I'm pseudo in the market. I need to get past the "uncool" factor.
I currently drive a Toyota Matrix that sucks in the snow. I'm heavily leaning towards a Toyota Sienna b/c it has AWD as an option. I'll only buy used b/c I think new cars are a big fat ripoff. I found a decent deal but still not sure.
And do you think power sliding doors are worth $3K more? I have found two Siennas and I don't think the one with that's cheaper has the sliders.
So tell me about your mini van!
I love my Sienna. We bought it new back in 06 and still love it. It's the XLE, FWD. Leather, both power doors and 2nd row captain-style chairs. It's great for when my parents come somewhere with us, then they get big comfy seats too, or when kids bring friends too.
I love the heated front seats. Dh bought a dvd player on ebay, the kind that has 2 video screens built into the front seat headrests. They were designed for a Toyota SUV but match our leather perfectly. You'd never know they weren't factory installed. We didn't want to cut into the ceiling or have a video screen that blocks the view from my rearview mirror.
I do love that both doors are power and that the rear seats fold flat. It's so easy you can do it 1 handed. At the time, in the Honda you had to remove each of 3 headrests before folding then find a place to strore them. pita. Not sure I'd pay an extra $3K for the doors though. This one just happened to have everything I wanted at a reasonable price.
We also looked at the Fords but the interior felt really cheesy, plastic-like. Everything was cheapo material. Even the arm rests were molded plastic vs. Toyota's padded, leather covered armrests, just an example. Overall the Toyota felt like better quality and I could even have gotten a great deal for being a returning Ford customer.
We traded in a 96 Taurus for this which was still a good car, low mileage but couldn't bring friends anywhere, only room for 1 more. More stressful was that on windy days, I'd worry when the kids would lose control opening their door and whack the car next to us in parking lots. It's so annoying when people ding my doors and expect my kids to not do the same to others. We also really wanted a dvd player and my old Taurus had only 1 good front seat cup holder and my kids were way past the sippy cup stage.
Dh has a 4x4 p/u truck so I wasn't worried about driving in snow.
I plan to keep this til it dies. I know we won't outgrow it and it doesn't make me want a baby at all, not even the slightest bit.
I got over the drop in my cool factor a long time ago. Ds#1 is 12 and I gave up my Toyota Supra when I was pregnant with him. Now I think about what's practical.
