@ - talk to me about vans/minivans

[aw]

DH told me to go look at vans after work. I finally have to give up my Honda Civic now that #4 is on the way. Goodbye, amazing gas mileage :-(

We would love to find a van that has two full rows of seats, because four kids in carseats doesn't really leave much room for extra passengers if you only have one bench and the captain seats. Does anyone have any idea of where I should start looking for something like this (seating for at least 8)?

What kind of van/mini-van do you have and do you like it?

[copzgirl1171]

I drove a Caravan for years when the kids were younger. In fact we went through 3 of them, I loved them so much.

[Deleted]

My Honda Odyssey has a middle seat in the second row - so you can seat 8 people in it. the issue is that it would be hard to get someone in the back row (the captains chairs kind of slide forward so that people can get in the back row with the 8th seat in the middle row, but with car seats there that would be hard, if not impossible to do.) the middle seat DOES also slide forward but then you have to have someone literally clambor over it to get to the middle row. On the flip side it is relatively easy to take in and out so you can leave it out most of the time and put it in when you need an extra seat, after people are in the back row - that wouldnt be the best solution, but its better than nothing.

I adore my Honda, as everyone here knows. It's so nice to be able to pile the kid, the dogs, and friends in the car and go somewhere. We had a minivan when I was younger as well and we easily fit 4 kids in it, but not in car seats (I'm the youngest of 4, so family vacations etc were in the minivan with all our stuff as well.)

I find the Hondas and Toyotas drive nicer than the Caravans but we did not test drive any of the brand new Caravans/Town and Countrys. I had a Toyota that was totaled sadly (wah) and I liked that one a LOT. The Honda has slightly more road noise than the Toyota but also handles slightly better. It was also more expensive (we couldn't be picky, the toyota was totaled on my due date and we got the Odyssey the day before I went into labor.) The Hondas also get really good write ups in Consumer Reports for durability, reliability, etc.

Yay for a minivan!! As I said to Caden last week, welcome to the cool kids club :-)

[aw]

Thanks, ladies.

I love my Honda Civic. It has been a great car and I have had no problems with it at all. DH has a Toyota that he loves equally as much, so I would prefer to stick to Hondas and Toyotas.

I didn't know the Odyssey had the extra seat. That could work for us. Like you said, we could just leave the seat out and then use it when and if we have extra passengers.

[penguingrrl]

Both the toyota sienna and the honda odyssey have 8 passenger versions. I know one is much better for carseats, although I don't remember which one. I would post over on car-seat.org to ask that since they have tons of members with both. They'll also make recommendations based on whether you're buying new or used (one used to be better for 6 carseats, then designs changed and I think currently the other is better).

The Honda Pilot is also good for many carseats and gets the same gas mileage as the odyssey. That's a mid-sized SUV and the third row is tight for adults but fine for carseats (even a RF radian works there) and has 6 full sets of LATCH.

[aw]

Aug 10, 2012 12:50:52 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

The Honda Pilot is also good for many carseats and gets the same gas mileage as the odyssey. That's a mid-sized SUV and the third row is tight for adults but fine for carseats (even a RF radian works there) and has 6 full sets of LATCH.

This is good, because I currently have two RF radians I need to fit somehow. I made it work in my Civic, but I drive with my knees up to my chest.

[penguingrrl]

Aug 10, 2012 12:53:16 GMT -5 aw said:

Aug 10, 2012 12:50:52 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

The Honda Pilot is also good for many carseats and gets the same gas mileage as the odyssey. That's a mid-sized SUV and the third row is tight for adults but fine for carseats (even a RF radian works there) and has 6 full sets of LATCH.

This is good, because I currently have two RF radians I need to fit somehow. I made it work in my Civic, but I drive with my knees up to my chest.

