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Really Big Vans for Really Big Families
Apr 03 2009 by Sara Lacey
People often email MotherProof.com and ask for help finding the best car for their family. We’re happy to help, but what if you need a really big car. What if you have eight kids like the Gosselin family of the TV show “Jon & Kate Plus 8” on TLC? A quick search at Cars.com, our sibling site, helped me find several vans that would fit the Gosselins and other large families.
Jon and Kate haul their eight kids around in a Dodge Sprinter Wagon. For the 2009 model year, it’s a 12-passenger van with a turbocharged V-6 diesel engine. If you want a Sprinter that uses gasoline you’ll need to look for a used one. The ’09 Sprinter, which has an MSRP of $42,150, comes with:
• Cloth or optional vinyl seats
• Standard antilock brakes, front-impact airbags and an electronic stability system with traction control
• Optional side-impact and side curtain airbags
The 2009 Ford E-350 XL could handle the Gosselin gang. It can carry 12 people and starts at $31,365. It comes with:
• V-8 engine
• Standard antilock brakes, electronic stability system with traction control
• Side-impact and side curtain airbags aren’t available
• Optional cruise control, captain’s chairs, navigation system, in-dash computer and backup camera, which is convenient when we’re talking about a ginormous passenger van
Another option in this group is the 2009 Chevrolet Express 2500 and its twin the ’09 GMC Savana 2500. Both vans carry 12 passengers and have a starting MSRP of $29,580. These vans come with:
• V-8 engine
• Standard front-impact airbags for the front seats and side curtain airbags for the first, second and third rows
• Standard antilock brakes, electronic stability system with traction control
The Ford, GMC and Chevrolet vans don’t carry the same uh, Jon-and-Kate clout as the Sprinter, but at least really big families have options.
User Comments
For the Ford E-350XL, how do you conclude that the backup camera in “inconvenient when you’re talking about a ginormous passenger van?” I would think the backup camera would be a pretty big help! Or did you say something you didn’t mean to say?? Help?
DonB,
You’re right, Don. We meant to say that the Ford E-350 XL’s backup camera is convenient. Thanks for the heads-up.
@papooses,
I can appreciate the reduction of rollover risk, but I have a very difficult time accepting the $12K cost adder for the privilege. The G family might be able to swing that, but not us…
We drive an ‘06 Express 2500, which replaced an ‘04 Express 1500 that sacrificed itself in a heartbeat rounding out all of its angles at freeway speed…
With 8 people in the van, the only injuries were my wife’s finger, which was squished a little holding the uh-oh handle by the windshield, and my daughters arm, which was scraped up in the debris dragging along with us as we came to rest on the van’s right side.
I was tempted to send a note to GM to thank them.
The other thing that the Express has that I have not seen anywhere else is the option for a driver’s side passenger door. This is a deal maker for us, since we are loading 7 kids in and out all the time. There are not many of them available on the lot, but it is worth the effort to find one.
The only thing to make it sweeter is to get lap-shoulder belts for all the seats. I think NHTSA rules will have that set up for us within a few years.
Please keep in mind that the Sprinter has, by far, the lowest risk of roll over (the most severe kind of crash: crashes being the leading cause of death for all kids, more than from all childhood illnesses combined).
When a family is considering any other large van, as a Child Passenger Safety Technician, I usually advize such a van be used for emergencies only & suggest the family instead try to get 2 minivans (this has been more cost effective for some families even if it is not as convenient & everyone is safer).
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/studies/15PassVans/15PassCustomer.html