are in the same boat as you. We have 5 but sometimes have more. Our Van lease will be up next year and we are thinking maybe we will move into an expedition because the gas mileage isn't any worse then the van and she would like and SUV, though it looks more like a small bus. Long gone are the days when you could buy a big sedan and get 5 to 7 people in there. Now you are stuck with large SUV's or the Van. In the end you might as well go after a new van.

My husband bought me a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica for our anniversary last year and I heart it.

It only holds 6, but if you have 4 or less, you can fold the back seats down and you can cram a crap-load of stuff back there.

With only two kids and occasional passengers, we've always managed with a small sedan (Mazda Protege) and a minivan. Those new crossovers like cursingmama's are pretty cool, but if you're looking for used, I'm afraid they might be too new to find much of a selection.

I currently drive a mini-van. I have to admit it is practical - both kids can take along a friend and there is still plenty of room for stuff. Not very exciting to drive, though. Before the mini-van, I had a VW Passat station wagon. Talk about driving excitement!! That was easily the bestest, most funnest car I have every owned!! Not very practical, because it took premium gas and every little repair was expensive. I still miss it, though. Have you looked at the Toyota Sienna or the Honda Odyssey? You just can't beat a mini-van if you have a family. And you can always get an exciting car after the kids are all grown up.

Volvo makes a station wagon, I think... I'm too in love with my van right now, but I do miss my SUV!

We just last year let go of our van and purchased a car. I cried. It meant the end of an era to me, my kids are bigger and ride with other people now on occasaion. We have a Chevrolet Impala and while I have bonded with my car, I still miss my van. Not an easy decision. My thoughts...keep driving a van just a little while longer, you won't be sorry.

We have a Civic (tiny!) and my kid and dog mobile is a Pathfinder. However, when we upgrade we are looking at the Chrysler Pacifica. They are sharp! Also, I've heard great things about Subaru's Outback.

I'm not much help, but we love our min-van (that isn't that "mini") with the fold down third seat. Easy to haul "stuff", holds the three kids with almost enough space between them, has a couple spots open in case we are taking somebody to sports or the pool or the movies.

Gets OK mileage, too.

Erm, on the other hand, I can cram the three kids in the back of my civic and drive REALLY fast so we don't have actual bloodshed before we make it somewhere.

Well Cadillac puts out a sweet SRX model. Have you considered the Tahoe? They get about 18mpg.

Pacifica's SUCK gas. Our fleet department here can't sell them cheap enough!

Mmm, hard to try and figure out since you need seating for 6 sometimes.

You don't want Surburban because they suck gas too, although they do look nice.

And actually I disagree with Muffet on the Pacifica. If are interested you could probably purchase one from our fleet and save you a bundle. They all came with the dvd packages and satellate radio too.

I drive a GMC Envoy with seats for 8, and I love it. Not great gas mileage, but its not the worst either. Its the only car I have ever loved. Sigh.

Seven, it seats seven. I can't count.

Gah! We have the same issue here with our family of 5. Almost always we have a "spare" kid with us, too. And, then there's all that gear for the sporting events during the football season. We bit the bullet and went SUV. A 2nd row bench seat just wasn't an option because of the climb over it factor to get to the back. And, we needed the 3rd row AND trunk space.

Good luck!

Currently we are an one-car family, since hubby takes train to work. But as the kids are getting old and having more activities, we are considering a second car/suv. We are thinking of the Saturn VUE Hybird, which will be coming out this summer. http://www.hybridcars.com/saturn-vue-hybrid.html

Lovin' the Vue and the Freestyle myself, but my beast (the NAH VIH GATAH!!!) is paid for, so until it dies on the side of the road, I'm sporting the Lincoln (which, by the way, seats 8 VEEEEERY comfortably, and no, I did NOT buy it new - I got the good-guy price from a, urm, friend).

My parents have a Volvo station wagon and how we covet it. It has a third back seat and everyone can fit, yet it's still a "nice" car. And a "safe" car.

