If you drive a minivan, come on in.....

So I am almost convinced that we need a minivan instead of a cool, new SUV. lol I have a GMC Jimmy and only the 4 of us can fit in it right now. I had to crawl into the backseat yesterday with the babies when we were stuck in traffic and I barely fit between the infant seats.
I am still resigning myself to the fact that a minivan will make my life much easier instead of being cool with a new SUV. I know it will be easier to get the babies in and out of (especially as they get bigger since I am struggling somedays now with 11lbs of baby in an infant carrier). DH and I have been going back and forth on whether to buy a minivan (probably Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna) or a GMC Acadia.

If you drive a minivan, what kind do you have? What do you love/hate about it? Are you happy with it or do you wish you had something else?
Thanks for the help ladies!

 

I drive a Chrysler Town and Country and I love it!! We are now looking for a new vehicle before we decide to try for another child (our 4th) because we are kinda out growing it. We have the one where the second row has captains chairs and then the 3rd row bench. The only thing I would choose differently about it though is I would get with stow and go. That way we could hid all of our stuff when we go shopping or on trips.

Tiffaney

 

I have a Chrysler Town and Country and I LOVE it! The stow and go seats are the best! I have 2 girls in the way back, the baby in the middle row passenger side seat. The middle row drivers side seat is folded down. I just climb right in to buckle in the girls. The seats are very easy to stow and unstow, I can do it myself without DH's help. There is plenty of room in the "trunk" for strollers, pack and plays, and groceries. With all the kids going in on one side now it's easy to get them all in.

I never thought I'd love a minivan, but I do love my van!!

 

I have a 2007 Honda Odyssey and I couldn't live without it now that my DS is almost 20lbs. The van rides like a luxury sedan...so smooth and quiet. The only thing that I don't love about it is that there is no automatic button in the car or on the keyless entry to lift the rear door open so when you have a load of groceries and the babies you don't have to do it manually. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing!

 

We have a 2003 Ford Windstar and I love love love love it. We only have the boys so far, but we regularly travel 4 hours to see DH's parents. It's so nice to take out the third row so there's room for all our stuff (including the stroller and pack n' plays), the boys, and our dog.

 

We have a 2005 Toyota Sienna and it's great. I too had a hard time leaving behind the SUV for the minivan (swore the only way we'd ever buy one was if we had twins ). We also have a 3 YO and a large dog. This was one of the few vans that had the 60/40 split rear seat that folds into the floor allowing us to fit everyone plus the dog and the double chariot jogging stoller into the vehicle. It drives nicely too - turns on a dime.

One of the frustrating things with older minivans (if you are getting used) is the locations of the child seat tether restraints. Apparently whoever designed those minivans weren't actually intending for anyone to have more than 2 children in carseats so be sure to check which seats the tether clips are located in. The Sienna has it in 4 positions (the newer models may have it in 5 now - not sure).

 

I have a 2004 Chevy Venture and I love it - but it only seats 7 and now that I am taking care of my dad I am going to try and find something a little bigger - I will not trade the van in on it because I do love my minivan!

I never thought I would ever say that!!! but it's true!!!

 

Hi! Well I just can't get myself to own a minivan. We have a 2004 Saturn VUE AWD V6 right now and it's really tight since the back seat has both car seats and room for a small person to sit next to the babies. My mom fit there when me and my parents and the twins went to dinner one night...but my mom is a petite little thing! The back of the VUE is pretty big but once you get the double stroller in there, there isn't room for a lot more other luggage! So we want to get the Saturn Outlook, which is basically the same thing as the GMC Acadia, just cheaper. From what someone told me, the inside of the Outlook or Acadia is about as big as a Chevy Tahoe!! THAT is more like it! That is the kind of room I need, but not with the $45,000 or $50,000 price tag of a Tahoe. So we are gonna look for a used Outlook VERY soon. There are already some company owned used 2007 Outlooks out there that we may jump on. We travel a lot to our parents in northern IL, which is a 5 hr ride. So we really need something bigger, especially if we bring out brat cat home too!

