Minivan Moms - Gotta Question for You

I have had both the Chrysler and Toyota. I had many mechanical problem the were inherit in the Chrysler. The repairman told me just to expect them from that brand. I have had no trouble with the Toyota and have been totally satisfied with the van. I would never buy a Chrysler since I don't trust them. When I buy again it will be another Toyota or even a Honda but my friend who has a Honda has had more trouble with it than I have had with the Toyota. Good luck!

I had the Chrysler Town & Country and loved it. I now drive a suv but loved my van and had almost 300,000 miles on it with no big repairs. Hope that helps you and I have 4 kids it gave me plenty of room.

HOnda Odyssey ALL THE WAY!!!!! we test drove a bunch before deciding. We drove the Odyssey for 4 years and never had a problem with it. Now that we have not had it for a few years we all wish we still had it.

Pay close attention to what Consumer Reports says!! I currently have a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan and we have major transmission issues with it, we replaced it and the one we replaced it with was a bad one!! The next vehicle I will get when I am all done with school is gonna be a Honda, you can drive them into the ground!!

We recently got a 2006 Dodge (exactly the same as the Chrysler), and love it! We have been told that newer ones have transmission issues, but you get a great powertrain warranty (and we actually got one dirt cheap for ours too), so that should cover it. I LOVE the fact that the 2nd row seats stow into the floor! That was the main reason we picked the Dodge, and I wouldn't give them up for the world now. After messing around with all of the vehicles that you talked about, we had to take all of the "features" that came with our Dodge. Our neighbors also recently got a van, and they got the Chrysler and love theirs as much as we love ours. CR is a great resource, but I wouldn't live or breathe by it (especially since you are going to get a warranty to cover any major issues). Good luck!

We have 4 kids and we're on our second Odyssey. We went with the Odyssey the second time around over Toyota and Chrysler because it had a removable middle seat in the second row. With this seat the van can seat 8 people total. That's our family of 6 plus two more people, usually 2 more kids. With carpooling and having friends over we need it. Love it - reliable, smooth ride, no major service problems. Our first one had over 100,000 miles when we got rid of it. I can't believe I actually love a van this much.

Ok, I know this may sound crazy, but I LOVE the Hyundai Enterouge.

We had a toyota and really liked it, and we have several friends with the Chrysler, but I still favor the Hyundai.

They are very similar, but it has been great and it has lots of cool features (leather, heated seats, baby mirror, fold down seats in the back, DVD player, auto doors, etc.)

We have a Honda Odyssey and love it!!! The bottom row folds down into the floor as well and the second row can be removed. We didn't do the DVD player in the van because we had already purchased a dual screen portable DVD player that attaches to the seats. Adding the DVD player in the van adds so much unnecessary money when you you can buy one for less than $200. Just my opinion on that.
I would definitely take a look at the Odyssey. We absolutely loves ours and have had no problems with it in the 3 years we have owned it. Good Luck

I finally "graduated" and no longer have a minivan but when daughter was small, we owned 3 Chrysler Town and Country LXI.

I loved them. I loved the fact that the section between the driver and passenger was open....I did not have to get out of the van to assist her if needed. I don't know about the newer models and features but we had 4 captian chairs and the back seat which laid down.

Even though we moved on to sport and luxury cars which we LOVE, We hung onto this van even after I graduated from mommy van driving because it was so darn helpful with Home Depot runs, Costco runs, the dogs LOVED going for rides, etc... We finally sold the low mileage van to a family because it ended up sitting in the garage taking up space with little use.

We bought all 3 vans new and all had low mileage. Never any issues, we just maintained them as needed.

Good luck

Make sure and take a look at the size of the Town and Country stow and Go seats. I thought I really wanted those, until we looked at the size - they are a little narrower than the standard removeable seats because they have to fit into the floor between the wheel wells. We have a Dodge Caravan (the same as the Town and Country, just the cheaper brand name). The removeable seats can be somewhat of a hassle to get in and out, and you have to have a place to put them, but it's really not that bad (and we have even used them as spare seating whenwe had a bunch of people over to watch a movie and not enough seats!).

