I had one as a rental last week. I have 3 kids also, 8,9 and 2 years old. Here are my impressions as a family hauler.
Rode and drove great, was very impressed with its driving dynamics. Plenty of power in the city, very nimble. No passing power on the highway which was actually kind of scary. I'd consider it better in town than a highway cruiser. If you are doing 65 and need to do 75 to get in the passing lane, you floor it and make lots of noise but the speed comes on so slow. Can't expect much from the 2.5 4 cylinder I guess. Gas mileage was pretty bad. I got ~17MPG.
Where it falls on its face is lack of luggage space with the 3rd row seats up as well as 3rd row legroom. The floor is flat/stadium seating, so no adult can sit in the back for a extended period of time because your knees are at your chin. Kids, maybe... MY 9 year old's knees were still way above his hips, can't imagine that's very comfy on a long trip. With the 3rd row up there is maybe 16" of luggage space in back, not much at all. couldn't even fit a cooler or really any full size luggage back there. The 3rd row does slide but if you slide it forward to create more luggage room it kills the 3rd row legroom even more.
For how much they cost I'd look at used minivans first. They are a cool little kid runner if you are just shuttling them to school or getting groceries once and a while. It is not a van that can handle the whole family on weekend trips etc. Neat idea but not a minivan or SUV replacement.
Hope that helps. Enterprise rents them for $50 a day, may want to grab one and check it out.
