I don't have kids yet, and maybe that's why I don't get it, but do people haul that much more stuff around with the family then when we were all kids? My parents had a regular 5 seat, 4 door, sedan type of car when we were growing up as the big car for my mom, and my dad had a two seater most of the time, and we never had issues hauling stuff around. I guess because of that, I don't see it changing and don't plan on getting a minivan or SUV. For me, my car with lots of storage space was the Acura Integra GS-R I had before my current car, because it was a hatchback. Amazing how much more can fit that way when you put the back seats down.
Are people loading up the whole family and overpacking for a night or two away on a regular basis? If it's a couple times a year, I don't want to have to drive a minivan/SUV around all the time just for that. I'd rather pack a little less and have a car I like, instead of something that holds a lot and doesn't get good gas mileage.
Like I said, I don't have any kids yet though, so maybe I'm just missing something.