Honda Odyssey is what I have. Love it and all the features and the crash ratings. If I were you, I'd go with the Honda or the Toyota (those were the top in safety when I was looking 3 years ago).

We got our Honda Odyssey a couple years ago. Because we still have 4 kids at home including young triplets. My husband did heavy research and was only concerning on vans that had the highest safety ratings. Those two were the Odyssey and the Toyota. The second step was to go and see which style we liked. We preferred the Honda! We didn't get the touring one but got the one right below it, with leather interior with triplets, lol. I know many triplet parents who have the Honda rather than the others. The Toyota seems to be the runner up.

So I suggest looking at the safety features 1st and go from there. It's worth the extra money to be sure your children will have the best chance in an accident.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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If you don't trust consumer reports, check out the car talk webpage (http://cartalk.com/) They give really good reviews of different cars (including minivans) and will let you know the pros and cons of the vehicles you are considering. Personally, I grew up with Chrysler so I like them, but I will confess that my husband's Toyotas have been a lot more reliable...

I drove the Chrysler Town & Country for a little over two weeks during Christmas/New Year's. I have a sedan now and never considered purchasing a minivan because I only have one child. But when I need a new car (next few years), I am going to look into minivans. I loved the T&C. My parents also couldn't stop commenting about how nice it was to drive/ride in. We did long drives with lots of hairpin turns, bumpy roads, etc. and it handled really well. We had a very basic model (no DVD players, etc.). I am afraid I don't know about repair and other reports, but after two weeks of driving it, I was sold on it.

The Toyota! I've owned mine since A. 2003 (when the current design first came out) and love it! And this is coming from a woman who HATED the idea of driving a minivan. We have logged many long trips with three kids (to NJ and back over 1/2 dozen times) and the Sienna is so wonderfully comfortable and roomy that all of our road trips have been good experiences. I just trusted the Toyota name, even though I knew the price was a little higher and I couldn't necessarily get everything I wanted without breaking the budget. But it was worth it a million times over. A co-worker owned the Honda Odyssey and said he wished he had gotten to Toyota because the Honda felt cheaply made. And I've driven the American minivans as rentals and they just didn't compare to my Sienna. We bought the 8-passenger version, where the middle row is essentially three captain's chairs. At the time we had two kids so we generally kept the middle seat out. But when my littlest came along 3 years ago, it was great to have the middle seat. It can be positioned further forward so adults in the front seat can easily reach back -- this was an intentional design. And it's wide enough to fit most car seats -- which is great since the middle seat position is the safest spot. And we easily fit 8 passengers.

I have had two Chrysler Town and Country minivans. We bought both of them used with very low mileage. They were owned by elderly couples. The elderly couples had bought them because they wanted a large, luxury car with leather seats and lots of options, but didn't want the cost of a Cadillac. The first one that we had was a 1993 and the one I am driving now is a 2000, but it only has 80,000 miles on it. We did have to replace the transmission on the first one, but we expected that and got such a deal on it that it was worth it. So far, we have not had any major repairs on this one. I like the way it drives and the sturdy, luxury feel. I was not that pleased with the newer models. I can see the benefit to having the stow and go seats, but we have loved how heavy and sturdy our seats feel. To be honest, the Honda or Toyota will probably be more reliable, but for us the cost was prohibitive. I know they have some amazing deals right now on Chrysler, but I am curious how that will be since they are basically going out of business.

I have never had a problem with the middle windows not rolling down. How many times in Texas do you ever want to drive around with all the windows down. The one feature that I wish I had when my kids were little was the remote opening doors. They did not have that then, but would have been very helpful when carrying kids and stuff. I only have two kids and loved having captain chairs in the middle seats. That way, they both had their own seat and weren't able to mess with each other as much. With three kids, I am not sure how that would work.

My children are older now (one is a teenager) and my husband wants me to get something besides a Minivan, but I still want it, because I can haul 6 kids around. I am the favorite driver, because I can take so many kids. I like this because I know their friends and over hear much when they are in the car with me.

HONDA ODYSSEY! We just bought a used one last summer and I love love love it. Go with Honda for sure.

