Who has a mini van?

[KennyG]

I think there is a lot of value in the Chrysler mini-vans. I had a 1998, eventually sold it to my father in law. He still has it with well over 200K and no major problems. I recently rented a Dodge to move my daughter to college. The stow 'n go seats are very good and the van drove well.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Honda Odyssey is hard to beat. My sister has had 2. Chrysler seems to lead the pack with innovative products. With both be prepared for sticker shock! They can reach $50,000

If it were me I would look hard at the new fleet of small, medium, and large vans from for also.

 

[Lnk]

We just replaced our 2001 Ford Windstar with a 2014 Honda Odyssey. We went to Ford to get a new minivan, but they no longer made one. Just the Transit/Pizza delivery type. So off to Honda we went. Did not consider Chrysler due to personal reasons. After th 22 mpg highway we were getting with the Windstar, we are now getting 28 mpg highway on the same trip. (We travel back and forth 4 times a year to TN). Plenty of leg and head room in the Honda. The rear seats fold flat when stowed, the middle seats are removable fairly easily, but my wife could not lift them. (she weighs 105 lbs). The rear seats are actually comfortable and seat full size adults easily.

We got the base model, not sure what you could possibly need besides this, rear backup camera, power everything else. No built in NAV, or those lane change mirror light things I see when passing others. We have 45k miles on it already and have had no problems. Our neighbors have a Toyota Sienna that is 10+ years old and they too have had no issues. I believe the Honda gets slightly better mileage than the Toyota, but both are trouble free,

The Honda has a 3.5 liter Vtec engine with 248HP. Acceleration is very brisk if needed, but just don't feel like it needs as much power as it has. I don't think you could go wrong either way.

 

[ray66v]

I have had mini vans for 25 years. For me, it's the perfect vehicle.

After spending my entire life in the auto repair business, I have had just about every different vehicle apart, down to the lowest common denominator. Believe me, the $40,000 or $50,000+ most people are willing to spend on a vehicle today, is not in there anywhere.

While they are not in the same league with the Honda, and the Toyota, The only two affordable minivans are the Chrysler, and the Kia.

I would not own a Chrysler product, if you gave it to me. So, that only left me the Kia.

I always buy my personal vehicles, about a year old, with low mileage. It's the most cost effective way to get them.

For roughly the same amount as a Honda or a Toyota, with 100,000 miles, (I'm not ever doing that either), I bought a Kia Sedona with 12,000 miles on it, and 3 years of warranty left.

I have had it for as year and a half, and I am pleased with it.

I can't for the life of me, figure out why they put a 275 hp engine in it. But, it does get good mileage, so what the heck, I now have a 7 second mini van. :confused3:

 

[k0ua]

I have the 2013 Chrysler town and country with the stow and go seating. We like the ability to have the flat floor without wrestling with seats. and enjoy the tons of storage when the seats are up. It gets about 24 to 25 mpg, not great but OK for the fact you are driving basically a box down the road. It has a lot of nice amenities and it is a joy to go grocery shopping in with the large hatch over your head when you are unloading groceries in the rain. The electrically key fob operated side doors and hatch are really nice. I worry about them a bit if and when they break, but so far so good.

I became interested in them when I was driving a company car which was a 2000 Dodge Caravan, and it had over 180,000 miles on it when I got done with it and it never gave much trouble. Everyone always told me how junky they were, but my experience was quite different. Very pleasant to drive, and get in and out of, and it was quite reliable. So there you have one mans experience.

 

[om21braz]

A friend of mine works for a company that sells Bible based home school literature, probably the largest in US. They put all the minivans through the ringer over the last 10 years or so. They run them to 200k or so - approx. 5-6 years before replacing. Their present choice for least overall cost - Toyota Sienna. He said they seem to hold up the best, always with approx. 1000-1500 lbs. of materials on board.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have been shopping too.

At the top of my list is the 'next generation' Chrysler/Fiat City Van. I want the capacity to transport full pallets of soil amendments.
I am shopping two seat variant.

$27,000

VIDEO: 2016 RAM ProMaster City SLT Wagon Test Drive Video Review - YouTube

I didn't even know this existed. Thanks for the link. It's not going to work for us because we really have to have AC to the back where the dogs will be. They cannot be too cold. Our friends keep the AC on them at the very coldest they can in the back of their vans and about 15 degrees warmer where they sit. I know that ours will lay out on the porch most of the night where it's a lot colder then inside the house. They have a doggy door and come and go as they want.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you for all the great replies. We are looking at base models as I really haven't figured out what the more expensive ones have that we need. Things like navigation systems, DVD systems, fancy stereos and more electronics then we will ever take the time to even learn how to use are all useless to us.

Here in Tyler, we have all the different brands, but the prices are always a few grand more here then in the Dallas area. My truck was over $3,000 less at a dealer an hour away from here, and my local dealer refused to come down any lower. For $3,000, I'll drive several hours!!!!

Here are a few links showing prices and what's available.

Brand new 2016 Honda Odyssey LX for $27,128
Cars.com


Brand new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica LX for $26,585
Cars.com


Used Chrysler Town and Country Touring with 10,464 miles on it for $21,800
Cars.com


From what I'm reading, the 2017 Pacifica is an all new vehicle from the frame up, but it's a first year vehicle and those always seem to be the ones with the most issues. The used Town and Country is a proven platform for a very good price.

The Honda is priced right too, but those folding seats are a big issue for my wife. After they finish showing the dogs, they all like to jump in one of the vans and go out to eat together. She feels that she needs all the space possible getting to the Dog Show, but then wants that flexibility to have seating for her friends. The fact that they all have Town and Countries is also playing a part in what she wants.

They are all at the Tyler Kennel Club Dog Show right now in Canton TX. It's half an hour from our place, so there where 3 Town and Country vans here last night, and she says that there are dozens of them parked there now. It's the most common vehicle there!!!!

With our schedules right now, we only have time to look online. Hopefully things will slow down a bit and we can actually do some test driving. I think that's going to be when we make our decision. If the seats on the Honda disappeared like the Chrysler, that would be my first choice. If I had a vote in this.

 

[jeff9366]

I have had good luck buying used vehicle from Hertz Rent-a-Car. Hertz has vans. Car rental companies generally sell vehicles at 35,000 - 40,000 miles, after they have captured the major depreciation.

 

[om21braz]

I didn't even know this existed. Thanks for the link. It's not going to work for us because we really have to have AC to the back where the dogs will be. They cannot be too cold. Our friends keep the AC on them at the very coldest they can in the back of their vans and about 15 degrees warmer where they sit. I know that ours will lay out on the porch most of the night where it's a lot colder then inside the house. They have a doggy door and come and go as they want.

The Mercedes version has an additional A/C option for the rear, 4x4, additional heater and some other neat options nobody else has - but it also has Mercedes price tag.

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