Calling all Mini Van Mamas and Papas Too!

I drive a 2001 Chevy Venture (Warner Bros)and I haven't had any troubles other than small children dropping food all over during trips. I am planning on keeping it another year or two, but I would look pretty hard at the Uplander as well as the Honda Ody if I was looking for a new one. I prefer to buy American, but the Ody has a great safety rating, so I would be pretty torn. Good Luck!
 
Thanks again! it's amazing the Honda lovers out there! there are so many! We are hoping to get out there this weekend and look! Thanks again! We really like hearing the opinions and thoughts of everyone out there!
 
Have fun shopping! We should be getting our new Toyota in a day or two and we're so excited. :Pinkbounc
 
Another vote for the Toyota Sienna. :cheer2: We bought a 2005 last March and I literally cried as I left my traded in SUV in the parking lot and drove away in my minivan. But after two days driving my Sienna I can't figure out why in the world I waited so long.

We make many purchases following the recommendations of Consumer Reports. CR consistantly for many years has had the Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna at the top of their list. But that didn't stop us from trying the Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country out too. We even got to take the T&C out for a weekend and we "rented" the Caravan from the dealer for a week. We really felt they didn't have as quiet a ride and the design attention the other two did (and the funny thing is we only took those two for test drives.)

I think the key is that you need to take the time to test drive like crazy and try everything out. Don't go strictly by the words of the dealer, friends, family, Web sites and the people here. You know whats is right for you and your family and your decision will reflect.

Happy shopping.
 

I agree! I test drove most of the vans (except the Mazda because of size) but once I saw the '04 Sienna I instantly said THIS IS IT! I mean I did not even drive it yet. I loved the outside and I really loved the inside how the dash and everything was made. I loved the way the gear thingy was made. I mean I just loved the van period! We test drove an XLE fully loaded! Big mistake! LOL LOL LOL I wanted that one so bad. I ended up getting the LE with the entertainment system. We really, really wanted the entertainment center and that was an extra 2,000 I believe so we had to go down to LE. The entertainment center was woth every dime though. Anyway, I'm absolutely THRILLED with my van. Yeah, I would like some of the bells and whistles of the XLE but I'm not complaining at all. Just sign me one happy Sienna owner.............. :teeth:
 
Well now the check engine light is on in my T&C. Anyone want to trade me a Toyota or Honda for it??? :rotfl:
 
I'm definitely in the minority here!... 2005 Nissan Quest... Absolutely Love It as it is such a non traditional Mini Van...

After driving the Honda, Toyota & the Nissan, I felt the Nissan to have more room in the back for 3 kids (wider). I also got it loaded for many thousands less than the Honda & Toyota and Nissan also has great safety rating.

Any increase in trade-in later is offset by cost up front. We drive our cars until they wear out so that was not really an issue for me. I had a 1994 Nissan Quest that had NO TROUBLE in 11 years and 170,000 miles....All we did was change the oil and a couple of other very minor problems...Good Luck...

My husband said he would never ever drive a Mini Van..Proudly driven since 1994 (when w/ the entire family) all the while singing the "family man family man.. drives around in a mini van..." I would never drive anything else...

Good Luck.. I don't think you can go wrong with a mini van...
 
/
BikeFan said:
Interesting about the complaints from Windstar owners - our 2001 Windstar has been pretty problem free, and the price was great, so we're happy with it. My brother-in-law's Odyssey (2002 maybe?) had the transmission fail twice, both times out of warranty (the warranty was very short, because, as the salemen say, who needs a warranty with a Honda?), so he's paid something like $7000+ in transmission repairs before it even hit 60K miles. I guess every maker has the occasional lemon.

Repeating what others have said, GET THE DVD/VIDEO SYSTEM for the kids!! I don't know how we'd endure 12+ hour drives to WDW without it!! :goodvibes


We just sold our 1999 Odyssey. Two months ago we took it in for a pre sell inspection to see what was needed, if anything. We were told that there was trouble with some transmissions and that ours was on the list. We had no problems with it but who were we to argue! We got a brand new transmission and an extended warranty too. The folks that bought it last weekend were very happy!
 
