Sienna or Odyssey....

[Run20K]

For a family of 5? We'll have infant twins and a 4.5 year old. Any recommendations?

My car seat consultant suggested that the sienna can be cramped with 3 car seats. But that's the one that I'm strongly considering buying .

I'd love to hear your thoughts/preferences.

[schmella]

I have a Town & Country that I adore, the stow & go seating is the bees knees and was the deciding factor for us.

Anyway, after a very cursory look at some reviews online, I'd say they tend to be reviewed by car people and people who really don't NEED them the way you will. So read reviews but the things I'd look at are:

Car seat compatibility: the more options for different configurations the better- your needs will change as they grow. The car seat lady has an excellent guide
Third row accessibility: you'll definitely NEED your third row on the daily, so make sure you can get a screaming toddler and/or a bucket seat back there without doing some crazy acrobatics. Bonus if you can get a kid in through the trunk (I do this more often than I ever expected)
Bring your stroller for a test drive. Mine takes up TONS of room, seeing that and understanding how to get it in the car made a difference.

[mc13]

We have the Odyssey. We have 3 rear facing car seats (2 year old and 5.5 month twins) and it's great for us mainly due to the seats being able to move apart about an inch each way in the middle row. We've had it since July and I seriously say how much I love it every time we get in. It drives so smooth and has plenty of room for all our stuff to travel to our parents who are both 6 hours away in different directions. The only reason we considered the Sienna was because it the all wheel drive but we haven't needed it yet...even after driving on closed interstates in Upstate NY during a snow storm over Thanksgiving. I will say though that I don't think you can really go wrong with either. We just happened to get a great deal on the Honda.

[lindsay]

We just got an Odyssey, and so far love it and looking forward to getting good use out of all the space! I've heard good things about the sienna from moms too, so I can't really say which is better.

[Run20K]

Thank you all! Sounds like both are great options.

[lotusbee]

We just got an Odyssey as well (I only have a 17th month old at the moment) and I already freaking LOVE it. When we found out we were having twins I told my husband we should try everything we could to avoid a minivan. Ridiculous. THEN I got real and I'm so glad I did! Holy amazing. Good luck!!

[Deleted]

We bought our Odyssey in July 2015 and we are in love with it. There is plenty of room for everything. (Mind you, we are a family 4 with 3.5 year old twins.) The car drives like a dream! And it's SO comfortable - we like to call it a living room on wheels. I don't know much about the Sienna to compare it to, but we definitely highly recommend the Odyssey when people ask us how we like it.

[anakah]

We've had an Odyssey since our twins were born and now cart all 3 in the middle row. I love all the space we have for ppl and cargo and the Flexibility for car seat arrangement is pretty awesome.

I don't have any direct comparisons to the Sienna but it seems to get good reviews from ppl who own them. You can't go wrong whichever you choose.

[twobananas]

We have a sienna and it's a great car. We had to get all wheel drive so didn't really have an option but it fits all 4 car seats great (we actually took out a middle bucket so we have a ton of space to load kids). Toyotas are really reliable, high quality cars which is good because we need this minivan to last a long time! And we can fit two double bobs in the trunk, which is quite a feat!

[fightersince83]

Does anyone have or have looked at a Chrysler Pacifica? What are your thoughts on it vs. the Odyssey?

[pbandj714]

Feb 18, 2017 22:22:04 GMT -5 fightersince83 said:

Does anyone have or have looked at a Chrysler Pacifica? What are your thoughts on it vs. the Odyssey?

DVMmomma, isn't that what you ended up getting?

[DVMmomma]

Feb 18, 2017 23:01:19 GMT -5 pbandj714 said:

Feb 18, 2017 22:22:04 GMT -5 fightersince83 said:

Does anyone have or have looked at a Chrysler Pacifica? What are your thoughts on it vs. the Odyssey?

DVMmomma, isn't that what you ended up getting?

Yeah! fightersince83 I have the Pacifica and I am really coming around to it. I hated the thought of a minivan so I much prefer the Chrysler to the Honda because it has a bit more of a 'luxury' feel to it. The Honda felt like more of a rough and tough vehicle. Sort of. I also LOVE that everything is controlled by the push of a button or the motion of your leg. Stow the seats? Button. Open the side doors? Button. Open the giant panoramic sun roof? Button. Open the back? Button. OR kick your foot under the car. It's so freaking easy. I've had it like 2 months now and have no complaints. My kid loves it too and gets really excited to get in it. She's weird.

ETA: I never actually test drove the odyssey. Just the pilot.

[Run20K]

Thanks everyone! We're also checking out the Pacifica and the 2018 odyssey , which is out this spring.

Dvmomma - I'm with you. I'd like a little luxury in my ride. We may get the chestnut seats in the sienna or (if they have it) something similar in the odyssey

[Squishy622]

Run20K I'm late to this but thought I'd respond! If you search there's an old thread (from Summer 2015 maybe?) when my family was making this decision, so there are more responses there if you'd like to read.

We went with the Odyssey. We have about the same age gap as your 3 kiddos and it's been great. I was not one of those people who was squeeing all over my minivan, I got it very reluctantly... but I must admit I can't imagine not having the Odyssey. It's spacious enough and safe (we liked the glowing reviews from Consumer Reports). Let me know if you have any other specific questions! And I respectfully disagree with DVMmomma that the Honda doesn't feel "luxury" - I guess it depends on the package and accessories you get. I'm picky about that stuff and I haven't felt anything lacking in the Odyssey in that department. We have the 2015 EX-L.