Personally, I like the Nissan Armada, if you want to go all out. With the third seat that goes up and down with the push of a button. *sigh*

I'll plug my Honda Odyssey. You should be able to pick up a used '06 by now. Side curtain air bags, transmission has this gizmo that drops it from 6 cylinder to 3 when on the interstate or going slow in the city. So the gas mileage is pretty good, 23 or something city/ 28 hwy. Though I think those figures are recorded when the vehicle is empty. We never quite get those numbers with a load of kids and all the crap in the car. I kicked and screamed about getting a mini van. Now I love it. Seats 8 and even with all the seats in/up, there is still cargo room in the back. Wish they made a hybrid. 2nd car is the VW Passat Wagon. I agree with Carolyn up a few posts on that one. Great, but not practical. We did manage to "crowbar" 3 carseats into it for a year. It use to be our "big" car.

volvo makes fold down 3rd row station wagon seating. and, then you could be a volvo driving soccer mom.

plus, i kinda think volvos are cool.

What about a midsize SUV with an optional 3rd row? I've been contemplating a Honda Pilot. I've got one in a car seat and one in a booster and will VERY soon be adding a second car seat. (booster for at least one more year by IN law for Alexa)

In the interim, I will inherit DH's Mazda MPV and he will get the Grand Vitara. He won't be able to pick up all three girls from school and daycare unless he trade with me for the day (or afternoon) but we want to hang onto both for a bit longer. Don't want to take on a newer car payment AND an additional daycare expense at the same time!

Whatever you do just remember--get spinny rims!

My friend owned a Cadillac Escalade which carted 8 adults with ease, I'm sure it would fit the Busy family of 5! :D

In all serious - I own a GMC Jimmy that seats 5, I think it's tight and couldn't be done with a car seat, but it could be the extra car if needed. It has the big back trunk and the seats are nice.

I recently drove a Ford Freestyle and really liked it. It's kind of a cross between an SUV and a van.

We're in the midst of the same debate. I think we're leaning towards a "smallish" minivan (Odessey maybe) or a midsize SUV with the optional 3rd row seat (Pilot or Highlander). Neither option is ideal when I consider all the factors (size, gas mileage, cargo space) but this seems to be the best option for now.

The Car Talk guys endorse the Freesytle over the Outback (curses to them!) and my mom loves her Envoy even though she mostly drives it alone and it gets about 17 mpg from a combination of city/hwy driving. She likes it because it's easy on her old bones (unlike her T-bird).

We have 4 kids, so 6 total passengers if we all go somewhere. Oldest will be ::gasp:: 19 in a couple of weeks, so she goes places with us less and less. We've been really happy with our Grand Caravan that we've had since 2000. We've been thinking that our next one, when we have steeled ourselves for another car payment, will be a Honda Odyssey. Reading about the "gizmo" and the gas mileage that LYNFH mentioned above pretty much cemented that thought.

I think you would be on the right track to stick with a minivan for at least a few more years. I don't think you can beat the space when you're traveling with kids who would prefer to take each other eyes out rather than have to sit on a common seat.

Oh, you SO need to get a Volvo wagon! I love mine. You could probably tell that by my domain name, huh? Seriously - we're on Volvo #5. I have a 2001 V70 wagon, and it handles great. The mileage is pretty good, and I've had great luck with the car. And when anyone gives me flack about driving a Volvo wagon, I tell them that we're cool enough to have Everclear write a song about us. Oh yes.

I vote for the new Volvo station wagon. It IS a station wagon, but it IS a Volvo.

You can come here and order it, and get a free trip to Sweden to pick it up.

Killing 2 birds with one stone...a vacation AND a new car.

Personally, I could never drive a minivan. I would opt for the station wagon. And I think Subaru makes a nice one.

Here's my plan: I drive a mid-sized SUV right now. It seats 5, but really only 4 with the two carseats. Saturn is coming out with a full-sized SUV at the end of the year. It will seat seven. So in a few years, I'll upgrade my mid-sized Saturn VUE for the full-sized version. My VUE gets fantastic gas millage, comperable to what my husbands sedan gets.

What ever you choose, get something cool. You rock. Your car should too!! :)

I don't know if you live in an area where it is an option, but GM is making flexfuel SUV's now. Go online and find out if there is a gas station providing the E85 ethanol fuel near you. The savings might be worth it.

Also, I think the car companies are coming out with more hybrid suv's in the next year or two. If you can hold out, you might look into that.

Lastly, if you decide to go towards the station wagon route, the Subaru B9 Tribeca holds 7 passengers. Subarus are great vehicles. Just test drive a lot of different makes and models of cars and find what fits for you and your family.