I'm not much help on buying cars - I have owned beater and new Toyotas since I could drive. My sister though who is a careful and frugal shopper bought a Honda Odyssey to move her brood + frequent moves with a chunk of the soccer team, and likes it alot. I think it sits 7.

If I were on the market for a family van I might go retro, and get an old style VW van. Our family of 10 grew up in two of them, one with the old style double doors and one with a sliding back door. Besides a weak engine that seemed to blow up on steep mountain passes (part of the family adventure) it was a great, great vehicle for kids and to drive. No seatbelts, you could stuff an infinite number of kids in it in the day. Fond memories in later life of getting a ride home from school with a cheerleader on my lap (thanks mom!) Also learning to drive, the manual transmission was so smooth you could skip lower gears with ease (which both freaked out and impressed the driving inspector). Does VW have a more modern equivalent?