My father and sister both drive the Dodge Grand CAravan. THey love them. Personally I think they are too small, but I drive a full size, GMC conversion van with 4 kids.

We have a 2005 Honda Odyssey and LOVE it! Extremely reliable and wonderful reviews everywhere. Great resale prices, too, when it's time to sell. So, the usual for a Honda.

The DVD feature has been the best of all. A real life saver on long car trips. Love the roominess and ease of moving the third row seats up or down as needed. The features I thought I would use the most -- in-floor storage and voice command system -- are never used. The in-floor storage is just too much work to get to in real life trying to get the kids in their seats and with two kids, I never found time to read up on the voice commands. Not really a criticism, just what happened in our family. So, when you think of all of the features that seem super, think about whether you'll realistically use them. Focus on the really practical features.

I'd say the big factors when buying a minivan are crash test ratings, reviews, brand reputation, resale value and your feeling when test driving. We found the Honda and Toyota models were almost identical, but we could get more for our money with Honda.

Well I can tell you I have 3 children and I am on my 2 Dodge Grand Caravan in 8 years (only because we tend to replace our cars about every 5.) My first didn't have the stow and go seats and I hated having the haul them in and out of the car and find a place to store them. I do love my current one with the stow and go feature. Mechanically we haven't had any problems with either and we drove our first to 90k miles before we traded it in. The one feature that I do wish Chrysler/Dodge would put in is the ability to raise and lower the middle row window like the Honda and Toyota. I have friends that have both and love them both equally. So I say go with what feels right for you and your family and your lifestyle. You can't go wrong with any of your choices.

We're a Honda family all the way. Love our Odyssey (130K and still going strong) and wouldn't hesitate to get one again. Time and time again, they've been rated the best in crash tests and gas mileage. I had a Honda Accord that had over 120K (still going strong, no problems) that I traded in for our minivan. My mother has an Accord that she swears by, and my husband has an Accord with 170K on it that we plan to drive for several more years. The only work we've had done has been regular maintenance stuff and stuff that's worn out--battery, tires. These cars go forever and ever. The Japanese technology can't be beat...even though they're frequently made in America by American workers.

One of our neighbors also has an Odyssey and they just told me the other day that it has 260K on it and still going strong. And theirs is newer than mine...mine's in '01.

I think the new roll down middle windows is a great feature. Think they also have a split rear seat now, which would be handy sometimes. I also really like the "well" in the trunk area. A cup holder for each person is nice but I don't think you need 50 million. Also, I don't want a DVD player in the car so can't comment on that.

Good luck!

Pick what you like best that fits your budget. But before you decide, take a look at safety ratings. We bought a while ago (Nov 2003) and at that time Chrysler products totally sucked on the offset crash test. Yes, Honda, Toyota, and Chrysler all had 5 star government. But many feel that is not "real world." We ended up w/Toyota because it felt more plush than the Honda, the rear seat was much easier for me to stow than the Honda and because of the safety concerns with Chrysler. We have LOVED it.

Just thought I would add something really quick! We have a '97 Dodge Grand Caravan. We have had NO problems with that car and it has 190,000 miles on it!! It has run well and has tons of space. I am sure that the newer models have stow-n-go or something to that effect, and that would certainly help. But, we really love our dodge!

We have a Town and Country and LOVE it! The Honda Odyssey will probably be the pick of the mom's, the dependability of Honda vehicles is untouchable. However, I've found that the Town and Country perks are superior. We've been spoiled for sure. I love the stow and go storage and the ability to be able to fold the seats into the floor. I love having the option of changing up the seating arrangement without having to actually take the seats out of the car. Our T&C is about 5 years old and the only problem we've had is the motor on the rear door went out. It was easily replace for only $50 (with warrenty). Our van has taken us on several long trips including on from Dallas to California, and the longer we have it the more we love it. Good luck and happy minivan shopping!

Just want to say that we LOVE our Chrysler Town and Country. We have the dvd player in it and even my youngest likes it. He's 2. OUr other 2 children are really in to it as well and they are 10 and 8.