I just got back from a 10 hour drive from Florida to NC...in my Honda Odyssey. The Forester would have fit our two kids and barely fit all the packing, but here's the big winner for the minivan: once we got there the four of us AND two grandparents can ride around comfortably instead of taking two cars and paying twice for parking everywhere.
YoGeorge is correct on many levels: the Odyssey (at least back when I was shopping for a kid friendly car) has more cargo space than an excursion, better MPG, better handling, smoother ride, etc, etc....it's just the stigma most people can't get over. Hello! I can haul 4x8 pieces of plywood in my Odyssey! Let's see most SUV do that! And nearly ANY 3rd row SUV still does not haul adults comfortably back there as well as cargo behind them.
We have toyed with the idea of replacing the Odyssey with a Tribeca, but we'd be giving up a LOT of cargo space to do that and we'd end up with a roof top carrier for a lot of trips. Minivans really are unbelievably handy. After our first child, we decided to suck up and get one. Oh, and YoGeorge, it was a comparison between and Odyssey and a SuperBee muscle car to show the advances in handling over the years. The Odyssey smoked it.
To the OP, I've spoken with people who said they could fit 3 car seats in the back of their 05 forester (which has less room than the 09), but it depends a lot on the carseat too. We use evenflo triumps (high safety ratings) and I know we couldn't fit three of those side by side in anything. Go for a third row something for at least one of your cars, you really need too. My wife gets together with one of her friends and they take trips with three kids at once, and she wouldn't be able to do it in our older Forester or even an 09, I'm sure.
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