mom2jjka Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 We need a new van to fit our family of 6. I want something with a comfortable ride, ample storage and decent gas mileage - and preferably lower miles. Honda and Toyota are most likely out of our budget, what else is out there? (We currenly have a Kia Sedona and I do NOT want another Kia) I'm typically not a fan of Chrysler vehicles, however we looked at a 2013 Town and Country today that seemed very nice. Any pros/cons or reviews from people here who own a T&C? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I've had too many friends with constant drivetrain issues on their Chrysler/Dodge minivan to recommend one. I ended up biting the bullet and getting a Honda at their year-end event. I don't regret it one bit. Well, aside from the occasional wow when I make the payment.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I've had too many friends with constant drivetrain issues on their Chrysler/Dodge minivan to recommend one. I ended up biting the bullet and getting a Honda at their year-end event. I don't regret it one bit. Well, aside from the occasional wow when I make the payment.... This. Our Dodge was in the shop far too often for stupid crap. I am never getting another. When I saw the title I thought it said "minivan races". I was all o.O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypatia. Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 We ended up getting a used Siena. We had heard about too many issues with the Chrysler/Dodge vans to feel comfortable (for us) taking a chance, so a used Toyota worked best with our budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diann Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 We have two Dodge Grand Caravans, a 1997 and a 2008. Love them both. Quiet, comfortable for long trips, plenty of space for our family of 6 plus a Doberman. We have never had transmission issues, but have followed the recommended maintenance schedule and used the proper transmission fluid. We bought the '97 new; the '08 had 42,000 miles on it. Diann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 When I asked a few months ago about replacing my Windstar (don't get one of those), lots of people here voted for the Dodge Caravans. Look carefully at reviews for the specific year, but iirc, there were a lot of positive things said about certain years for the Caravans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzingirl Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I have a 2010 Dodge Caravan that we bought new in 2010. Been driving it for 4 years, have about 38,000 miles on it at this point and no real problems so far. I really love it so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 If you're switching from a 4 cylinder sedan, NONE of the minivans will have good gas mileage. You will be shocked by how fast the gauge zips to empty and how much more often you stop at the pump. I've had mine since January and I'm still not over it. This van is 16 years newer than my old Plymouth. I guess I hoped technology and gas mileage had advanced a bit in that time. I'm afraid to ever take the van off economy mode! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 hahaha! I'm on Day 3 of a cold and am not doing that well. . . that said, I first read your post as "Minivan races." :lol: We bought a minivan in '03 when our twins were born. It hasn't been problem free, but it's been relatively fine. We spent $20,000 less on a Dodge Grand Caravan than the Honda minivan my sister bought. Plus the Honda comes w/ a ton of automated stuff. Try fixing automated stuff. Very pricey. As it was, my driver's side window wouldn't go up or down -- I forget why and it was $300 to fix. I was wishing for a manual window at that moment, let me tell you! We change the oil at 5,000 miles, get new tires when it's the right time etc. We take care of our van. And it's driven DH cross country and is at 100,000 miles now. We recommend. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I've had two so far - a Ford Freestar ('04) and a VW Routan ('12), last model year and basically a Chrysler with VW trim). We bought our Ford used and like it fairly well, though it's 10 years old and has had quite a few brake issues in the time that we've owned it. We still own it, though, we're north of 100,000 and dh uses it as his primary vehicle. Most recently it sounds like the fan probably had a bearing go on it. Add that to the list of things I've had to fix on it recently. My Routan gets better gas mileage than the Freestar and has a slightly smaller gas tank. I got it because it was cheaper interest rate wise to buy new and VW was offering 3 years care-free maintenance at the time. We really like our Routan. I'll be sad when it comes time to replace it since it's not offered any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 We have an odyssey. I have a bunch of friends with older ones, too. All of us are having issues with the sliding doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Curious what the OPs issues with the Sedona is? We have a 3 year old Sedona with about 45K miles and it's been totally great so far. We had to have the battery replaced this winter and that was the only non-routine maintenance we've had done (in the middle of the coldest winter in many years, upper midwest). It was #3 on consumer reports whenever we bought it. We were totally put off by the price of the Honda and Siena and have generally heard bad things about the American models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 Curious what the OPs issues with the Sedona is? Thank you everyone for the replies - I think we are going to do a lot more researching and test driving before we make a decision. About our Kia Sedona, it has 'nickle and dimed' us to death : rotors, tie rods, endless fluid leaks, expensive tires, it's rusting horribly, the sliding doors barely work in the winter ( and we live in WI, so winter is LONG), and the day after we brought it home, the battery died and we had to have it towed back to the dealer (and we've had to buy 2 more since then.) It's just been a money pit. Plus there is almost NO room for cargo in the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Thank you everyone for the replies - I think we are going to do a lot more researching and test driving before we make a decision. About our Kia Sedona, it has 'nickle and dimed' us to death : rotors, tie rods, endless fluid leaks, expensive tires, it's rusting horribly, the sliding doors barely work in the winter ( and we live in WI, so winter is LONG), and the day after we brought it home, the battery died and we had to have it towed back to the dealer (and we've had to buy 2 more since then.) It's just been a money pit. Plus there is almost NO room for cargo in the back. Interesting. I actually discovered ours has more like 65,000 miles. I wonder if model years varied or what? Ours has been no problem at all to this point. 1 new battery, new tires this year, and regular maintenance is all we've done. ETA FTR, we are in MN so we have rough winters too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 We have a 2006 or 2007 (can never remember which) Honda Odyssey. Haven't had any issues with it. I would buy another one when this one finally dies. One feature I wish I had is onetime we rented a minivan that had the back windows kind of able to push out for some fresh air. I loved that. I think it was a Chrysler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa in MO Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Interesting. I actually discovered ours has more like 65,000 miles. I wonder if model years varied or what? Ours has been no problem at all to this point. 1 new battery, new tires this year, and regular maintenance is all we've done. I heard recently on a local automotive talk show that newer models are far superior to older ones. Not even the same vehicle at all. I believe they said you want to get one older than 2011. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa in MO Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 We are on our 2nd Chrysler/Dodge and are satisfied. But the only reason we buy Dodge is because up until 2000 my dh was a Dodge dealer mechanic for 15 years. So, he can work on them. That has saved us lots of money. He can even get the parts at wholesale price from the dealer he used to work at. In 2000, he took a completely different career path! He had a Toyota Sienna company work vehicle. We were able to use it to go on vacation and also I drove it around Chicago with the other wives when we went with our husbands to a work conference. I also drove my dd's when I was there for two weeks after she had her baby in February. I absolutely loved driving it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 I heard recently on a local automotive talk show that newer models are far superior to older ones. Not even the same vehicle at all. I believe they said you want to get one older than 2011. Yeah, our Kia is a 2003, so hopefully they have made many improvements on the newer models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Yeah, our Kia is a 2003, so hopefully they have made many improvements on the newer models. When I saw the title I was going to recommend a Kia Sedona, lol. Our is a 2006 with 149k miles on it, and the only thing that has gone out is the CD player. Other than that we have only had to replace the battery and put new tires on it...and once we realized it was supposed to have truck tires, we stopped replacing them as often. One of my friends has a Pontiac Montana, and after she and her family survived a rollover in one she won't drive any other minivan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratford Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I'm no help, we own 2 Kia Sedonas (a 2007 and a 2013.) Both have been great and we have had no major issues with either. Just routine maintenance. Our older model is no-frills and our newer one has all the bells and whistles. Both have the fold-in-the-floor back seats so I feel like the storage space in the trunk is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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