OT - Which MiniVan to get?

[Aliceacc]

I LOVE my Kia Sedona!

 

[WIDisneyFan]

Yet another vote for the Honda - we purchased ours last fall and love it!

 

[AwaitingMagic]

I LOVE my Nissan Quest - it's a 2007 and I swear I'll drive it forever. It's our third mini van and by far all of our favorites. Can't say enough about it!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

I'm on my second Honda Odyssey and love it!! It is an EX-L with rear DVD player. I enjoy driving my van because it rides smoothly, drives like a car and it is a wonderful kid hauler. I also love the power doors and if they broke I would have them fixed in a heartbeat. I plan on driving this vehicle forever (or at least until the wheels fall off ;-)

 

[angiejg]

I also LOVE the Nissan Quest! Ours is a 2005. The only way I'd trade it in would be if I could get a brand new one!

 

[wowsmom]

Why did we purchase a Toyota over a Honda? We thought the Honda was uncomfortable - it seemed more rigid to us.

This was what we found as well - the Honda seats were not comfy at all.

We're currently on our second Toyota Sienna LE. The first was a 3 year lease that we just turned in about a month ago and then we purchased a 2009 model.

We previously had a Dodge Caravan and a Dodge Grand Caravan - both of those felt like they were going to fall apart when they were about 2½-3 years old.

The Toyota we just turned in was still great - about the only "aging" I noticed was there were some squeaks and groans in the interior - dash rattle and such. I wanted to keep it, but to buy it at the end of the lease would have been almost as much as buying a new one, so DH went with buying a new one.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

If price is no object, then definitely a mercedes R class:

 

[mom2princessj]

This was what we found as well - the Honda seats were not comfy at all.

We're currently on our second Toyota Sienna LE. The first was a 3 year lease that we just turned in about a month ago and then we purchased a 2009 model.

We previously had a Dodge Caravan and a Dodge Grand Caravan - both of those felt like they were going to fall apart when they were about 2½-3 years old.

The Toyota we just turned in was still great - about the only "aging" I noticed was there were some squeaks and groans in the interior - dash rattle and such. I wanted to keep it, but to buy it at the end of the lease would have been almost as much as buying a new one, so DH went with buying a new one.

I have to agree with the sentiments between honda and toyota. I drove them both...I had ALWAYS wanted a honda. In fact, I told dh to drive them and buy me one...I didn't even want to be a part of the process. He insisted I drive them both and surprisingly I preferred the toyota which is what we purchased.
I have a 2007 Toyota XLE and its AWESOME!!! I have some options I don't need. But I couldn't be happier with the van and would buy another one in a heartbeat.
I recommend you drive as many vans as you are interested in and then narrow your choice to a few and drive them again. If I hadn't driven them I would have never known my preference for toyota. Good luck!

 

[liznboys]

... I am an odd one and didn't want the power doors so that was another reason I wanted the lower model. I just personally don't like them.

I used to think that, until I got them myself! LOL Love the power doors now!

We have a 2006 Odyssey, touring model, and we love it. No problems, and ours takes a beating with 4 boys.

 

[mjmoon]

Well I love my mini minivan.. it's a Mazda 5 and a perfect fit for our family of 4. If money had been no object, I may have looked at others but for the money we got a pretty cool car.

 

[karen624]

I have an '05 Honda Odyssey EX. LOVE IT! I hated minivans before that thing. We actually bought it from my parents when it was a year old and they upgraded. The power doors and the dvd player with the controls in the dash are the best. We take a lot of long trips, so that was big for us. THe only thing I wish it had was an ipod jack, but maybe they do by now.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I really like our Toyota Sienna, but we also looked at the Odyssey. We bought ours used about 18 months ago and have had no problems at all. It's a 2004 with about 65,000 miles.

We only chose the Toyota over the Honda because the salesman at Honda was jerk.

 

[chemysterygal]

I think that, quite often, whether you prefer the Honda to the Toyota has a lot to do with what you prefer in your vehicles. Both are solid performers with most of the standard features you want in a nice van.

The following is my taken on it:

If you prefer a softer/smoother ride and a very quiet passenger cabin, you will likely prefer the Toyota over the Honda.

If you prefer crisper/sharper handling and are willing to sacrifice a bit of smoothness/increased road noise for it, you will probably prefer the Odyssey.

It's not a hands-down thing, but I the above was my take on the two vans after driving them. Both have their issues and advantages. The biggest thing to be sure of is that you like whichever one you choose, of course. I don't think you can go wrong with either brand, but I do think both have their strengths and weaknesses.

 

[PaulaSue]

I was lucky enough to get my dream minivan 2 years ago.

T&C, stow and go, with DVD player. IT has come in so handy with moving and trips home.

 

[trennr]

I was lucky enough to get my dream minivan 2 years ago.

T&C, stow and go, with DVD player. IT has come in so handy with moving and trips home.

Finally someone else for the T&C's.

 

[DebRMN]

I am in the process of this right now!
Love the opinions......I am leanign toward a Toyota mainly because I have been driving a Sequoia for 8 years now

 

[abcboys]

We had a 1997 Oldsmobile van that had power doors. It was one of the first things to die on that poor van. And, it was going to cost a small fortune to replace. I vowed to not have power doors from that time on. I'm sure it's the same as having power windows, but it's not even a possibility to have roll down windows anymore! The more bells and whistles you have, the more things you have to fall apart!

I agree. My van is a 99 Pontiac Montana and while the power sliding door was really neat at first, it keeps popping back open and I had to turn the whole thing off. Now its just a big heavy door and I wish it had been a regular door to begin with. Like you said the more bells and whistles the more things to go wrong.