Mini-vans

[alotofyarn]

By the time we saved up for the minivan, my oldest was only a year or two away from using a high back booster. Those shift easily to free up a captain chair. The back back is not accessible to a 70-something with limited mobility, but I think we have shoved able bodied adults and older kids back there even with the car seats installed. The corridor between the chairs is also a nice place to rest the bicycle when the third row is down (which it usually is.)

For now we're only planning to put able-bodied adults back there, maybe occasionally an extra kid. For road trips we'd possibly consider moving a carseat, but not for just a typical outing with my parents, for example, where we want to bring one car instead of two. Maybe I need to just go to the Honda dealership and look at both the Pilot and the Odyssey.

[spotty_dog]

Sounds like a good plan!

[SoonerTexan]

LOL. We haven't looked back. We might be able to afford an Odyssey when we replace the Sedona next year, but I'm not holding my breath. Retirement don't fund itself, LOL. I'm also looking at Chrysler and Nissan.

The Odyssey isn't *that* expensive, especially if you aren't getting the highest end model. And especially so if you are willing to go slightly used. Certainly not retirement busting!

[alotofyarn]

So we went to the Honda dealer. I didn't drive them because we had the kids and they were being difficult, but I liked both of them. We had a terrible salesman and he couldn't answer half of our questions, and he didn't even know much about all of the features, so that didn't help. I actually like the Pilot better than the MDX because you can access the 3rd row. You can either climb over the center console, or I was able to get the seats to slide forward without bending them. But man, the Odyssey with the sliding doors, sliding seats, all the fun stuff, is so tempting. My biggest concern is parking assist, because I couldn't even come close to seeing the front of it, which makes me nervous. It seemed like it at least had sensors, but I was really hoping for a front camera or birds eye view, and he couldn't tell me if that was possible. He didn't even know it had front parking sensors though, so we need to do our own research obviously. I'll go back another day when the kids are in school and actually drive them.

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[scrub-jay]

Mini-vans

The Odyssey isn't *that* expensive, especially if you aren't getting the highest end model. And especially so if you are willing to go slightly used. Certainly not retirement busting!

And then there’s the Tesla Model X which starts around $80k! Although those falcon-wing doors would just make you look super-duper cool at the grocery store. Ha!

[spotty_dog]

The Odyssey isn't *that* expensive, especially if you aren't getting the highest end model. And especially so if you are willing to go slightly used. Certainly not retirement busting!

Never bought a new car and never will. But the difference between a 2-3 yo Quest and Odyssey (or my dream car, the AWD Siena) is still $10-15k. For grocery getting and road tripping and dump hauling, when the Sedona is still perfectly serviceable with under 100k miles, it's hard to justify that difference. But we aren't car people, so that's just us! And to be totally honest, we just might go for it anyway. Better than yet another pile of bonds in a rising interest environment, lol.

[MrsK]

Our car seats will be in the captains chairs, and I don't plan to move them. I assume it's still easy for people to get to the back?

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In our Town and Country, it's easy to get to the back. I have all 3 kids in carseats/high back boosters. I keep Lambie and K1 in the back row. K2 sits in a captain's chair behind the passenger. The captains chair behind the driver is down so I can reach Lambie when the boys aren't there to help her buckle. We arrived at this arrangement for a number of reasons.

First, there is only 1 set of latches in the back row and boosters need to latch. So, Lambie is in the back row where there is not a latch since the 5 point harness seat needs a seat belt bit no latch. K2 and Lambie bicker so I put K1 next to her. He's also got longer arms so he can help her out better while seated. The captain's chair has latches so that's K2'S spot. The opening in the 2nd row is great for groceries and whatnot (easy to unload with the garage shut), the potty chair (and use thereof when absolutely desperate), car picnics on rainy days, etc.

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[SoonerTexan]

Never bought a new car and never will. But the difference between a 2-3 yo Quest and Odyssey (or my dream car, the AWD Siena) is still $10-15k. For grocery getting and road tripping and dump hauling, when the Sedona is still perfectly serviceable with under 100k miles, it's hard to justify that difference. But we aren't car people, so that's just us! And to be totally honest, we just might go for it anyway. Better than yet another pile of bonds in a rising interest environment, lol.

I went the “cheaper brand” minivan route the first time around. I don’t think everyone has our experience (although I know 2 people on here that have the same model as our old one), but
boy we got what we paid for. In 4 years we spent $5000 in (non routine maintenance) repairs on the VW Routan (which is just a rebadged Dodge/Chrysler). We sold it on the private market for $5000. The trade in value was less. Then we turned around and tried to buy another 2011 Odyssey. The best deals we could find was also a 2011 with the same mileage. It was priced at $15k. So I guess you pay more up front, but you do get quite a bit of it back. Someone drove from out of state to get it before we could. There’s something real to them holding their value.

The Nissan Quest was discontinued. I wouldn’t touch that if you plan to keep it forever. The Routan was also discontinued and finding parts for it was a pain the ass.

[Thirteen]

Come to the dark side, Spotty. 😈
*nudges you toward an Outback*


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[Thirteen]

So we went to the Honda dealer. I didn't drive them because we had the kids and they were being difficult, but I liked both of them. We had a terrible salesman and he couldn't answer half of our questions, and he didn't even know much about all of the features, so that didn't help. I actually like the Pilot better than the MDX because you can access the 3rd row. You can either climb over the center console, or I was able to get the seats to slide forward without bending them. But man, the Odyssey with the sliding doors, sliding seats, all the fun stuff, is so tempting. My biggest concern is parking assist, because I couldn't even come close to seeing the front of it, which makes me nervous. It seemed like it at least had sensors, but I was really hoping for a front camera or birds eye view, and he couldn't tell me if that was possible. He didn't even know it had front parking sensors though, so we need to do our own research obviously. I'll go back another day when the kids are in school and actually drive them.

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Have you tried an Ascent? They have them at the dealership now. *swoon* 😁


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[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Once you go to Costco with a minivan, you don’t go back. All that glorious floor space to pile things into.


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[rufflesanddots]

Once you go to Costco with a minivan, you don’t go back. All that glorious floor space to pile things into.


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Ooh. That sounds excellent. Ugh, Costco. I love that place.


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[spotty_dog]

Come to the dark side, Spotty. ��
*nudges you toward an Outback*


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Probably my true dream car. But alas, no inside bike storage. ��

[spotty_dog]

The Nissan Quest was discontinued. I wouldn’t touch that if you plan to keep it forever. The Routan was also discontinued and finding parts for it was a pain the ass.

Ooh, that's good advice, thanks! I just knew we'd driven a few Quests on vacation, and they seemed like a serviceable vehicle. But I admit, our Sedona isn't running great at just 9 years. Some makes just aren't built to last!!

[civilspouse]

We have an odyssey that’s 19 years old now. We got it from my in laws who bought it new. It hasn’t been maintenance free and we realize we will probably have to replace it soon but it’s still chugging along. When it dies I’d like to stay with a used Honda or Toyota.


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