New Minivan - which model??

Looking to buy a new minivan for our family with 3 kids (will have 2 RF'ng, plus an infant seat initially). Deciding between the Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Town and Country, Toyota Sienna, and Dodge Caravan. Anyone have any tips/tricks on things you like/dislike about any of these specific models when it comes to toting the kiddos around? Haven't driven any of them yet, but will be starting shortly. Just wanted to see if there were any comments that would sway us one way or the other first. Will be looking at 2011-2013 models - mostly likely new.

Well we just got done with this so I can tell you what my thoughts were:

2012 sienna xle- leather and moon roof. it was the 8 seater option.. I struggled to get the 8th seat in, just a matter of time before it breaks I think. there is a peg that snaps into the drivers side chair so it always has to be in synch with that seat. The tracks on the floor I felt were always going to be crumb, crayon,etc magnets which at some point would impede sliding the seats. Which I felt were heavy especially since I would be doing it all the time multiple times a day. My 12 year olds had a hard time with it. Oh and when you take the 8th seat out, the base is left on the floor so when the kids crawl into the back there is an excellent chance of it getting stepped on. Back up camera is small unless you get the upgraded package. And I had a very hard time getting my 3 car seats in the middle row even with a radian in the mix. kids will not always be forward facing or rear facing at the same time so I felt my options were limited. Plus they got rid of several latch positions.

Chrysler town and country 2012- touring - L
drove nice but not great ( I have/had a 2004 and I LOVED it for 9 years)
cant beat the upgrades in the lowest model it has leather and a dvd and a nav package. However, they were harder to use. The seats and interior look and feel cheap definitely down graded the quality since I had mine. The third row tilts like a V and I had a hard time installing my marathon which is pretty user friendly. The tail gate position was hard to get, though I guess with practice I should get better. The captains and third row were not very comfortable and my 5 foot 10 in husband was hitting his head in the third row outboard position (i figure my kids will grow and we hold on to our cars)
I did like that the captains chairs were stow and go

Honda oddy 2012 EX-L RES - Bought and LOVE! Latch everywhere except 3rd row center but does have a top tether on the seat (no longer on the cargo bumper) LOVE that center row has a wide mode so I can install seats and still tilt one of the side seats to access the third row without getting hung up on the middle seat (i have a roundabout 50 installed there with the latch). LOVE the drive of it, love the nice big trunk LOVE that my car insurance only changed by $2 a month. Kids love it, even my husband who said no more minivans called it a sweet ride and bought it after a 10 min test drive.
WISH it had stow and go 2nd row but OH WELL...

I watched LOTS of youtube videos on comparing them so I knew exactly what each van did because the sales guys are not always on top of each models features

Hope this helps!
Brought the ODDY home monday

Want max space, and 8 seat option. Leaves out the Caravan/Town & Country.

Btw Sienna and Odyssey.

Have in-laws who are Toyota mechanics. Big incentive to get a Toyota.

Bought a Honda Odyssey Touring Elite.

The 8th seat is full sized basically. Honda is really pushing how you can put 3 carseats in the 2nd row.

Otherwise, it's a ton of little things that make the Odyssey better.

For me, the big things were interior material quality (the new Sienna is shockingly cheap) and how the 2nd and 3rd rows worked. Just much better on the Odyssey.

Minor things are things like the rear floor vents and floor are shaped to prevent crap that fell on the floor from falling into the vents on the Odyssey, while you're just asking for crap to get in there on the Odyssey (see Youtube) or how the well in the trunk area of the Odyssey is free from seat mechanisms so nothing will get scratched, while the Sienna has lots of exposed hinges and plastic coverings to either get dirty/jammed or scratched.

codex57 said:

Want max space, and 8 seat option. Leaves out the Caravan/Town & Country.

Btw Sienna and Odyssey.

Have in-laws who are Toyota mechanics. Big incentive to get a Toyota.

Bought a Honda Odyssey Touring Elite.

The 8th seat is full sized basically. Honda is really pushing how you can put 3 carseats in the 2nd row.

Otherwise, it's a ton of little things that make the Odyssey better.

For me, the big things were interior material quality (the new Sienna is shockingly cheap) and how the 2nd and 3rd rows worked. Just much better on the Odyssey.

Minor things are things like the rear floor vents and floor are shaped to prevent crap that fell on the floor from falling into the vents on the Odyssey, while you're just asking for crap to get in there on the Odyssey (see Youtube) or how the well in the trunk area of the Odyssey is free from seat mechanisms so nothing will get scratched, while the Sienna has lots of exposed hinges and plastic coverings to either get dirty/jammed or scratched.

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It's funny now having owned two odyssies and a sienna... That I can really see pluses in both. I had a 2011 touring and touring elite and now a sienna limited. I really liked my odyssey but there were downsides. First the quality wasn't great. I had various problems with both vans. Most notable was the bumper paint peeling off everywhere.. With multiple repairs. But there are things I certainly prefer about the ody like the more refined interior.

