Any Mini-van owners here?

mudwrx

So my wife and I have a beautiful 1 year old girl, and we are expecting her little brother/sister in June. So now we are considering mini-vans for hauling them and their stuff around for the foreseeable future.

I am not afraid of the "mini-van loses your manhood thing". I actually think some of them are decent looking, and they are made for this job. The biggest reason to have one now is the sliding door convenience (especially automatic opening) along with the extra room. Anyone who has had to deal with opening regular doors in a garage or other tight spot will understand.

My in-laws have two girls and have the Honda Odyssey. I love that thing, it has all the bells and whistles (well, it is a couple of years old now but still has plenty), lots of room, drives nice and gets pretty good reviews. The Toyota Sienna also gets good reviews and is the only AWD model.

My wife prefers to buy American, so we will also look at Chrysler and Dodge. The Dodge is the least expensive by far, but I heard it is less reliable and it does get worse reviews on all the sites.

Anyway, if anyone has one of these or has any experience, your opinions and thoughts are welcome. Thanks.

smglbrth

Minivans are great for what they are designed to do, even for what they're not. Our van, a 1997 Ford Windstar has been just a peach, for the last 160,000 miles or so. The first 30,000 I wasn't so sure as the water pump had a crack in it, the drivers door lock went out (they had to replace them all to match), the intake manifold gasket was split (leaking oil into the coolant) and some other things I forget now. All the work was done under the extended warranty we purchased. Good thing we had it since it paid for itself 3 times over.

Ours has the 3.8 engine with the tow package (regular sized spare tire and transmission cooler). We haul the pop-up every year plus trailers and such. Never had a tranny problem but I've heard horror stories of people who did (even with the transmission coolor). I've also read of many many problems with the head gaskets on these models going out. Never had a problem with that either, so far. Both of these main issues occur usually at 100,000 miles and so far we have over 190,000 miles, still running strong.

It all depends on the vehicle if it'll last or not, hit or miss (it doesn't matter who makes it). Minivans are darned handy and will do many things. If you take the seats out there is plenty of room to haul things as well (junk as my wife would call it)...

sucks2beme

My experience is dated, but my last one was a 1995. It ate front brakes, and the engine leaked oil.
The engine had a timing belt that needed service about every 60k.
The transaxle put it out of commission for good at about 130k. Stay away from anything
FWD from Chrysler. My oldest son worked at a Toyota/Dodge dealership for about a year.
The Dodge mechanics were always swamped. The Toyota mechanics were like the Maytag repairman
on TV.
As far as minivans go overall, they get a bad rap. The utility is great. Good gas mileage, haul
family and friends, and hold a lot with the seats out/down. It's just picking out a reliable one.

jeremymarcinko

We currently on a 2004 Nissan Quest. Although it is starting to show its age, it really is a nice van. Recently it's spent a couple days in the body shop, getting a new rear bumper replacement for being rear ended. We had the liberty to drive a new Dodge Grand Caravan. While the caravan was nice and new, we was ready to give it back as it is much smaller than the Nissan minivan. It did not feel like it had much power and shifted very oddly. I like the idea of buying American but the Honda and Toyota are probably the best option. Even though I own the Nissan I wouldn't recommend it over the Honda or Toyota but still over the Dodge and Chrysler. Ford and Chevy mini vans may be better than the Chrysler I have no experience with them.

ViperZ

Best bang for your buck = Dodge Caravan. Had one, will not go back to one just because the way it drives - horrible handling, decent brakes, horrible weight distribution - all on the front, nothing on the back, non-existent suspension (if you can call a solid metal rod of a rear axle a suspension).
Most reliable and best reviewed = Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. A friend of ours is looking for one right now, but doesn't want to 'lose his manhood', so he is looking at Toyota Venza.

F1nut

I got 300,000 miles on the last Caravan. Replaced it with a new Town & Country, fantastic! I have a friend with a Toyota Sienna that after riding in the new T&C wants to buy one.

