15 Seat Van or not

[jgrain]

Hello Forum, I presently have a 7 seat Full SUV ordered through US carhire there are 5 adults in our party,however looks like my daughters boy friend may now be joining us.My question is my concern for luggage space in the Tahoe so I am considering changing to the van which I think is a 15 seat offered by US carhire (Alamo).
I would be interested in the forums views on this and if anyone has hired this type of vehicle.
Would I have to pay extra in the parks to park the van any other problems I might expierence

Cheers

[Clare R]

You could perhaps have a look at this thread - http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums...eaters-(Alamo)

[vickk]

we had six of us last year and I had the same worries but did not want to go for the van as the only time there would be a problem was when we had luggage which was 2 trips to the airport and a mid holiday break down to marco. I can tell you the Tahoe would not have taken 6 with 6 med cases however the alamo guy was super and sorted out the best 7 seat suv with biggest luggage. it was a ford eith explorer or expedition not sure now which is the bigest and it worked fine.I did not want a 15 seater when for most of the holday it would be too big so we had a back up plan that if we could not all get in when we got there then some would go to the hotel in a taxi and for the long trip down to marco we priced up a 1 day hire one way drop off for a small car and that came in at around 20 pound plus gas. as I say it was tight but we all got in without luggage on our knees and the ford was super roomy without the luggage. 1 other option I looked at was upgrading to a suburban which would handle 6 with luggage easily and be a better drive than a 15 seat van

[Dads_Taxi]

I've had the 15 Seater, and it was actually pretty good. Very comfortable (certainly at the front where I was sitting it was), decent stereo, easy to drive. Absolutely no problem parking it anywhere, certainly no premium charges for it being larger than average.

However...... for 6 adults I can really recommend the 8 seater minivan, which was a Toyota Sienna MPV and one of the most comfortable cars I've driven, along with a boot that must have used TARDIS technology. It seemed to be bigger than was possible. We were 6 adults and a child on that trip and with a bit of manouvering we all got in along with the mass of luggage we seem to need.

7 weeks today (hooray) there are 5 adults, 2 kids and a baby going, and I decided to go for the 15 seater again despite only needing 8 seats. There will be tonnes of cargo with a baby on the trip!

I expect the van will be white!!

[Dads_Taxi]

1 other option I looked at was upgrading to a suburban which would handle 6 with luggage easily and be a better drive than a 15 seat van

Having had a Suburban in the past too I'd like to say that the 15 seater van is no more difficult to drive, and is just as comfortable, it just doesn't look anything like as cool !

[vickk]

1 other option I looked at was upgrading to a suburban which would handle 6 with luggage easily and be a better drive than a 15 seat van

Having had a Suburban in the past too I'd like to say that the 15 seater van is no more difficult to drive, and is just as comfortable, it just doesn't look anything like as cool !

COOL is probably what I meant by better drive lol. Much better if you plan on using valet parking anywhere.

[Tonish]

we had six of us last year and I had the same worries but did not want to go for the van as the only time there would be a problem was when we had luggage which was 2 trips to the airport and a mid holiday break down to marco. I can tell you the Tahoe would not have taken 6 with 6 med cases however the alamo guy was super and sorted out the best 7 seat suv with biggest luggage. it was a ford eith explorer or expedition not sure now which is the bigest and it worked fine.I did not want a 15 seater when for most of the holday it would be too big so we had a back up plan that if we could not all get in when we got there then some would go to the hotel in a taxi and for the long trip down to marco we priced up a 1 day hire one way drop off for a small car and that came in at around 20 pound plus gas. as I say it was tight but we all got in without luggage on our knees and the ford was super roomy without the luggage. 1 other option I looked at was upgrading to a suburban which would handle 6 with luggage easily and be a better drive than a 15 seat van

The Suburban would work perfectly for you. We have had 8 (6 adults and 2 tweenagers) plus full luggage in one and it was absolutely fine. Those minivans are really ugly brutes, plus you're going to have half a dozen empty seats, it seems a waste of space.

[jgrain]

I've looked at the Surbuban but I think we might be still pushing it, we are 6 adults average size 3 adult guys all 6ft then there will be 6 cases going out and more than lilkely 8-9 cases coming back if I know the girls.

[BIGEYE]

Upgrade to the 8 seater SUV, it's a ford expedition. Fantastic motor. Have a look here:

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums...ord-Expedition

[Dads_Taxi]

I've looked at the Surbuban but I think we might be still pushing it, we are 6 adults average size 3 adult guys all 6ft then there will be 6 cases going out and more than lilkely 8-9 cases coming back if I know the girls.

The Suburban would be ideal. As mentioned above we had one, it is huge and very cool to drive. Last year I enquired about hiring one for this Easter and was told (and I quote) "I’m afraid that we no longer offer this car type, as there were too many problems."

We had a problem when we hired one in 2009 in that there wasn't one there when we got to the airport, and I don't think I was the first to experience this. I still fancied one though. Staying loyal to US Car Hire though I decided to drop the idea of the Suburban and hence I'm a mini-bus driver again this year. Interesting to see the Suburban is in the list of cars available. I don't think you get a price for one though if you use the car hire-quote tool.