I think I've decided - coupla more questions

erinnicolevan · Oct 30, 2008

I wanted to THANK everyone for their helpful suggestions on minivans/suv's for me. I have 4 little kids, pregnant with #5, all in carseats.

RA - Rear Facing (teeny almost 2-year-old)
RA - Forward Facing (almost 3-year-old) - I may need to switch him to a Marathon very soon
2 Parkways - Forward Facing (5 and 6-year-old)
Infant Seat (probably Primo Viaggio) - Rear Facing

I think we are going with the 2007-2008 Toyota Sienna XLE/Limited. It only seats 7, but our family should be complete when #5 arrives, so this should work for us. I haven't been to the dealer yet to install all of my seats (DH is deployed and I don't have a sitter), but I should be able to get all of my seats in this vehicle, correct? If the seats I own won't work, will I be able to find a combination of seats that will work in this vehicle?

THANK YOU!!

Melanie · Oct 30, 2008

Just wondering why you are planning on the 7 seater instead of the 8 seater. I've been eying the 8 seater & am wondering if there is something detrimental I'm missing.

I personally like the idea of having the additional seat configuration. You could store (or fold or whatever it does) the extra middle seat when it's just your family so it would be similar in convenience to the 7 seater. And you'd still have the option to bring a friend along if you wanted.

Maybe that's just me though-I like being the cheauffer mom.

Sorry-no advice on the car seats, hopefully someone will chime in with more experience.

erinnicolevan · Oct 30, 2008

No, no, I would actually prefer the 8-seater, but my husband wants the XLE Limited. He says why get the 8-seater if we keep one seat stored in the garage, plus, he wants the leather, navigation, dual climate, heated seats, back-up camera, etc. All of the fancy gadgets.

Ultimately, it is my decision, and I keep going back and forth between the models. The LE is considerably cheaper, but I just don't know if I can live (with 5 kids!!) without leather.

ketchupqueen · Oct 31, 2008

I wouldn't ever buy leather! Cloth is so easy to shampoo, if they mess up the leather it is a pain to replace. It's a trade-off I guess because leather is harder to mess up but, with carseats and such, I feel like the cloth are going to be less likely to mess up.

erinnicolevan · Oct 31, 2008

I guess I didn't really think about that in regards to leather. We've always had leather, since having kids, so I just assumed I needed it. LOL Non-leather is quite a bit less expensive, too. And, I could get my 8th seat, too. Hmmm. More thinking to do, I suppose. I am so afraid of making the wrong decision or wish I got something else, you know?

Guest · Oct 31, 2008

Backup camera is the only useful gadget. The nav isn't all that good. It's not intuitive at all. And I like gadgets. Just get a Garmin or something. Much cheaper and much better. The Sienna navi is far inferior to the one I've got in my Lexus. It's not cuz one's a Lexus and one isn't. It's just that my model got newly redesigned so it picked up the later edition of the navi. Both are Toyotas. I rarely use dual climate. Unless you've got your fan blowing on you and the fan blowing on the passenger, it doesn't make too much of a difference.

The backup camera is nice cuz it's a fisheye lens. Lets you see the sides. Great when you're backing out of a space that has cars blocking your side views. You can sneak the rear out and use the camera to check for oncoming cars. Otherwise, the $99 wireless backup camera you can buy anywhere will do the trick just fine. I've got it on my truck so I can compare directly. The $99 isn't as good, but for $99, it does the main purpose just fine.

Peony · Oct 31, 2008

We have the XLE, I flat out refuse to have anything but leather with children.

The nav does bite, it's the worst one out of any car we've owned. I do love the back up camera though.

ETA: I just saw your other thread. We have the AWD since we live in the mountains. The fuel economy sucks, and so do the tires. We just had to replace our tires because they were completely unsafe to drive on and we've had this van less then two years, bought it brand new. They are very $$ to replace.

oxeye · Oct 31, 2008

Do you have to replace the tires in the AWD with the run-flat ones? We just bought an AWD Sienna today so this has me a little concerned. It might makes things easier once they need replacing if I can just replace them with regular mud/snow tires.

NannyMom · Nov 1, 2008

erinnicolevan said:
No, no, I would actually prefer the 8-seater, but my husband wants the XLE Limited. He says why get the 8-seater if we keep one seat stored in the garage, plus, he wants the leather, navigation, dual climate, heated seats, back-up camera, etc. All of the fancy gadgets. Ultimately, it is my decision, and I keep going back and forth between the models. The LE is considerably cheaper, but I just don't know if I can live (with 5 kids!!) without leather.

I love my 8 seater sienna. The only think I wish was different was having 2 power doors (CE) instead of 1 (LE). You can pay for Toyota to put something on the cloth seats (similar to scotch gaurd) to protect the seats. If the kids spill something that you can't get out....they'll clean it for you. And I think it's good for 7 years. It was only $100-200 when I bought mine last year.

The 8th seat could come in handy when a child wants to bring a friend, or a relative wants to travel with you, or when a parent wants to sit in the back with baby. WIth 5 kids, no one else can ever go with you anywhere. Even if you keep that 8th seat in the garage, at least you have the option (and it's really easy to install).

