Who has a mini van?

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I sold my Chevy Venture to my in laws. I work on my own vehicles, and I realized I don't want to work on a motor that is hard to get at. I also did not care for driving it, just my personal opinion. I sold it with 87,000 miles.

I prefer a car, or a truck framed SUV. To work on , and to drive.

 

[PJSprog]

I've had 2 mini vans over the years; a Dodge Caravan and a Ford Windstar. Loved the Dodge, but didn't care much for the Ford. My wife had a Kia Sedona when we were dating. Those are very nice vehicles. We both drive Kias now - her Sorento and my Soul. I've been thinking of getting a Sedona to replace the Soul, as I'm no longer driving 120 miles round trip every day. Same as with hauling around show dogs, a mini van is the perfect vehicle for a musician, too.

 

[JPRambo]

My wife also has the '06 Grand Caravan with stow away rear seats. We bought it from a Chrysler dealer who had just taken it back from a 1 year lease. It has not given us any trouble it has around 112,000 miles.

 

[two_bit_score]

Nice dogs is right!

The Honda Odyssey is the best of the ones named above.

We are out of the mini- van business after the 1996 GMC Safari gave out and couldn't find another one as clean and well maintained. Those were great vans. Good mileage. Plenty of room. Easy to remove rear seat. Rear air worked great. Ours was pretty standard and with the seats removed, easy to haul 4x8 stuff but not as utilitarian as a cargo van. Great visibility with all the windows.

 

[Bird]

I was sorry Ford quit making a mini-van. We bought a 2001 Windstar from CarMax the day after Christmas, 2002. It had 27k miles on it when we bought it. And my wife mistakenly thought she'd rather have a sedan again and we traded off that Windstar in January 2009. It only had 101k miles on it, and while mileage varied, as they all do, overall it got 19.555 mpg while we had it, and was still in great condition. I've driven a friend's Honda several times, and if I were going to buy a mini-van again, that's the one I'd want (if I could afford it).

 

[yankeerider]

When my wife said we needed a minivan to haul 3 grandchildren in their car seats, we test drove a Toyota Sienna and then a Ford Flex. Bought the Flex- got a good deal on a certified used model with only 20k miles. It is one of Ford's best kept secrets- the modern day incarnation of the big station wagons of the 60s and 70s. And it has separate controls and A/C registers for the rearmost area.

 

[Garandman]

Someone's gonna tell you to turn in your man card...

Real men drive whatever the **** they want.

We've owned four, currently a 2011 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite. Probably the best driving of the lot. 265hp V6 with 6 speed automatic and fully independent suspension. The rear seat folds into the floor, a feature Honda developed. The center row seats are more comfortable than the Caravans, but have to be removed (which isn't difficult). The newest one has an integral vacuum cleaner, which I suppose would be handy for dogs.

The Toyota Sienna has clean styling but typically numb dynamics. The center row seats can recline and move forward and back, but also have to be removed.

The Caravan and Town & Country are an older platform but have a 4 liter V6 with 283hp and 6 speed auto. Their "Infotainment" systems are very intuitive. But they seem a little behind the times.

The big news in the market is the Chrysler Pacifica, an updated and restyled model that is very good looking while retaining all the strengths of the older models.

Many people trade in minivans regularly for new models or because their kids have grown up. This makes used models really attactive. Our Touring Elite with every option (including tow package, etc) was $48,000 new. We bought it two years old with 20,000 miles for $25,000.

The Chrysler Pacifica is the modern version of the DC vans, handsome and more modern.

 

[Garandman]

You might also look at the Ford Transit Connect. It's available as a van, with seats and windows, but is practical and doesn't cost as much as the bigger models.

And I guess you could throw in the Mercedes Metris, though dealers are sparse.

 

[bucktaker]

I drive a Dodge Grand Caravan for work I get a new one every 100k miles which is approx 2.5 yrs I have had a 1996, 1998 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014 and will get a 2017 soon. other than crappy brakes and rotors and some issue with the rear AC programing on the 2014 they have been good vehicles and they are driven loaded and hard all the time with only regular oil changes.

get the larger engine it will perform better avg 24 mpg

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I have a Honda Odyssey, so far 45,000 miles with no issues. To your specific need of hauling dogs: it has three separate HVAC zones -- driver, front passsenger, and rear passenger. We go almost everywhere with our two dogs, who ride in the back in a plastic kennel. With the third row seats down, the floor is not completely flat, so the kennel rocks. You have to block it with a folded towel or something.

A general observation from my shopping experience: minivans are the most competitive segment of the automotive business. The typical buyer spends a lot of time driving and isn't looking to spend a lot of money, nobody buys a minivan as a midlife crisis car. Once you get over the fact that it's a minivan you'll find they are full of creature comforts and very refined in the design, they're particularly suited for long road trips.