# Talk to me about minivans



## BlueEyedLady (Jun 13, 2006)

I thought I'd be the LAST person on the planet to ever own one. I don't really like them, but we are expecting #2 in a couple of months and will have 2 rear-facing carseats then. 2 won't fit in our SUV - DH can't drive if there's one behind the driver's side because he's too tall. A larger SUV isn't in our budget. We don't finance vehicles so this would have to be an even trade (or close to it), our SUV for a minivan. Looking at around $10,000.

We'd like a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey, but finding them around here used within our budget is nearly impossible. Anybody own a Chrysler Town & Country? Those I can find here, well within our budget, and some with fairly low mileage. There's Grand Caravans aplenty, but I haven't been impressed with the reviews on those.

What do you have? Are you happy with it? If not, why? If so, why? What features do you feel are essential? Do you have rear ventilation? Removable or collapsible seats in the back? What kind of cargo room do you have? Is it comfortable enough in back for an adult to sit there and entertain very small children on very long car trips (in-laws live far away)? How does it handle with snow/ice?


----------



## Ceili (Nov 21, 2001)

Well a Grand Caravan and a Town & Country are the same car, just re-branded. I've had two different ones in the past they were both comfortable enough in the back. Pre-kids I took one on Grateful Dead tour, so I spent a significant amount of riding in the back and the cargo room was sufficient. I don't have any experiences with the newer ones, my last one was a 96.

I drive a Sienna and I love it. I like how easy the seats are to move around and fold. And it's very comfortable to drive.

Edited to add, I live in the deep south so I have no experience with how they handle on snow/ice.


----------



## medicmama (May 5, 2006)

I own a 2005 Dodge Grand caravan with captians chairs. Nice for keeping the kids appart. It has the stow-n-go storage. that makes the captians chairs more slanted and harder to get a great fit with rear faceing seats. I have a costco senea for a day care kid and it is a pain in the butt to get a solid fit rf without a roll under it. I think the town and country is the same.


----------



## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

I have a sienna and love love love it. Fine for an adult to sit in the back.

-Angela


----------



## Limabean1975 (Jan 4, 2008)

I can add another Sienna recommendation. It's a great vehicle. DH heavily researches purchases and decided on the Sienna after researching safety, reliability, comfort, performance, maintenance, etc.


----------



## nighten (Oct 18, 2005)

We've got a VW Routan, which is pretty much the same as a Town & Country (just with some VW features/styling), and we love it.

We were in the same boat you're about to be in -- my husband's 6'2"+ and we tried the two carseats with our Jetta wagon and it was a nightmare truly. Trying to nurse the baby in the driver's seat scared the crap out of me -- because I couldn't scoot the seat back far enough and I was scared what if someone hit us in a parking lot? There was no room for anything. I couldn't sit between the carseats in the back so helping an unhappy baby on long rides was impossible.

Plus it sucked to have to get out of the car, get the baby out into the rain/heat/sun/whatever to nurse, then once she'd settled do it again to put her back in.

We did look at a Mazda5, which many people love. It gets great gas mileage and is affordable by comparison to other minivans, but the third row is useless most of the time. And you can't get back there with carseats installed from what I could see. It didn't solve the need to nurse problem, and had little more room than our Jetta wagon.

Some of the Toyota Siennas don't have as good a safety rating as some other minivans, but everyone I know who has one, loves it. My SIL had a Honda Odyssey and did not like it nearly as much as the T&C they now have. The Kia Sedona is great in terms of safety and warranty but has a super crappy resell value.

Our Routan has fold down third row seats. There's plenty of room for a buttload of groceries behind the seats, or our big huge stroller (and stuff on top of it even) with the 3rd row up, and the storage space is recessed, so not as worrisome in terms of potential projectiles in a crash (another thing that worried me about the Mazda5 -- you would have to have a safety net in place constantly with it).

With our 3rd rown down we could haul huge amounts of stuff. We haven't put it down yet though. I sit back there and nurse the baby every time we go out it seems. I looooove it. It has ventilation back there. Invaluable. No clue about ice and snow as I live in the South.

