Please HELP Ody vs. Sienna QUICK decision

Okay, I need to make a new car decision a.s.a.p!

Presently I lease a 8 seater 2005 Sienna LE. I ahve 2 kids. My son is 5 and is ff in a Wizard in the center seat of teh second row. The seat is installed with the seatbelt and is tethered. My daughter is 11 months old and is rf (which she will be until she reachers the weight limit) in a Boulevard passenger outboard. The lease is up in 3 weeks and we want to buy (2008). I have liked my Sienna b/c I like my son being in the middle and my daughter passenger outboard. I have read that passenger outboard is slightly safer. I would get another Sienna, but I am not thrilled that it only got 4 stars in the frontal crash area. It also rated poor by theh iihs for rear crash.

I am looking at Honda Odyssey, Pilot, and Toyota Sienna. I have the following questions I REALLY need help with!

1. If DD is rf drivers side outboard in the Ody, where can her BV be tetered?

2. Is it true that one outboard side is safer than the other (i.e. statistically hit less)

3. Is the Pilot as safe as the Ody?

4. In the Ody, can you have the passenger side Captains chair moved over to be next to the drivers side capt chair and have a Regent in the passenger side one (that is moved in toward the middle) and a rf BV and then eventually ff BV next to ieachother?

5. What is safer for my DS - to be in the middle seat of the Sienna or in the Capt chair moved over toward the middle in the Ody. He is 5 and is ff in a Wizard.

6. If I stick with the Sienna will I be able to fit a Regent in the middle of the of the second row and a BV rf passenger outboard (rf now and eventually ff)?

7. Will that configuration in # 8 work in the Pilot?

I am sorry to be so obsessive, but I really need help. I hate the idea of my kids being less safe in a side impact in the Odyssey, but I hate the idea that the Sienna got overall less safe rating than Ody. What would you do? I have driven all, researched like mad. I am going nuts here. Thanks for the help!

mjcmommy114 said:

1. If DD is rf drivers side outboard in the Ody, where can her BV be tetered?

4. In the Ody, can you have the passenger side Captains chair moved over to be next to the drivers side capt chair and have a Regent in the passenger side one (that is moved in toward the middle) and a rf BV and then eventually ff BV next to ieachother?

5. What is safer for my DS - to be in the middle seat of the Sienna or in the Capt chair moved over toward the middle in the Ody. He is 5 and is ff in a Wizard.

Click to expand...

1. There is a thread on this http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9902&highlight=tether+odyssey - I don't know if it works in 08's.

4. When you move the captain's chair into the center in the Odyssey, the seatbelt has to go a pretty long way, because it is attached to the side of the car, not to the seat. I can imagine this could make it difficult to install a seat with the seatbelt in that location, especially the Regent on short belt path. I haven't tried it though, as my dd is still in a Decathlon with LATCH.

5. I can't imagine a difference, though I'm not an expert. When my captain's chair is scooted over, it's not quite in the middle but very close to it.

My two cents: the only reason we chose the Odyssey over the Sienna was that we wanted Vehicle Stability Control and the Sienna didn't have it unless we bought a big package with a bunch of other stuff we didn't need and couldn't afford. I did also like the fact that the 2nd row outboard seats move forward like the front seats of a 2-door car, rather than tilting up (with the possibility of crashing down on someone's foot) to let people into the 3rd row, and the fact that I can stow the 8th seat (though it is not a great seat overall, but since I rarely need it, it usually stays stowed, and is very easy to install and take out). Things I liked better about the Sienna that I sometimes wish we had are the fact that the middle seatbelt attached to the shoulder of the seat instead of to the ceiling, and the fact that all 3 seat positions in the 2nd row had LATCH. They were both close to perfect but neither was perfect. It was a toss-up other than the VSC's effect on price (but I think maybe Toyota got their act together on the 08's and now includes VSC?)

Megan

Desperate for Ody Help!

