Recommend your minivan (or complain about it)

[redfraggle]

Since this baby will need a car seat, bringing our car seat/booster count to 3, and our current vehicles A) only fit 2 car seats safely and B) one vehicle is old and dying and needs to be replaced anyway, we are looking at buying a minivan to transport our family around. I haven't had a chance to test drive any and have only done a little preliminary research. Right now my favorite is the current year, Toyota Sienna, but I'm open to suggestions. (I've been a loyal Toyota customer for many years, which is why it is my front-runner.) We will most likely buy a basic model, but I am open to adding features if they will truly enhance our experience. If you have a minivan, especially if you have 3+ children in car seats riding in it, please tell me about your experience.

1. What is the make, model, and year of your minivan?
2. How many kids do you have/how many kids typically ride in your minivan? Ages?
3. Are the car seats RF or FF? How easy is the access to the car seats? Would anything make it easier to access the car seats?
4. How are your kids' seats arranged in the vehicle? (like which kids sits closest to the driver side passenger door, the way back seat, etc.)
5. What features are a must-have?
6. What features would you change if you could?
7. Did you buy used or new?
8. Is there anything else I should consider when we are looking at minivans?

ETA: 9. Storage! I forgot to ask about storage space. What do you like and dislike about the storage space in the minivan? (both for everyday use and for long road trips)

[mrsred09]

We are just in the beginning stages of looking as well. The Honda Odyssey is our front runner for the fact that the seats fold truly flat and there is latch in all of the rear seats. I only have 1 kiddo so no experience with getting 3 seats/kids in.

[allegro55]

Disclaimer: I know nothing about vans other than my own.

I can't answer all the questions because we only have one baby and two large dogs. Our van is a 2012 odyssey. I love it. We have had two rear facing car seats and six adults in it at times and everyone had plenty of room. Sorry I can't help with the three car seat aspect.

We took a trip cross country in it recently and had room for all our camping gear and dogs without using a luggage rack.

Like mrsred09, mentioned the back seats lay completely flat, so when M was younger we had a play pen everywhere we went .

I've mentioned this in another post, but I wish our model had the rear view camera. I used to have a CDL, but I still get nervous backing up, especially now that we frequent places with may toddlers.

[krl52014]

I know a few people that have a Chrysler town and country and they love them! We are getting a van very soon

[squirmywormy]

We just got a 2015 Honda Odyssey. Currently I have 1 child that is RF in a Chicco Nextfit. Recently we went on a trip and had DD's car seat right next to the infant car seat (Chicco Keyfit) and it fit very nicely. If we needed to add another car seat we would not have a problem with three across. Only problem I foresee is getting the middle child strapped in and trying to get to the rear seats. It might be easier if the ones on the end are FF but I have no input with more than 2 at the moment. Though I highly recommend the Odyssey. I love it. And I am normally a Toyota fan...never even looked at the Toyota minivan.

[SubtleGrandeur]

1. What is the make, model, and year of your minivan? We have a 2015 Honda Odyssey EX-L with the DVD Entertainment system.
2. How many kids do you have/how many kids typically ride in your minivan? Ages? Right now, we only have DD (just turned 3) in there.
3. Are the car seats RF or FF? How easy is the access to the car seats? Would anything make it easier to access the car seats? DD is FF and we currently have her in the middle seat of the 2nd row. The other two seats have an option to slide a little bit away from the middle, so that gives anyone riding in those seats more arm room. She is currently in a Britax Boulevard.
4. How are your kids' seats arranged in the vehicle? (like which kids sits closest to the driver side passenger door, the way back seat, etc.) I'm not entirely sure how we're going to arrange the kids once #2 comes, but I'm thinking we'll keep DD in the middle and have the infant seat behind the driver's seat. That way, DD can hop in and get in her seat and then I can put the carrier in after her. DNW to have to lift the infant carrier over DD to get it in the car. Those things are heavy AF.
5. What features are a must-have? We definitely wanted the entertainment system because we tend to drive everywhere. We recently made a 6 hour trip and it was a lifesaver.
6. What features would you change if you could? I wish the 2nd row also folded into the floor, but I'm not sure there are any minivans with that option.
7. Did you buy used or new? New
8. Is there anything else I should consider when we are looking at minivans?
9. Storage! I forgot to ask about storage space. What do you like and dislike about the storage space in the minivan? (both for everyday use and for long road trips) I love the amount of space it has! We recently went to a baseball game and tailgated beforehand. We managed to fit 5 adults and DD AND a TON of tailgating stuff... tables, chairs, 2 coolers, washers... and still had room for more. The middle console in ours is really deep and can fit a ton of stuff. We currently keep DD's DVDs and headphones in there along with a small umbrella. Also, the front doors have a lot of storage on the inside. There are tons of cup-holders as well. We have been VERY happy with our purchase.

