Owners of newer Siennas, Odesseys, or T&Cs

Babsie7

What sold you on your vehicle? We're looking at minivans and we've have narrowed it down to these 3, but we're having a tough time deciding. We're also going back and forth on whether we want to buy or lease, so if anyone has any wisdom there, I'd love to hear it Originally, I thought I was sold on the Sienna, but then we went out again this past weekend and looked at the T&C... I really liked the StowNGo and my dh can get a decent discount through his work on Chrysler. Originally we only looked at the Sienna and Odessey, now I feel like we've thrown a wrench in adding another car to the mix. We went back and looked at the Oddessy again, and although I don't really love the looks of the new Odessey, I do like that they have 5 LATCH features (as opposed to 3 on the Sienna) and that it has a slightly roomier interior. I guess I'm looking for insight on what sold you, especially if you were deciding between at least two minivans. I know there are many other great minivans, but I think it's going to be between these 3. TIA

Temp6313048411121614

The Stow N Go sold me definitely.  I have a post about it in my blog.

Babsie7

Aussie*s_Mom:

The Stow N Go sold me definitely.  I have a post about it in my blog.

Oh good! Off to check out your blog... Do you remember what month you posted about it? ETA: I found it... on the first page of your blog

jennyfur211

We have a 2011 T&C and love it.  I really like the stow & go feature b/c right now I have 3 in carseats and we have one captains chair in the stow-in-go to make it easier for me to get the kids in the 3rd row buckled, of course this will change in about 2.5 when I have my 4th (& last) child.  I really like, actually my 3 year old likes, the DVD system and the cargo area in the back holds my double stroller perfectly...we have it standing up & bungee corded in so it doesn't fall over, leaving plenty of room for luggage, groceries, etc...  They only downfall I can think of is that only the two captains chairs & the middle seat in the 3rd row have the latch system, so one of my twins, who sits in the back rear facing, her car seat is using the seat belt to hold it in place. 

We leased our T&C because to buy it was a $300 difference and we are going to have to trade our 2nd car in next year probably, so I didn't want an astronomical car payment. 

Hope this helps.  If you have any other questions, feel free to email me through private message

OrangeSmoke

We looked at the Odyssey (although it was the 2010) and the Sienna.   We like the Odyssey better.  But I understand the Odyssey underwent a complete redesign in 2011, so my thoughts might not be relevant now.

I loved the little toy bin that the Odyssey comes with and felt that it drove slightly better than the Sienna.  I also liked the interior better.

That being said, I have a personal rule that I would never buy the first year of a "redesigned" model, so that would rule out the 2011 Odyssey for me.

megkreig

We bought a new 2011 Odessey in May.  The main thing that sold us was that we would have the option of putting all three kids in carseats in the second row because you can bump the captains chairs wider and the middle seat comes forward.  We took all three carseats to try to install them into the Sienna and a) there was no latch in the middle and b) they were all touching which was so not safe.  We also liked that the odessey has 5 latches and it seemed to drive more like a car than a truck compared to the Sienna (We didnt look at T & C since we've always owned Hondas & toyotas)

I have always driven a small car (Civic, Camry, Accord) and the switch to the Odessey was VERY easy.  I never thought i would love driving a mini van but i do  HTH! 

UsedToBeGoldie

i have a Dodge grand caravan- same vehicle as the T&C  - just not loaded

The stow and go is AMAZING. I didn't realize other minivans didn't have it! 

right now we have all 3 boys in the back row and one of the captains chairs stowed- and OMG- the amount of room in there is so damn fabulous - I posted about it the other day with pics.... It has made me so happy - makes life so much easier getting them all in/out of the car, having places for groceries, etc. LOVE IT.

I don't know the others well - but know that the stow &go is something I will always want....  It's such a huge PITA to have to remove seats when you need more room (we used to have a bench in the middle in my older caravan - and it was a PITA).  Being able to stow both rows in just a minute = NICE for so many reasons.

Keep in mind- latch does not = safer... it's just easier to install seats with it.  It is not any safer than seatbelt install - so i would not let the # of latch installs sell me on any vehicle- that is so minor IMO. 

kafunder

We went with the Odyssey. When we were looking, we were coming off of 7 years of owning a VW that was ALWAYS in the shop for repairs. I needed something reliable b/c I couldn't handle any more break downs. While we loved the Stow n Go and all the features on the TnC, we decided to go with the brand known for its reliability and bought a 2008 Honda Odyssey. So far, we love it. I wish it had a few other features with it, but overall, it's great.

orange682

megkreig:

We bought a new 2011 Odessey in May.  The main thing that sold us was that we would have the option of putting all three kids in carseats in the second row because you can bump the captains chairs wider and the middle seat comes forward.  We took all three carseats to try to install them into the Sienna and a) there was no latch in the middle and b) they were all touching which was so not safe.  We also liked that the odessey has 5 latches and it seemed to drive more like a car than a truck compared to the Sienna (We didnt look at T & C since we've always owned Hondas & toyotas)

I have always driven a small car (Civic, Camry, Accord) and the switch to the Odessey was VERY easy.  I never thought i would love driving a mini van but i do  HTH! 

If I didn't know any better, I'd think I'd wrote this post myself.  The main reason we chose the 2011 Odyssey was the ability to safely put all 3 kids in the middle row.

