in the market for a minivan....again

[jackson'smama]

we have an 09 dodge with 20k miles on it and it's driving us batty.  it broke down with less than 5k on VACATION and since then, we feel like we ride on pins and needles hoping something doesn't happen. think break work twice before 12k and several recalls and currently awaiting a new cd player and someone to check the drivers side window which went down the other day, wouldn't come back up, i forced it up and left it alone.  need i say more? 

so, we're in the market for a new van unfortunately and wondering what others recommend.  i want something that is reliable and safe.  we're thinking we'll go toyota or honda, but if you have different opinions, please share.  oh, i so wanted a van paid off in two years

also, do any of you have a 7 vs 8 passenger or a 2wd vs awd?  i haven't even started looking yet, but i'm wondering if there's a huge benefit in 8 vs 7 for 3 children and the occasional grandma as passengers (plus mom and dad).  i love my subaru's awd, but thought i'd never get that in a minivan....worth it?

tell me everything you love or hate about your minivan!

[TheGirls]

I have a 2007 Honda Odyssey EX (optional 8-pass).  It is 2wd (front).  I live in a very snowy climate and have been very pleased with how it handles the snow, it has a "stability assist" feature that seems to help, and ABS.  I personally LOVE the 8-passenger feature, because it allows me to put all three of my kids in the center row (all are still RF and the oldest is just 2.5)  or it allows me to put the oldest in the back and an adult in the 2nd row to keep an eye on the twins (as preemies, they needed watching in the car in the first few weeks).   The "trunk" space is HUGE, especially if you put 3 in a row.   We have put 8 actual people in there (5 adults, 2 older children (w/o carseats), and DD in a RF carseat) and it was cozy but actually workable.   I like that it gives me lots of options because we do a lot of travel, and get company fairly often, so I regularly find myself reconfiguring.

Ours had 60k miles on it when purchased.  We haven't had any problems with it,but we haven't owned it that long (bought in October)

We were also looking at the Sienna, and bought this one mostly because we got a good deal on it

I think I would have also been happy with the Sienna 8-pass.

[allisonrose]

I'm going to watch this thread because I am considering a minivan and definitely want something reliable.

[ellairiesmom]

nak - after doing excessive research, test driving, talking to friends, posting here et al...when we can finally afford one, it will be an odyssey or sienna.  esp since we will buy used.  

[greenmansions]

We recently got the Odyssey (2010) and are very happy with it.   It has the extra seat you can drop in to seat 8.   That seat is tricky with carseats and boosters b/c of the narrowness and the funky seatbelt, and I found 3 across in that row to be very tight but OK for a short trip around town with guests or whatever.    

We originally wanted the AWD Sienna but it does not have a spare tire, rather has those self-healing tires.   This is because the AWD mechanism takes up the room in the back where the spare would otherwise be.  DH did some research on those and decided that since we plan to go on long car trips, he'd rather have a regular spare.  The self-healing ones are hard to get replacements for in rural areas and it was outside his comfort zone.  

My biggest complaint with the van is how often I have to gas it up.   The combination of low mileage and a small tank mean I have to fill up every 6-7 days/210 miles or so (mostly city driving).   This is true for my friends with Siennas too.   With our old car (AWD Volvo wagon) I could go almost 2 weeks without filling it - got a bit better mileage and had a bigger tank.    Not that I am at all recommending a Volvo - it was very unreliable and an expensive car to fix.   But I was a lot happier with the frequency of needing to make a stop for gas. 

[DahliaRW]

I have a Sienna and LOVE it (a 2009 AWD 7 passenger).  I would have been happy with either the Odyssey or the Sienna, but dh really wanted AWD and BIL works for Toyota so we got a discount.

I would have liked the 8 passenger version, but AWD was so important to dh that we didn't.

We did actually get a flat on ours.  Really liked how the run flats worked.  REALLY didn't like that you have to replace all 4 tires at the same time, so it was a very expensive flat.  Though to be fair, I've been driving for 15 years and have never had a flat before.  And usually they can repair them (punctures and such), but we were just "lucky" enough to have a huge gash in the side wall.  You can put non-run flat tires on it if you need.  So in the case of being somewhere rural you could opt for that if you can't get the run flats (and then keep a spare in you trunk).

So far the van has handled well in the snow.  We live up on a hill, so that was important to us.  I do carry chains, but have never had to use them.

If you go with a Sienna, I recommend buying used instead of getting a 2011.  They made a lot of changes with the 2011 including one less set of LATCH and they buried the LATCH connectors in the crevice of the seat.  Very car seat unfriendly!  They also made the 8th seat smaller.

[omelette]

We just bought a Toyota Sienna.  We were only looking at Honda and Toyota.  I'm happy with the Sienna but with the 3rd row in I don't find there's much space back there.  That's my only complaint so far.  The honda seemed more spacious in the back but we got a great deal on the Toyota and could'nt pass on it.

I don't think you can go wrong with either.

