Buy a trailer (instead of a pickup truck)

[acparker]

Still takes 10-15 years to get them anywhere close to adult size

Most folks try to avoid making kids in batches. It is not unusual to have near adult sized kids and near infant sized at the same time, depending on quantity and spacing.

My parents had eight kids spaced about two years apart. We got by with station wagons. My dad installed extra seatbelts so we could sit four across. He never bought a full-sized van because it wouldn't fit in the garage -- but we never parked in the garage because it was always full of stuff.

All of ours kids are now (legally) adults, living at home or nearby at school. We are not in a hurry to be grandparents but are resigned to the eventuality.

The in-laws can't rent a car and drive themselves?

If they could rent a car, they could also stay in a hotel.

We did rent a 12-passenger van once for a road trip with visiting family. We almost bought a very nice used 12-passenger van, but hesitated and missed the deal. It is still sometimes a tempting thought, but I don't like the look of the new vans and the older ones are, well, older.

With the kids slowly leaving, we have been looking at downsizing our next vehicle without the need for three rows of seats; which brings us back to the benefits of having a trailer and a hitch.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by acparker

Most folks try to avoid making kids in batches. It is not unusual to have near adult sized kids and near infant sized at the same time, depending on quantity and spacing.

My parents had eight kids spaced about two years apart.

Ah, didn't notice that you were in Utah :-) I suspect Utah's very much an outlier in the developed world, which after all is the target market for automakers. Elsewhere, most people have two or three kids, who are spaced fairly close together. Just thinking over the folks I know with kids, and there's only one with more than 4 - and he's 101 and on his second wife, or maybe third?

PS: A bit of searching finds that a majority of Americans now think two kids is the ideal size for a family, down from four in the 1950s. 75% think three or fewer, so eight is very much an outlier: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...erican-family/

[acparker]

eight is very much an outlier

It was in the 60's in Utah, as well. The most families had around four, back then. My father was determined that four was the right amount, but my mother had other ideas, once she got started. She would have had more but the last one nearly killed her and her doctor said, "No more!"

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by acparker

We did rent a 12-passenger van once for a road trip with visiting family. We almost bought a very nice used 12-passenger van, but hesitated and missed the deal. It is still sometimes a tempting thought, but I don't like the look of the new vans and the older ones are, well, older.

What vans you don't like the look? The traditional redneck-engineered ones such as the Ford E-Series and Chevy Express, or the European-designed ones such as the Sprinter, the Ford Transit and the Ram ProMaster?

[acparker]

What vans you don't like the look?

I don't like the euro-styled vans. They are too narrow and too tall. I also think the Nissan van is ugly.

The van we looked at was a 1996-2002 Chevy Express four headlight model (that is also the model we rented). I don't remember the specific year. I think that is the most aesthetically pleasing van design in the past 30 years. I remember that the rental was a pleasure to drive, and we were carrying 11 with luggage.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by acparker

I don't like the euro-styled vans. They are too narrow and too tall.

The current generation of Euro vans might not be the best-looking, and sure the Sprinter looks too narrow and tall, but nobody can deny they're actually quite practical. It's even easier to load and unload an Euro van with a forklift than doing it in an American full-size van.

I also think the Nissan van is ugly.

And it is ugly as hell. Even the forward-control van offered by Nissan in Asia and Central America is better-looking than that.

The van we looked at was a 1996-2002 Chevy Express four headlight model (that is also the model we rented). I don't remember the specific year. I think that is the most aesthetically pleasing van design in the past 30 years.

Gotta agree with you about the Chevy Express of that generation being the best-looking American full-size van. Anyway, too bad the smaller Chevrolet Astro doesn't have the seating capacity you'd want, even though some Euro vans comparatively-sized do have.

[Miller88]

Which Nissan van? The full sized one with a truck snout or the little dustbuster with self destructing snowmobile transmission?

[freebeard]

I think that is the most aesthetically pleasing van design in the past 30 years.

Gotta agree with you about the Chevy Express of that generation being the best-looking American full-size van.

..and the Previa falls into that yawning chasm.

[Hersbird]

I think people who think a family of 5 would be better off traveling in a sedan then a van has never experienced how much better a minivan is. I think this extends to say a family of 7 will have a much better experience in a full size vanbthen a minivan. Just like on a modern jet, just because you can physically fit that many people in a plane doesn't make it enjoyable and that's usually only for a few hours. Our family can drive 12-14 hours a day on our road trips.

[Fat Charlie]

Tall, yes. Skinny, no.

Only one of the Murricans is wider than any of the Euros, and that's only wider than one of them. As to height, the shortest Ram is a lot taller than the rest but the others can come within a few inches of the Detroit offerings. But I've loaded a couple, and the vertical space in the tall ones is awesome! Especially with trucks and vans, form follows f$<!#& function- so I'll take the tall any day no matter how skinny their wider bodies look.

-Chevy Express
Width 79.2 in-79.4 in
Height 81.8 in (96–98)
-Ford Econoline Fourth Generation (92+)
Width 79.3–79.9 in
Height 80.7–84.1 in
-Dodge B Van (98+)
Width 79.8 in
Height 79.5 in-79.9 in

-Ford Transit Fifth generation (13+)
Width 80.8–83.7 in
Height 82.2–110.1 in
-Fiat Ducato (Ram Promaster) Third Generation (07+)
Width 79.7 in
Height 99.4 in-108.8 in
-Nissan NV (12+)
Width 79.9 in
Height 83.9 in

With more than four people, minivan. With more than six, big van and who cares what it looks like?