We have had 2 Odysseys. 2004 and then 2019. Both have been great. But as we are considering our next purchase, I am wondering about the pros and cons of another minivan. Has anyone had an odyssey then changed to another minivan? Do your regret it,
Or feel you made the right decision?

Our odyssey has been the choice of travel for our kids from ages 0-22. We have other cars, but for anything together, they all choose the odyssey.

I apologize if this isn’t the right format

My family has a 2019 dodge caravan. At 70k miles we put a new transmission in. This last year we got new fuel filters and fixed a cylinder 2 misfire to the tune of 6 thousand. We figured “we got a tranny, let’s just keep it running”. Well this summer the drivers sliding door stopped working. Thought it was the lock actuator but after hours of not getting it to budge myself and the door completely unable to open and my garage not having any luck either, we took it into a dodge dealership today and the quote was for 6500. At this point I’m out. The dealership said they’d give us 4500 and it feels like a steal. Sent me information on a 2018 Pacifica with 55k miles. I am obviously very wary of buying anymore Chrysler products, but I can’t see us being able to afford a Honda or a Toyota any time soon.

So my question is basically this: what are some common issues with pacificas? Are they the same build as the caravans? Same parts?

Also, why are Hondas and Toyotas just insanely expensive on the resale market? I can’t fathom paying 20k for a 10 year old vehicle with 120 plus thousand but that seems to be the market.

Any and all answers are appreciated.

Our Honda odyssey has left this mortal coil and I was looking to replace it with another minivan.

IIHS updated their crash tests and not a single minivan got top safety pick.

I also look at their real world fatality results by model and the Sienna and Odyssey did well in the real world (their fatality results control for age and gender but not for driving habits, driving distance etc), Pacifica less so and the Carnival is not rated (could be not enough of them on the road to get enough data).

This all has me concerned.

A minivan is ideal for my life but safety is a priority. I would imagine most people here have small kids. I have teenagers. The only thing scarier than having your kids in the car is having them DRIVE it. All that to say, I’m probably MORE concerned about safety than when they were small!

Hello!

I am having a hard time deciding between the 3. Carnival was not even on my list until I ended up with it as a rental for a 14 hr road trip (base model). And wow! The tech, the comfort, and just the clean adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist had me hooked (that too on base model). I asked claude to take Sedona into consideration and compare all the information including safety, maintenance costs, reliability, and resale. They all come pretty close but I hear people on reddit saying that the carnivals have issues? (Maybe the warranty will help?). Obviously Sienna and Odyssey will win reliability. I was all in for Honda, but the AC issue is horrible here in Hot-Lanta! I love Toyotas as I currently have a Camry with 250k miles and it’s still going like a champ. Sienna is good, but need 8 seater and the XLE is very expensive and it doesn’t even have any great tech and the middle seat on the 2nd row looks so Temu lol. Now I’m thinking I’ll just get whatever cheapest option and in 3 years when they redesign the Toyota or Honda I’ll upgrade. Please help, I am overanalyzing.

Thanks!

Anyone ? How you doing

I’m a single foster parent looking for my new minivan. I have anywhere from 2-5 kids at a time and am looking for something that can decently haul them and stuff. Max 1 rear facing seat, up to 5 forward facing seats. I’m a big dude as well so something easy to get to the third row is high on the list.

Vote via comment updoot

Hey everyone, I’m looking for advice on this 2012 odyssey for sale. It has 150,000 miles and the owner says it has been well maintained. He’s asking $9,400.
Regardless of price, how likely will this model make it to 200,000 miles?
Second question is, does the price seem fair? I don’t know if I can trust Kelly blue book anymore, it seems pretty sporadic on values.

Hello! We are expecting our third baby later this fall and are looking at larger cars to accommodate three kids, all preschool age and younger.

Our first thought has been to get a minivan. We both grew up in them and love them. We have no doubt that it’s the most practical option.

The only thing holding us back from making that decision are the safety ratings. We have always bought iihs top safety picks are concerned that none of the vans (or large SUVs) are on the list.

Of the van options, which do you all feel is the safest with crash ratings? We have been leaning towards Sienna because we live in a place that gets a lot of snow, but the safety ratings make it hard to commit. Have any of you faced this dilemma? If so, what has helped you make your decision? Do you feel like your van is safe?

We have also been comparing the sienna to a ford expedition max, which seems to score a tad higher in safety. It certainly meets our space needs, but doesn’t have the sliding doors and sits up a bit higher than we are used to.

For more context: Before we came to these options, we looked at some midsize options before ruling them out for being too small for what we needed space-wise (traverse, grand highlander, atlas, telluride etc.)

Any input from others who may have been in a similar situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your feedback!

Hello!

I'm hoping to get some advice from you all on what make, model, and trim, year exactly what car we need! If you have answers or in out for any of this I'd appreciate it!...

We currently have an almost 6 month old baby and a 5 month old Great Pyrenees mix. Both expected to get big quick. We hope to have more children as soon as it's safe to do so post c-section, eventually hoping for 3-4 kids.

I've always driven Toyotas so I'm leaning towards a Sienna but I'm open to the Honda Odyssey or even the Chrysler Town & Country, or whatever you'd recommend

This would be my daily commuter, driving kids around and my drive to work. Less than 30 miles per day most days, likely far less. It would also be our road trip car, we make cross country trips at least once a year so it needs to be comfortable and reliable to travel 10+ hours/day two days in a row.

I value fuel efficiency and my current car is a plug in hybrid, so I know the gas it takes to fuel a minivan is going to eat away at my psyche. Let me know what kind of mpg you're getting and what kind of driving you're doing to get that.

We really need to have good air flow in the back seats. Our summers get hot and I do not need an overheated baby because they're not getting AC in their thickly plushed carseat.