The ody though was much tighter for DH and myself. I am blown away by the front to back space for car seats in the sienna. We have never owned a car where we really have been able to put our seats in a comfortable position. Also, I find ingrees and egress to be much easier in the sienna for everyone. The cargo well in the back is much bigger enabling me to leave the third row up and put any extra people in the back of the van. I still dislike the dashboard layout and materials but I will have to live with that. The sienna is much quieter on the highway too. I don't need a zillion latch or tethers. I'm not using any tethers now with a booster rider and a rear facer. Our carpool kid is rear facing too. The other thing I dislike on the sienna is the seat tracks. I can see them attracting sand, food, and dust... But I covered all the tracks with mats.

I wish I could take the sienna and add in the tethers from the odyssey and the dashboard. Then I think we'd have a great minivan.

We just bought an Ody yesterday and brought it home tonight. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that car. We bought the EX-L with Nav. I am still working out car set placement but there are so many options. The 3rd row has so much room even with the 2nd row pushed all the way back. Love the tethers in every seat even though we only have 1 FFing right now it helps to have so many options to put her.

Tonight we had a RF infant bucket and 2 adults in the 2nd row and 2 FF in the 3rd row and it was very comfortable. It just felt really high quality.

Now, we only researched other options online but once we drove the Ody we were sold. Bought it even though we were just looking.

I just flat out did not like the way the Ody handled/drove.... i will be a loyal Sienna driver unless the handling changes significantly. In the end, it's not about the interior to me - i want to LIKE how it drives and enjoy having to drive it all over to hell and gone I honestly prefer several things about the Ody, but i just couldn't stand driving it

Either way i think it can be agreed that the Toyota/Honda mechanics are superior to the Chrysler ones. The Sienna vs Odyssey will always come down to personal preference. Have fun van shopping!

We bought a Sienna in April, our first minivan ever. I was completely settled on buying an Odyssey because of the seating configuration and I wanted an 8 passenger. At the last minute, I was shown a Sienna that I fell in love with. I decided that I actually LIKE the tiny 8th seat in the middle because it's rare that it gets used, but it's available when I want it. I've only used it twice and really the second time we had seven passengers, but it allowed me to not uninstall the MR that was using offset center latch in the third row and just leave two people back there. One big negative is it has less top tethers than previous models and Odyssey models, I believe: two captains chairs and center 3rd row. It limits your possibilities, but I figure I only have two kids left in harnessed seats, so it's not a big deal for us anymore. We drove it 20 hours each way on vacation and had tons of room for luggage for six people and everyone was comfortable on the ride. I felt it had more room than the Town and Countrys we usually rent every summer. I'm really happy with my purchase and actually love driving my minivan!

Mags462 said:

I just flat out did not like the way the Ody handled/drove.... i will be a loyal Sienna driver unless the handling changes significantly. In the end, it's not about the interior to me - i want to LIKE how it drives and enjoy having to drive it all over to hell and gone I honestly prefer several things about the Ody, but i just couldn't stand driving it

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This must be a very subjective thing. For the current and two previous generations, I've found the Odyssey to have better handling and tighter steering with more road feel. The tradeoff was the louder and somewhat choppier ride that came with the typical Honda suspension tuned more to performance. I haven't spent a lot of time driving the latest Sienna, so perhaps they've changed a bit. I know my new Highlander has the characteristic soft, smooth Toyota ride with numb handling and steering, though. Granted, when you get old like me, maybe that becomes a priority over handling in a big family truckster;-)

kam1011 said:

We bought a Sienna in April, our first minivan ever. I was completely settled on buying an Odyssey because of the seating configuration and I wanted an 8 passenger. At the last minute, I was shown a Sienna that I fell in love with. I decided that I actually LIKE the tiny 8th seat in the middle because it's rare that it gets used, but it's available when I want it.

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I really liked the convenience of the stowable mini 8th seat in the previous Odyssey, much like the current Sienna. It's not nearly as useful for a carseats, especially for three-across or two adjacent seats, but it is very nice for having an aisle to access the 3rd row and having an 8th seat handy when you need it, without taking up a lot of storage or garage space. I have to admit, the current Odyssey is also nice for putting 3 adults comfortably in the second row, too, leaving a ton of cargo space in back.

Thanks for all the great input!

I'm guessing that no one who owned a Town and Country or Caravan has great things to say about them (except the obvious shown n' go - if only Honda and Toyota had done that...!)? I have a friend who has an Odyssey, and it's really nice, love the LATCH options, like the look of the newest model, but having a hard time getting around the $10,000 price difference (there's a big sale on T&C and Caravan right now)! I like the appearance of the Sienna the best, I hate the look of the older model Odysseys, and I love the great reviews everyone gives both of these vans. But - is $10,000 worth it? We've owned pricier vehicles in the past, so I get the difference in feel/quality, handling between cheap cars and pricey cars, but with these vans, is the difference that enormous that it's worth so much? I just don't know if I can swallow the bigger price tag. And I would really love those stow n' go bins for storing projectiles. We also have had lots of mechanical issues with a Honda in the past, so that is biasing us a little. I hate having to make these decisions!