[paulrpotts]

Father of eight kids here. I wouldn't really speak of SUVs and minivans in the same breath. SUVs really aren't very suitable for transporting a bunch of kids. They generally don't have extra side doors so kids will have to climb over seats. And despite being so huge, they often hold a shockingly small amount of cargo, unless you add a cumbersome cargo container to the roof rack. We had a Tahoe with a painfully small third row seat and could not even bring a whole load of groceries home in the space remaining in back. It was not possible to use it for camping unless we brought a second car (a Honda Element) to actually hold the stuff. Older minivans like the (now radically redesigned) Dodge Grand Caravan were far better and had far better visibility. I have really not kept up with current minivans - a lot of the models which would hold more passengers have disappeared - but I do think they are designed with better safety features, not to mention better mileage. It's easy to say "just get a Sprinter," but they are shockingly expensive even on the used market.