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The difference in the Odyssey (8.6 sec) and DCX (10.2 sec) to 60 MPH is larger than the difference in a Mustang and a Porsche 911 Turbo, something a lot of people say is a big difference.
To some, 0-60 differences of about 2 seconds doesn't sound like much, and isn't a lot realistically. The point is that Chrysler is 7 years behind on the power game (the 1999 Odyssey would do a mid 9 sec run 0-60, with 210 HP). Chrysler will likely fix this power deficit with its new model, so I wouldn't dwell on it.
The little 3.3L in my 2002 T&C LX has 210 lb-ft torque with unleaded regular and consistently delivers better fuel economy than my son's 2001 Odyssey EX.
Tahoe doe not have nearly the interior room as a minivan. Wider, slightly, but not as much interior length. Fine on the mileage, 2/3 instead of half.
My experience of both racing and street driving has proven that the amount of power available has little to do with how quickly any vehicle gets from point A to point B.
I have 35mile commute each way from one side of Metro Detroit to the other. Everything from 25mph residential to 45mph secondary streets to 80mph+ interstate freeways. I understand the value of usable torque for merging, passing, and stop and go traffic. I drive aggressively too. I accelerate several times with shift points in the 3500-4000rpm range several times during my commute. Over 4500rpm, rare, and never after hours with my family.
If we want to stick with bench racing, Google gives me a range of 8.8 to 10.3s 0-60 time for DGC w/ 3.8L from 2001-06. 9.5-10.0 seems the most common. 2005+ Ody I get 8.2-9.8 with 8.5-8.8 most common. The difference even @ WOT is not as great as people make it out to be.
I had an 84 RX-7 with red cloth interior. My MIL has a 2002 Sebring with blue cloth interior. Colors other than tan, grey, and black leather are rare as a percentage of new vehicles. Quite boring, IMHO. There are certain vehicles offered with other colored seats r inserts, but no high volume vehicles except 2005+ Mustangs that I can think of. Sounds like a different topic, though.
Maybe that's part of the T&C's slower times. Traction loss. The Ody has traction control so you only get a slight chirp if you peg the pedal from a start. I try not to do that anyway, it's very hard on the drivetrain.
1.5 seconds is quite a bit, and you can extroprolate when pulling steep hills. Like I said, 65mph for WOT for the Caravan, 75mph without WOT for the Ody. Big difference. 65mph mean you're still building speed and trying to match the 70mph (on the slow-end) of traffic. 75mph means you can be right with traffic and slow down to merge if needed. There's a big difference between maintaining speed in the mountains (does any vehicle not hold speed through the mountains these days?? none I own....). There's also a big difference between passing through the "mountains" of N. IL and living in the smokies. I agree though, most folks don't NEED a bit more performance than a CAravan can dish out. However, when someone comes on here stating they're looking for the best performance....coughing up that the Caravan 3.8L is ONLY 1.5+ seconds slower than the Odyssey pretty much says a lot.
T&C has traction control as well (low speed, but it should apply obvously in a dead start)
Just a little sidebar.
Sounds like Masterpaul's TC is malfunctioning. His caravan is just so powerful it won't be heldback by no traction control.... :P
We don't need no stinking five-speed automatic!
That usually applies to manual transmissions. With proper clutch application, you can get slight wheelspin and achieve maximum launch. An automatic will just rip the tires and rev if power is ample. Most automatics achieve maximium launch with TC and sometimes brake torque. Did I mention my career as a racer? Maybe my handle doesn't give it away too much.
There is a BIG difference in the performance of a CVT and the old technology 1-speed Dynaflow. Doesn't the CVT actually change gear ratios by use of belts and pulleys?
Put little over 500 miles so far, have no problemo. Love power doors that I can operate through the remote. 3.8L engine that shares with Azera is a devil. Its so easy to spin tires on my van. I can't imagine the power on Azera which has less weight than my Sedona by 500LB and have same 3.8L.
Now, Kia Sedona is fastest, most safe, longest warranty, but still cheapest Van on the earth.
Another Honyota killer after new Sonata and Azera.
Wheel spin? Doesn't the Sedona have Traction Control?
Glad you like your new Sedona. The lower price of the Sedona will help lower price increases on the Odyssey, Sienna, Grand Caravan, Town & Country, etc. just as the innovations of the Odyssey, Sienna, and Quest caused DaimlerChrysler to bring new innovations like Power Liftgate and 2nd row seats that fold flat into the floor.
You can turn ESC off manually. Even with ESC on, tire spins for a second before ESC kicks in.
Here are the factors that I am focusing on:
- Reliability
- Safety
- Fun to drive (performance/handling)
- Resale
- Functionality
- Looks
After doing a ton of research (and having driven some of the vans on the market), I have ruled out:
- The Nissan Quest (questionable reliability, horrible interior, questionable resale). Although they have redone the interior for 07, I doubt I will consider the 07.
- The Dodge/Chrysler vans (very loud engine, not happy with the interior layout/material, questionable safety, poor resale, do not like the exterior looks as much). I have had friends and family that have had reliability issues with their Caravan's over the past several years as well.
