Recommend your family van please.

chellsii

I talked DH into getting a van instead of a suburban.. but i'm just curious what kind of family vans have you ended up liking/have and for what reasons? Thanks Ladies!

jxd215

We have a Toyota Sienna - we picked it primarily for the leg room (DH is 6'3" and needed the space with a RF infant seat behind him, he thought the Sienna was more comfortable than the Odyssey), affordability, and the general reliability of Toyotas.  It's great to be able to shove everything in the van and not have to worry about how it's going to fit.

And since we were on a budget, we don't have automatic doors or DVD players or anything and we still love it!

LakeGenevaBride

Excellent decision on the van.  We got a Sienna when the babies were two months old.  I love the automatic side doors and back lift gate.   On the Sienna the back seat is split 40/60, so we put one side down, and that is where we store the stroller.  I don't even have to fold the stroller up, I just roll it into the back of the van.  I love not having to fold the stroller up. 

lmydogally

Our babies aren't here yet but we got the Town and Country.  We choose it because we both liked how it drove more than the Honda or Toyota.  It drives more like an SUV.  The storage between the front and second seats is awesome.  We got the one with the remote start, rear camera, DVD players and we love it. 

OrangeSmoke

Smart girl.

We got the Honda Odyssey right before the boys came and have not looked back since.  I heart my van!

Automatic sliding doors = God's gift to MoMs.

OrangeSmoke

LakeGenevaBride:

Excellent decision on the van.  We got a Sienna when the babies were two months old.  I love the automatic side doors and back lift gate.   On the Sienna the back seat is split 40/60, so we put one side down, and that is where we store the stroller.  I don't even have to fold the stroller up, I just roll it into the back of the van.  I love not having to fold the stroller up. 

I thought my Dh was the only person in the world who didn't fold up the stroller!!!  I swear, I don't think he even knew how to fold the Bumble until very recently!

 

LakeGenevaBride

OrangeSmoke:

LakeGenevaBride:

Excellent decision on the van.  We got a Sienna when the babies were two months old.  I love the automatic side doors and back lift gate.   On the Sienna the back seat is split 40/60, so we put one side down, and that is where we store the stroller.  I don't even have to fold the stroller up, I just roll it into the back of the van.  I love not having to fold the stroller up. 

I thought my Dh was the only person in the world who didn't fold up the stroller!!!  I swear, I don't think he even knew how to fold the Bumble until very recently!

 

Yeah, my DH is the one who came up with this idea too.  I hate to admit it was a good idea.  

And to the op - I love our backup camera.  We back the van into the garage every time, and it is nice to make sure we aren't running over strollers, toys, etc.  

robynmoreland1

I also have a Toyota Sienna.  It was important for me to have enough space in the 2nd row to fit three car seats across.  I knew my oldest (just turned 3) wouldn't be able to latch his own seat for awhile yet, so I really needed him in the 2nd row too.  So, we discovered I needed an 8 passenger to make that happen.  Unfortunetly, the newer 8 passengers don't have three full size seats in the 2nd row.  So, we went with a preowned 2008 model.  It had about 60K miles on it so has a ton of life left.  I must admit I wasn't looking forward to driving a van-- but I'm really starting to like it.  Plus the Toyota has incredible gas mileage and safety ratings-- higher than the Town and Country which I really preferred because it was flashier and reminded me of previous vehicles I had in the past. But overall, the Toyota was a better choice for us.

violaplayer

We have an 08 Nissan Quest and love it. Since it was gently used, we were able to get a DVD player and auto doors/liftgate. It drives well and rides very smoothly.