Peony · Nov 1, 2008

oxeye said:
Do you have to replace the tires in the AWD with the run-flat ones? We just bought an AWD Sienna today so this has me a little concerned. It might makes things easier once they need replacing if I can just replace them with regular mud/snow tires.

You could but then what are you going to do about a spare tire? There is no place in the AWD Sienna for a spare hence the reason the reason they have the run flat tires. The run flats that we got are general purpose but they aren't the best in snow, the tire place told us that there are no other options for run flats, they don't make a snow tire. I haven't researched that for myself since we were on a deadline for a trip and just had to get any tire as fast as possible. AWD Siennas are very popular where I live and I know several families they have put regular tires on and either don't have a spare and hope they don't get a flat or just put a spare in the cargo area, either option I wouldn't like.

southpawboston · Nov 1, 2008

Peony said:
The run flats that we got are general purpose but they aren't the best in snow, the tire place told us that there are no other options for run flats, they don't make a snow tire. I haven't researched that for myself since we were on a deadline for a trip and just had to get any tire as fast as possible.

consider your research done. the guy was wrong. my winter snows are run-flats. dunlop wintersport M3. best snow tires i've ever had. interestingly, toyota switched to dunlop run-flats after the complaints of premature and uneven treadwear. when consumer reports tested their AWD sienna with the dunlops, they had surprisingly good results.

erinnicolevan · Nov 2, 2008

I've been emailing with the internet department and have an offer of $600 BELOW invoice for a new 2009 XLE (with DVD, bluetooth, leather). I am going to look tomorrow to check it out with the kids' carseats. Funny, I just assumed we'd buy a used 2007-2008, but they are having great deals on the new models right now. I will let you know if/what I end up with. Thanks for all of the suggestions!

Guest · Nov 3, 2008

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

Heather98012 · Nov 3, 2008

I wouldn't buy a car without leather with kids. It's just SO easy to clean (& I've never had a problem with a carseat on the leather).

I read recently that minivans & SUVs in particular are such great deals right now that even with the lesser MPG & higher gas bills, you're still coming out ahead buying one. Dealers are practically giving them away!

Let us know what you decide.

erinnicolevan · Nov 3, 2008

I GOT IT! A 2009 Sienna XLE with 9 miles on it. It has every option that the Limited offers, except the fancy dynamic cruise control, power 3rd seat (I will never fold the seats - too many kids) and memory seats (I never use this feature in my husband's car). So, it's Salsa Red with Stone leather interior. Has navigation, sonar, back-up camera, heated seats, DVD, tri-climate control, power sliding doors, power liftgate, power front seats, moon roof, probably more, but that's all that comes to mind. I can barely change the station on the radio, so I am going to have to play with it when I have some free time. The dealership I bought it from gave me free maintenance until 55,000 miles and free tires for life. I got it for $600 BELOW invoice.:thumbsup:

Since Baby #5 isn't here yet, I've got plenty of room. I've got a Parkway and FF Roundabout (with LATCH) in the 3rd row. I moved the captain's chairs in the second row together and have a Parkway and RF Roundabout.

I always swore I would never drive a minivan and it's so weird to have one, but I loooooooooooove it!

Thanks for helping me narrow my choices!

happyfam · Nov 5, 2008

Wow, I want to use your dealership. We've been shopping around for a new XLE (don't need all the gadgets but we want the heated seats and DVD) and everyone has been giving quotes at least two thousand more than the invoice. How can I get one of these amazing deals?

Guest · Nov 5, 2008

If it's that bad (happyfam, your dealers are insane), consider having it shipped. You can negotiate the shipping cost w/ the dealer. Maybe split it half way?

erinnicolevan · Nov 5, 2008

happyfam said:
Wow, I want to use your dealership. We've been shopping around for a new XLE (don't need all the gadgets but we want the heated seats and DVD) and everyone has been giving quotes at least two thousand more than the invoice. How can I get one of these amazing deals?

LOL...I realize how lucky I was after all of the research I've done. I can PM you the dealer and saleswoman I went through, if you'd like. She was not in the slightest bit pushy. From pulling into the lot, installing my carseats, test driving and all of the paperwork, I was only there for about 4 hours. It was the easiest car buying experience I ever had.

happyfam · Nov 5, 2008

erinnicolevan said:
LOL...I realize how lucky I was after all of the research I've done. I can PM you the dealer and saleswoman I went through, if you'd like. She was not in the slightest bit pushy. From pulling into the lot, installing my carseats, test driving and all of the paperwork, I was only there for about 4 hours. It was the easiest car buying experience I ever had.

That would be great. I'd really appreciate it. I have no idea if you're anywhere near me, but I'd certainly like to check it out. Like codex57 pointed out, it might be cheaper to ship from somewhere else than use the dealers I've spoken to. The way the car industry is doing, I thought I'd be seeing much better deals than the ones I was offered.

erinnicolevan · Nov 5, 2008

happyfam - I sent you a PM.

I think I've decided - coupla more questions

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