My only complaint is that we've had it for a few months now and it's still hard for me to figure out how close the front end is to something when I'm parking. Sometimes I wish it had a front-facing camera that you could turn on just for parking purposes.

[lotsacake]

1. What is the make, model, and year of your minivan? 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT
2. How many kids do you have/how many kids typically ride in your minivan? Ages? 1, 1 year. Occasionally my 2 year old niece also.
3. Are the car seats RF or FF? How easy is the access to the car seats? Would anything make it easier to access the car seats? My son's is RF, my niece is FF. Our van has captain seats in the middle row and a bench for the third row. We have the two seats on the captain seats. All seats can be stored in the floor (stow-n-go). When we have an adult riding on the back seat it works because they can crawl over the FF. If it was two RF it would be impossible for an adult to get to the back seat without taking a Carseat out. A small child could probably crawl/walk under the carseat to get to the back.
4. How are your kids' seats arranged in the vehicle? (like which kids sits closest to the driver side passenger door, the way back seat, etc.) We have my son behind the driver, since I'm too lazy to walk around the van to get him in/out.
5. What features are a must-have? My son doesn't use it now, but we have the DVD players which could be good for long trips/older kids. We have the touch screen but did not get the navigation. It has a back up camera. Oh and the automatic doors (including the hatch) are a must. I don't think I can "closed" the hatch on my own since owning it. Leather seats. So much easier to clean. There is also seat and steering wheel warmers... My husband likes to push the button randomly so I get hot all of a sudden. Hahaha and I do love the dual climate so I can adjust my side.
6. What features would you change if you could? We would have gotten the roof rack. While we haven't wanted/needed to use it, we have admitted it would be good for down the road.
7. Did you buy used or new? New.
8. Is there anything else I should consider when we are looking at minivans?

ETA: 9. Storage! I forgot to ask about storage space. What do you like and dislike about the storage space in the minivan? 9/10 we keep the third row down and have a large trunk, but you have more kids so that won't be possible. Even with the third row up there is a fairly "big" trunk, although I do wish it was bigger. But I also like how much leg room the third row has, so there are pros/cons to both. I usually put stuff in between the captains chairs and also at the feet of the chairs. The diaper bag goes at the feet of the RF Carseat and he never even notices.

I have no idea why my phone keeps capitalizing Carseat.

[danabsd]

I know people love thier vans but I just don't get it. When my car was in the shop we rented one, I still couldn't feel the love.
Third row SUV for lyfe.

[redfraggle]

Jul 15, 2015 20:44:22 GMT -5 allegro55 said:

Disclaimer: I know nothing about vans other than my own.

I can't answer all the questions because we only have one baby and two large dogs. Our van is a 2012 odyssey. I love it. We have had two rear facing car seats and six adults in it at times and everyone had plenty of room. Sorry I can't help with the three car seat aspect.

We took a trip cross country in it recently and had room for all our camping gear and dogs without using a luggage rack.

Like mrsred09, mentioned the back seats lay completely flat, so when M was younger we had a play pen everywhere we went .

I've mentioned this in another post, but I wish our model had the rear view camera. I used to have a CDL, but I still get nervous backing up, especially now that we frequent places with may toddlers.

Did you set up the playpen in the van? That sounds really unsafe... Please explain because I'm imagining unsecured toddler chilling in a PNP while you are driving down the highway.

[redfraggle]

Jul 16, 2015 14:22:14 GMT -5 danabsd said:

I know people love thier vans but I just don't get it. When my car was in the shop we rented one, I still couldn't feel the love.
Third row SUV for lyfe.

I've been really unimpressed with the 3rd row SUVs I've seen for transporting 3 kids and all the stuff we need to store (we do big road trips and Costco runs and such). What do you like about your SUV so much?

[danabsd]

Jul 16, 2015 17:10:54 GMT -5 redfraggle said:

Jul 16, 2015 14:22:14 GMT -5 danabsd said:

I know people love thier vans but I just don't get it. When my car was in the shop we rented one, I still couldn't feel the love.
Third row SUV for lyfe.

I've been really unimpressed with the 3rd row SUVs I've seen for transporting 3 kids and all the stuff we need to store (we do big road trips and Costco runs and such). What do you like about your SUV so much?

It's not a van. Ha. 

[redfraggle]

12345, A non-TCF friend pointed out to me that a lot of minivans and SUVs have very limited car seat configurations because of LATCH and tether locations within the van. I found this extremely helpful: thecarseatlady.com/latch3rowvehicle/. Sienna completely fell from grace after reading this. Oddysey is now my frontrunner.

[allegro55]

Jul 16, 2015 15:22:11 GMT -5 redfraggle said:

Jul 15, 2015 20:44:22 GMT -5 allegro55 said:

Disclaimer: I know nothing about vans other than my own.

I can't answer all the questions because we only have one baby and two large dogs. Our van is a 2012 odyssey. I love it. We have had two rear facing car seats and six adults in it at times and everyone had plenty of room. Sorry I can't help with the three car seat aspect.

We took a trip cross country in it recently and had room for all our camping gear and dogs without using a luggage rack.

Like mrsred09, mentioned the back seats lay completely flat, so when M was younger we had a play pen everywhere we went .

I've mentioned this in another post, but I wish our model had the rear view camera. I used to have a CDL, but I still get nervous backing up, especially now that we frequent places with may toddlers.

Did you set up the playpen in the van? That sounds really unsafe... Please explain because I'm imagining unsecured toddler chilling in a PNP while you are driving down the highway.

Umm, we use car seats.   Iif we are camping, stopped at a gas station, etc., she could crawl around in the back and eat puffs or whatever.  She was in the crawling stage for 6 months, so it was nice for her to have a clean place to get some energy out.

[hham10]

Jul 16, 2015 14:22:14 GMT -5 danabsd said:

I know people love thier vans but I just don't get it. When my car was in the shop we rented one, I still couldn't feel the love.
Third row SUV for lyfe.

I have to agree with this I don't think I could ever do a van. We just got a Chevy traverse and so far we love it. It has the captains seats in the middle so very similar to a van only...it's not. It seats 7 and nice and roomy.

[redfraggle]

Jul 17, 2015 16:07:06 GMT -5 12345 said:

Wow. This is really interesting. I have never installed a forward facing seat and didn't know the importance of a teather....well, still don't really. Even if you install with a seat belt, do you need the teather?

I'm not sure how it works in a vehicle without LATCH because our seats have only been installed FF in vehicles with it. But the tether can reduce forward movement of the seat by about 6 inches in a crash, significantly reducing the risk of head and spinal cord injuries.

ETA: I looked it up on safecar.gov. Yes, you need the tether with seat belt installation. www.safercar.gov/parents/CarSeats/How-To-Install-Convertible-Car-Seats-Forward-Facing.htm When you get to booster seat without a harness stage, this changes, as booster seats have different installation requirements. We won't be to that phase for a long time, since my oldest is such a peanut, but there are guidelines for those installations on this website as well.

[redhead610]

We don't have a van, but I second the poster above who mentioned lack of tether points in some makes, especially dodge and Chrysler. I follow Carseats for the Littles on Facebook and this comes up quite often. There are also issues with the outer set belt placement in the 3rd row, making them unusable safety-wise for boosters or adult passengers, in addition to Ff carseats. They seem to recommend Honda and Toyota minivans. I would recommend following them for more info.

[mrsred09]

12345 do you have any other children? I don't drive a pathfinder, but do know it only has two rear anchors. This limits where you can place FF seats in the safest install. That is one of the major drawbacks of most of the large SUVs. If you only plan or will have 2 children in FF seats at a time it's not a huge issue.

[mrsred09]

12345,That is why we have stopped looking at large SUV's. While we will only have 2 children I had the idea of being forced to put them in only 2 of the 6 seats in the back. This is also why we have chosen to purchase the Honda Odyssey. I love that there is latch and tether in almost every rear seat. We are waiting until Labor day to purchase in hopes there will be some good deals on 2015's.

[letal316]

Jul 16, 2015 14:22:14 GMT -5 danabsd said:

I know people love thier vans but I just don't get it. When my car was in the shop we rented one, I still couldn't feel the love.
Third row SUV for lyfe.

Haha, totally agree, I could never buy a van. I'm going to copy my aunt and uncle who bought a Yukon for their 4 kids + dog. They love it and frequently go up to their cabin for skiing or beach house (ie- they need lots of storage space and it works great).

[mrsred09]

Oh I will add that I will not drive the van.....that is DHs choosing. He is the one who thinks we need an 8 passenger van for our family of 4 with no pets.....I will continue to drive my lovely new Tiguan small SUV that with fit both seats perfectly