Hertz - Can't decide between a 7 passanger mini van or Cadillac Escalade

Currently we have a Toyota Sienna minivan. We are looking to take a little road trip and there will be 4 adults and 2 children still in car seats. We have done this before in the minivan but it always seemed cramped. I thought maybe this time I would rent a Cadillac Escalade from Hertz to give us a little more room and ride in some style. Now after looking at some Escalades I'm wondering if there is any more room in there compared to the Sienna. Anyone have experience with this. I'd hate to spend the money on the rental then my wife be made sitting in the back with less room then she had in our minivan.

Currently we have a Toyota Sienna minivan. We are looking to take a little road trip and there will be 4 adults and 2 children still in car seats. We have done this before in the minivan but it always seemed cramped. I thought maybe this time I would rent a Cadillac Escalade from Hertz to give us a little more room and ride in some style. Now after looking at some Escalades I'm wondering if there is any more room in there compared to the Sienna. Anyone have experience with this. I'd hate to spend the money on the rental then my wife be made sitting in the back with less room then she had in our minivan.

I have both cars and 2 kids in car seats. There is 100% without a doubt more room in the sienna. The sienna also has much better gas millage.

The second row in the escalade is not very big (but ok for car seats) and it would be very uncomfortable to have 2 adults in the 3rd row for any period of time. In fact, I went in the 3rd row (once) and could barley get the seat belt over my shoulder to fit (I'm over 6 foot). There is also much less cargo space in the escalade when the 3rd row is in use.

I hope you find this info helpful.

Very useful, thank you.

Very useful, thank you.

Perfect! And welcome to FT.

The Yukon XL/Suburban/Escalade ESV or the Expedition EL would be the ticket for you. Hold all you people in comfort and hold everyone's stuff.

Dont know if Hertz has any ESV's in the fleet. I am sure they have some but finding one is the trick...

There is no much room behind the seats in a minivan or non stretched full size SUV.

Can I call the Hertz location directly and ask what trim line the Escalade they have is or is that something the agents answering the phone would know?

Can I call the Hertz location directly and ask what trim line the Escalade they have is or is that something the agents answering the phone would know?

I'd start at hertz.com and select "locations, cars" on the menu and then "vehicle guide".

Hertz just list it as a Cadillac Escalade 2WD 7 Passanger. I may call them tomorrow and see if they can tell if its a ESV trim line. I looked on Cadilac's webpage to see the specs between the two and there is alot a difference in leg room for the 3rd row on the ESV. The minivan still beats it but if they had the ESV I would probably go with that.

There is no much room behind the seats in a minivan or non stretched full size SUV.

The Sienna actually has space to remove and store 2 seats behind the 3rd row. If all seats are in place and attached to the floor of the vehicle, the Sienna has comparable storage space to that of the Escalade XSV & Yukon XL, but with an additional +/- 5-6 cubic feet in the 'sub-floor' of the rear of the vehicle. It's a ton of space!

Having driven all of the afore-mentioned vehicles and more-or-less packed each to capacity for lengthy drives, please believe fly-yul, when they say 'There is 100% without a doubt more room in the sienna.'

If you're looking for style, you could always rent an Infiniti G35 (or other mid-size near-luxury sport sedan) for 2 adults and the kids and have the other 2 adults follow in a ZHZ!

I ended up canceling my reservation and will just be taking Sienna. Thanks for all the info.