Anyone here have a minivan?

Artslvr · March 2010

??

eeclem · March 2010

We do not, but we have a lot of family members that own Odysseys. My cousin currently has three Britaxs in hers and can easily maneuver inside to strap everyone in.

Artslvr · March 2010

eeclem:
We do not, but we have a lot of family members that own Odysseys. My cousin currently has three Britaxs in hers and can easily maneuver inside to strap everyone in.

Good to know!

special382 · March 2010

we have an Odyssey and we LOVE it! We are very soon to have 3 car seats and there is still room for others to sit with us.

Which minivans are you considering? We test drove the Quest, the Sienna, and the Odyssey and the Odyssey was by far and away our favorite with the Sienna coming in second. I think that in terms of quality, features, price, long term maintenece costs, resale, Toyota and Honda are basically the same but, I think that Toyotas and Hondas feel different when you drive them and it comes down to your personal preference. One of our favorite things about the Odyssey is that it doesn't really drive or feel much different than our CrV. I love not feeling like I am driving a beast.

jess08200 · March 2010

I have a Chrysler Town & Country and love it!

It has "Stow & Go" seating, so you can have storage underneath the two middle seats, or put the seat into the storage and it lays flat.

I would imagine that you might want that because you could fold one of the middle two seats into the storage area and have easy access to get the two older girls strapped into their seats....

If you have specific questions about it, our since your in Springfield as well, email me and you can take a look at mine/ go for a quick spin with me. acissej9600 at gmail dot com

Artslvr · March 2010

Here's what I posted on the Parenting board:

With our recent news (expecting #3) it's become very clear we need to buy a minivan. I am definitely not like many of my friends who are trying to avoid it - I actually can't wait to get one.

We are having baby #3 slightly earlier than we thought (surprise) so we do not have the finances to go out and buy a fancy one. We currently have too very simple vehicles, so anything is going to feel like a step up to us.

We looked yesterday at the Chrysler Town and Country, which we thought would be less $ than the Siena or Oddessy. But with some of the options we wanted, those were still $36K and up. (We live in a HCOL area).

We're thinking more like $30K - or less. Which it seems would mean either a used T&C or Siena or Oddessy, or a new Grand Caravan. No idea why the Dodges are so much cheaper. I have not priced out VW or Hyundai.

Obviously I'll do a lot more research about safety ratings and such, but for now my question is...

Beyond the basics of a steering wheel, an engine and a good number of safety features, what feature on your minivan would you not be able to live without?

(examples: leather seats, GPS, DVD players, back up censor/camera, remote start, stow and go seats, power doors and gate, sunroof, etc.)

Sofka · March 2010

I do not have a minivan and my DD is too young for TV but I def. plan to have DVD players in our car(s) when the kids get older. I don't think you have to buy a vehicle with a DVD player in it, I think you can install one later at a cheaper cost. So I'd look for a car you can either install it in or one that comes with it. I also like the minivans with doors on either side that slide open at just the push of a button, so you can be hands-free when loading and unloading your kids

we are only having 2 so no mini-van for us but DH has mentioned it in the past, which seemed strange for me b/c I never pictured him as a minivan type of guy LOL

doggylovr · March 2010

I don't drive one but grew up as a mini van kid and honeslty cant wait to get one myself...DH sayd we won't ever need one...haha they are so practical. I would have to say the stow and go seats would be a priorite...the number of hours my parents spent getting the seats in and out of our van was unbelievable. It was such a pain and then they had to bring the seat in the house before we had a garage. We had a plymouth voyager which is the same as the caravan.

good luck!

special382 · March 2010

Artslvr:

We looked yesterday at the Chrysler Town and Country, which we thought would be less $ than the Siena or Oddessy. But with some of the options we wanted, those were still $36K and up. (We live in a HCOL area).

We're thinking more like $30K - or less. Which it seems would mean either a used T&C or Siena or Oddessy, or a new Grand Caravan. No idea why the Dodges are so much cheaper. I have not priced out VW or Hyundai.

Beyond the basics of a steering wheel, an engine and a good number of safety features, what feature on your minivan would you not be able to live without?

(examples: leather seats, GPS, DVD players, back up censor/camera, remote start, stow and go seats, power doors and gate, sunroof, etc.)

You can search online, but look at the cost of ownership, you will see that the Dodge and the town and country have a higher cost of ownership than the Toyota or the Honda. I have actually heard really good things about the Kia Sedona. The VW is really expensive and I think it may be the same body as the Caravan? I remember seeing that somewhere.

We bought our Odyssey used (it was 2 years old and only had 13K miles). We got it for less than your goal price. Ours is a EX-L version. It has leater interior, sun/moon roof, DVD, power sliding doors, and maybe something else, I can't remember. We love that the captains chairs are completely removable and the middle seat in the middle row is also removable. The back seats fold down and you have a ton of cargo room. Really, I cannot say enough great things about our minivan.

Amy&Steve0421 · March 2010

Just wanted to let you know - I was lurking on the Working Moms board - and saw a discussion on getting a bigger car for a 3rd child - hope it is helpful:)

https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/33634425.aspx

Artslvr · March 2010

Amy&Steve0421:

Just wanted to let you know - I was lurking on the Working Moms board - and saw a discussion on getting a bigger car for a 3rd child - hope it is helpful:)

https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/33634425.aspx

Thanks! Looks like with 3+ kids most everyone eventually goes the minivan route. I do think this post is funny though since so many of the replies post suggestions that would never fit 3 car seats. I'm not sure some of them understood OP's original question!

SoonToBeMrsDTS · March 2010

We have a van. Embarrassingly enough, I LOVE it. We decided on the Sienna (2 years old when we bought it) because it's really easy to drive and got great ratings from Consumer Reports. I couldn't live without the back-up camera and the automatic doors. The doors were a lifesaver when DS was a baby and DD was a toddler. There were times I had to carry them both and being able to open the doors with the touch of a button was so helpful. The back-up camera makes me feel a lot safer, especially when I'm leaving a parking lot (like preschool) when I know there will be a lot of kids running around. I also have sonar on my car which is great for parking but not a necessity. I have 2 friends with Nissans who have been very happy with them and one friend who loves her Kia.

The DVD is pretty helpful but they are super easy to install after the fact so I wouldn't say it's a must have when you buy. The Sienna has built in sun blockers in all the back windows. I'm not sure blocker is the right word, like the things that you buy that roll down to block the sun from a baby's eyes. They have those built into the doors so you just pull them up and down. It's a nice feature, I think the Odyssey may have them too. We have leather seats which I could give or take. They're easier to clean but again, not a necessity in my book.

Good luck with your shopping!

Mrs.Ram · March 2010

Sofka:

we are only having 2 so no mini-van for us but DH has mentioned it in the past, which seemed strange for me b/c I never pictured him as a minivan type of guy LOL

That's so funny - my DH is the same way! I will do all I can to avoid a "family car" but DH wants a minivan or a station wagon!

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