[lotusbee]

Going to pipe in again re: the Odyssey. Only because of the mention of it seeming more rugged based on the how the Honda Pilot rides. Well, we also have a Honda Pilot (because we only thought we would only be having two children total), and I will agree that there is definitely a difference. The Pilot rides much rougher than the Odyssey. We also have the EX-L and it feels much fancier than the Pilot .

Pretty sure that in the end - ANY mini van you get will make your life so much easier and you will love it!

[DVMmomma]

Squishy622 you're wrong! I'm right. Just kidding. I never actually drove the odyssey so it might not feel like a truck like I thought the Pilot did. I also fully loaded my minivan. Figured if I have to do it I'm doing it all up. Power to the mini man! (As my two year old calls it)

[anakah]

I really don't feel like I'm driving a giant minivan in the Odyssey. I feel like compared to SUVs minivans drive smoother. I also wanted to add that after renting a Kia minivan and a town and country on different trips, I much prefer the odyssey. That could be due to trim levels though since rental cars are fairly basic.

Disclaimer: I can only compare the Mazda CX# series of SUVs to minivans.

[Crisco Salad]

Can I ask a minivan question in here?

How do you configure your kids if you have more than two? Our toddler will be three when the babies are born.

[dashuria]

Feb 20, 2017 19:35:33 GMT -5 Crisco Salad said:

Can I ask a minivan question in here?

How do you configure your kids if you have more than two? Our toddler will be three when the babies are born.

Following, because I have the same question! My DS will be 21mons and still rear-facing when the twins arrive. I don't know if I should pit him in the back and infants in the middle? Or one infant in the back and the other in middle with DS? 

[anakah]

We have all three FF in the middle row at the moment, 5.5 year old twins and 3 year old. When the twins were infants they were behind driver and middle in the middle row so someone could easily sit back there with them when necessary. After #3 was born we put the baby in the middle until he was too heavy to lug in the bucket seat and then moved him RF behind the driver with the other two FF, middle and passenger.
I know I had my kids in reverse order but I hope this helps.

[DVMmomma]

Feb 20, 2017 19:35:33 GMT -5 Crisco Salad said:

Can I ask a minivan question in here?

How do you configure your kids if you have more than two? Our toddler will be three when the babies are born.

I have the tv's in mine on the back of the driver/passenger seats so I put the 2.5 year old in the captain chair behind the passenger so she can watch movies on long trips. I'll then stow the chair behind the driver side so I can easily climb in and click the two infants into their car seat bases in the back row. SaveSave

[mc13]

Feb 20, 2017 19:35:33 GMT -5 Crisco Salad said:

Can I ask a minivan question in here?

How do you configure your kids if you have more than two? Our toddler will be three when the babies are born.

We have DD1 rear facing in her normal spot behind passenger seat. Then we have a bucket seat behind the driver and the other in the 3rd row. With the bucket seat out and base in, we can still push the seat forward to reach the 3rd row. Once they're all in convertibles, we'll have all 3 rear facing across the middle row.

[Run20K]

If we buy the Sienna, we'll have our twins in the 2nd row while they're rear facing and our 4 y/o DD in the 3rd row. My understanding is there are space constraints in the Sienna, so when the twins are forward facing we'll have to put one in the 3rd row and DD in the second row.

If we buy the Odyssey (we're waiting to see what the 2018 version looks like), then we'll be able to do whatever we want in terms of seat placement, which is a huge plus.

We currently have the 2016 Pilot which doesn't allow for 3 across. We'll have the twins in the 2nd row and will use the 3rd row for DD.

[mustloveerica]

We just got a 2016 odyssey. I had to have the ex-l package to make driving a mini van more tolerable. I'm surprised how smooth and comfortable of a drive it is. I always thought vans drove kind of rugged and hated that. But not this odyssey. Right now it's just me driving around by myself. When the girls are born we'll have the two bucket seats in the middle row (one behind the passenger and one in the middle) so someone can sit in the back with them and we can still have access to the third row if needed. I have the third row stowed now and my two giant breed dogs are very comfy in the back. When I drove a Kia Sportage my dogs were not able to stand up or sit up and we could only take one at a time. So it seems like the odyssey will be great for our kids and dogs together.

[twobananas]

Feb 21, 2017 8:17:07 GMT -5 Run20K said:

If we buy the Sienna, we'll have our twins in the 2nd row while they're rear facing and our 4 y/o DD in the 3rd row. My understanding is there are space constraints in the Sienna, so when the twins are forward facing we'll have to put one in the 3rd row and DD in the second row.

If we buy the Odyssey (we're waiting to see what the 2018 version looks like), then we'll be able to do whatever we want in terms of seat placement, which is a huge plus.

We currently have the 2016 Pilot which doesn't allow for 3 across. We'll have the twins in the 2nd row and will use the 3rd row for DD.

Not sure what space constraints you are taking about but we have a sienna and bought Diono car seats so we fit 3 in the back row (2 forward and 1 rear facing) and put another rear facing behind the drivers seat (my husband is 6'4 and is still able to move the drivers seat as far back as he needs).

[Run20K]

@ twobananas - which year do you have? I heard the 2015 and 2016 versions were tough to set up 2 forward facing in the 2nd row (seats are large enough to block access to the 3rd row). We need the 3rd row for DD. Have you tried that configuration ? I'd love it if it worked that way. We really like the body style of the Sienna.

[dashuria]

Thanks everyone!! Seems like a big jigsaw puzzle but these seating ideas help!