[mbhf]

I have a 2006 Odyssey and I would definitely recommend it. It's been a really great car and I plan to replace it with a new one next year. I can't comment a ton though since I assume you will be buying new and the 2011 is a new body style, looks nice but I haven't actually been in one.
 

Originally Posted by greenmansions 

My biggest complaint with the van is how often I have to gas it up.   The combination of low mileage and a small tank mean I have to fill up every 6-7 days/210 miles or so (mostly city driving).   This is true for my friends with Siennas too.   With our old car (AWD Volvo wagon) I could go almost 2 weeks without filling it - got a bit better mileage and had a bigger tank.    Not that I am at all recommending a Volvo - it was very unreliable and an expensive car to fix.   But I was a lot happier with the frequency of needing to make a stop for gas. 

You might want to see if you have some sort of issue, I have never gotten mileage even close to that bad. Generally I get about 400 miles to a tank. I've gotten up to 500 on a tank in all interstate driving. The worst I ever get is about 325, and that was doing all city driving and idling for about 20 minutes a day at school pickup with the AC on. You're only getting what, like 13mpg?

[alegna]

I have a 2008 sienna 8 pass that I LOVE.  Never cared about cars before this one- love this one.  I can actually get 6 carseats in if I need to  lol

-Angela

[TheGirls]

Originally Posted by mbhf 

I have a 2006 Odyssey and I would definitely recommend it. It's been a really great car and I plan to replace it with a new one next year. I can't comment a ton though since I assume you will be buying new and the 2011 is a new body style, looks nice but I haven't actually been in one.
 

Originally Posted by greenmansions 

My biggest complaint with the van is how often I have to gas it up.   The combination of low mileage and a small tank mean I have to fill up every 6-7 days/210 miles or so (mostly city driving).   This is true for my friends with Siennas too.   With our old car (AWD Volvo wagon) I could go almost 2 weeks without filling it - got a bit better mileage and had a bigger tank.    Not that I am at all recommending a Volvo - it was very unreliable and an expensive car to fix.   But I was a lot happier with the frequency of needing to make a stop for gas. 

You might want to see if you have some sort of issue, I have never gotten mileage even close to that bad. Generally I get about 400 miles to a tank. I've gotten up to 500 on a tank in all interstate driving. The worst I ever get is about 325, and that was doing all city driving and idling for about 20 minutes a day at school pickup with the AC on. You're only getting what, like 13mpg?

 I second this - I regularly drive the Odyssey to my mom's (300miles or so, mostly highway) on a single tank, and generally have enough to putter around town too.  I fill with a quarter less,so I'm not cutting it too close, either.   Unless you're filling up at half or idling constantly or something, I'd be concerned about only getting a range of 210miles on a regular basis.  Coming home from Christmas I got better than that with a rocket box on top. 
 

Granted the tank costs more to fill than my old compact Mazda, but it's a lot bigger car. 

[starbuckmom]

I have an 8 passenger Sienna too!  I also have twins who are still rf at 2 and a 5yr old.  I went with the Sienna after tons of research deciding which van would be perfect for us.  I wanted the most room for my buck and the Sienna fit the bill!  I like the back bench is split so I can put part of it in the floor while still having a seat for my 5yr old.  With the seat in the floor, it gives me tons of cargo room for my either sbs stroller or my tandem stroller and still have room for groceries or a run to Sams club!  I also like having the seat right behind the front passenger seat removed so I have room to hop in the van and close the door if its raining and be able to buckle everyone up.  Plenty of room!  If need be, I can have all 3 kids in the middle row and have the rear bench completely in the floor for times we are on vacation.

As for the gas mileage, I have never watched it closely to see how much we get.  I know that I can go about 7-8 days on a full tank of gas. 

The biggest reason I went with the Sienna is after lots of research and asking lots of questions I found out the middle seat in the 2nd row is bigger than the one in the Odyssey and that was an issue for me as I wanted to be able to have a carseat there and I do.

I love my van!  I had a Mazda MPV before and I hated how little room I had.  I love the room I have now.  It's important to me.

[alegna]

I also get 300 mi or better on a tank.  I always get better than 20mpg and average between 20.3 and 20.5 depending on a/c and traffic.  

-Angela

[FiveLittleMonkeys]

I have a 2010 Honda Odyssey Touring.  When we are on the highway, we get at least 350 miles in a tank, but in town driving, idling while waiting for kids, etc, I'm lucky to get 250.  I think it just depends on what kind of driving you do.

We had a 2001 Honda Odyssey before.  While I wish we could have waited until the 2011 Odyssey came out (we were moving back to the mainland from Hawaii and needed to buy in August - the timing just didn't work out), I LOVE my van!!