Here's a great resource on the newer versions:

http://www.consumersearch.com/minivan-reviews/compare

You can do searches for older styles to see how they've changed/upgraded over the years. We ended up doing a trade in on my husband's SUV (got a better deal than we would've for the Cash for Clunkers deal) for our used Routan, which made it affordable for us. If the Routan hadn't been available but a comparable T&C had been, we'd have gotten it.

I cannot tell you how overjoyed I am to have a minivan, and it is laughable that I am saying that, because I never thought I'd be one of those people. But I'm very happy to now be one.


----------



## queenjane (May 17, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *medicmama* 
I own a 2005 Dodge Grand caravan with captians chairs. Nice for keeping the kids appart. It has the stow-n-go storage. that makes the captians chairs more slanted and harder to get a great fit with rear faceing seats. *I have a costco senea for a day care kid and it is a pain in the butt to get a solid fit rf without a roll under it.* I think the town and country is the same.

I have a Town and Country, and the Scenera is a pain to install rf without a pool noodle, but i doubt it has anything to do with the van...i have heard they are simply a PIA to install rf in ANY vehicle. I have a Britax blvd, and it installs like a dream in the other seat, no problems, tight as a rock.


----------



## Katie T (Nov 8, 2008)

I have a 05 crysler t&c touring it is fully loaded except dvd plauers i love everything about it leather, stow & go, captins chairs in middle we live in Iowa terrible winters & it handles great! I say go for it : )


----------



## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nighten* 
We've got a VW Routan, which is pretty much the same as a Town & Country (just with some VW features/styling), and we love it.

We rented one of those, and I HATED it. I really wanted to like it. I like VW... but ugh. Total pain. Poorly designed, cramped interior, felt cheapy.

-Angela


----------



## funkymamajoy (May 25, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Katie T* 
I have a 05 crysler t&c touring it is fully loaded except dvd plauers i love everything about it leather, stow & go, captins chairs in middle we live in Iowa terrible winters & it handles great! I say go for it : )









: except I live in SoCal, so winters aren't an issue.


----------



## TheGirls (Jan 8, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *queenjane* 
I have a Town and Country, and the Scenera is a pain to install rf without a pool noodle, but i doubt it has anything to do with the van...i have heard they are simply a PIA to install rf in ANY vehicle. I have a Britax blvd, and it installs like a dream in the other seat, no problems, tight as a rock.

I don't know a thing about minivans, but I have a Scenera for our travel seat and have installed it in about a bajillion vehicles, so I can vouch for this. It is a PITA to install RF. Period. New vehicles, old ones, vans, SUVs, cars, LATCH, seatbelt... It's not the vehicle, it's the seat in that case.


----------



## SunShineSally (Jan 18, 2005)

We have a 98 caravan I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It is so cozy looks nice never any big problems :::knocking on wood::: it is not that great on gas but not horrible also. I love the height and the fact that it is not tinny, it is solid. My one friend he took statistics in college and had to research on the safety of cars, trucks, SUV's and mini vans SUV's were classified as the least safe mini vans the safest and most cars safer than mini vans. I do not have the details of the research or even the year but it was within the last 3 I also do not remember why SUV's were least safe so please do not ask me to elaberate as I can't









I would love a seaena!!! or Montana


----------



## reducereuserecycle (Jan 16, 2007)

PHP Code:

```
[CODE]<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="color:#0000BB;">won</span><span style="color:#DD0000;">'t fit in our SUV - DH can'</span><span style="color:#0000BB;">t drive </span><span style="color:#007700;">if </span><span style="color:#0000BB;">there</span><span style="color:#DD0000;">'s one behind the driver'</span><span style="color:#0000BB;">s side <br></span></span>
```
 [/CODE]

this is our exact same problem---we have a cr-v

we are also expecting #2 and will have 2 rear-facing

getting a new vehicle is totally out of the question for us (even though we could look for a trade or something we have put so much money into this cr-v we really need to keep it for another 5 years) and we still haven't figured out what to do

just for kicks i looked at some minivans and larger suvs and it seemed like they didn't have much more (if any) space between the drivers seat and first row so it seems like one seat would have to go in the 3rd row. i didn't test any seats or anything but i just judged by looking.

hope you can find a good trade deal and everything works for you


----------



## BlueEyedLady (Jun 13, 2006)

Thanks for all the recommendations. Legally, I can turn DS FF, although I'm not comfortable with it and don't think it's safe. Trying to avoid that at all costs...he's only 22# and 32" at 21 months old. Way too small in my opinion to turn yet.