Up until 2 weeks ago I had a 1999 Grand Caravan that we got used with 66,000 miles on it 2 years ago. We beat it to death and it now has over 102,000 miles on it. Iorgave us almost no problems. I wanted an SUV ( the last snowstrom having to drive into work cinched it for me) this time but with seating for at least 7 . I would have loved one of the monster SUVs but we went with the Pilot instead. I really like it and love having a Honda ( had an accord a while back )again. I would go Honda and get an Odyssey or Pilot.
 
Oh yeah Hubby nearly walked out of there with an S 2000 Roadster.
 
We looked at minivans but went for a Toyota Sequoia instead. I am sooo glad we did, it's been the best car we have ever had (in 13 years). My friend has a ford windstar, I have more room and I get better MPG. If you are looking for something that is roomy with COMFORTABLE seating for eight and still get 18mpg then the Sequoia is for you. :cheer2:
 
Hockeymommy said:
We looked at minivans but went for a Toyota Sequoia instead. I am sooo glad we did, it's been the best car we have ever had (in 13 years). My friend has a ford windstar, I have more room and I get better MPG. If you are looking for something that is roomy with COMFORTABLE seating for eight and still get 18mpg then the Sequoia is for you. :cheer2:
That is my hubby's DREAM truck! He wants a black one that sits up high! LOL One thing to consider is that vans get better gas mileage though. Especially important with the price of today's gas.........
 
The Sequoia is not a truck, it's an SUV. I think the Toyota Tundra is on the same frame as the Sequoia and it's a truck, they look really nice. As far as the gas goes I can only go with what my friends with minivans tell me. I get 18 on average in the city, however when we go to Seattle I will get about 22 on average. As far as room, it has TONS. Even with the rear seats up we can stll get 2 hockey bags, a couple of suitcases and an ice chest in back. For those of you who are lucky enough not to have 2 kids that play hockey just know that the bags are HUGE!!! Good luck with your search this weekend. :cheer2:
 
Toward the end of the year, I will be getting a Toyota Sienna. I had originally wanted a Ford Expedition, but after putting my DD2 (who is petite) in my DH's F-150, I decided a minivan was the way to go.
 
Hockeymommy said:
We looked at minivans but went for a Toyota Sequoia instead. I am sooo glad we did, it's been the best car we have ever had (in 13 years). My friend has a ford windstar, I have more room and I get better MPG. If you are looking for something that is roomy with COMFORTABLE seating for eight and still get 18mpg then the Sequoia is for you. :cheer2:
Wow, you get better gas mileage in your Sequoia??? My DH drives a Tundra and it's not terrible, but not as good as a minivan or smaller SUV.
 
Hockeymommy said:
The Sequoia is not a truck, it's an SUV. I think the Toyota Tundra is on the same frame as the Sequoia and it's a truck, they look really nice. As far as the gas goes I can only go with what my friends with minivans tell me. I get 18 on average in the city, however when we go to Seattle I will get about 22 on average. As far as room, it has TONS. Even with the rear seats up we can stll get 2 hockey bags, a couple of suitcases and an ice chest in back. For those of you who are lucky enough not to have 2 kids that play hockey just know that the bags are HUGE!!! Good luck with your search this weekend. :cheer2:
OK, I posted before I read this. He gets about the same mileage as you. My friends with minivans get closer to 25 on average. I would have thought the difference would be much greater.
 
Mileage depends on how you drive, where you drive, and what kind of fuel you use. According to Toyota, the Sequoia gets 15/18 mpg and the Sienna 19/24 (or close to that). AWD will lower that on the Sienna.

The Sequoia is nice, but it's pretty expensive. If you're on a budget you can get a Sienna for over $10,000 less than the cheapest Sequoia!!
 
I will say that the price of the Sequoia is a bit more than a minivan but the resale is much higher, if that matters to you. I do have to say that my kids are 8 & 10, if I had younger kids or babies I would opt for the minivan. I have had to load a baby in my car before and it was a little more difficult than loading her into my friends van. Thank goodness there are so many choices out there for all of us to choose from. :cheer2:
 

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