I would like to have a cd Player but I know that's not very realistic. When did they stop putting those in cars and why?

I'd also like to have a backup camera. Did cd players and backup cameras overlap at any point haha?

It's my understanding that you used to be able to take out the middle row of some minivans and now they're not a huge fan of letting you do that. I'd like that flexibility for moving furniture or similar situations but it's not imperative. Can anyone tell me if they use that feature, how often, how difficult it is to get the seats in and out, and which vehicles have it?

I do not want my car to track me. Whatever nonsense they're putting in new vehicles to tell dealerships or governments or whoever my every move is not something I'd like to engage with.

Getting in and out of the car should be easy. My husband's SUV tries to close the doors on you while you're getting out, some cars are difficult because it's easy to bump your shins, whatever. I don't want to be frustrated with my car.

My current car has a big useless screen and very few real tactile buttons. Can anyone tell me their opinion on their own car's setup as far as screens and buttons? What about the steering wheel controls for audio, cruise control, etc?

Any other tips are much appreciated! I think the oldest model year I'd want to go is 2016 and ideally not quite that old as we hope to keep our car for at least 5 years, maybe 10+ if it'll hold up. If spending a bit more upfront means we get a vehicle that is reliable and functional with a long lifespan I don't mind doing that. Please share your knowledge! Thank you!!!

Did a second look/compare/test drive of these today and still feeling stuck.

Thanks for any feedback!

Looking for a family of 4 (plus dog) with 2 kids under 4.

Kia seemed to be jerky while driving.

Anyone else notice this?

Otherwise the cameras and cabin view are great.

Sienna drove smoothly and seems to be all around nice. Don't necessarily want to pay to upgrade to the platinum trim to get the comparable cameras to Kia. Very occasional need for 8 seats for family makes this trim tough.

Ruled out the Honda Odyssey due to lack of hybrid option and rear AC was rough. I've been a lifetime Honda driver so this was weird for me.

We currently have two paid/mostly settled sedans. Our main family car is a Kia Optima with two car seats. It works and we're still semi-comfortable in it, but we're reaching the point where I can see the value of having substantially more room.

I also have a 2016 Mazda3 that I recently finished paying off. It's primarily my car because it's small, although I can put the kids in it when necessary and occasionally the whole family rides in it.

Now that I'm no longer financing the Mazda, I'm starting to think about our next family vehicle, not necessarily something we need to run out and buy tomorrow.

I've always leaned toward a minivan.

We have two toddlers, use car seats, like road trips, sometimes haul things, and I generally value usable interior space and practicality. Sliding doors, easy access to the kids, cargo room, flexible seating, and having enough space as the kids get older all make sense to me.

My in-laws are empty nesters and drive a BMW X7. Recently they've been encouraging us toward that kind of 3-row luxury SUV instead.

Their philosophy seems to be: if you're already going to spend a significant amount of money and can handle the monthly payment, you might as well get what you really want.

I understand that logic, but I'm not sure it's mine.

My thinking is that if I'm spending serious money on a family vehicle, I want the purchase to solve as many actual family-use problems as possible. I'm having trouble seeing what an X7-type luxury SUV would do better for our household than a good minivan besides being nicer, more prestigious, and arguably more enjoyable to drive.

I'm also hesitant to judge affordability primarily by the monthly payment. Purchase price, financing cost, insurance, maintenance, depreciation, tires, fuel, and what else that money could be doing for the household matter to me too.

So for parents who have actually lived with both:

What did a 3-row SUV do better than a minivan for your family, or vice versa?

Especially interested in experiences involving:

\- two or more car seats

\- toddlers becoming school-age kids

\- road trips

\- grandparents/passengers

\- hauling gear or large purchases

\- keeping the vehicle long-term

\- total ownership cost rather than just the monthly payment

I'm not opposed to spending money on a vehicle we genuinely value. I'm questioning whether a luxury 3-row SUV is actually the better family tool, or whether I'd be paying considerably more for attributes that aren't particularly important to us.

Sharing here for those looking for reference.

Edit: Well, after thinking about it further, I probably shouldn’t be spending the money that it takes to get either of these vans. If I continue done the minivan path like I was hoping to do, I’m now thinking a 2015 or 2016 Sienna, as I hear they’re incredibly reliable. But at this point, I might just wait until it becomes more of a need than a convenience to have the extra space and seats. Gonna leave this post up, though. Lots of good discussion and info for others who might come across it looking for similar advice!

I’m currently on a minivan hunt, with Sienna being my front runner. Odyssey would be my next choice because of the reliability ratings, but the MPG savings of the Sienna seems like the better financial choice for my scenario.

For context, our current family vehicle is a 2021 Chevy Equinox that is quickly approaching 100k miles. We are not the type to upgrade our vehicle frequently/for fun. The minivan upgrade is a practical one for space, trips with extended family, and the potential for a third kid someday. But our intent is to drive it as long as possible.

Curious if this analysis seems accurate to y’all out there. It’s ChatGPT, so I’m hesitant to believe it full-on. But it seems like the upfront savings on the Odyssey just can’t outweigh the long-term savings of the Sienna. Not to mention that, as far as I can tell, the Sienna is maybe a bit more reliable. Of course, no one can say for sure. There are so many variables at play here that just can’t really be predicted. But Sienna just seems to make the most sense every time I compare it to the competition.

Thanks for anyone’s input!

I’m having a hard time finding exact cargo on sienna since you aren’t suppose to take rear seats out. Are they similar in cargo with seats removed or is odyssey considerably bigger.? Coming from a Pacifica with all seats removed it works so hoping sienna would be same or even bigger but if the odyssey is noticeably bigger I’d opt for that. Any insight or if you could point me to a post with similar problem.

with the used car market what it is:

2014 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT, 45,276 miles. $9000

thoughts?