'08 T&C or wait for '11 Sienna?

[mrs.christie]

With baby #1 on the way I have been doing some serious thinking about our car situation. We currently have an '06 Explorer and an '09 Mazda 3 Hatchback. The Explorer is not 4 wheel drive (don't know what we were thinking), and lately I don't feel safe driving it. The other day I was driving in the rain and I could feel it slipping as I drove 55 mph on the freeway. The Mazda is fine I guess, but it lacks storage space and it's not the most comfortable for long distances.

True, we'll only have one child for now, but we go on road trips with our dogs and my parents are moving out of state which means when they visit we'll be taking them around. We also plan on TTC again about a year after this one is born.

So I'd like to trade the explorer for a minivan, and get more space/safety/more of a comfortable ride. Do you think I should just stick it out and wait for the '11 Sienna, which I hear will be pretty nice? Or should we get something now like an '08 T&C or maybe a Kia? Right now the max we could afford would be around $12,000-$15,000, in another year or two we would be in a position to finance a new Sienna. BTW, DH works in the industry so we can get a used vehicle for auction cost or whatever the dealer paid for the trade. WDYT? Thanks!

[firemomof3]

I just got throught with about 4mo. of researching/trying out different minivans...and bought an 06 Kia Sedona EX :) I have 3 kids but I babysit an 11mo. 2 days a week. Plus, my 5.5y/o has friends over all the time so...I really wanted a minivan that I could fit 5 car seats/boosters in.
Our budget was also 14K and I looked at the 08 Grand Caravans but wasn't impressed. The 3rd row was so tiny that fitting 3 across would be horrible. Plus, there is only 1 tether in the 3rd row :mad: I looked at the Odyssey & Sienna and of course loved :love: them both! But, with our budget I was looking at the 05-06' with higher miles. Then, I looked at the Kia Sedona and really like them. The long body style has lots of room, seats are very car seat friendly and the 3rd row has the 2 tethers I was looking for & I can get 3 across :)
So, thats my story. But depending on what you can find used I'd go with an Odyssey, Sienna or Sedona :twocents: