Minivan Recommendations? - Murray,IA

we have a 2005 dodge grand caravan. BEST VEHICLE I HAVE EVER OWNED!! had to shout that lol. We have been married w/children for 23 years. It is the first vehicle I have not even thought about trading in after a year. It is 5 years old and I have 80,000 miles on it. the stow and go seats, the dvd player, heated seats, duo sliding doors, key remote for the sliding doors and the hatch. the perks go on and on. I love it and wouldn't trade it in for anything. it is paid off now and we are still not planning to trade it in. I love it.

I went from a 96 Windstar to an 05 Town and Country w/ stow-n-go just over a year ago. I LOVE my new van! If I ever get rid of it, I will get another one just like it. I love that behind the third row the floor dips down (to store seats) becuase it keeps my groceries and stuff from falling out the back when I get home and open the hatch. I store extra booster seats (for carpooling) under the middle seat storage. My kids are 2 1/2, 4 1/2 and 8 plus we recently got a dog. I don't have all the add-ons and extras, but you can get them in any make/model. I don't really think that is what's important in a vehicle. I suggest you look at consumer reports before you decide because you can see how each make and models is rated in many categories and you can decide what is right for YOU.

I just went through the debate you're having. We decided on a minivan.

Reasons:
Minivans are lower to the ground then a Yukon. Kids can easily get in and out. Grandma can get in and out. If you're pregnant, have a broken leg, etc - you're not going to need a step stool to get in your vehicle.

Minivans may not be sexy, but they are set up for families. Power slide doors options, and lift, so when you have hands full you can still easily get the kids in the car.

Minivans generally have better gas mileage. Yukons pull off a whopping 14-15 MPG city. Minvans are 18-20 city. That difference matters.

Minivans also have a slew of other convenience features - like the stow and go seating, makes "pulling the seats out" much less work and when you have the seats up - that means extra storage.

I went with the Town and Country. We bought a 2008 with 22k miles on it. I would have liked an Odyssey, but at this time I couldn't justify the extra 7-10k for the same features to have a Honda. (I went for leather, dual dvd screens, power lifttailgate, hard drive for storing personal music, lots of cup holders, power side doors, rear air, rear camera for reversing, remote start engine, ours also has swivel n go seats which should be fun for long drives)

Hope that helps!
Edit: I saw the first poster. The T&C Touring 2008 second row windows roll down. Only the last panel doesn't - it just opens out on a small angle.

i like 4x4's better then mini vans especially in winter i own a ford explorer

I love our Toyota Sienna. I know there have been some concerns with Toyotas recently, but I would still recommend it. This is the third Toyota I have owned and they have all been very reliable and have never had huge mechanical issues. I was not excited about getting a minivan but I'm very glad I did. I love that the pilot seats in the middle row can be shifted over so one is in the middle. I also like how easy it is to fold down the back row. There is also a lot of cargo space. I have hauled a single stroller, a sit and stand stroller and groceries with no problem. I also like how it drives more like a car compared to other vans I've driven. My husband has a Toyota 4Runner. I like the van better because it is so much easier to load things in. I don't know how old your kids are but with our van our almost 3 year old can climb in by herself and it is much easier to get our infant seat in and out.

I had a Honda Odyssey when I moved to MN 5 years ago. I loved it. We did a lot of research on Mini Vans and ended up with Honda for many reasons. I since have traded it in for a Honda Pilot which I LOVE even more. We traded it in because the mini van sucked in the snow. I couldnt make it up our driveway without backing up in to the neighbors and gunning it (and we do not have a steep driveway by any means). The only thing I miss about the mini van is the doors. My kids are a little older now, so they know to be careful not to whack the car next to us. It was much easier getting in and out of. The Pilot is a great car. Not too big, not too small. I like having the extra 3rd row when needed. If you want a mini van with AWD, I think the Toyota Sienna has that options. That was our second choice. Good Luck!

I just bought a Honda Odyssey. I posted a question on here because I was debating the Dodge Grand Caravan and the Toyota Sienna. After people still recommended the Odyssey, I decided to keep my options open and test drove those 3 plus the Kia. I love the options, power sliding doors are the MAIN reason I went with a mini-van and I am so glad I did. It is so nice getting the kids in and out. It does have the windows in back that go down, which the Sienna we test drove also had. I think that is standard in most minivans now. So far I've had no problems and no regrets!

I personally love my toyota sienna! I know toyota is having some problems, but i still love my van!

Why have a Chrysler. The seats behind the front seats fold into the floor if you need the space. When they aren't in the floor you can use the space as storage on road trips for toys, snacks, coats and what nots. Has a built in DVD player also. Great for spring, summer, and fall. Not so much for winter however. Doesn't have great traction control. Another thought is the Chevy Traverse. To me those are like half SUV half mini-van. Thinking of switching to that.

www.Chrysler.com/TownCountry

www.chevrolet.com/traverse/

I had a Dodge Caravan that I would love to have again. Both doors slide open which makes it so much more convenient for a lot of reasons, and the seats can be removed, not just laid down, but removed. Made moving boxes and equipment so easy. The only reason we dumped it is because some jerk t-boned me and trashed it.

I know there is a minivan out there where the glass on the sliding doors roll down and that would be awesome, but I don't know what the name of that one is.

i love the honda odessy. it's roomy, has a dvd player option (which is great with the kids), and doors that open on both sides of the van. the 'trunk' area is fantastic as well.

we have chevy uplander and really like it

We traded in our Trailblazer in for a Toyota Sienna 3 yrs ago w/ no regrets...we LOVE it! Would never go back. I was very anti-minivan before getting one and now here I am singing its praises, w/ a family it just makes more sense (sliding doors, easy for the kids to get in by themselves, etc.) So I vote Sienna, and they come in AWD as well.

I went from a ford expedition to a honda odyssey and I find the minivan much more convenient. I can fit a stroller a wagon and groceries easily in the back. Getting in and out of the back seat is much easier then the suv. I know they aren't very pretty but if it's convenience your looking for go with the minivan.

We just "upgraded" from a 1995 Ford Expedition to a 2011 Toyota Sienna and we love this minivan!!! It is so much more convenient than our SUV - easier on the kids and the grandmas - we love the power sliding doors etc, DVD, nav, and LOVE the footrests. We have been saving for this van for quite a while, so if you are on a tight budget I would recommend the Town & Country as an alternative- our friends bought one fully loaded 2 years ago for $27k and they love it.

I have a 2000 Odyssey and will probably get another one within the next 9 months. I don't like the way SUVs drive, but that's a personal preference, and I need the cargo space of a minivan. FYI, if you are interested in the Odyssey or the Sienna, they have both been redesigned for 2011. It sounds like the 2011 Sienna is already available, according to one of the other posters. I didn't know that. However, if you want an Odyssey, the 2011 isn't available until late this summer. If you want the redesigned model you will have to wait, but it also means there are a lot of good deals right now on 2010 models as they clear out the inventory for the new models.

I just posted an answer to someone else's question about a minivan, so I'm just going to copy and paste my answer to them about ours:

I have a Toyota Sienna that we just got in December and I LOVE it! I was so not a minivan person going into this, but it was just the most practical vehicle for what we needed and now I don't know how I lived without one for so long. I honestly find some other new cool feature about once per week that I didn't know it had. It's such a great vehicle. You can rearrange the captains chairs in the middle row so that you can get to the backseat from the side or the middle. I have actually found that moving the two seats in the middle row next to each other makes it easier to get into the back from the side.

All of my doors are automatic (side and rear hatch), so I can open and close them from the keychain. Mine was used when we got it, but it is a top of the line model with anything and everything you could possibly imagine in it. I can't say enough about this vehicle. I highly recommend it. I think the Honda Odessy is similar, although I would stay away from the Touring models (I think only the 2005 models if you're looking used) because you have to buy special tires and they cost a small fortune! They also wear faster than they are supposed to, so you have to buy them more often.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I know Toyota doesn't have the greatest reputation right now, but we have two of them (minivan and SUV) and have never had any problems with them. They are great cars. Good luck! I hope you find just the right vehicle for your family.

We have a Chrysler Town & Country w/Stow and Go seats and we LOVE it! Very roomy, reasonably priced, lots of storage. The best part is the dual DVD players for long car rides. My 4 year old has not had a single issue w/being in the car for long periods of time since we got the van.
Good luck!

Hello,

Just a quick note-I noticed that you mentioned 4WD. The Toyota Sienna offers AWD-and may I just say that I owned one of these, and it was AWESOME in the snow! Plus DVD, power sliding doors, sun shades, stow away seats, blah blah blah....This van really did rock! My kids still refer to it and we traded it in 2 years ago:(. We miss it!

K.

I love my Honda Odyssey. I have driven it since 2001 and it still runs well. I was rear ended by an SUV driver on his cell phone at about 30 mph and barely felt the impact. (My toddler didn't even cry, just worried about the drink that tipped out of the cupholder.) I prefer minivans because kids can get into the back without having to climb over the middle seats. When I had 3 little ones in 5 point harness carseats, it was easy to reach the buckles on all of them. When my Odyssey is retired in the next few years, I am planning to get another one.

Good luck,
S.