Sedonas...Can They be Made into an 8 Passenger Van?

chpiper · Jan 9, 2010

I have noticed that some of the minivans can be turned from 7 passenger into 8 passenger vans...I love the Sienna 8 seater, but can't afford it...and the Caravan looks like a nice option, I'm just not so sure about the safety ratings and prefer that of the Sedona...Has anyone had any experience with this?

I am also open to suggestions for other vehicles to check into...I feel like my head just might explode from all the searching I have been doing, and I keep coming up empty handed...Here is our situation:

We have 4 children with a baby on the way. I prefer to use an infant seat for the baby rather than a convertible. Our 3yo is FF in an Alpha Omega seat (but I plan to get her a new seat in the near future..) I have a 6yr old and a 9yr old both in high back boosters, and a 14 yr old, plus me and my husband...we also have our 17 yr old niece much of the time.

We are working with a very tight budget, under 10K is ideal. High mileage doesn't bother me too much as mu husband is pretty good with cars and can do most of the minor repairs that come up. I live in a very rural area, and drive alot, so a gas guzzler is not an option (we have an Expedition with a great seating arrangement, but I don't drive it as it is too hard on gas).

I have a Chevy Venture right now, and actually really love it, but the seating arrangement is not going to work when the new baby comes, as the third row won't accommodate 3 car seats, or even 2 car seats with my son just buckled in...(also I just watched the safety rating video

...can't wait to get something else!!)

Any ideas will be appreciated...Thanks!!

bobandjess99 · Jan 10, 2010

No, I'm sorry, the sedona does not come in an 8 passenger version.
Honestly, you are looking for 2 pretty much mutually exclusive criteria...good gas mileage anbd 8+ passenger seating.
I guess I would ask what your driving habits are. Generally, for larger families, I recommend 1 big vehicle that can seat everyone, and then 1 smaller vehicle which gets good gas mileage. I find that you don't always take EVERYONE with you, so there;s no need to have both vehicles seat everyone. For example...where do you drive and with whom? Is the burb your only other vehicle, or do you have a little commuter car for when it's just a couple people? I'd hate to pay fo rthe gas to fuel a burb, or even a sienna/other minivan, if I were running up to the store by myself, you know?

chpiper · Jan 10, 2010

Thanks for your reply...

We actually own several vehicles already...My husband has a truck that he uses for hauling and towing, and we have a Pontiac Grand Am in which he uses for work everyday (@80 miles round trip!)...then we have the Expedition, which we mostly only use when one vehicle is broken and we need a back up, or if it is snowing and I need to go somewhere with the kids (we need 4WD because of where we live). Other than that we mostly use it for 4 wheeling in the mountain...I definitely can't afford to drive it on any kind of regular basis...(we live an hour from ANY town!!). Then I have the Venture, which needs to go!

I rarely go anywhere without my kids...If anything my oldest will stay with family while I run errands, but I usually have all the little ones with me. Most trips are for homeschool activities, and I schedule grocery shopping and errands around that, so they are usually along...

We did have another car for me to use on those occasions when I didn't have the kids, but found we were paying more for insurance than we were saving on gas when comparing it to me having only the van...

And just to clarify...I know that they don't make the Sedona in an 8 seater, but I have read that some vans (the Caravan is the one that comes to mind) that you can use the bench from the 3rd row in the second row, and buy another bench for the back...The slots will fit either the bucket seats or a bench (as long as it isn't the stow n go version)...so I was wondering if any other vans were like this...that you can make that switch...

Any input is very much appreciated!!

bobandjess99 · Jan 10, 2010

first, sorry, i translated expedition to suburban in my head for no reaosn, LOL!!!
No, the sedona does not have a middle bench option at all. IT has 2 captains chairs, and the back bench doesnt "come out", it folds flat into teh floor, so i don't see how you could possibly even get a bench to put in the second row. Its not like certain older minivans where you cuold literally remove the bench from the vehicle, and tehrefore replace a 2-person bench with a 3-person one. sorry.
Well..you certainly could afford an 8-pass sienna, if you went old enough......so thats an option. As is the 8-passenger odyssey. The pilot comes in an 8-pass version.

But..even with 5 kids, plus yourself, thats only 6 people..so it sounds like the vast majority of the time, you probably could get by with a standard 7 passenger vehicle, right? Even 6, actually, but there aren't many of those.
Also..does he like..love the grand am? Because its not a horribly fuel efficient car, really. For long-distance commuting, my dh has a geo metro. Ya, laugh all you want, but it gets 40+ mpg, so an 80 mile round trip would use *2* gallons of gas.
but anyway..back to the task at hand. If you did get a new van, could it take the place of both the venture ANd the expedition? If you sold the exp, then you'd have that much more money to put towards a new vehicle, then youd have insurance only on one, and you'd be getting somethign with better gas mileage to boot. Seems like a win-win?