We've been looking, and looking, and looking...I've tried about a bajillion seats as my first thought was to get something smaller than the convertible DS is in, but everything we've tried fits just as horribly, so that option's out.

So, we've been hauling around the Snugride that DD will be in as we're vehicle shopping so that we can test both the seats in a new vehicle. I do not want to trade vehicles, I cannot tell you how much I love the one we own right now, but it just won't work if I want to have a clear conscience about DS' safety and be able to drive at the same time.


----------



## SandraS (Jan 18, 2007)

LOVE my Sienna... I've had it for about 8 years, no problems at all (other than regular maintenance/mileage updates!). I would buy another one tomorrow if this one dies on me. Over 100,000 miles and still going strong!


----------



## Red Pajama (Jun 11, 2007)

We have a pontiac Montana that we got two years ago when we were expecting # 3. I thought I'd hate the switch to a mini van, but I can't imagine going back to the other vehicle. It's been very comfortable, and has flexible space.

Instead of switching vehicles, would a smaller infant seat fit the set-up differently? I can't remember if the baby bucket seats take up less room or not.
Good luck.


----------



## nighten (Oct 18, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
We rented one of those, and I HATED it. I really wanted to like it. I like VW... but ugh. Total pain. Poorly designed, cramped interior, felt cheapy.

-Angela

Well, alrighty then. Better avoid going near a T&C then since they're the same car.

I love our Routan. I would've been equally happy with a T&C. I'm assuming the OP can't afford a Routan, since they're so new, but that she could afford a T&C, which is the same, and has been around longer. That's the only reason I posted, since what I'm driving is essentially a T&C with a VW logo.


----------



## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nighten* 
Well, alrighty then. Better avoid going near a T&C then since they're the same car.

I love our Routan. I would've been equally happy with a T&C. I'm assuming the OP can't afford a Routan, since they're so new, but that she could afford a T&C, which is the same, and has been around longer. That's the only reason I posted, since what I'm driving is essentially a T&C with a VW logo.

Good to know!







Just sharing my experience. I had hoped to like it and it was a total PITA for the week we had it. I'm spoiled by my sienna.

-Angela


----------



## Scalpel (Jul 6, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
We rented one of those, and I HATED it. I really wanted to like it. I like VW... but ugh. Total pain. Poorly designed, cramped interior, felt cheapy.

-Angela


Really? What model was is? We have the SEL with joybox and trim 3 package and absolutley love it. This is our first owned minivan after looking at the top contenders and with the 0% for 72 and ride quaility it was a no brainer. I am 5' 11 and dont feel cramped at all and I loved the style of the interior. I know my kids will get some enjoyment out of the 2 dvd screens in back. I love how the 3rd row seats fold themselves at a touch of a button. Guess to each his own though. There are many options out there so see what you like and what fits your budget. Happy baby hauling!!


----------



## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

I don't know the trim level- it was a rental







Cheaper though I expect- no dvd for sure









The back bench was WAY smaller than my sienna.

-Angela


----------



## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

From what I remember the Sienna has the largest 3rd row of any minivan. I could get quite a few three in a row combos back there when I had one. I loved my minvan, I wasn't thrilled to be driving one at first but it makes life so much easier with children. The room, the flexibility with seating, the sliding doors... The doors alone are worth it, no more children flinging up doors and hitting other cars! With the addition of DS, we ended up "upgrading" to a Suburban, I consider it a downgrade really, but we live rurally and haul more cargo then what we could safely fit in the Sienna. The Sienna comes in an AWD model, I know the older ones can be tough to find. We had one and it handled very well in the snow, better then some SUVs we've had over the years. The mountains are right behind my house, without AWD, I wouldn't make it home in the winter!