Sorry to start a new thread, but since I am waiting for email verification, it won't let me respond in my original thread. I am exhausted and stressed out about this. We need a decision this week. I like the Ody but my two main concerns are:

1. Can my 11 month old's rf Boulevard be tethered well? It will be driver's side outboard. I have read some of the articles here, but I can't figure out if these is a good place to tether that is not nixed by Britax. I really want her tethered.

2. If we move the passenger Captain's chair toward the middle (removing the plus 1 seat), can his Wizard and in a few months his Regent be installed with the seatbelt? In my earlier post it was suggested that the seatbelt would not reach.

These are deal breakers for me. I really would love my carseat set-up to stay how it is now in my 8 - seater 2005 Sienna. My son is ff in the middle of the second row. My daughter is rf in the passenger outboard. I would get another Sienna, but I wish it had 4 stars for frontal crash from NHTSA.

Also, if I stick with Sienna, would a Regent fit in the middle of the second row with a Boulevard rear-facing (and eventually forward facing)

Do you have any advice that can help me? What is better - my kids in safer positions (i.e. middle and passenger outboard) in the Sienna or in less safe posiitons in the safer rated Ody?

Thanks so much! This is making me nuts! I am so stressed about it.

Re: Desperate for Ody Help!

i think this is your original post, it was moved to the car safety section

http://car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=35336

Re: Desperate for Ody Help!

Do you mean will they fit in the 8 pass sienna or the 7? Yes, they will fit in captains chairs of the 7 pas, even with one moved to the middle. Sounds like you've done your research but an interesting article is the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Status Report. It lists the safest cars and the worst by how many deaths there are per year.

Re: Desperate for Ody Help!

1) Yes you will be able to rear-face tether your BV in the Ody behind the Driver.

2) Since I don't own a Regent and have never installed one I can't answer this question, but consider this...move your Regent behind the Driver and put the BV in the center position. Sometimes we must install carseats according to how well they install in different positions. The Odyssey has amazing side impact protection. Not only is the child moved further away from the side of the door (compared to a traditional passenger vehicle), but it also has side curtain airbags and a strong side panel.

They are both awesome vehicles!

2- If so, the difference is minor. Any seat in back is safe if the passenger is properly restrained.

3- Yes. Any differences are pretty minor.

4- Yes as mentioned already. Nicer to use LATCH to avoid pulling the seatbelt over when possible.

5- No difference

Any of the three vehicles you mention will be very safe. If stability control is still optional on the new Sienna, that would be the only major concern. Just make sure to get that feature as an option package.

Also, if I stick with Sienna, would a Regent fit in the middle of the second row with a Boulevard rear-facing (and eventually forward facing)

Click to expand...

Yes, even with an 8 passenger.

Odyssey = Pilot = Ridgeline = Acura MDX

They're all basically the same car with minor differences. I suppose the SUVs are theoretically a bit less safe b/c of a higher center of gravity, but traction control helps with that.

codex57 said:

Odyssey = Pilot = Ridgeline = Acura MDX

They're all basically the same car with minor differences. I suppose the SUVs are theoretically a bit less safe b/c of a higher center of gravity, but traction control helps with that.

Click to expand...

Actually, since '07 the MDX is no longer on the same platform, it has it's own new platform. In '09, the Pilot will be moved to the platform used by the 07/08 MDX.

They are both safe vehicles according to this site http://www.informedforlife.org/ (uses an algorithm in combo with IIHS and NHTSA ratings), with the Odyssey being in the top 2% for '08.

We had a 7 passenger Sienna and absolutely loved it and we tethered a rf decathalon in one of the captains chairs and we couldn't have gotten a more perfect fit. I know you like your son being in the middle but is it because you like to hand him stuff or what not? I was able to reach both of my kids perfectly in the captains chairs from the drivers seat and never had a problem. We compared our Sienna to the Odyssy many times and our Sienna always won out. However the things we loved about the Sienna that didn't come in any other van are now available in the 08 Grand Caravan so we are really excited about that. We currently have an 07 Grand Caravan and can't wait to get the 09 when our lease is done so that we can have some of the features that our sienna did again.