Minivan purchase

C

crlaoy

New member
Hi,

Long time lurker on this forum. We are expecting our 2nd child in this upcoming month and are leaning towards getting a minivan. The van that caught my attention at the moment is the Honda odyssey ex-l with rear entertainment system. However, Honda is coming up with the redesign for MY2017 but I'm not sure if I should wait for it. With that said, what are some of the opinions on minivans in general? Which one does most TI members drive? What are some things that you look for in a minivan? Is it worth paying extras for Navi or entertainment system?




 
get the sienna.  best reliability i think.  get the sports package if you have the $
i think the navigation isn't needed.  Base sienna comes with bluetooth/radio and backup camera. 
 
Don't have one but know so many who do. Just happens that most have odyssey. Their opinions:
Mpg sucks. Large/difficult to navigate from what they had prior.
But the rear sliding doors and interior volume can't be beat.
 
Check out the fully loaded Kia Sedona (SX-L I think).  I'm not too excited about vans but if I had to get one, that would be the one.
 
I would wait for the 2017 Odyssey to see what else they have. We've had both an Odyssey and multiple Siennas and I favor the Toyota. I'm on my 2nd SE and out of all the vans it's the best looking IMO.

The Sedona looks nice but I'm waiting for the plug-in hybrid Pacifica. The gas version is out now and is supposed to have better MPG than current vans.

The 2017 Sienna is out now with a new engine that is supposed to also be more efficient but no major exterior style changes.

Only the Sienna and the Pacifica have hidden sliding door tracks and only the Sienna has a hidden rear window wiper.
 
We have a Sienna and I would recommend it. Honda makes reliable cars as well, however, the markup on the Odyssey compared to the Sienna was one of the deciding factors for going with Sienna.
 
We have a Sienna SE without the Navi and it's a great vehicle for what it is.  This is our first and probably our last minivan.

It's great to be able to have two kids in the back and a large trunk for a double wide stroller, Costco stuff and more kid stuff. 

Once my girl turns 2 or 3 and doesn't need to be rear facing I'll just get a smaller vehicle. 
 
After driving a honda and a toyota here are my thoughts:

The 2nd row middle seat in the honda is better than the Toyota
The folding 3rd row is better in the Honda than the Toyota.  The toyota has handles while the honda is flat.

When I was looking for a Sienna SE this summer, I emailed 5 dealer ships for prices.  I picked Toyota of Orange after their price was the lowest.  They did try to spam me with what's your phone number..I just said I prefer not to talk to anyone and all correspondence would go by email. 

After I picked the dealer I printed the emailed price and bought the car.  I also cross referenced my prices with google search...edmunds have people saying how much they paid.
 
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