Which minivan for family of 8 - 2010 Sienna or 2011 Odyssey

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member
We're in the market for a used van. For the past 3 yrs, we've driven a 2008 8-passenger Sienna, but it was totaled in a crash recently (my DH and 6 kids were all in it and everyone is fine, no injuries!) In shopping for a replacement, I'm looking at either a 2010 Sienna or a 2011 Odyssey. I understand that 2011 was the year both companies made changes and that the Odyssey became favored over the Sienna for large families. Obviously, I am familiar with the Sienna. I know what I liked about it and what I didn't like about it, but I know nothing about the Odyssey. My concern with the Odyssey is that the 3rd row hip room, according to my research, is about 3.5" less than the Sienna. For reference, I have two seatbelt only riders (12 yrs and 11 yrs, one still rides in an Incognito in certain vehicles), 1 backless booster rider (almost 10 yrs), 2 FF harnessed (6 yrs and 4 yrs), and 1 RF (2 yrs).
 
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DawgDad

New member
The 3rd row hiproom & shoulder room difference is small...it's 50.3" in the Sienna vs. 48.4" in the Odyssey for hiproom and 61.1" vs. 60.9". There is significantly more legroom and a bit more headroom in the Odyssey (42.4" vs. 36.3" & 38" vs. 35.9"). It would appear to the common adult that it's more comfortable to sit in the 3rd row in the Odyssey than the Sienna and the fold-n-stow 3rd row is much easier to do in the Odyssey than the Sienna.

Because you have so many, you really need to bring your family with seats and plop them all in the Odyssey as if you were really using this car for your everyday. Seriously. Sounds like a pain, but this is not a small purchase. If there is one on the showroom floor, then bonus (the 2014's are the same as the 2011's for interior specs and such...no change in the seating, just technology and safety).

I would suspect the best configuration would be for your 4 & 2 year old to sit in the second row with one in the middle and one on the captains chair...then the 9 year old in the booster will occupy the other captains chair allowing entrance to the back. There your 4 year old in the Frontier will be on one of the sides with top tether (not sure if it's in the Sienna's 3rd row in 2010) and your 12 & 11 will split between middle or the other side. You can obviously try the 2 year old in the back to give even more shoulder room for the two oldest in the back since RF is easier to side beside...especially since the Frontier isn't small.

You could try all the major car seats up in the middle row with the RF one in one of the outboard seats so that it can somewhat slide & fold back enough for the 3 older kids to fit in the back... See, you just need to try it out.

In 2011 it really seemed like Odyssey rose to the call for the needs of a big family while Toyota dropped the ball a little in their model change (seems like they are making some good fixes for the 2015 refresh though). The Odyssey will drive more like a sedan, feel like it has more get up and go, and feel "bigger" than the Sienna (at least that is what I felt like when I compared the two). Not sure if that is positive to you, but that's what I feel are some of the core differences in the cars outside the features vs. features or the obvious car seat/family seating configuration challenges. :)
 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member
Thank you, DawgDad. I appreciate your insights. The closest 8 passenger Ody that I can find is at a dealership 60 miles from us. Our vehicle situation is sketchy right now. In order for all of us to get there, well, it would be a huge hassle. I guess I was hoping someone would come along and say, "I have 6 kids in an Odyssey and I love it!" LOL! At this point I'm tempted to stick with the Sienna because I know it works fine for our needs.
 

DawgDad

New member
Yikes! That's a far hike! If you have some Sienna's near by, then keep with what you know works. I think you would like the Odyssey, but if there isn't even a new one near by for you to take a look at first then don't go through the hassle. I have 3 kids so I can just imagine the headache it is to work with 6 for a long stretch. :)
 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member
We live in a very rural area, so there aren't any Siennas for sale around here either. When we bought ours 3 yrs ago, the first time I saw one in person was when we picked it up a few hours from here. Our seating arrangement is made a little more complicated by the fact that my 9 yr old in a backless booster has to be in the middle row, center seat, because he has pretty severe motion sickness. He has to be in a spot where he is looking directly out through the front and not to the sides at all. So, tonight I am doing some searching to see what boosters pair well with that skinny center seat in the Odyssey. I am taking your advice to heart and am strongly considering making the trip to check out the Odyssey in person. I might not be able to take all the kids, but I could at least take all the car seats and the older kids to try out some different seating arrangements. I know there's only a one yr difference between 2010 and 2011, but I can't help but feel like the newer the better, and since the 2011 Sienna isn't an option, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to get everyone comfortably in an Odyssey.
 

DawgDad

New member
That's great if you can do it, especially with the older children since they will have to sit around the seats. So sorry to hear about the predicament with the motion sickness...that had to be a rather unpleasant discovery process over the years. :(

I think with your unique situation with as many children you have, you should find it easier in the Odyssey, but you never know. With the ability to decide, it's worth the investigation to at least never second guess a decision in the future. I looked into it a little more and I am sure you might hear others on here agree, but the 2010 was the last "good" model year from the Sienna in terms of carseat installation. There are other aspects that they improved on, but apparently regressed. So comparing the 2010 Sienna to the 2011 Odyssey is the more direct apples-to-apples comparison for your imperative needs. The creature comfort differences will just be icing on the cake.

BTW, the middle seat in the middle row in the 2011+ model series of the Odyssey is actually a substantial seat with LATCH & top tether. Not that you need that for your 9 year old, but you should fit whatever booster you have in that seat just fine. The two seats on either side of him actually slide out 1.5"s to create more room on either side. This is why the car gets such rave reviews on this site because it's a carseat installers dream vehicle.

Let me know if I can help any more. There are tons of other people on here who have more intimate knowledge of safety features and other things as well for the two vehicles you are looking at...
 

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