Minivans....

[Troop92]

In the market for a new-to-us minivan. We have one now, but a mini-minivan, a 2005 Mazda MPV. It's been a great little vehicle, but now with our third kid here is just too small. I know there a lots of nice SUVs out there, but you can't beat the utility or the ease of sliding doors.

Anyone on here have experience with a 2012+ Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna? We've narrowed it down to those two.

 

[johngottfredson]

I have a 2012 sienna AWD. Love it, it's the one to get. Bought it with 40k on it, has 80k now, drives like new. When it's super snowy, lots of moms on the street ask my wife to drive their kids to school cause their non AWD vans can't hack it.

 

[Troop92]

I have a 2012 sienna AWD. Love it, it's the one to get. Bought it with 40k on it, has 80k now, drives like new. When it's super snowy, lots of moms on the street ask my wife to drive their kids to school cause their non AWD vans can't hack it.

We've contemplated that, living on/near the east Layton bench, but we did just fine this winter with snow tires. But if the deal is right, definitely wouldn't say no.

 

[johngottfredson]

Snow tires make the difference, I just like not having to switch tires per season

 

[Troop92]

Snow tires make the difference, I just like not having to switch tires per season

What made you go Sienna over Odyssey? Just the AWD?

 

[johngottfredson]

Yes. And I drove a Corolla for 250k miles with literally zero issues. Just routine maintenance. So when it was minivan time I was looking for the closest equivalent to the Corolla.

 

[Jinx]

The odyssey and the Sienna were the two we narrowed it down to as well.

We purchase an odyssey (because the deal came up first) with 60k and now we are at 170k. It seems like I have done an alternator, plugs/wires, timing belt, water pump, (scheduled maintance) and tires.

Pretty happy with it. If this one ever dies we will like go that direction again.

And yes the ability to haul 8 people in relative comfort and power sliding doors is nice.

 

[SLC97SR5]

My wife has a 2013 Sienna. We've had it since new and it has been flawless...other than tires. They are heavy and reasonably powerful. We just hit 90k and including the originals we are on our 4th set of tires.
The tires spec'd are for Camry's and Accord's. We finally found a better weight rating Michelin used on Highlanders and it is working much better.
Ours is FWD but the traction control isn't too aggressive and is easily turned off. My wife has only been stuck once during a heavy snowstorm and was pushed out of the snowbank by neighbors before even trying to turn off the T/C.
She averages 21mpg.
You really can't go wrong Sienna vs. Odyssey ...I'm just a Toyota fan.
I offer to get her a different vehicle often but she absolutely loves the Sienna, can't complain about that.

 

[Bullet]

We had a 2006 Toyota Sienna. Bought it new. Traded it in last year with 160k. Only non maintenance issues were the rack and pinion started leaking at about 100k. The passenger sliding door hinge wore out at around 120k and the AC compressor clutch went out right before we traded it in. It was hard on brakes and tires. Got about 23 mpg with mixed driving and around 26 MPG on road trips. We replaced it with a Highlander.

 

[Spork]

I had a 2005 Sienna, Bought it used, drove it for 6 years, tires and oil changes were the only maintenance I did. I traded mine in on a Sequoia. When the kids were little the power doors and low height were great, I had all 4 of my kids in a car seat or booster at the same time and it was great for getting them around.

 

[Troop92]

My wife has a 2013 Sienna. We've had it since new and it has been flawless...other than tires. They are heavy and reasonably powerful. We just hit 90k and including the originals we are on our 4th set of tires.

I've heard that, thanks for that confirmation.

I offer to get her a different vehicle often but she absolutely loves the Sienna, can't complain about that.

My wife's basically to this point and she doesn't even own the vehicle yet! Over the weekend she's decided on a Sienna. Now to find one...

 

[pELYgroso]

I'll just throw this out there...

I bought my wife a new KIA Sedona last year and it's been awesome. We upgraded from a 2007 Odyssey that worked great with minimal issues but it was time to upgrade. I had a budget in mind and we drove some used Siennas and Odysseys and then found out that the brand new Sedona was similarly priced to a 20-40k miles Sienna or Odyssey so we test drove one and easily made the decision. The Sedona feels more like a car, less like a van. Lots of small features that we really liked. Plus, we paid a few bucks more to upgrade to a 10 year, 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. It probably has around 8k miles on it and it's been awesome. It did great in the snow. Definitely one to consider.

The only downsides to the Sedona:
-not as many cup holders as our Odyssey but the Honda had a billion
-Couldn't get an overhead DVD player option. (we figured we'd add one but we've found our kids being more creative without it on trips (go figure) so we decided we'll leave it off for now)
-the very rear cargo area is slightly smaller than the Odyssey but it hasn't bothered us yet. The flip side is the back seat is slightly bigger and MUCH more comfortable for an adult to sit in than the Odyssey.

That's pretty much it.

 

[Unimog]

FWIW, I helped our son and his wife drive and choose a used minivan last year - they chose the Kia Sedona also after driving a bunch of Hondas and Toyotas. They liked how it drove better and in their price range, they could get one with about half the miles as a comparably priced odyssey or Sienna. They have only had it a year, but love it so far!

 

[2002maniac]

Get a Dodge or Chrysler and you can put Jeep wheels on it. LOL.

My wife drives a '12 town and country with 115k miles. We've owned it since 70k and it's been trouble free. The pentastar V6 has plenty of power and with the 6 speed trans gets about 25mpg on the hwy.

Stow and go seating is pretty awesome too.

But seriously the Jeep wheels need a small spacer to clear the calipers.

 

[Troop92]

FWIW, I helped our son and his wife drive and choose a used minivan last year - they chose the Kia Sedona....

I'll just throw this out there...
I bought my wife a new KIA Sedona last year and it's been awesome.

Get a Dodge or Chrysler and you can put Jeep wheels on it. LOL. My wife drives a '12 town and country.....

Thanks for the alt recommendations. They were definitely considered. We've test driven everything under the sun, new and used, every minivan out there. My wife walked away not liking the 'cheaper' (her words) feel of the T&C interior and on the road. She actually dislikes the "car/suv" feel of the Sedona and the full center console.

The Odyssey lost, narrowly, because of the slightly less upright driving position, slightly firmer ride vs Sienna, and the dash.

A Sienna is 99% in our future, most likely a 2015+ year model, unless a screaming Odyssey deal comes along. Considering she'll be the primary driver 90% of the time, it's her call and I'm good with that.

Keep the comments coming - even anecdotal "my neighbors sienna exploded" stories.

 

[Troop92]

The search is over. Scored a great deal on a 2015 Sienna XLE. Wife is beyond thrilled, basically acting like I do about my Jeep.

 

[Cody]

Please make sure that whoever is driving it understands that the left lane of the freeway is for passing, not chilling. Maybe a post it note on the steering wheel? I swear mini-vanists have their brain reset whenever they get behind the wheel.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

My brother and his family currently own a 2015 Caravan and had owned 2 prior, on his recent visit they averaged 28 mpg from North Dakota and back. They have a ton of room and haul a lot of gear.

 

[Troop92]

Please make sure that whoever is driving it understands that the left lane of the freeway is for passing, not chilling. Maybe a post it note on the steering wheel? I swear mini-vanists have their brain reset whenever they get behind the wheel.

You've clearly never seen my wife drive... I pity the fool that holds her up in the carpool/fast lane.

 

[Cody]

What's a fast lane? I guess that's the second general purpose lane from the left where the fastest traffic that isn't currently passing someone should drive?