[haleyelianasmom]

we JUST got a new Odyssey yesterday, so I'll let you know.  They re-did a lot of stuff for the 2011 odyssey which is why we went for totally new one (we went with the EX, so it has power doors and an 8th seat, but none of the other extras, like no DVD player, no leather, no heated seats, no gps.  Honestly, that stuff would have made it really expensive and we were worried it would just break and cost a fortune to fix, so we can get our own gps and dvd player and I'm not a fan of leather anyways as a vegetarian).  So far, I love it!  5 LATCH points, the 2nd row seats can move apart from eachother and the middle seat can move forward, the 3rd row seats are super easy to fold down and they split so you can just fold the 1 seat down and let people easily climb in through the trunk.  We have our carseats right now in the middle and side seat in the second row and there's still lots of room left, I sat next to them for one of the trips.  The new Odyssey was made lower and wider, so it looks nice and has lots of extra room.  I love it and would definitely suggest it.  Plus, check the cars.com safety ratings on older Odysseys, it does really well.  I was worried looking at the old ratings of siennas plus the recalls Toyota has had, but I know lots of people love their siennas.

[nia82]

We have a 4WD Sienna 2011. 4WD is absolutely necessary where we live and only the Sienna offers a model with it. We don't need 8 seats for sure as of a max we are planning 3 kids, so 7 seats are just fine. I hate how the latch is buried, but that really is only a pain when installing which doesn't happen too often. I don't find the 3rd row to have little space, I sit there when we are all together out and about (DS and DD are in the 2nd row) and I had plenty of space (I'm 5'6"). The run flat tires are a drawback, but you can actually replace them with regular tires - sure then you don't have a spare on board, but there are those fixing solutions one can put in there to fix a tire to make it another 30 miles or so to the next shop. We're going to replace with regular tires... We mostly stay in town, and car trips only take us to Denver with cities everywhere, so if we ever planned a longer trip we could take a tire along or the fixing kit, we'll see what happens in the future. We are not planning on any vacations with the car for the next 4 years or so (when we go, we fly to Europe to my family, so we only need to make it to the airport!), so we should be fine.

Otherwise, the quality of the car is very nice. We bought the XLE version with leather seats that are heated in the front (love it), the doors slide nicely, the safety features are wonderful. We are very happy with the car, and even DH prefers to take it to e.g. grab some pizza cause it's so comfy compared to our small commuter car, and he proudly admits he loves soccer mom car.

[dayiscoming2006]

We have a 2001 Toyota Sienna that we bought this year. We don't have the money for newer stuff, but anyhow. I love it! I saw the new one at the dealership and was definitely drooling. And it has a very high saftey rating. I think I'd get AWD if I could buy new. We love it on our subie too! I really slid around a couple times in the snow with the regular 2 wheel drive up in MT while the subaru handled it fine. Those were some really bad weather days though. Overall, it does seem to handle snow as well as a 2 wheel drive can.

(I also would have considered a Honda Odyssey if we had found one in our price range - I haven't done as much research on that though since I didn't find any.) We had a 2004 Ford freestar that we had bought only a couple years ago and it sucked! It had neat features but it was not dependable and the tranny was going out before we traded it in. 

[khaoskat]

We just purchased a used Chrysler T&C Touring and love it (model year 2007), we have also rented a lot of 2010 T&C's recently and they were great as well.  We replaced or 2002 Sienna with it.  I would stay away from the older Siennas as they have a huge problem with engine sludge build up (even with regular maintenance - class action lawsuit filed and either won or settled) and we also seemed to have a huge issue with our brakes, they work, but they also seem to be stuck "on" so we eat up the gas and no one can figure out the problem...and we eat up brake pads (a set every 6-8 weeks).

[springbabes]

We have a 2000 Sienna with 150,000 miles that has NEVER broken down. We've owned it for 9 years and the only repairs we've had to make were broken door handles, broken seat cable, and a seat belt that came loose--so my only complaints are durability of the interior! I can only remember replacing the brakes once. It has been completely reliable. It's getting to the point (looking a little trashed) that I wish it would break down so I could justify buying something newer! I would get another Sienna in a heartbeat. Ours is front wheel drive and handles wonderfully in the snow. I've never been in a situation where I needed AWD. I would only consider AWD if I needed to drive up unplowed hills regularly--the gas mileage with AWD is way worse from what I understand. I don't know what my city mileage is, but I consistently get 26 mpg on the highway. I would love an 8 passenger--but then I have 4 kids so we only have one extra seat right now.

[Irishmommy]

We have a 2001 Pontiac Montana, that has never been a problem. We avoid Chrysler at all costs, but this van has been great. I can get 600km out of a tank easily. We will be getting rid of it in the next year or two though as we don't need the 8 seats any more.

[an_aurora]

Definitely stick with a Honda or a Toyota if you want reliability and safety.  I had a 2001 Chevy Venture (same as the Pontiac Montana and Oldsmobile Sillhouette) and the crash test ratings on it were HORRIBLE and it was very unreliable.  We ended up trading it in and only a few weeks later I was in a bad crash, and I was so, so incredibly glad I wasn't driving the old van.