 

I have a 2007 Honda Odyssey, and while I can't say I *love* it, it is very convenient. Since I have an older daughter in addition to my twins, I really have no choice....I wasn't willing to fuss with putting 3 across in the back seat, just to avoid the whole minivan route.

I love the interior space, the navigation, the DVD player (though we haven't used it yet!), the automatic sliding doors, the cupholders! It drives very smoothly, too. But, I'm not used to huge cars -- I had a Subaru Forester before -- so I don't like the feeling that I'm driving a boat. Parking and backing up is a pain, and the brakes are pretty loose. Overall, it's worth it though, and definitely a must if we ever do a road trip...

My solution to the image thing? My DH drives a BMW X5, so whenever I go out sans kiddos, I drive that. :lol:

 

We just bought a 2005 Toyota Sienna. I swore I'd never drive a minivan but I had to come to terms with the fact that our little volvo wagon just wouldn't fit all of us. We've taken it on 2 long road trips and it's been fantastic. Plenty of room for all of our stuff and the kiddos. We have the 8 passenger so I could climb in back and sit between the kiddos to feed or play with them at any time during the trip. Even my husband was able to climb back and sit between them.The 8 passenger is great for that reason. The 3rd row seats store easily and even when they're not stowed we have lots of cargo space.
It's hard to give up being hip and sassy but it's so worth it. My back is much happier too!

 

QUOTE(Lawgraz @ Jun 25 2007, 12:50 PM) [snapback]305874[/snapback]
We just bought a 2005 Toyota Sienna. I swore I'd never drive a minivan but I had to come to terms with the fact that our little volvo wagon just wouldn't fit all of us. We've taken it on 2 long road trips and it's been fantastic. Plenty of room for all of our stuff and the kiddos. We have the 8 passenger so I could climb in back and sit between the kiddos to feed or play with them at any time during the trip. The 8 passenger is great for that reason. The 3rd row seats store easily and even when they're not stowed we have lots of cargo space.
It's hard to give up being hip and sassy but it's so worth it. My back is much happier too!

 

I have a Dodge Grand Caravan.

1. The lease payment is cheap
2. The auto sliding doors and trunk door are AWESOME
3. The stow and go is great
4. Plenty of room for everything, including the double stroller

 

Thanks ladies! If we go the minivan route, I want a nice one with the bells and whistles to make myself feel better. lol Dh said he is going to buy me a soccer magnet to put on it right away.

I haven't test driven anything yet, but I have heard good things about the handling in minivans.

 

I have a Mazda MPV and love it! I really was against the minivan at first but didn't want to pay the price for a huge SUV type car that would accomadate so it was this. Anyway It's great on gas and can seat 6 if needed. The middle row has captain type chairs but they slide together to make a bench seat. The back seat folds down into the floor for extra storage and groceries. It drives great and has heat/ac vents in the back for the kids which is nice. I reallly do love my van!!

 

I also have the Toyota Sienna and there isn't one thing I don't like about it. It's awesome. Even my husband loves it and it takes quite a man to love a mini-van (or quite a mini-van) :laughing: Seriously, as pp said I love the fact that the seats in back are split so you could really play around with the particular space you need for a particular trip. I also love the fact that the back seats go down into the floor which allows for pretty much anything to fit. We have the most basic model and it fit's ALL our needs. The only thing I may have put in (which comes with the next model up) are the automatic sliding doors. But I'm not even sure that is a necessity so we'll have to think on whether it's worth it or not.

 

We have a 2006 Toyota Sienna and I love it, lots of room and a great drive. We got the one with only one automatic door, and if I had to do it over again I would definately spend a little extra money and buy the one that has both doors + the tailgate automated.

 

I've got a Chrysler Town and Country and LOVE it. It was quite a sad thing to go from my cute little red sports car to a MINI VAN, but we couldn't do anything else. The stow 'n go is fantastic and it's so nice not to have to climb into it to put the boys in their car seats. It also has curtain side airbags and rear air which make me feel better.

