Minivan shopping!!

[TigerLily]

YAY I am finally going to get a van! And I am super duper pumped. Never thought I would want a minivan, but now that I've been looking at them and test driving them, I am so excited. They are actually pretty sweet.
So, does anyone have one that they love? We are are leaning toward the Toyota and the Chrystler. The Chrystler comes with more extras at a lower price and have better payments than the Toyota. But the Toyota is a Toyota and I guess people like them more.
Advice? Recommendations?

[v-girl]

I love love love love love my Chrysler! Adore it. Her name is Annabelle. She's a good girl. Oh, and since I went to CarMax and bought a former rental car (that was only a year old and had low mileage), I paid half the price of the brand new version.

[TigerLily]

ohh Annabelle. What a beautiful name for a beautiful van. I think the Chrystler is fantastic. We actually test drove it yesterday with the car seats and everything and the kids seemed so happy. Also, the Chystler sales guy was really awesome and the Toyota guy was a HUGE jerk. Which probably shouldn't sway me, but it totally does.

[Pollyanna]

We had a 2004 Sienna. Beautiful car, really great to drive, comfortable. BUT it was very very very expensive to maintain. Required new tires WAY more frequently then normal, nickled and dimed us on everything. Everytime we took it for service it was a minimum of $600 (and this was starting at only about 2-3 years old). It was the top of the line, brand new, but a HUGE waste of money. I am not sure about the new model but I would stay the heck away from the Sienna.

[niener]

Also, the Chystler sales guy was really awesome and the Toyota guy was a HUGE jerk. Which probably shouldn't sway me, but it totally does.

Don't you hate that?? It's almost just a matter of principle -- I don't want to give the mean guy my money :-p.

No advice but congrats!!

[Vanquisher]

I just traded in my Chrysler. It was having lots of electrical issues, but I did like it when it was new. I just traded it in for a Toyota. A Highlander, but still.

[ladymoreta]

I love love love my Honda Odyssey! As people told me - pay the extra for the automatic doors, regardless of the brand you get. It's so worth it to be able to open the kids' doors with a button!

The Town & Country seemed fantastic, and all the extras were way cheaper than on the Honda. The only reason we didn't go with it is I had a really hard time with peripheral vision in it. I have a short torso, so I'm weird, but I just felt like I was driving with a huge blind spot. Nothing you'll probably need to worry about...

[Phoebe]

DH had a Sienna. It was great. No problems.

[Michele]

I have a 2011 Sienna and I flove it!!!

[BonBon]

We had the Odyssey and loved it. It is *perfect* for families. I can't comment on recent years because ours was a 2005 but the only repairs we ever made were maintenance type things, new tires and the like. We got 100,000 miles out of it without one stinking thing going wrong. LOVED it. (til the mice ate it, then I got rid of it, lol)

[Momo]

I own a Toyota Sienna 2000. We were the second owners and bought it in 2004. It has been AMAZING! Extremely economical. Tara, was yours an updated version that needed a year or two to figure out what the kinks were? I have never heard of anyone having such bum luck w/ a sienna!

BTW We purchased a new, family sized vehicle,for long trips, about 3 years ago. If I were going to use my "old Goldie" for an extended road trip, I would definitely get new tires & a tune up! We were also blessed to find a really excellent & ETHICAL mechanic...worth their weight in gold if you can find one!

[Pollyanna]

Lol Suz, yes it was the brand new model. Plus we are sure that ours was put together on the Friday of a three day weekend. If you search 2004 Sienna you'll find all sorts of ticked off owners.

[peggyfromwastate]

We have driven both as rental cars--- I must say the kids and I prefer the town and country. It was very very nice!!! Seemed roomier than the sienna too. I always try to get more room vs less room. I find minivans perfect for kids from 0-10 (after that I just feel like you need more cargo room than a minivan for all the sports stuff you have to carry-- fold up chairs, coolers, bats, helmets, etc etc etc. or musical instruments (dd plays trombone and that sucker is huge). But I digress... As usual.

[GrayMatterWife]

I have a Chrysler Town & Country and hate it with every fiber of my being. I got it nearly new and dirt cheap (it's been my mom's company car, and she got to buy it when she retired--for $5k and only 16K miles).

Every freaking month, something else goes wrong with this damn car. We've had brake issues, AC issues, alignment problems. The freaking turn signal goes out every six months and has to be replaced. It is nickel and diming me TO DEATH.

There is a reason it is cheaper at the sale than a Honda. And you pay for it every month afterward.

Perhaps others have had better experiences. I was spoiled--I'd always driven Hondas before. I will never, ever, ever own another Chrysler or GM again. Ever.

[Deebs]

Dh had the Town and Country, my sister has the Toyota, and we have the Honda. DH traded in his Town and Country a couple of months ago. It had over 100,000 miles on it and had never had a major repair. You could feel its age, though. It was awesome when it was new and began feeling older around 30,000 or 40,000 miles (after only a year, though). It held up well in terms of money in, but that's about it. My sister would say her Toyota was awesome, and she's on her second (traded the first in around 160,000 miles. I would say it had a broken door, broken seat, and felt really old. I love my Honda, and decided on it after we had been with friends who have a Honda with 100,000 miles on it that still feels fairly new and "tight." When I test drove the Honda and Toyota head to head, the Toyota had more of a car feel to it to me, and the Honda more of an SUV. I think it just depends on your personal preference. I drove new first, and then had the Honda dealer find something slightly used for me. It worked because we wanted something not very used.

I had to add, while it's new still, I love, love, love my Honda and don't feel for a second it was a mistake. For our model year, the Honda crash tested better than Toyota and gets better fuel milage. Do your research - things change from year to year.