We worked with a carseat tech to install our carseats and when I asked her for input on the car purchase, she said, " Get the 2011 Odyssey (8 passenger version)- no question it is much better laid out for kids than the 2011 Sienna". 

Rangergal9

We have the 2011 Sienna.  I love it.  Granted when we got ours the 2011 Odyssey was not out yet so I couldn't compare it to that.  I did not like the way the 2010 Odyssey drove and I really liked the way the Sienna drove.  THe car seat layout is fine for us.  We have older DD in the back in the middle and the twins in the RFing convertible seats in the captains chairs.  DD can walk through and climb in her seat by herself so I just lean over one of the twins' seat and buckle older DD in.

jlefief

I was so dead set against a minivan all together.  After eliminating the functionality of virtually every SUV on the market, the Stow&Go feature is what got me excited for a mini van.  We have the Town and Country as of Saturday...fully loaded it is like go go gadget car!!

arobert123

Well, we spent the weekend test driving cars and ended up really liking the Odyssey.  I don't have a ton to offer in terms of how to make your decision - as I'm a bit over whelmed with it myself right now! 

However, in terms of leasing or buying I think it's best to think long term.  My theory on leasing is that a lease is a long term rental, you pay $xxx a month and after a few years you turn it in.  What do you have to show for the thousands of dollars you just spent?  While buying usually mean a bigger payment now, it also means that at some point those payments end and you own your vehicle outright.  We will buy our van because I plan on driving it for a good 7-10 years. 

FWIW - while I love the Odyssey, DH is now pushing the Sienna b/c Toyota is currently offering 0% financing while Honda is at 1.9%.

jjcald26

My husband and I decided on the new Odyssey because of the multitude of latches.  We wanted to have the two latches in the back row and none of the other ones had it.  I did prefer the ride/drive of the Sienna and the stow n go of the T&C, but have found the Odyssey to be pretty versatile for large items. Our babies haven't arrived yet, but hopefully everything will work out how we've planned in getting them all in/out without too much annoyance!

kelfeen

Actually - currently the 0% on the Sienna is only for 36 months.  It is 1.9% for 60 months.  I think that Honda is the same right now at 1.9% for 60 months... Also the Sienna and Odyssey are both redesigned for 2011

We bought our Odyssey on Memorial day weekend and it was 0.9% for 60 months.  Ultimately this is the reason we got the Honda - the Sienna was 2.9% at that time.  We liked the Odyssey best but the Sienna was cheaper so we were gunna get it.   But with the special financing it really wasnt cheaper so Odyssey won!  (if u have time, wait until Labor day weekend there are bound to be good deals)

Why we liked it best:  The way it drives, the best fuel economy of the 3, the interior seemed very solid, the middle row adjusts.  I havent tried it yet, but when the twins get here we plan to take the middle out, scoot the chair behind the passenger into the middle slot and then have DD sit in the 3rd row and still be able to access her easily.

Though I liked the front dash of the T&C - We both felt the seats in the T&C seats were kinda cheapy and uncomfortable. Esp the stow n go ones, but also the front seats.  This is important to us as we road trip a lot to visit my family 10+ hours away and 10+ hours back!  It seemed like they could break fairly easily and there were a lot to go wrong.  I did like how, when in park,  you could see the menu screen of the DVD in dash so u can see what you are doing.  I wish my Odyssey did that!

I liked the Odyssey then Sienna and T&C last (mostly due to seat comfort/reliability) I dont think the Siennas 8th seat is very practical...

 I liked these review/comparisons:

https://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/minivans-vans/1101_2011_toyota_sienna_honda_odyssey_minivan_comparison/index.html

https://www.insideline.com/honda/odyssey/2011/2011-honda-odyssey-touring-elite-vs-2011-toyota-sienna-xle-comparison-test.html

maybenextyear2

We have a used 2006 Odyssey and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  If we had known how much we would like it we wouldn't have waited till the twins were 2, and baby #3 was on the way to buy it!  Highly recommend the Odyssey.  The new ones look pretty cool this year too.

missfire

I'm loving our 2011 Sienna now, despite how much I hated trading in my beloved car for a minivan. But I didn't do any competitive research at all - I was too overwhelmed with getting ready for twins and had no energy to go test drive more than a few. So we looked at new and used Siennas, my DH read up on others, and we just went for it. I do more research on where to buy cereal than we did for the van, but it has actually made it easier for me to not have any buyers remorse!

benkari

I love, love , love my Sienna!  I am a Toyota fan so that was my first choice even though I did try out all the minivans and big SUV's out there.  I like that I can fit my 3 carseats across the back, that I can change the configuration of the 2nd row seats to whatever is most convienent and the ride/drive is so car like!  I drove a Camry for 4 years before the quads and DH has it now it has 130K miles on it and never has it been in the shop other than routine stuff.  Good luck!

kldanzinger

jlefief:

I was so dead set against a minivan all together.  After eliminating the functionality of virtually every SUV on the market, the Stow&Go feature is what got me excited for a mini van.  We have the Town and Country as of Saturday...fully loaded it is like go go gadget car!!

This was me exactly, and we, too, just bought the Town & Country! LOVE the power doors, power gate, Stow & Go and all the other gadgets & gizmos!