Minivans- What kind do you drive?

lubcoralsprings

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:03 pm

What's the best minivan for your buck and what kind do you drive? What's your favorite feature on your minivan?

Last edited by lubcoralsprings on Tue, Nov 28 2006, 4:43 pm; edited 1 time in total

shayna82

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:22 pm

we dont have anything yet, but im thinking I want the honda pilot- 8 seats.

slimnglam

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:26 pm

I have toyota sienna-love it!
shayna, we looked into the pilot, my hubby wanted me to have all wheel drive but there is NOTHING BETTER than having the doors open by themselves !!!!!!!! you just dont have that in an SUV.

Mitzvahmom

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:28 pm

well I have a toyota previa 1996... I happen to like toyotas..

Tovah

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:31 pm

from japaneese it's
toyota
honda
mazda

from americans
chyrsler (dodge caravan, or limited)
chevrolet/oldsmobil/pontiac

we have the dodge chrylsler it's a good van at an affordable price, I heard it's the most popular selling van.

shayna82

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:33 pm

we personally wont buy an american car. the doors opening by themselves is not a big deal on my part. I just dont want to drive a clunker.

lubcoralsprings

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:49 pm

We have a honda odyssey with automatic doors and I love it. I wanted a piolet but when I test drove it I thought it was too hard to get the kids in and out. You had to do a lot of reaching and to get to the back seats it was impossible.

cassandra

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:57 pm

Yup, and there is no trunk space when the third row is up. We considered the Pilot but most of my friends who had it regretted the decision since it is not practical if you have more than 2 kids or do carpool. We ended up with the Odyssey, which I love.

OTOH, the Pilot is significantly cheaper than the Odyssey, so it might be worth it.

shayna82

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 8:57 pm

EVERYONE either has the odessey or the sienna, I dont follow what everyon else has.

I love the honda pilot.

cassandra

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 9:00 pm

Really? I think it is a very, very common car, especially because of the price.

There is a reason certain things are popular, but if you want to be different there are so many other options.

ShiraMiri

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 9:01 pm

Toyota Sienna 8 passenger. It suits my purpose.

S.Shcwartz

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 9:03 pm

Dodge Grand Caravan- THE cheapest. The same exact as Town and Country from Chrysler at a much lower price.

Younger Me

Mon, Nov 27 2006, 10:30 pm

We have the new Kia Sedona. It is rated as THE safest minivan on the market, and unfortunately, I can say it's very true. We had a terrible car accident (we even flipped over, it was awful...) and BH we all came out in one piece. The other car hit us on the second row seat, right behind the driver (my 2 year old was sitting right there in her carseat), and on the outside of the van, it was completly smashed in, looked real scary, but from the inside, you couldn't tell at all that the door had been totally smashed, it didn't move at all.
After the accident, the van was of course totalled and we had to get a new one. At first I thought it would be creepy driving the same van again, but after I thought about it, I realized that it was a very safe van (I then found out about the safety ratings which were really good). It also comes with curtain airbags, which basically saved my husband's life, big time. The most important thing at the end of the day is the safety of your family, even though it is often tempting to go for a car that has a better "look" - although the new kia is pretty nice.

Anyways, so that's what we drive. it has a lot of little gadgets that I really like: seat memory (I don't have to adjust the seat anymore when I get in to drive, all I do is press a button and it goes to my settings, and DH has his too-very practical), heated seats, elec doors and trunk etc...I also think it's cheaper than the japanese cars like nissan, toyota and honda (kia is korean).

elkayed

Tue, Nov 28 2006, 11:05 am

We have the Odyssey..its great. Doors open themselves..there are 8 seats..a lazy susan underneath to store things...dvd...its soo comfy and drives great.

chedva

Tue, Nov 28 2006, 11:14 am

I have the Odyssey and would have preferred the Sienna - They both are excellent vans, but the seating in the Sienna is more flexible - can get more carseats in that middle row.

Mommy3.5

Tue, Nov 28 2006, 11:48 am

we have an 8 seater toyota sienna. It seems to be very popular around here!

rivki

Tue, Nov 28 2006, 11:56 am

Quote:

I dont follow what everyon else has.

I know the feeling. we just ordered the ford freestyle - 7 seaters ( the middle seat has 3) and I like that it is not a 'minivan'( I had the mazda mpv). I also like that it is not as big and heavy than the pilot and also cheaper.

Raisin

Tue, Nov 28 2006, 2:53 pm

We have a toyota picnic (I don't know if they make it anymore, but you can def. get them 2nd hand)

It is a seven seater with not a lot of luggage space (we have a roof box for long journeys) but I think it much cheaper than 8 or 9 seaters.

Meema2Kids

Tue, Nov 28 2006, 2:56 pm

We have a 2000 Ford Windstar. My biggest peeve about it is that it does not have automatic doors!! I can fit 5 car seats, which is enough for now.

S.Shcwartz

Tue, Nov 28 2006, 3:49 pm

A bit off topic here, would anyone be interested in buying a second hand minivan /Dodge Grand Caravan/ 2005? Great condition, only 26k! Pm me for details.