Moms with mini vans...

Stephanie2167 · February 2014

We're going this weekend to look at used mini vans. I have my eye on a 2010 Honda Odyssey Touring. If you have a van, what do you have and do you recommend it?

I currently drive a 2008 Honda Accord that I love, which is why I'm interested in the Odyssey (I believe its on the same chassey (sp?) as the Accord).

Ylvelill · February 2014

The odyssey is one of the best rated minivans

ppants · February 2014

I wanted an Odyssey, but at the time couldn't afford it. I got a KIA Sedona and my only complaint is the road noise. I feel like it's a little noisy inside while driving. We've had ours for over 8 yrs now.

LucyRicardo3 · February 2014

I have a Toyota Sienna, 05, I think.
I've really come to love it, after swearing I would never be seen in public in a van- HA

The reason we went with this particular one is that we needed something with "all wheel drive" at the time due to winter weather in West Virginia and I had a teeeny wreck in my rear wheel drive car. So I was done with that.

The one main thing I like about my friend's Odyssey over my Toyota is that hers is an 8 passenger and my Sienna is a 7 passenger. May not seem to make a difference now, but as your kids get older, taller, and have friends, team mates, whatever, an extra seat can make a big difference. and who would have guessed in our situation that we'd have a total of 5 kids. Now we are maxed out and looking at full sized vans. Hubby's dream has come true- ha ha

But try and avoid cloth interior, if you can.. Trust me, it's worth the splurge to upgrade if you can swing it.

dmurrie · February 2014

A little over a month ago, we got a used 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan.

We gave a 3yo and twins on the way. We test drove the Honda Odyssey and loved how it handled, but it was more pricey and more difficult to get to the back seats. The Grand Caravan and the Town and Country both had the stow n go seating, which we immediately fell in love with. We'll probably keep one of the middle seats down most of the time so it's easier to get to the 3 car seats. My husband was spoiled by the in steering wheel radio controls on his car, so we had to look for a new vehicle with that, too. It's treating us well thus far. The one thing I'll say is the ride in the back is a bit stiff, but I don't think the kids will mind it too much.

caden · February 2014

I have a T&C. I was going between that and the Odyssey. (I didn't like the Sienna at all, but it does get high quality ratings.) I loved the Odyssey, esp the 8th seat. I went with a T&C b/c I got more features on a brand new T&C for less than a used Odyssey with 30K miles. I love my van. Auto sliding doors are awesome. DVD player, awesome. Power outlet, awesome. Stow n go, awesome, but I could live with only having the 3rd row with stow n go b/c my captain chairs have the car seats 99% of the time. The T&C has a million cup holders in really convenient locations that I wouldn't have thought to put in (like in the sliding door. When I first saw that I thought "what's the point of a cupholder there?" The first time I put my kid in his car seat while trying to hold a coffee I understood.)

kgs0505 · February 2014

I have a 2002 Toyota Sienna. I love it, except my particular model has fussy automatic doors. Just an issue with that model year I think. I don't love the storage in the cargo area, it could be bigger, but I've seen the newer models do have a larger cargo space. The newer models also have the stow n go I think. My seats come out if needed. RIght now we're driving without one of the middle captains chairs to easily get to everyone in a carseat. It works really well for us.

I rented a brand new Grand Caravan, and although I liked all the options, I didn't feel like the quality was up to par with the Toytoa. The doors sounded iffy already and it was new. I did love that you could open the lift gate with the keyfob and the tumbler seats were pretty awesome.

ceechie · February 2014

We have a Toyota sienna 2011. It's amazing. Got great ratings in consumer reports. We fit 4 car seats in it, with room for an extra passenger. Our double stroller has plenty of room in the trunk. I love this van so much! I thought my dream car was a Porsche, nope it's my mini van.

LegalLadyBug · February 2014

We're looking to buy one soon. With the twins and DD we're really looking for an 8 seater and I know, atleast on older versions of the Sienna, the second row middle seat can't be used for a car seat. We may also look into SUVs as we live in the northeast and would really like 4WD if possible...and Sienna is the only minivan to offer that.

shanaynerz · February 2014

I have a 2014 Odyssey and love it. Drives like a car and so much space. Just got it a few weeks ago in anticipation of these twins coming. As others said, it's the highest rated minivan by pretty much every site.

Rachiemoo · February 2014

I have a 2013 Odyssey and I love it! I couldn't imagine having another car with 3+ kids.

pillowass · February 2014

We have a 2012 Toyota Sienna. DH is a bicycle commuter and I usually ride public transit so it sits in our driveway most days. For road trips and anything involving the kids, it is amazing. Totally love it. Grocery shopping, errands, etc. it just feels so big and obnoxious - especially if it is just me driving it. But we bought it because Toyotas are great cars and it has given us zero mechanical problems. We test drove an Odyssey too and really liked it but went with the Toyota because we happened to find a newer used model, so it saved us some money.

