When needing to carry a crowd, many consumers are interested in 8 passenger vehicles. While not as common as 7 passenger vehicles, there are both minivans and SUVs that can fill the bill. In order to provide the needed power for the load, vehicles in this class will need a large enough engine to pull both the vehicle and the passenger load. Most consumers will prefer vehicles that offer a minimum of a 3.5L engine, although they will sacrifice fuel economy with these larger engines.
Toyota offers the Sienna minivan. This is one of the more affordable 8 passenger vehicles available. Toyota has provided minivans for many years. Today’s Sienna is considered a third generation in this line. It features a six speed automatic four door vehicle. The Sienna is offered with either a 2.7L or 3.5L engine. While offering better fuel economy for commuting, consumers may find the 2.7L engine underpowered if the vehicle is fully loaded with passengers and luggage. The vehicle is known for the safety it offers.
If consumers prefer a Honda, they will need to raise the budget. The Honda Pilot first rolled off the lines in 2002. The current second generation vehicle uses a 3.5L V6 engine for power. These vehicles offer a decent fuel mileage rating at 17 mpg city and 23 mpg highway. For a vehicle large enough to transport eight people, this type of fuel economy can be a big advantage.
GM offers the Buick Enclave, a crossover SUV that is somewhat larger than Honda’s pilot. This crossover vehicle is fairly new in the eight passenger vehicle class, being first introduced in 2007. This luxury SUV offers plenty of cargo space. It is one of the higher priced vehicles in the spectrum and is powered using a 3.6L V6 engine.
A second choice from Toyota is the Sequoia SUV. This full sized SUV was introduced in 2000. It offers a 4.6 L V8 engine that
provides 310 horsepower. The optional 5.7L V8 offers 381 horsepower, which is plenty of power to move a fully loaded SUV and an excellent towing capacity. Like the Sienna by Toyota, the Sequoia offers many safety features not offered in other brands of vehicles.
Other vehicle manufacturers have started and stopped production of eight passenger vehicles through the years. In addition, the vehicles mentioned in this article may have not always held the full 8 passengers. Often, the manufacturers tend to move back and forth between a seven and eight passenger capacity for their vehicles. However, the choice seems to remain between minivans and SUVs for this number of passengers.
The Toyota Sienna and Honda Pilot are the least expensive of the new 8 passenger vehicles offered while the Buick Enclave and the Toyota Sequoia are the more expensive. New prices for the Sienna or Pilot are between $26 and $28 thousand, while the Enclave and Sequoia are priced between $38 and $40 thousand. (These prices are at the time of writing this article). With the long life expectancy of each of these models, consumers should find several used vehicles that may also fit their need for a people hauling vehicle.