----------



## aja-belly (Oct 7, 2004)

i have an '04 pontiac montana (same as the venture, silhouette etc) and i really like it. the back captains chairs are big and comfy. it has COLD air that gets cold fast and it has a good amount of get-up-and-go. my biggest beef with some of the other ones we tried were that the a/c was weak and it didn't have the same pick-up for like getting onto the highway or going up a hill. also, mine it the "extended" version which means it has lots of cargo room.

i didn't like the 2006's as much as mine though. when my poops out i will probably get a full size van.


----------



## BlueEyedLady (Jun 13, 2006)

A PP was right, I can't afford a Routon. The T&C is within my budget, but not the Routon. If I could find a used Sienna for less than $10,000, that would be great, but I can't, so that's out too. Although I'd LOVE a Sienna. So far I'm hearing that nearly everyone who has a T&C is happy with it (both here and other boards/personal friends). And I've liked what I've seen with it...it's looking like it will be the best for our budget right now.

And to a different PP, I actually thought of a smaller seat first and we tried that. DS is in an Eddie Bauer 3-in-1, and DD will be in a Graco Snugride. The Snugride takes up more room than the Eddie Bauer, and I can't find a seat that installs with less room than the Eddie Bauer takes. I actually went to a bunch of stores and got the clerks to let me (ok, follow me) take display models out to the vehicle to try installing them and see if they'd work. No dice. DH is 6'2" on a short day and we drive an older model Rav4, so there's not a lot of room to work with.


----------



## Carlin (Oct 14, 2006)

We just bought a Kia Sedona and love it! There's lots of room for adults in the 2nd row. My 6' 3" BIL sat back there without a problem, although I think the very back would be cramped for a really tall person. The back row of seats folds down and the 2nd row pops out easily if you need the cargo space. We currently just have a Chicco Keyfit for our little one, but the seat installed quickly and easily.

If you like the Honda and Toyota, take a look at the Kia. It seemed quite comparable to me but was a lot cheaper. You should also be able to find a used one for a lower price. Although from what I understand they changed drastically in 2007 ( I think) so you wouldn't want to look at anything older than that.


----------



## npl (Nov 29, 2008)

I'm watching this thread carefully, as we are also in the same boat. We need a van, but can't afford the Honda or Toyota.
The Sedona, new, is almost as expensive as the Honda and Toyota, and whilst you can get the older Sedona's for a good price, the new model came out in 2006, and I'm not seeing so many of them for sale used (but I'm in Canada, so maybe that makes a difference?). I've been warned off the older ones.
Interesting to hear what everyone is saying about the Tand C, though!


----------



## MichelleAnnette (Aug 20, 2006)

I love love love my 2006 Odyssey EXL. And you could absolutely get an older one (maybe a 2004 or possibly 2005) for $10,000, especially if you get the LX, the lowest trim level. We really wanted leather because, well, kids make messes and leather is easier to clean! I know what you mean about not wanting to finance a car - we killed our savings to buy ours - and we still had to finance a couple thousand but it was worth it to us - the van was everything we wanted and it was a good time for us to buy. Plus have no plans to sell it ever - I fully expect it to last 15 years. We have a 1995 Volvo that is still in great condition and we have no plans to get rid of it.

All the seats are very comfy, including the back row. Adults have sat in all seats. We are expecting #2 in Sept and I just installed two car seats in it - a rf Boulevard and a rf Radian, both in the second row. They fit well and one is behind the drivers seat. DH, 6', can drive with the car seat behind him.

We thought about the Sienna, but I'm a Honda lover dh liked the look of the Odyssey better, so that made the decision for us. The Odyssey has 3 LATCH seats and the Sienna has 5, if that matters to you. I don't think we will have more than 3 car seats in ours but it's not like we can't use the seat belt to install a car seat if we had to.


----------



## buttercups.nest (Jul 2, 2009)

Hey...I have an '03 Dodge Grand Caravan.....

My hubby's uncle also has one...they've had transmission work/replaced transmission 3x. Last year we had over $2000 CAN transmission work done to it. They are cheap vehicles though and you're not always going to have to do transmission work on it, just a gamble really. We live up in Alberta where it gets to be -40C, I don't know if that has anything to do with it. If you live where the temperature is more consistent I'm sure parts in the engine will last longer.

Next time I think we're going with a Toyota or a Honda...have heard good things!


----------