AND...the car payments are a little cheaper than if we did a super-cool SUV.

Good luck!!

 

I have a Dodge Grand Caravan and I love it! I never thought I would like my minivan, let alone love it, but it's nice! It has a lot of nice features and it drives like a car. A big long car

 

We have a Ford Freestar. We have two captain chairs in the second row and that works great for one car seat on each side. It helps for easy reaching and putting them in and out. With the seats facing backwards, we need to remove a car seat to let adults in the back but my six year old enjoys crawling in.

 

QUOTE(Babies4Susan @ Jun 25 2007, 08:53 AM) [snapback]305880[/snapback]
I have a Dodge Grand Caravan.

1. The lease payment is cheap
2. The auto sliding doors and trunk door are AWESOME
3. The stow and go is great
4. Plenty of room for everything, including the double stroller


Have the same van for the same reasons. Super cheap lease... same features as the expensive vans like Odyssey and Sienna. Have fun shopping!

 

We are looking at getting the Grand Caravan. We want the stow and go, so we can put a captains chair in stow and have access to the backseat. We will have 3 under 14 months, plus we like to travel and need the space for luggage and all the baby items needed with 3 kids.

 

dodge grand caravan with stow-n-go, love love love love this !!!!! i am 25, never in my wildest dreams did i think i'd be driving a van but did i say i love love love it!!??? lol

 

QUOTE(KentuckyMom @ Jun 25 2007, 05:34 AM) [snapback]305777[/snapback]
Hi! Well I just can't get myself to own a minivan. We have a 2004 Saturn VUE AWD V6 right now and it's really tight since the back seat has both car seats and room for a small person to sit next to the babies. My mom fit there when me and my parents and the twins went to dinner one night...but my mom is a petite little thing! The back of the VUE is pretty big but once you get the double stroller in there, there isn't room for a lot more other luggage! So we want to get the Saturn Outlook, which is basically the same thing as the GMC Acadia, just cheaper. From what someone told me, the inside of the Outlook or Acadia is about as big as a Chevy Tahoe!! THAT is more like it! That is the kind of room I need, but not with the $45,000 or $50,000 price tag of a Tahoe. So we are gonna look for a used Outlook VERY soon. There are already some company owned used 2007 Outlooks out there that we may jump on. We travel a lot to our parents in northern IL, which is a 5 hr ride. So we really need something bigger, especially if we bring out brat cat home too!


We had an 04 Vue too and got a new Outlook last weekend. I absolutely love it. The gas mileage is great and so was the price tag. It seats seven (we got the captain's chairs) and took it to the beach Sat. I was able to sit in the 3rd row and entertain the girls while DH drove. I really liked my Vue...but I LOVE the Outlook. LOTS of room.

 

We have a 7 passenger Toyota Sienna. We just got it in December. IT's a 2007 LE. I love absolutely everything about it, but I do wish it had double power doors. Other than that, no complaints here.

 

I came kicking and screaming into minivanland.....my DH insisted and i figured it was a battle not worth fighting. And I have to say HE WAS RIGHT! Our other car is a mazda wagon which USED to have tons of room - until we put two car seats in the back!

They odyssey is fabulous: drives like a dream, the auto doors are amazing (although I agree, wish the trunk opened automatically and it's sometimes difficult to shut. I love that i can control each of the side doors separately so there is never a moment whne one of the girls is inside with a door open and there isn't an adult right there...i doubt anyone would try and snatch her if i were right there but it gives me peace of mind.

Another fab feature - channel and volume controls for the radio on the STEERING wheel, so you don't have to reach/look - ingenious.

Of course, now i have to get a soccer mom haircut and start wearing badly cut clothes......

 

QUOTE(Jordari @ Jun 28 2007, 12:05 PM) [snapback]310147[/snapback]
Of course, now i have to get a soccer mom haircut and start wearing badly cut clothes......


:lol:
I keep telling DH if we get a minivan that I am going to start wearing mom pants with the really high cut and big pockets!