ourselves. We have been lovingly bludgeoning our 2011 Sienna for as long as most of our children have been alive. It still runs fine, but is getting a bit long in the tooth as far as non-engine maintenance is concerned. Youtube and I are able to do any of that on our own, but the problem is that I don't know what I don't know, which could bite us. It's one thing for the van to fail inspection and I fix what needs fixed. It's another thing if there's a failure at 70mph.

We've more or less graduated from needing the minivan's "kid" features. Sliding doors aren't so much a necessity since we're not buckling babies into car seats anymore. In fact, our youngest is only a few months from not (legally, in Virginia) even needing a booster.

We rarely have all seven of us together in one vehicle anymore anyway. Between meetings before and after, we have three cars at church more often than two. The only time we all cram into the van is on family road trips, and, our oldest is a senior in high school, so we'd only be looking at one more summer even needing seven seats.

It's also my wife's daily commuter (~75mi/day M-F) so the idea of a hybrid or something more fuel efficient would be nice. Full EV is a no-go as yet, since it would be the vehicle that needs to be able to go more than a full charge every once in a while. Plus, I'd just like her not to have to drive an old clunker forever.

Cost is, of course, a big consideration. I'm not rich like the rest of CB. I could put a chunk down, but am not in a position to pay cash. It's nice not having a car payment at the moment, but we may be at that point.

So, assuming many of you have found yourselves in this family-aging situation, have you any pearls of wisdom? Recommendations on economical 3rd row vehicles? Even with older kids, is a minivan still more practical than an SUV?

It's been so long since we've had to family-vehicle plan that I don't really know what the going wisdom is these days.

Thanks in advance.