Question Toyota Sienna 8 passenger - ?s

Bear with me....We rented a 2007 Toyota Sienna (maybe '08) last month while on vacation & LOVED IT!!! It was the 8 passenger version. We loved being able to put DD's travel seat - the Scenera- and fit 2 rather plus size adults in the same row without any crowding whatsoever. We were able to use the back with seats down for all our luggage, etc. Anyway, we are seriously considering getting one. Right now we have a 2000 Ford Explorer. I loved it until the gas started killing me. It only gets 16-17mpg. It costs me nearly $80 to fill up every 5-6 days. I know that alot of people love the Sienna so I had a couple questions & any more info to think about would be great.

Here's our criteria -
We have 1 18 month DD who is RF in a MA. I would like to put her in the middle seat and push it forward (which stupidly we didn't try on the rental). We do plan on having 1 more DC. We regularly carry passengers of different ages and would love the ability to handle more than we currently can. Again, we should have tried but didn't, how accessible is the back seat/3rd row?

My concerns-
The Explorer is paid for and I'm afraid its going to be very hard to sell by ourselves and I also have reservations about what a dealership would give us in trade. Anybody have an easy formula to figure out whether it would actually be more costs effective to have a new car vs. just paying for gas/maintenance on the old one?

What kind of gas mileage does the Sienna get realistically? Is there a better option for getting better gas mileage than the Sienna?

I have an 8 passenger Sienna and we've had no issues with 3rd row access.

Most of the time lately we just leave the passenger side outboard seatback folded down, but you can also tumble the whole seat totally out of the way. IME kids can also slide behind the upright seat as long as it's slid all the way forward if they really have to (i.e. we have a friend riding in a car seat there). In a pinch you can also just fold down the small section of the 3rd row and let people get into the back through the hatch.

I usually get 20-22 mpg in mixed city driving. 25+ on the highway.

Honestly it's probably more cost effective to keep your paid for car, but HTH a little!

I get similar mileage in our '05 Sienna. I drove 200 miles round trip yesterday, in fact, a combination of freeway and two lane highway/rural roads, with speed limits ranging from 35 to 70 mph, and averaged 26.5 mpg. With more mixed driving, I get lower 20s, and strictly city driving tops out at 18/19 mpg lately, and a bit lower in the winter.

I have had a RF Blvd. installed in the second row center with the vehicle seat moved forward in the "front and center" position. The Marathon should fit there just fine, too. :thumbsup: You can pop off the plastic cover on the back of the innermost front seat leg/rail in the Sienna to create a rear facing tether anchor point for the MA's RF D-ring tether connector strap. There's a helpful online installation video showing where and how to connect the D-ring strap in a Sienna at http://www.carseatsite.com/videos.htm#rear-facing videos

If the Explorer is paid for and the Sienna would mean making car payments again, plus the hit on the trade-in of an SUV which isn't super popular right now as a used car due to the higher gas prices, it's likely more cost effective to keep the SUV. Hmmm, there might be some sort of formula online to calculate a break-even point on automotive/consumer shopping sites by way of googling.

You guys are getting better gas milage than I am not on the highway all that often. I would say I'm on the highway maybe 10% of the time I'm driving and the onboard calculater says I ave 18.9. I have a 2004 as well.

I have the second row outboard seat taken out and only put it in when I need it so it is easy for Benjamin to get in his seat and easy for the older kids to get in the back. Benjamin is in the front and center in the forward facing marathon, Elizabeth is behind me in a rear-facing marathon, and I have two boosters in the back.

I've had the van for a little over the year and have installed the 8th seat 5 or 6 times when we have gone on trips and needed to have room for extra people. It really does fold very easily but we still opt to take it out when not needed because it isn't that hard to install (now that we have practiced it! lol).

Various sites have said that the sienna will most likely be the first hybrid minivan, honestly you might want to just wait and see if it happens!