Need advice on car rental vehicle choice

Hello,

I am planning a 3 week road trip to the New England states and am having to hire a min van. The rental agency only has a Chevy Uplander or similar vehicle for hire ( Toyota Sienna).

I need to know if the Uplander will accomodate 4 adults (average size) and a 10 year old child along with 5 large suitcases - I'm fairly confident the Sienna will

I spoke with the rep at the rental agency and she said the Uplander "should fit" 5 suitcase.

Any ideas/suggestions? Anyone know how I can secure the Sienna (rep stated she could not guarantee a specific vehicle only a vehicle class)

I hate to be cramped like sardines for a 3 week road trip.

Thanks

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Both the Uplander and the Sienna have three rows of passenger seats with a last row that can be folded down in part to make extra luggage room. Both are roughly equivalent in terms of meeting your needs. No rental company will guarantee a particular make/model will be available at a particular location on a particular day, there are just too many variables in how customers use their fleets. But if they don't have a vehicle in the class you've rented, they will usually upgrade you to the next largest vehicle at no extra charge. If you want to get an idea of which make, Chevrolet or Toyota, you're more likely to get, see if your rental company states anywhere on their website that they "feature cars by manufacturer x".

AZBuck