Anyway...SUV's aren't my strong point, but seats 8, has AWD, and awesoem safety ratings...honda pilot. I searched, and it seems like you could get an 03-4 with about 100K on it for your $10K budget. The mpg is only about 3 more than the exped though. Like this one.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...kId=20017&rpp=50&feedSegId=28705&aff=national

If you were willing to get somethign that only seats 7, there are more options.

Guest · Jan 11, 2010

If you count the niece, there's no way that Pilot is gonna work for 8 people. The 3rd row seats 3 in name only. With two seats in the back row, you could barely fit a newborn in between them. And that's without a car seat for the newborn.

I've heard the gas mileage on a Suburban isn't that bad in real life. I'd look into that. I know for sure that the Sienna can't be modified from a 7 seater to an 8 seater. We tried. The mounting brackets are totally different. That said, if you can find an 8 seat Sienna to fit your budget, it will work space wise.

Calideedle · Jan 11, 2010

bobandjess99 said:
No, the sedona does not have a middle bench option at all. IT has 2 captains chairs, and the back bench doesnt "come out", it folds flat into teh floor, so i don't see how you could possibly even get a bench to put in the second row. Its not like certain older minivans where you cuold literally remove the bench from the vehicle, and tehrefore replace a 2-person bench with a 3-person one.

My old '04 Sedona had a middle bench which you could totally remove. It also had 2 chairs (50/50 - 3 seats) in the back which could be removed completely. Though I am pretty positive they were not interchangeable.

chpiper · Jan 11, 2010

bobandjess99 said:
But..even with 5 kids, plus yourself, thats only 6 people..so it sounds like the vast majority of the time, you probably could get by with a standard 7 passenger vehicle, right? Even 6, actually, but there aren't many of those.
Also..does he like..love the grand am? Because its not a horribly fuel efficient car, really. For long-distance commuting, my dh has a geo metro. Ya, laugh all you want, but it gets 40+ mpg, so an 80 mile round trip would use *2* gallons of gas.
but anyway..back to the task at hand. If you did get a new van, could it take the place of both the venture ANd the expedition? If you sold the exp, then you'd have that much more money to put towards a new vehicle, then youd have insurance only on one, and you'd be getting somethign with better gas mileage to boot. Seems like a win-win?

No, the Grand Am will stay until it dies, as it was a car given to him by his Great Aunt, so he has emotional value to it...not to mention that he has a souped up stereo in it that he couldn't fit in a smaller car (and I am certain I can't convince him to get rid of that!! lol) And we do need to keep the Expedition for where we live...it is necessary to have access to a 4WD because we get tons of snow. Hubby's truck is 4WD, but has no room for the kids, plus he has to go to work when it snows, so I need to have something usable to get the kids in if I need to go somewhere...we just get too much snow and live too far in the country to go without it...Not to mention that it is older, and pretty beat up with loads of miles on it...so we really wouldn't make much selling/trading it anyway...

I will look into the Sienna more and see if I can find any 8 seaters in our area that are affordable...anyone have any input on if you could actually fit 8 in an Odyssey with the plus one seat?

And the Honda Pilot...I haven't driven one of these, only saw pics online...does anyone here have one? Have any pics of carseats in it? That would be nice to see...They do look nice...

And to another poster who mentioned the gas mileage in a Suburban (sorry, I don't know how to multi quote)...I have a friend who drove one in our area for a while and she would get between 12 and 14 MPG..that's even a little worse than my Expedition, so I don't think that will work...I wish it would because I looove them!!!! They are so roomy and comfortable for larger families! But thanks for the suggestion...

And still open to other suggestions...

Thanks so much!

firemomof3 · Jan 11, 2010

chpiper said:
And the Honda Pilot...I haven't driven one of these, only saw pics online...does anyone here have one? Have any pics of carseats in it? That would be nice to see...They do look nice...

My girlfriend has an 09 Pilot and she loves

it!
I installed her new Radian XTSL in it last week and I got a solid install in all 3 seating positions. I have not "played" with the 3rd row though

Melanie · Jan 11, 2010

Calideedle said:
My old '04 Sedona had a middle bench which you could totally remove. It also had 2 chairs (50/50 - 3 seats) in the back which could be removed completely. Though I am pretty positive they were not interchangeable.

:yeahthat: I have the same van and the seats absolutely aren't interchangeable. We've tried. On a side note-the older generation Sedonas (05 & prior) tend to not be as reliable as the newer generation ones.

bobandjess99 · Jan 11, 2010

chpiper said:
)
I will look into the Sienna more and see if I can find any 8 seaters in our area that are affordable...anyone have any input on if you could actually fit 8 in an Odyssey with the plus one seat?

And the Honda Pilot...I haven't driven one of these, only saw pics online...does anyone here have one? Have any pics of carseats in it? That would be nice to see...They do look nice...

!

