We have a Pontiac Montana, and I love it! But, it is old. We are hoping to buy a newer minivan in the spring, and my husband asked me to think about what features I would really want. Good question. So, what are the things you love most about your minivan and why?
doors that open with a push of the button so I can get my kids safely in the car and off the parking lot without toddler having to wait for me to strap in baby. DVD for road trips is a live saver! built in sun shades for the kid's side windows. Sound control so we can send DVD sound directly to my daughter seat while hubby and me have conversations or can read to each other on long trips.
I have a 2007 Honday Odessey. LOVE : it has a economy feature so when you are coasting... on highway, it goes to 4 cylinders - saves some gas $$$. Sliding automatic doors are AWESOME!!! Leather is must w/ little kids if you can swing it. I also love how easy it is to drive, park - even u-turns. And it's a HONDA!!! Reliable and will last a long long time. Good luck with your search.
In August we upgraded our minivan. We had been drivinga 1999 Plymouth Grand Voyager, now we have a 2010 Chrysler Town & Country.
Here are the things we love on the new van...
Middle seat's windows roll down
Both sliding doors open at the push of a button. There are three buttons...one up front, one in the middle where that passenger can reach and one on the key chain. The doors open independently of each other as well.
Push of a button back hatch...same three buttons as above.
Stow & Go middle and back seats...love, love, love this. Our old van, the back bench had to be lifted out of the van entirely.
The cabin lighting is great, there is a greenish blue light that runs around the center console on the ceiling giving the perfect glow of light for the kids, but doesn't expose you to being seen by others outside the van. There are also individual reading lights for the kids that don't bother us when we drive.
We have so many cup holders! Two that slide in and out of the instrument panel, four in the console between the front seats, one in the door for each of the middle seats and 4 for the back bench.
One of my favorite things that I haven't used yet is a built in flashlight!
Remote entry with the side doors. Very, very helpful. Grateful for that feature every day. Heated seats are awesome in winter. DVD player is super for long car trips. GPS is also useful.
The big thing, though, is easy to collapse third row seats. The ones in our Odyssey are really easy to collapse and put back up again.
Remote entry to both side doors. Button to open and close both side doors from drivers seat, that way if they don't shut right you don't have to get out. Light inside lights that can be on while going down the road so people inside can see but it doesn't effect the driving (my friends has a line/string of light blue lights going down the middle of her ceiling in the back and the kids can even read by them but they don't bother her sight at night). Good speakers and sound system with a DVD factory installed.
Dual sliding doors - stow and go seats - windows that go down in the back!
I am very glad we got the captains chairs in the middle insteadof bench. We had to rent a van one time when we first got ours and it was a royal pain having a bench in the middle row. The one thing I really wish was windows in the middle going down. Many newer vans have them and it would be great if ours did.
No tan carpet. My old van had it and it looked nasty pretty quickly. My current car has dark gray and it hides almost everything.
Our mini van is about 8 years old and nearing 100,000. We plan to keep it a bit longer, but as I think ahead I have been wondering the same thing. I know we definitely want to do leather seats again, they have been so much easier to clean, totally worth it in my opinion. I hope to get stow 'n go type rear seats. We make frequent 5hr trips to visit family so I think we will get the dvd player next time too. I think the auto sliding doors and hatch would be a nice upgrade as well. There have been several times that I have thought that would be very convenient to have.
Do NOT buy a Kia. Their batteries are patented so you can't just run over to Auto Zone and replace the battery, it HAS to be thru the dealer...huge pain in the butt since it tends to break down alot. and if you narrow your choices down to a couple, get the VIN and call your insurance to get a quote, it may be a huge difference in premium and may help you decide. Good luck.
We just got rid of a Chrylser Town and County, and purchased a new
Toyota Sienna. The feature I think is most important is the stow and go, and fold down seats. On our first minivan, we had to completely remove the rear bench seat. Also, the T&C didn't seem to have enough cup holders, only the cheap ones on the side of the captain seats (2nd row) that always got in the way and eventually broke.
I love having the captain seats in the center, rather than a bench seat. True you now only have 7 passenger, instead of 8, but it's so much more comfortable when I need to ride in back, no listening to "she's on my side", easier to get into the back row.
I think a DVD player in a van is a complete waste of money. When the girls were little, we had portable DVD players, it cost me $85 for both, compared to the +$300 for installed. Advantages: each child could watch what they wanted, we could remove them and they could use them in the hotel, etc.
With both the Plymouth Grand Voyager and Chysler Town and Country seemed to start breaking down and needing lots or repairs around 75K miles, so I would not recommend buying a used one.