I feel you! For a while we had two RF radians in our beetle! We're upgrading to a car that fits 5 now that #3 is coming, so we may upgrade to a civic lol! I'm actually looking bigger though because my first is starting kindergarten, so I envision wanting to be able to carpool for school and soccer and other activities now!

[laurenpetro]

I have a hard time buckling grace into the third row of the pilot with her booster seat because the back row is slightly narrower, so I don't know if i'd go with that at this point.

[aw]

Aug 10, 2012 12:56:33 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Aug 10, 2012 12:53:16 GMT -5 aw said:

This is good, because I currently have two RF radians I need to fit somehow. I made it work in my Civic, but I drive with my knees up to my chest.

I feel you! For a while we had two RF radians in our beetle! We're upgrading to a car that fits 5 now that #3 is coming, so we may upgrade to a civic lol! I'm actually looking bigger though because my first is starting kindergarten, so I envision wanting to be able to carpool for school and soccer and other activities now!

This is precisely why we need more room than the average minivan. With four carseats there will be no room for extra passengers if we need to carpool to something.

[caden]

If you need an 8 seater go for the Honda Odyssey. I just bought a minivan 2 weeks ago so I've been researching vans out the wazoo. Somewhere around my house are the subscriber JDPower scores for all of the 2011 & 2012 vans so I can tell you very specifically what rates well and what doesn't on those years' models. Yes the Sienna & Odyssey have 8 passenger versions. I know the Odyssey can fit 3 car seats in the 2nd row. I'm not sure the Sienna can, but I think it does. Both the Sienna and Odyssey rank well in terms of mechanical quality and resale value, so my advice is to test drive both and see what you like better. Unfortunately neither one will give you many features unless you choose an upper level trim package, but hey. Personally, I test drove all of them and I didn't like the Sienna, even though it was my number 1 choice going into this process. I thought the design was stale, the trims nearly featureless unless you want to spend in the high $30Ks (Honda is similar although my local dealerships were willing to discount more than Toyota), and the engine noise was loud on the highway. I thought the Honda had a better interior, comfier seats, a quiet and smooth transmission & engine. But what I like may be completely different from what you like. If you are going for a used van then there may be other makes/models with 8-passenger versions. I'm not sure about that. GL! Minivans are awesome.

[Deleted]

Oh and FWIW I have a 2009 Odyssey but had a 2008 Sienna. So I'm not up to date on the newer models. BUt I agree with Caden's point about the pricing - you can get a super basic model for a reasonable price, but with the Honda if you even wanted power sliding doors (which was a must for me), you have to go up rather significantly in price I thought (like maybe 5k? Which I think is a lot when you are looking at 18 to 20k and then closer to 25k just for that one feature really.) I found that Siennas didn't have quite as huge a price jump between the entry and mid-level models as the Hondas did, but then both do get pricey as you get fancier obviously. There are some really pretty Odysseys in my neighborhood that I ogle on a regular basis (I'm so pathetic) but I'm sure they were over 40k, which just wasn't in our budget at all.

[mominatrix]

funny... we're going on Sunday to test drive a bunch of minivans.

Our current top two are a fairly loaded Town and Country and the top of the line Mazda 5.

We want some good gadgets, and stuff like power sliders, and when you get there with the Odyssey or the Sienna they really are super pricey.

But the plan is to drive Town and Country, Mazda 5, Odyssey, Sienna, Kia Sedona, and (if we can find one, which I'm sure we can) a used R series Mercedes.

[Deleted]

WHERE IS FMLB. See?!? ALL the cool kids are getting minivans!!!

[GailGoldie]

i have a grand caravan and love it - but have never tested any others b/c mine is a company car so i didn't get a choice (not complaining!).

I can say that the auto open doors/back = freakin' awesome. We have 2 captains chairs in the middle and keep them both stowed under the floors unless we need them for more passengers - i LOVE the extra space with them in the floor... so easy for me to get in and buckle all 3 boys in the back row, etc. And so fast to pop up a chair for another person.

