Minivan recommendations

[walterjenne]

If I could convince DH and money wasn't an issue I would get an Oddesy. I think all of the vans have stow and go seating now, but I would want the seat that could turn captains chairs into a bench seat and have an additional passenger. I figure if I'm driving a van, I'm probably going to be doing carpools, so I would want the ability to maximize seating capacity.

[walterjenne]

May 5, 2016 15:13:45 GMT -5 Cdnfroggy said:

walterjenne, the Odyssey is my favourite so far, but ya, it's a little on the pricey side

Agreed...why do we have to factor money and budgets into purchases? If it makes a difference I was riding around in a Town and Country last weekend and it was pretty nice and I think it's a lower price point. My advice is to figure out what features are essential to your family and try to find those.

Also, just be thankful you won't have to worry about your kids throwing a door open and dinging the car next to you.

[jnnfrrose6]

Whichever has the vacuum built in now. I think that's the odyssey.

[liziz]

I would buy an older Odyssey rather than a newer model of a different van. It might not have every bell and whistle (but it will probably have a working radio, so upgrade!), but my mom's odyssey (1995, the first year they were made) made it past 350,000 miles (not sure how many km that is ). We love our CRV, and I'd either get an Odyssey or a Pilot if we were getting a bigger car.

[lucanjo14]

+1 on the Odyssey! I got one last summer and I love it. Right now I have both car seats in the middle row and my oldest daughter still sits in that row as well with plenty of room. There are different models so you could see what features you feel like you need vs what you could live without.

[jnnfrrose6]

May 5, 2016 17:59:28 GMT -5 @zerozeroone said:

May 5, 2016 17:12:19 GMT -5 Cdnfroggy said:

liziz, that's what I'm thinking of doing. The only way we would buy new is if the dealer had one of their 0% financing specials (or a ridiculously low interest rate). Good to hear you like the Odyssey lucanjo14!

Has anyone owned or driven a Toyota Sienna?

Does Canada have any holidays coming up soon? We got our CRV on 4th of July weekend and got a 2% interest rate. I think holiday weekends usually have specials.

Credit unions usually have really low rates too.

[mamanorris]

We have a 2015 Dodge Caravan and love it. It's a mid level model so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it's not bare bones either. I loved the Odyssey and the Sienna but they were out of my budget. So far I don't have any complaints. My friend has the Town and Country with all the extras and it's nice too.

[walterjenne]

The Toyota is supposed to be nice too and it's the only one you can get with all wheel drive I think. This is a feature we would need for when we go visit the inlaws. They live in the mountains and winter trips make having 4 wheel drive or all wheel drive a necessity.

[Lola]

We have a Chrysler town and country. I wanted the Odyssey but it was out of our budget too. Love the T&C. Little kids in the two captain chairs, big boys in the back. They love the tv. It keeps q entertained on our hour drive to and from work too.
We did get an extended warranty just in case.

[mary1217]

The T&C's are the cheapest down here in FL. We rented one for our drive to upstate NY last year and loved it. I would love to have the odessey though. My girlfriend has the Sienna and really likes it.

+1 on credit unions having the best rate. We got 1.65% at ours for used vehicles.

[lea]

My sister had an older Odyssey and it was nice although she said it wasn't awesome in the snow so if that's an issue for you, maybe check out the AWD Sienna. But my family has had a few Hondas and they haven't been too bad in the snow even without the AWD.