The wife wants a mini van....

BrianGreen

BrianGreen

SSG Brian Green
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Location
Kings Mountain
So, the wife wants a mini van. I am not opposed to this at all since I have been driving a mini van for work for the last 6 years. We will probably be making the move in about a year and a half once my truck is paid off.

I have driven a Chevy Uplander for about 50k miles and there is no way in hell that I would own one.
I currently drive a 2016 Dodge Caravan. Driven from 4 miles to currently 15k in about 9 months. Im not opposed to this, but it would have to be a hell of a lot nicer than the basic bare bones van I have.

What do yall have that you love, what have yall had that were pieces of poo? Anything to definitely stay away from. Thanks!
 
Sell Tundra, buy Sequoia 5.7. Tow rig and you don't have to own a minivan. I just had one in Phoenix for a few days and that thing has a bunch of room. The cargo area is kind of shallow if you have to utilize the 3rd row of seats would be my only concern for the family use.
 
Does she like all the frufru crap like an electric liftgate, electric side doors, lighted floor mats, etc? Need a lot of space?
Odyssey is really nice. But pricey.

on a side note, people still call them "minivans" but they are anything but that nowadays. They are all big. The exception is the Mazda5, which is basically a Mazda3 chassis w/ a slightly different body, van doors and a 3rd row shoehorned in. Essentially a car, handles like a car.... and the legroom you'd expect from shoehorning a 3rd row into a car... as a family of 4 who only occasionally needs a 3rd row seat, we have loved ours but it isn't for big people. And not fancy by any means.
 
Odyssey vans are great....wife's friend has four kids & fit all seven of us comfortably. Rode/handled great. $$$$
 
RatLabGuy said:
on a side note, people still call them "minivans" but they are anything but that nowadays.
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C&D just had an article comparing the original Dodge Caravan against the current model. They pointed out that the current "mini-van" is bigger than the full-size Dodge van was back in 1984.
 
shawn said:
C&D just had an article comparing the original Dodge Caravan against the current model. They pointed out that the current "mini-van" is bigger than the full-size Dodge van was back in 1984.
Click to expand...
exactly.
It's funny how car models grow over time. Happens to almost all vehicles that it didn't happen to as they roll through new generations.
But minivans as a whole class just got bigger and bigger. I guess the benefits of the classic smaller vans were subsumed by SUVs.

Interesting tidbit on the Mazda5 though. At least in MD, b/c it is so small, on a car chassis, the MVA classifies it as a car, not a van. Which is great b/c here trucks, SUVs and Vans are $180 registration vs only $120 for cars.
 
Our neighbor was dead set on being anti minivan. She had 2001ish Sequoia and loved it and really wanted a newer one. Ended up getting a 2011 or so Toyota Sienna, and after making sure no one saw her driving it the first week I'm pretty sure she loves it now. I would drive it in a heartbeat. Stow and go seats seemed like a pretty nice feature to me.
 
My wife drives an Odyssey every day. She was reluctant to get one at first, but now she wouldn't be without it. It is the most practical thing we have ever purchased. Our friends have a Sienna, and they like it too. I don't think you can wrong with either.
 
I DD a 2004 Sienna. It rides and drives good and does what we ask it to. It has a couple little annoyances. The driver rear door lock doesn't always work and the sunroof auto doesn't always work right. I have found that they are hard on tires and brakes. I think they are just too heavy for the little tires and brakes that come on them.
 
We absolutely love our 2013 Toyota Sienna. We have a large family and were on the cusp of needing an 8-12 passenger van for our travel needs. Since it's hard to find an 8 passenger van that isn't a "conversion van", we were stuck looking at 12-15 passenger vans. The killer for us was having a vehicle like that as a daily driver sucking down gas at 15 mpg. Then, we found the Sienna. For daily use, we have the 7 passenger setup with middle row captain's chairs. If we need to take a friend along with us, the 8th passenger seat stows folded in the side wall in the back. It's completely out of the way until needed. We are consistently getting 23-25 mpg around town and much better than that on long trips. It' really is the best of both worlds.

I used to drive a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan for work and the difference is REALLY amazing. The Sienna is a much nicer ride, way more refined and handles way better.
 
Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey. That is all you need to know. The Sienna can be purchased with AWD if needed/desired, but the Odyssey cannot.

I am Mr. Mom due to my wife's job so I bought myself a used leased 2010 Toyota Sienna in the late summer of 2011 with 36,000 miles on the clock. It has 109,000 now. I have only done basic maintenance to it. I plan to run it up to about 150,000 miles and trade it in on either another Sienna or an Odyssey. I like driving a mini-van as a DD.
 
shawn said:
C&D just had an article comparing the original Dodge Caravan against the current model. They pointed out that the current "mini-van" is bigger than the full-size Dodge van was back in 1984.
Click to expand...
Brought back memories. My Papaw bought one of the first Dodge Caravans in 1984. It didn't come with a third row seat. He drove it to the grocery store and to church. When the family sold it around 1996 or so, it only had 11k miles on it!
 
No Chris, I'm not getting rid of my Tundra. Her current vehicle is a Mazda CX9 with 3rd row seating. The sucky part about that 3rd row is only a child can fit back there and one of the middle row seats has to fold forward to get back there. With 2 car seats, that is a PITA. Otherwise, my 15 year old who is as big as me would have to crawl thru the back to get in the cramped 3rd row.

We love the CX9, but it isn't as practical now as it was when we got it.
 
We are Pacifica owners, or the wife is one. She owned it when we married. Bought a powertrain life time warranty when she got it. Drives like a heavy car, kills anything but light truck tires. Has to many gadgets for me. Uses 1.5 quarts between oil changes. Doesn't smoke and hasn't had Any major failures. Great rear seats, access and everything folds flat. If you haul around multiple people including adults it's great and everybody is comfy. Gear plus 4 no problem. 6 and some luggage no problem. Good around town gas millage, problem. It guzzles gas like a pick up.
It's solid, heavy, and hungry. I call it the space shuttle.

When the son turned 16 we both decided we want a Subaru. Just not in the cards yet. Smaller, AWD, sportier, and still better gas mileage. Mother in law has a Forrester and we really like it. But we are looking at the Crosstrek .

The whole mini van segment isn't mini anymore. I would just get a SUV. Then again the Pacifica was a crossover...

SUBARU. Forget the rest of my rant..
 
@RenegadeT wife used to drive a Chrysler mini-van, but now drives a Toyota Sienna. Maybe he will chime in about their experience with both.
 
I own a cab company and have a loaded Chrysler mini van with stow and go seats close to 200k on it now just basic maintenance also have trailer hitch on it for 5x10 trailer it's a good cheap Swiss army knife of vehicle. Just have to be secure enough in your manhood to drive it.
 
BIGWOODY said:
I suggested one, my wife said no way in hell she'd drive a min-van. Tahoe, just turned 200k, best vehicle I've ever owed thus far. All I have to add.
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Same thing happened with my wife. Tried to talk her into a mini van, ended up with an Excursion. We are both completely happy with it. Matter of fact, she's worried when it comes time to get another it will be hard to find a low mileage replacement!
 
Every time somebody talks about a Toyota Sienna, this is all I can think of.




You're welcome. :D
 
We had an odyssey for 6 years and it was great. Few small issues like all cars but nothing I could not fix at home. After it got hit a few times it did not look as nice but it still drove great. We recently just got rid of it for a 4 door sedan. Wife has always liked smaller compact cars and with kids now able to open doors themselves and only in a booster it was time for us to move on.

The side sliding doors for me was the best never had to worry about kids opening the doors into another car.
 
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