[batsteph]

No recs for an 8-passenger version, although I see you've already gotten lots of great info on that.

Just wanted to pop in to say welcome to MiniVanLand! I'll bet you'll like it over here. I did. not. want one, and went into the purchase of ours kicking and screaming. I actually ugly cried when we traded in my Ford Focus (I loved that car) and drove our minivan off the lot. That was two years ago, and now you couldn't pry my hands off the wheel of our van.

Minivans rock.

[caden]

Aug 10, 2012 13:53:51 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

funny... we're going on Sunday to test drive a bunch of minivans.

Our current top two are a fairly loaded Town and Country and the top of the line Mazda 5.

We want some good gadgets, and stuff like power sliders, and when you get there with the Odyssey or the Sienna they really are super pricey.

But the plan is to drive Town and Country, Mazda 5, Odyssey, Sienna, Kia Sedona, and (if we can find one, which I'm sure we can) a used R series Mercedes.

Yay!! I got a T&C. I love it so much. have fun test driving!

[mominatrix]

Aug 10, 2012 14:04:35 GMT -5 caden said:

Aug 10, 2012 13:53:51 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

funny... we're going on Sunday to test drive a bunch of minivans.

Our current top two are a fairly loaded Town and Country and the top of the line Mazda 5.

We want some good gadgets, and stuff like power sliders, and when you get there with the Odyssey or the Sienna they really are super pricey.

But the plan is to drive Town and Country, Mazda 5, Odyssey, Sienna, Kia Sedona, and (if we can find one, which I'm sure we can) a used R series Mercedes.

Yay!! I got a T&C. I love it so much. have fun test driving!

We had one as a rental fur a week when the in laws were in town, and really liked it.

...via mobile.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

This month's Consumer Reports says to avoid the Grand Caravan. It says it squeaks and rattles, has loose interior trim, power equipment and sliding door problems, unimpressive gas mileage, and sloppy handling. They recommend the Toyota Sienna instead.

[KateAggie]

Aug 10, 2012 12:50:52 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Both the toyota sienna and the honda odyssey have 8 passenger versions. I know one is much better for carseats, although I don't remember which one. I would post over on car-seat.org to ask that since they have tons of members with both. They'll also make recommendations based on whether you're buying new or used (one used to be better for 6 carseats, then designs changed and I think currently the other is better).

The Honda Pilot is also good for many carseats and gets the same gas mileage as the odyssey. That's a mid-sized SUV and the third row is tight for adults but fine for carseats (even a RF radian works there) and has 6 full sets of LATCH.

I don't know what year they added the latch to the 3rd row, but ours doesn't have it (2004). So if you're looking used, be sure to check.

[YellowRose]

Our 2010 has 4 latch positions, not 8, but it does have anchors for the over-the-top tether.

My only additional advice is to get a model with power sliding doors. Worth every penny!

[penguingrrl]

Aug 10, 2012 16:24:50 GMT -5 KateAggie said:

Aug 10, 2012 12:50:52 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Both the toyota sienna and the honda odyssey have 8 passenger versions. I know one is much better for carseats, although I don't remember which one. I would post over on car-seat.org to ask that since they have tons of members with both. They'll also make recommendations based on whether you're buying new or used (one used to be better for 6 carseats, then designs changed and I think currently the other is better).

The Honda Pilot is also good for many carseats and gets the same gas mileage as the odyssey. That's a mid-sized SUV and the third row is tight for adults but fine for carseats (even a RF radian works there) and has 6 full sets of LATCH.

I don't know what year they added the latch to the 3rd row, but ours doesn't have it (2004). So if you're looking used, be sure to check.

Good to know, thanks! We're definitely buying used and hoping the Pilot is in our price range (not positive what that range is yet, depends on a few things). Luckily my oldest is boostered, so LATCH doesn't apply to her, but I'll need to check for tether anchors for her sister in the back in case we have multiple adults!