Date:         Fri, 7 Jul 1995 09:23:06 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         daukes@mmts.eds.com (dean c aukes)
Subject:      Eurovan for Triplets!

On the twins list (yes, as in children), they just pulled out a year old 
archive in response to several requests as to what is the best vehicle for 
family folks with twins, triplets, and more.  There are the usual 
testimonials for the other guys (you all know who I mean), but I thought the 
Eurovan guys might like this one.......
______________________________________________

Well...

We just went through this for our TRIPLETS!

I can say that it was a tiring experience.  We went to the
auto show in town and spent 5 hours measuring and looking
and sitting in minivans.  We had a couple of constraints.
We have the car seats where the base straps into the car
(or van as the case may be) and we wanted to fit three
of those into the van.  Also, we have a HUGE triple
stroller and wanted to be able to fit that into the van.

We picked the VW EuroVan.  It is wider and higher inside
than all the others.  The rear bench fits the 3 car seats
across with room to spare.  All other vans and minivans
you could only fit 2 car seats on the rear bench and had
to put one seat on the middle captains chair or half bench.
Of course, if the middle seat is a half bench that makes
it tough to reach the far side of the back bench to place
one of the car seats.

Cindy can almost stand up while putting the car seats into
the carriers.  Much easier on the back than the other vans.
With the center seat removed the stroller fits inside the
van easily.  The stroller also fits behind the rear seat
with a little more strain.

Other candidates were the Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth Grand vans
and the Chevy Astro EXT.

VW is not shipping 1994 EuroVans and there still seem to
be plenty of new '93s so the dealers are discounting the
93s significantly.

On the down side, it has a 5 cylinder engine which seems
underpowered (although it is supposed to have great torque
for towing), it drives like a bus, and has a dearth of
cushy options.  We had remote door locks added by the
dealer which is one option that we have liked a lot.