Yes, you can, but you have to get very specific seat combinations.
You know - I thoughtof something....Are you absolutely certain this will be our last baby?? Because if not, it might actually be easier just to switch up to a larger passenger van at this point, and not have to be scrambling again in a couple years. Is that at all something you are considering?

karlatta · Jan 12, 2010

The Sienna also comes in a AWD, so that may make it possible to get rid of the Expedition and Venture to fund the purchase.

Jeanum · Jan 12, 2010

The gotcha on AWD for the Sienna is that AWD is only available as an option on the 7-passenger model and not available on the 8-passenger Sienna model. The 8-passenger Sienna is FWD only.

chpiper · Jan 12, 2010

bobandjess99 said:
Yes, you can, but you have to get very specific seat combinations.
You know - I thoughtof something....Are you absolutely certain this will be our last baby?? Because if not, it might actually be easier just to switch up to a larger passenger van at this point, and not have to be scrambling again in a couple years. Is that at all something you are considering?

Yep...last baby...if I have another I think my husband will leave, so either way we will have the same amount of people lol

chpiper · Jan 12, 2010

karlatta said:
The Sienna also comes in a AWD, so that may make it possible to get rid of the Expedition and Venture to fund the purchase.

Don't think this would work, as my husband uses the Expedition for 4WD in the mountains for hunting...

abacus2 · Jan 12, 2010

Is the extra cost of insurance and upkeep really less than the extra gas cost of just using the Expedition? Have you run any calculations?

It was mentioned that some Cavarans can be made into 8 seaters, are you considering a Caravan?

Have you seen or tried a Radian carseat? They are exceptionally narrow and could make your current van work for you. I'm thinking 14yr old, Radian for 3 yr old, infant seat for new baby could work in the third row of your current van.

chpiper · Jan 12, 2010

abacus2 said:
Is the extra cost of insurance and upkeep really less than the extra gas cost of just using the Expedition? Have you run any calculations?

It was mentioned that some Cavarans can be made into 8 seaters, are you considering a Caravan?

Have you seen or tried a Radian carseat? They are exceptionally narrow and could make your current van work for you. I'm thinking 14yr old, Radian for 3 yr old, infant seat for new baby could work in the third row of your current van.

I drive ALOT (over 70k miles in a year) and on a week to week basis cannot afford to run the Expedition...it also becomes an issue of it being used when my hubby wants to go hunting (he takes a few weeks off per year to hunt and he uses it to fit him and all his gear and buddies in...plus it always smells like hunters!! lol) and I wouldn't have a vehicle during those times, as his vehicles won't fit everyone in...

As for my Venture...it is on it's last leg...and ever since I saw the crash test videos for it I really just want to get something else rather than fixing it up...but your seating arrangement doesn't sound like a bad idea if I do end up with another 7 seater...I have been eyeing the Radian seats...they do look pretty handy for small spaces...

I wouldn't mind a Caravan...I just don't know what years to look for that the seats can be interchanged...I know that it doesn't work with the Stow N Go seats, but other than that I don't know which ones will work, or if there are any other vans that have interchangeable seats...

I really appreciate the responses so far...it is very helpful to think it through with you!!

chpiper · Jan 12, 2010

bobandjess99 said:
Yes, you can, but you have to get very specific seat combinations.

What combinations do you think would work in an Odyssey with the Plus One (did all models come with this? I can't seem to find any used ones that have this mentioned...did it come standard in certain years?)

I am definitely willing to buy other seats, my mom could use the ones I have now if I replace them...

J-max · Jan 12, 2010

codex57 said:
I've heard the gas mileage on a Suburban isn't that bad in real life. I'd look into that. I know for sure that the Sienna can't be modified from a 7 seater to an 8 seater. We tried. The mounting brackets are totally different. That said, if you can find an 8 seat Sienna to fit your budget, it will work space wise.

OP - you sound a lot like me - very rural (we are over an hour to any town/stores too) and lots of kids and lots of miles of rigs. We have looked at getting a 2nd more efficient vehicle, but as I usually have at least some of the kids and often all of them with me, it just doesn't make since. In order to get the gas mileage that would pay for an additional vehicle's tax and insurance it would need to be a little thing with not enough room for more than a couple of kids. And there are times we need a 4wd. So we have settled on a suburban (we are a chevy family). Mine gets 17-17.5 all the time, no matter city, highway, fully loaded and hauling a trailer. I am happy with that. So I will second the idea of maybe trading in the expedition and the venture for a suburban or at least looking at it and playing with the numbers.

chpiper · Jan 12, 2010

Dilema solved...I stumbled onto an 04 Sienna with 8 passenger seating...(mileage is a bit high, but my husband didn't seem worried about it) for $8500!!! I drove it today and fell in love, I could just see my kids riding safely in it...so hopefully if all goes well we will have it by the end of the week!!

Thanks for helping me think this through!!

jb5416 · Jan 14, 2010

Congrats! I have on '05 8 pass Sienna and LOVE it. I'm sure you will too!
Jessie

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