Shizelbs

We have a Mazda 5. We love it. Its more like a hatchback sedan with sliding rear doors. It is the smallest of all the vans on the market, which we like. 98% of the time the full sized vans are way too big. We have two kids as well. It is also the cheapest of the vans available, which was another plus for us. I'd rather put that money towards the mortgage or tuition instead of another screen for the kids to stare at, or nav which my phone already does better.

indyhawg

We have a 2012 Honda Odessey and love it. It is also great for transporting big heavy speakers which my wife can tell you I have used it to transport 3 purchases with it. It has plenty of room and power. Plus with the DVD player, my kids are entertained on long road trips. Ride is very smooth and it gets great gas mileage.

Dabutcher

We have two 2004 Toyota Sienna's. Love them. Made in Indiana. Five star crash test. Good luck. D

EndersShadow

My parents have had 4 Dodge Caravan's starting with the original models. I personally have driven most of them and find them very comfortable. I would recommend one to you and my wife and I may buy one ourselves in the next couple of years for the same reasons as you.

A word of caution on the automatic door. I have found that they make opening the door manually a bit harder, and since its a motor its one more thing that can break and need replacing. While it would be "nice" I would honestly steer clear of it myself as its not that much harder to manually open the door IMHO. There are scenarios where it might be helpful, but to me since it makes closing it manually harder and is one more thing to replace, I would pass.

adabro

Bought a 2007 Dodge Caravan a few years ago - never had an issue with it.

erniejade

We had a 2000 dodge caravan sport and around 198,000 it really started to nickel and dime us so we replaced it with a Toyota Sienna in 2012. The wife drives this most of the time unless I have a bigger gig ( DJ) that I need to bring all 6 tops and 2 big subs. My 2003 Honda Pilot has 170,000 on it and still runs great. I am not sure if the Odyssey is the same engine as the Polit but, if it does, its got a timing belt that needs to be changed at 100,000.

Resale on the Honday and Toyota are higher if your not going to drive it till the wheels fall off like some of us do so that is also something to consider.

billbillw

Technically, my name is on the title of a Honda Odyssey, but in reality, it's my wife's vehicle. She loves it. The kids love it. I drive it pretty regularly on weekend family activities, long trips, or sometimes just to haul stuff (they are great for that). However, I couldn't stand to drive it on a day to day basis. Not because of manhood issues. I just prefer to drive a smaller vehicle. I take my kids to school daily in the E55, but the kids complain about having to ride in such a 'small car'. I tell them they have no idea what a small car is.

Anyway, if your old enough and mature enough to have children, then driving a mini-van should not upset your ego/manhood/etc.

I personally think the Odyssey is the best all-around vehicle in the mini-van class, but everyone has their preferences in looks, price, etc. We've put over 150k miles on our Odyssey and its never really cost us anything in repairs. Just normal maintenance, brakes, timing belt, plugs, filters, transmission fluid, etc.

As far as American vs Japanese made, I think the Odyssey and Sienna actually have a greater percentage of USA sourced parts than the Dodge (which is actually assembled in Canada and has a Mexican built motor).
.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11968700/1/10-most-american-made-cars-of-2013.html

Irrenhaus

HI


I had a Windstar 1985 and was great. Lasted many years of good service. After that one I drove a Ford Freestar for about 5 yrs no complains it was a company truck and put a lot of miles on it. Now I have a Dodge Journey it is nice AWD and V6 and had plenty of storage. There is even a storage area under the seat cushion on the passenger seat and comes with a third row seat.

Cheers

agfrost

We've got a 2007 Honda Odyssey that's been very good to us. Really drives nice & perfect for borrowing from my wife when local speakers need buying off Craigslist.

We traded in my SVT Contour when our 2nd son was born, and I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to pull into a parking lot and not have to remind the kids not to bang the doors into the cars in the adjacent spot! There are no better vehicles for dealing with infant and toddler carseats. The only way to fly, really.

My dad has had Grand Caravans since the early 90's--He recently got a sporty new one with tow package and it's easily the nicest one he's had. I don't regret the price we paid for the Odyssey (and they ain't cheaper now!), but I could live with a Dodge if on a stricter budget.

xjghost

I had a 2000 Windstar and it was great but if I had to do it over I'd opted for a SUV or VW wagon. They are not as great as what people would like you to believe IMHO! I had a BMW 5 series wagon and liked it better then the mini van. Got better MPG too. Just my .02

Dabutcher

If you go with the used Odyssey's. Avoid 1999-2005. Lots of transmission issues. So many that they upped the warranty from 36k to 110k miles. Peace. D