FaithManor Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 The government specs on MPG do not look promising. My beat-up piece of garbage Taurus that I am beginning to have a very strong love affair with due to it's "I think I can" can-do spirit, is still getting with 30 miles to the gallon with us abusing the ever living daylights out of it. My CRV gave me 26.3 everywhere I went no matter kind of driving and I'd still be in love with it if the tranny hadn't bellied up and no local place would rebuild it or put another one in for less than $4000.00 on a car with a blue book of $4500.00. :001_huh: My mother's OLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD chrysler mini-van was giving her 24 on the highway and 22 around town. Her newer model that she got REALLY lucky to buy from a friend for a wonderful price just went to Kentucky and back and gave her 28 mpg. Unfortunately, my dad having driven many a mini-van throughout the years from many makers, is willing to concede that it will need a transmission 20,000 miles from now and the electric doors will stop working any day plus they'll go through at least one fuel pump every 5000 miles because the design flaws in those pumps are really bad and they haven't bothered to fix them. :001_huh: After six hours of shopping yesteday, we didn't see one blooming American made mini- on the used market that didn't look like it had been dropped into a war-zone! We have an appointment to see a 2002 Toyota Sienna tomorrow evening. With dh and I possibly needing to share a vehicle for a few months once the Taurus just can't keep going, we need some fuel economy. He'll be driving to Warren or Troy six times per month and that's a 200 mile round trip for us. It won't take long to eat up a huge amount of gas money if this thing is only going to get 19 mpg. The "govmint" specs are 19 around town and 22-24 on the freeway. 19 around town seems scary and not breaking the 25 mpg on I-75 with traffic flowing well and no stops and starts is really not what I wanted to hear. Also, cartalk forums plus 9 transmission mechanics all say avoid the 2003 Odyssey because that was the year they upped the power in the engine, but forgot to put in a better transmission to match the power and they ended up doing warranty work on transmissions with only 20,00-50,000 miles on them. Those that didn't show problems while under warranty are ticking time bombs. This is very concerning because we have an appointment to test drive a 2003 Odyssey that is on the edge of our upper price range so a 2004 (the year they wised up and put a good tranny in to match the new engine) is out of our reach probably since we are going to have to get a really good gas mileage sedan for dh this autumn. I'm a little flipped out here people. So, what are getting for MPG? How do you drive? I am, for the most part, a laid back driver except when in Detroit and then I drive like a crazy lady because if I drove as my normal self, I'd never make a left hand turn anywhere in the city and everyone behind me would become maniacal and possibly homicidal. :D That is the kind of city where you just have to make a hole and go and you are ALWAYS on the gas hard or the brakes hard. Always! Thankfully, most of my driving is rural and fairly slow. Give me your thoughts here. Faith - going certifiably insane while car shopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have a 2005 Sienna. I want to say I get about 26mpg. I travel in town. Gas here is $3.84 a gallon. $80 filled it last time. I don't blame you for losing it a bit while car shopping. It's a giant purchase and there are too many options. FWIW, I love my Sienna. It's my favorite car I've owned. It has room for everyone. I can lay down the back seat and get my dad's scooter in without taking it apart. All considerations for us. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 2006 Honda Odyssey - I get about 20 in town and 24 hwy. The thing that drives me crazy with this Odyssey is the lack of automatic lights! Every other vehicle out there has auto lights except the Honda! My nephew just bought a 2008 Odyssey and it still doesn't have auto lights even though it has a back-up camera. Come on! If Ford and Chevy can do it, surely Honda can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 2004 Sienna here. Highway- low 20's. About 17/18 in town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Must it be a van? Can't you get a smaller car for DH's commute needs? The most reliable used cars are Japanese label ones--Toyotas or Hondas always show up high on the Consumer Reports lists. If I were you I would look at old Camry's--they have front wheel drive and last forever. Plus the older ones are smaller than the new ones, but still have really good leg room in the front seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiraejb Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have a 2010 Sienna. I love it for its room, the multiple things I can control with a button from the drivers seat, the ease the kids have in getting in and out on their own, and all the stuff I can haul (fit a twin sized mattress and box spring in the back once). I don't love the gas mileage, but if we couldn't afford it, we wouldn't drive it, I guess. :) I consistently get 19mpg in town and 24mpg on highway trips. Oh, I also love the new maintenance plan Toyota has, I take it in every 6 mos and they check everything for me, no cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have a Sienna. I think it's 2004; the gas mileage is pretty sucky. I do $70 and it almost fills it. I also get the premium gas, as though it's more expensive, it's what my van needs and the mileage is better than with less expensive. When we first had it, the battery was always going dead because the kids would turn on their lights (inside the van) and they don't go off automatically after a while. I keep the lights OFF now, and so that doesn't matter. :) My auto slide door is broken:( We have the 8 passenger. If Honda had an 8 passenger... and we had it to do again, I might have purchased one of those. My friend traded in her Sienna for the next years model of Odyssey... and was much happier... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I drive an '06 Odyssey, and I get 18mpg in town. Now, I am not someone who drives in a gas saving manner. I take off fast at stoplights. (It is something that i know about myself, and my DH lives with it. I'm hard on brakes, too.) My DH can get 22+ on the same vehicle. We do get about 28 mpg on the highway. My DH does the vast majority of our highway driving. I do love my Odyssey. The only somewhat bad thing is that, like all Hondas, the road noise is loud. I didn't realize this fact until I drove my Dad's Rav-4 and his CRV. The road noise is much louder in the Honda that the Toyota. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Must it be a van? Can't you get a smaller car for DH's commute needs? The most reliable used cars are Japanese label ones--Toyotas or Hondas always show up high on the Consumer Reports lists. If I were you I would look at old Camry's--they have front wheel drive and last forever. Plus the older ones are smaller than the new ones, but still have really good leg room in the front seat. We will in a few months when some more money frees up. Right now we have to take a rocket team, their rockets, and luggage to Virginia in May. On top of which, we have three teenage boys that won't stop getting taller and particularly, growing legs...long, long legs. If I move my Taurus seat all the way forward until I'm practically sitting on the dashboard and in danger of being beheaded by the air-bag if it ever deployed, the 5'8" 15 year old still sits with his knees in the back of my seat. So, if we all have to go somewhere, we have problems with the small sedans. If the boys were grown and gone, dh would be driving a Toyota Camry...chances are he will when we've got some more money to spend, but since we have to share a vehicle for six months and I've got kids to haul around and a ds that takes classical guitar lessons (his guitar and case take up the entire back seat of dd's Saturn and my Taurus so I can't take the other two boys with me on lesson day) so unfortunately, for six-nine months, the vehicle we buy must double as dh's commuter car and my family car. UGH! Cash for clunkers did it to us. I'm convinced that people turned in perfectly lovely used models that they would have otherwise sold privately. My dad is out looking for us right now and in the last 100 miles of driving (Lansing corridor), he hasn't seen one single thing below $10,000 with a reasonable amount of miles on it and anything close to decent gas mileage. BLECH! :tongue_smilie: Thanks for asking! I really do appreciate all of the imput. I'm just in a really foul mood about this whole situation. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeteranMom Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 My '05 Odyssey gets about 20 MPG. I'm a conservative driver and stay within 5 of the speed limit. I've liked my Odyssey, but do hear stories of problems with some of the older models. My cousin has a '03 Sienna and loves it. They haven't had any problems with it. I wasn't feeling especially loyal to Toyota when I bought my minivan. We used to have a Highlander and were terribly disappointed with that vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 We have found that the older vehicles get better gas mileage because the safety regulations were fewer in the past. Also, the power of the vehicle causes differences in gas mileage. For example, our 1997 Saturn station wagon gets about 38mpg but it is too light weight for today's safety minimum weight requirements. So, a similar car would not get the same mileage because of heavier weight. Our Saturn VUE gets about 30mpg, but that is because it is a 4 cylinder stick shift car. The 6 cylinder (same car) models that are not stick shift get about 20-23mpg. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runmiarun Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 2004 Sienna here. Highway- low 20's. About 17/18 in town. Same here. Love it. Will get another Sienna when this one is left ravaged by our over-loving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 2005 Sienna. Freeway I get 26-27 mpg. About 21-23 around town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawana Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 2004 Sienna with 195,000 miles. 22mpg around town. The best road mileage we got was 27mpg on a trip that I realized I forgot my driver's license, and was driving really carefully, but still right at the speed limit of 70. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 If you were able to find a CR-V with a good transmission, would you buy it for $4,000? It seems like you really prefer your CR-V, I know that you can't find a local place to rebuild/repalce the transmission, but for all the angst this is causing you, have you considered driving a distance to get it done? We have a 1999 Odyssey, the transmission was replaced twice under warranty and then last year the transmission died again. We were looking at $5,000 at the dealership. But I asked around for recommendations and ended up at a place that specializes in transmissions. They did the job from $2300 and offered a 3 year warranty. If the transmission breaks when we are out of town, they will work with a shop at that location to honor the warranty. Even if our vehicle only lasts 3 more years - the $2300 was better than car payments for those 3 years. I hope you can work out your situation and that you find the perfect solution soon. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 2005 Sienna. Freeway I get 26-27 mpg. About 21-23 around town. :iagree: except ours is an '07. Otherwise same specs. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 If you were able to find a CR-V with a good transmission, would you buy it for $4,000? It seems like you really prefer your CR-V, I know that you can't find a local place to rebuild/repalce the transmission, but for all the angst this is causing you, have you considered driving a distance to get it done? We have a 1999 Odyssey, the transmission was replaced twice under warranty and then last year the transmission died again. We were looking at $5,000 at the dealership. But I asked around for recommendations and ended up at a place that specializes in transmissions. They did the job from $2300 and offered a 3 year warranty. If the transmission breaks when we are out of town, they will work with a shop at that location to honor the warranty. Even if our vehicle only lasts 3 more years - the $2300 was better than car payments for those 3 years. I hope you can work out your situation and that you find the perfect solution soon. :grouphug: We've checked nine places so far (two dealerships and seven independents, most are one to two hours away) and no one can do the transmission for less than $3500.00 So, unfortunately, the car really is not worth that investment as much as I loved driving it. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 My Sienna gets about 18 around town and 26 highway. Not the best gas mileage, but I LOVE my Sienna. Tons of room, cup holders and storage. I will drive it until it dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 2007 Sienna. 18 mpg in town, 22 hwy. Lots of leg room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Don't buy a pre-2005 Odyssey...they had huge transmission problems. My Odyssey has been a DREAM to me. I've driven it crosscountry many times with 4 kids + dh, a wheelchair, oxygentanks, a stroller, and a week's worth of luggage... On a different trip, I have also fit 5 heaping shopping carts worth of stuff + 8 6' bookshelves from IKEA. I average 20ish around town and 25ish on the highway. When the road has been flat, and my speeds consistent, I've gotten as much as 30ish on the highway, but 25ish is more common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtoamiracle Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 07 Sienna here, 22 in town, 26 on hwy. we love our van! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I really do like my 2008 Honda Odyssey BUT the gas mileage is NOT as good as I would like. I average about 19mpg with rural country driving--mostly 55 but with stops in there. On the highway I think I get 22-25mpg but we haven't done any trips with it yet. Nice van but my older, worn out, dying Chrystler got much better gas mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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