ShannonSky · February 2014

LegalLadyBug said:
We're looking to buy one soon. With the twins and DD we're really looking for an 8 seater and I know, atleast on older versions of the Sienna, the second row middle seat can't be used for a car seat. We may also look into SUVs as we live in the northeast and would really like 4WD if possible...and Sienna is the only minivan to offer that.

I have an '06 sienna 8 seater and all 3 seats in the middle row have latch and tethers. The third row has latches and tethers on the passenger outboard and and the middle seats, so you won't be able to use a forward-facing carseat in the driver side outboard 3rd row seat. But even that seat you can do a seatbelt install in a RF carseat or a booster.

As for the AWD, a couple points to consider - you can't get both 8 seats and AWD, and the AWD model does not have a spare tire. Instead it comes with run-flat tires, which are about twice as expensive to replace as normal tires.

rcnavywife · February 2014

We recently purchased a Honda Odyssey. We haven't put many miles on it yet though. It is rated very well and had a lot of features that will make travelling easier with our brood (I believe there are five latch positions, large cargo area, 8 passenger seating). We couldn't justify the splurge for leather seats, so we bought the custom seat covers and I think they will help preserve the seats!

LucyRicardo3 · February 2014

ShannonSky said:

We're looking to buy one soon. With the twins and DD we're really looking for an 8 seater and I know, atleast on older versions of the Sienna, the second row middle seat can't be used for a car seat. We may also look into SUVs as we live in the northeast and would really like 4WD if possible...and Sienna is the only minivan to offer that.
I have an '06 sienna 8 seater and all 3 seats in the middle row have latch and tethers. The third row has latches and tethers on the passenger outboard and and the middle seats, so you won't be able to use a forward-facing carseat in the driver side outboard 3rd row seat. But even that seat you can do a seatbelt install in a RF carseat or a booster. As for the AWD, a couple points to consider - you can't get both 8 seats and AWD, and the AWD model does not have a spare tire. Instead it comes with run-flat tires, which are about twice as expensive to replace as normal tires.

BTW- @Stephanie2167
I totally forgot about that run-flat tire thing that Shannon is talking about..
Here's another episode in my Lucy life....
I had a flat tire a few months back in the parking lot of my oldest son's school. That's when I found out about there not being a spare tire on my van (AWD). Since we'd bought our van used a few years ago & out of state, the OEM run flat tires had been replaced. No one at the sales lot we purchased it from advised us that this particular model of Sienna was sold without a spare tire. :-O The Road Side Assistance helper was also completely shocked. What a day.
Long story short, it put me in a very bad situation with kids in the van and pregnant. It was also side-wall damage, and the roadside asst guy said that run flat tires would not have saved the day in that scenario, anyway.
The owners manual didn't mention about the lack of spare tire. I found out the hardway by having to Google "Where's the Spare Tire on my Sienna" on my iPhone while the RSA guy was crawling under every corner of my van to see where it was hidden. Not to be mislead by the tire jack in the rear compartment.

Please ask about that before you purchase your van. Most of the men in my family are very handy with at-home car repair; my brother bought a used spare kit from a wreck yard and put it on my van... or I could have ordered a Toyota OEM one for $$$.

but I still like my van!

Stephanie2167 · February 2014

Thanks you all, so much!

@LucyRicardo3 - I didn't even think to ask about the spare tire. I'll make sure I do that.

dmurrie · February 2014

The spare is in a stupid place in the Grand Caravan, but ours came with one!

LegalLadyBug · February 2014

I was reading on cars.com about the car seats not being able to be installed in the middle third row, and when I googled it people said the manuals said not to and if you call Toyota they tell you not to as well. It may be only certain model years though, I'm obviously not 100% sure. As for no AWD for 8 seaters, that's silly. Thanks for the heads up. SUVs are looking better and better I guess, we need a dependable vehicle that has enough room but can also drive easily in all the snow and ice we get.

bumpuser924057 · February 2014

One of the biggest selling points for me on our 2013 Odyssey was the car seat flexibility - there are latch anchors and top tether anchors for forward facing seats in all positions in the 2nd and 3rd row, and I only saw one top tether anchor in the third row on the Sienna. The screen for the backup camera is also huge, which is really nice.

ShannonSky · February 2014

LegalLadyBug said:
I was reading on cars.com about the car seats not being able to be installed in the middle third row, and when I googled it people said the manuals said not to and if you call Toyota they tell you not to as well. It may be only certain model years though, I'm obviously not 100% sure. As for no AWD for 8 seaters, that's silly. Thanks for the heads up. SUVs are looking better and better I guess, we need a dependable vehicle that has enough room but can also drive easily in all the snow and ice we get.

Could be newer model years, I know the newer ones lost some latch seats. Ours has 3 latches in the middle row and 2 in the 3rd row (passenger outboard and middle).

I've had really good luck asking about minivans/car seat configurations on Car Seats For the littles on FB.

JodiAriel · February 2014

The concern is not the # of LATCH anchors because you can always use the seat belt to install a seat. The concern is the # of tethers. Every forward facing car seat needs a tether. The Odyssey has 3 tether anchors in the 3rd row, only Hondas have that. The Kia has 0 tethers in the third row which means you can only have forward facing car seats in the second row.

https://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2013/05/guide-suvs-crossovers-minivans-with-third-rwo-tether-anchors.html

SpinelliSmith · February 2014

I would definitely see what Consumer Reports has to say about the minivans first. They are an incredible help when it comes to new/used car shopping and based on my own experience time is probably the essential ingredient that you need when it comes to shopping for a vehicle. The less time that you have to shop, the more likely you are to jump on a deal that isn't as good as one would be if you had waited.

We are in a similar position here: Have a Honda Accord (love it) and a Dodge Dakota. Even though the Honda is mine and the Dakota is my husaband's he drives the Honda the majority of the time to get to law school at night during the week- an hour commute there and back! I work 7mi door to door in the Dakota but we can't fit both car seats in the truck. I will be staying home once the babies arrive and I hate to give up the 4wheel drive that the Dakota offers but I also hate to spend the money on gas for my husband to commute it 3/4 days per week plus his work commute.

I was told that the Toyota Sienna is the only model minivan with 4wheel drive- is this correct? We'd definitely look at used models- can barely afford anything it seems! I read somewhere- possibly Consumer Reports, not sure- that the Town and Country was not recommended to buy used. Basically your safest bets are Hondas and Toyotas.

Now my school of thought is that this is our first pregnancy and we'd like to have more children after these two. If in our next pregnancy we have twins again (how awesome would that be?!) I don't want to reinvest in another car. Should we just look at something bigger anyway?

Anyone have some advice?

ShannonSky · February 2014

SpinelliSmith said:

I would definitely see what Consumer Reports has to say about the minivans first. They are an incredible help when it comes to new/used car shopping and based on my own experience time is probably the essential ingredient that you need when it comes to shopping for a vehicle. The less time that you have to shop, the more likely you are to jump on a deal that isn't as good as one would be if you had waited.
We are in a similar position here: Have a Honda Accord (love it) and a Dodge Dakota. Even though the Honda is mine and the Dakota is my husaband's he drives the Honda the majority of the time to get to law school at night during the week- an hour commute there and back! I work 7mi door to door in the Dakota but we can't fit both car seats in the truck. I will be staying home once the babies arrive and I hate to give up the 4wheel drive that the Dakota offers but I also hate to spend the money on gas for my husband to commute it 3/4 days per week plus his work commute.
I was told that the Toyota Sienna is the only model minivan with 4wheel drive- is this correct? We'd definitely look at used models- can barely afford anything it seems! I read somewhere- possibly Consumer Reports, not sure- that the Town and Country was not recommended to buy used. Basically your safest bets are Hondas and Toyotas.
Now my school of thought is that this is our first pregnancy and we'd like to have more children after these two. If in our next pregnancy we have twins again (how awesome would that be?!) I don't want to reinvest in another car. Should we just look at something bigger anyway?
Anyone have some advice?

If you are thinking you'd keep the Accord and the Dakota, I'd probably think about getting something bigger now. Even with just two babies, you won't be able to use the Dakota, right? So DH will be using the gas guzzler for his long trips and you'll have the Accord. Assuming you have your third within the next 3-4 years, you'll probably want something bigger than the Accord. I may be wrong, but I'm guessing with a car that size, you'd have to do the twins outboard forward-facing in their seats and the new baby in the middle, so no. 1, that middle baby will be tough to get in/out, especially once you switch over to a convertible rear-facing car seat. No. 2, I'm not sure you'd be able to fit 3 car seats across the back row once everyone is forward-facing, so you'll have to look into that. No. 3, it is super nice when you have two mobile littles and a baby to have the "big" kids climb in themselves, and also nice to have the sliding doors. When you have a car, you pretty much have to put one kid in, and then the other - while you put the first one in, the second is either standing next to the car, sitting in a shopping cart, etc., and it can be dangerous.

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