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North Carolina Babies
MrsHughesNC
member
Mini Vans
MrsHughesNC
member
Who has a mini van? What kind? What are your favorite features?
We're pretty sure we're getting a mini van next year, probably a Honda Odyessy. I was adamantly opposed to it for a long time, especially since we just have one kid. I was bound and determined to not conform to the apparent mini van requirement for all Cary residents. 
I figured as we started to not need to bring as much baby gear, it would get better. But seeing how filled up, and uncomfortable with me stuck in the back attempting to entertain Holly, our Toyota Camry still is for a simple weekend away, I have finally come around to the idea. Especially if we do ever plan to have another kid.
We plan to get a black van and add a red stripe and spoiler, A-Team style, to make this less of a lame move. (Ok not really, but DH has proposed it, and I'm pretty sure he's serious..hehe).
So...tell me what you like about yours, or what features you'll be looking for if you plan to buy one in the future.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Mini Vans
We are in the same boat! We are getting a mini van hopefully by June. Right now our issue is we want the Odyssey but we do not like the 2011. Everyone I know that has the 2010 LOVES it. I've sat in friends/neighbors and they are really roomy and the sliding power doors are like a dream to me right now.
We looked at the Toyota's but I feel like they look a little cheaper in the interior than the Honda's. Those are really the only two options for us based on consumer reports and the extensive research DH has done. Most likely we will end up with a 2008-2010 version of the Odyssey.
My features are sliding power doors, stow and go seats, and that is it. I don't need something fancy, I don't even need leather, I just need more space and a new car!! Right now even going away for the weekend with one child fills up our car!
We have a Toyota Sienna. I about cried when we decided to get it, and not tears of joy. I have adamantly proclaimed throughout my life that I will never be a soccer mom. Well when it came around to it, it was one battle not worth fighting with DH. We kept bumping poor Olivia's head on the roof of my suv everytime we were taking her in and out, were running out of room. We got the full package with it - leather, nav system, dvd, back up camera (which is great since I've already fun stuff over when DH turns it off and forgets to turn it back on). Power doors and lift are the best feature. With a click of a button the doors open so Olivia can start climbing in her car seat and I can get the baby and the groceries in the car without trying to do a balancing act. I will also say for the simple fact that the doors slide and don't swing out like a traditional car that in itself if awesome. I can't tell you how many times I almost door dinged someone or someone parked so close to us that I could barely get the girls out the door since you need to open the doors all the way on a traditional car.
I still hate the fact I drive a mni van but it sure has made life easy. Our motto now for road trips is better to bring it and not need it then leave it at home and wish we had it. So we pack that thing like crazy. I swear people still look at me funny when I climb out of it, like what is she doing driving a mini van. LOL. I know, it's all in my head
Yep--we're shooting for a 2010. Supposedly, the new ones aren't getting as good of reviews. Plus, they're kinda ugly. :-) My main request is remote powered power doors, and I'd prefer a factory DVD player, though that's not a deal breaker. DH wants the backup camera, and we'd prefer the navigation system, though also not a requirement.
I currently have an '07 Toyota Camry. It's our first Toyota, and honestly, we haven't been very happy with it. It's had problems that a car this age should not have had, plus the interior is cheap looking, and my wheels are rusted which looks awful under the already cheap looking hub caps (don't have alloy wheels). Because of that, we probably won't consider the Sienna.
This is the main reason I have come around to the idea. Trying to squeeze your child into their seat when someone has parked too close to you is a major PITA.
I just crossed over to the dark side with our 2009 Odyssey. I did not want a mini van until I drove it. We had test driven the Kia Sedona, Dodge Caravan thinking we didn't want to shell out a lot of $$, but they were just eh - blah. Once I drove the Odyssey - that was all she wrote. I love the power doors, power liftgate, back up cam, the way it goes from 6 cyl to 4 cyl to help with gas mileage, and the butt warmers
. It feels so much more substantial that the others - and I love the fact that there is SO much room in there, but it doesn't feel that big when driving it. This is my 2nd Honda - I had the CRV and loved that too - I cried when they took it away for my trade in, but 2 car seats and Aydin in the back was a no go, so we needed something with more room ASAP.
That is our debate as well, I know the XLE models have a rear camera built into the rearview mirror so that feature isn't necessary to upgrade to all the way with the Nav system just for that (if you still talk to Mrs M&M she has this car with the feature and she is the one that told me about it). We have a portable nav system and DVD currently, and my other issue is what my sister dealt with her boy and girl not wanting to watch the same things so she ended up getting my nephew his own portable DVD player. We will probably end up with the Honda since I've just heard so many negative things about Toyota lately, but with DH being so cheap and a procrastinator who know!
Our next vehicle will be a Honda Odyssey and I my requirements are leather seats (love how easy leather is to clean!) and power doors/lift gate. I'd also like a DVD player and Navigation.
DH loves the 2011 design and I'm ambivalent about it, so I'm sure we'll end up with the newer design. DH would love to go ahead and get it now, but we currently have no car payments and I'm fighting to put that off as long as possible!
We have a 2007 Honda Odyssey and we absolutely love it. We got a really good deal at Auto Park Honda in Cary for ours, which had less than 25,000 miles on it.
I also didn't want to be one of those people with a mini van and only one kid, but...
...then we took a 6 hour trip to SC squeezed in our Toyota Matrix when DS was a small bab. We started to talk about a mini van. Shortly after that we found ourselves having to take two cars to the park if we wanted to bring the baby, the stroller, and our two 60lb dogs. So we decided to just go ahead and get a mini van when DH's sedan died. Besides, we were also thinking ahead re: a possible second child one day. Best car-related decision we've ever made.
I like the Odyssey b/c it drives like a car, automatically shifts into Eco mode (goes from 6 cylinders to 4) at certain speeds, has dual sliding power doors, and stow away seats. We got ours with leather, and I love it. If DS spills something, we just wipe it up, no problem. I also love that I don't have to spend hours vacuuming dog hair off of cloth seats anymore -- we just stow the back seats down, put a blanket in there, and the dogs are good to go.
We didn't opt for a built-in DVD player b/c a) we already have a portable one, b) they're costly to fix if they break & you can't figure it out yourself, and c) I didn't want my kid to get in the habit of tuning out to a DVD every time we got in the car. (My cousin's 4 year old does this, and has become a bit of a brat about it -- every single car she gets in, she whines for TV!) In our family, the portable player and DVDs are for special (read: LONG) car trips only.
We also didn't opt for a nav system b/c we just couldn't justify the mark up (something like $600 if I remember right) when we could just buy a TomTom for $100, which we did (and can easily plug into our computers to update ourselves).
I will also say I really like my sun & moon roof. It's lovely, especially on a nice, sunny spring or fall day!
Catching up on sports news...
Haha, DH & I decided last week that we're going to test drive a Honda Pilot & Odessey on our next date night (oh, fun times!). At least we'll go out for dinner too
Probably not many date nights left before baby #2 is here!
This conversation is steering me towards a mini van. I do bang J's head on the top of our Honda CRV, and would love for him to climb in all by himself (he tries but can't quite do it). Plus that sliding door feature sounds pretty awesome. Getting infant car seats in & out is a PITA.
Apparently I better start car shopping soon since there's going to be a run on Honda minivans!