- Kia Sedona. Too be honest, I have not driven the 06 Sedona, and am very impressed with this van, but am very skeptical of buying the first year of a new redesign as significant as the Sedona. I also have questions about reliability and resale value. I will definitely drive the van, but doubt I will purchase for the above reasons. Warranty means nothing to me when my van is in the shop constantly.
This leaves:
- Honda Odyssey
- Toyota Sienna
I was leaning towards the Sienna until I spent some time recently in a friends 06 Odyssey. He let me take it for a spin and I was surprised at how amazing this van accelerates and handles. This van is nearly as quick as my Altima and handles much more like a sedan than a large van. The Sienna, while it had a very smooth ride, did not feel as responsive and quick. Edmunds claims the Odyssey accelerates from 0-60 in right around 7 seconds! That is fast for a van!
I also like the exterior styling of the Odyssey slightly better than the Sienna, but am still impressed with the Sienna's interior and overall-all value.
Gas mileage seems to be very close between the two, but I would sacrifice 2-3mpg for a van that is much more responsive to the road and accelerates more quickly in and out of traffic (a must where I live)..
My wife and I will definitely drive these vans back-to-back before we buy, and overall the prices are very close (the Odyssey is slightly more when comparing the cloth EX with a Sienna 8 passenger LE with stability control). I honestly like the way that Honda packages their options, with Toyota there are way too many different packages and it can be confusing.
I will definitely keep the forum posted on what happens. for now it is looking like the Odyssey and Sienna are at the top of my list with the Kia Sedona (and possibly the Hyundai Entourage) as a very outside option..
"So, what do I have to do to put you in a Ody today?"
Are you ready for it?
Good luck.
One thing I noticed (and you may as well) the Ody feels a little sluggish when green. The model I test drove was a dealer demo with about 4k miles on the clock and performed very nicely (considering it's a big hefty vehicle). When I took delivery of mine, I was a bit disappointed with the performance. After a thousand or so break-in miles, it felt the way I expected. I've noticed some folks on here say they couldn't really feel the performance difference in the Ody when test driving. Either they too were driving green motors, or perhaps left the parking brake on. :P
Apparently the performance Sienna vs Odyssey varies from vehicle to vehicle since the Sienna we test drove and our 2006 Sienna LE definitely have faster acceleration than the 1999, 2002, or 2006 Odysseys I have test driven.
Our 2002 T&C LX with 3.3L V6 does not accelerate as fast as the Siennas or 2002 and 2006 Odysseys once the speed is 40 MPH or faster. DC acceleration compared to Sienna/Odyssey drops off even more as the speed climbs above 40 MPH.
As for reliability, I think the Honda and Toyota are probably dead even, but I am still worried about the Sedona. Five years ago I would NEVER have considered buying a Kia/Hyundai but they have come a long way fast.. Still, I am not a fan of buying a 1st year significant new model from any manufacturer.
The other thing that scares me about the Kia is resale. I can almost guarantee that the same van one or two years from now will have a $2000-3000 rebate available. This will kill the resale of the first model year...
Compare the actual selling price of a 2006 Sedona EX with the price of a Sienna LE or Odyssey EX. ALWAYS get a discount, rebate, or Incentive when buying a Sedona, Caravan/Grand Caravan, or a Town & Country.
It is also a necessity to insist on a discount if you buy a new Sienna or Odyssey since they too can no longer be sold at MSRP unless someone is living in a cave and lets CR make their decisions.
For the money, the T&C vans are a tremendous value. Stow-and-go will probably be standard on most vans in the future, and you are right the T&C vans that I have driven (one as recently as two months ago) were not nearly as quick as the Odyssey/Sienna that I have driven. For most people, it is more than adequate, but I really like having the extra push when trying to navigate the crazy freeways here. If you have ever driven around and thru the metro-DC area you probably know what I am talking about.
For those of you that are not familiar with what I am talking about, we have tons of freeways here and even though the speed limit is typically 55mph, almost everyone drives 70-80mph, even in the far right lanes. We have some of the most aggressive drivers in the world and everyone is always in a big rush. This can make merging on and off freeways tricky and requires you to have a vehicle that can accelerate very quickly from 20-70mph, and also from 55mph-80mph for passing.
That said, I felt that the Odyssey, off the line, to be slightly quicker than the Sienna (Edmunds claims the 06 Odyssey can hit zero to 60 in 7.1 seconds). Where I noticed the biggest difference is when passing (55-80mph). I have driven three Toyotas recently (4Runner, Highlander, Sienna) all had V6's and all seemed to hesitate (slightly) when I stomped on the gas peddle when trying to pass on the freeway. Granted, all seemed to accelerate more than adequately, but the hesitation was noticeable.
This is not a deal-breaker for me, and honestly I feel that the Sienna has more than enough power to handle traffic here. I think, quite possibly, the biggest deal-breaker for me could be the handling of the Honda vs the Toyota. To me, the Odyssey seemed to handle better and feel more responsive. But, my wife will have the ultimate say since she will be driving this vehicle about 70% more than me.
The only other thing that frustrates me with the Toyota are the crazy packages. I absolutely insist that my next minivan will have stability control in it. This makes the price between the Honda (EX/cloth) and Toyota (LE/8 passenger/) very similar and the EX has two power side doors as opposed to one. Price and feature wise, the vans are very close in price and will not make a big difference in either direction.
I have to say, this is a great forum and really appreciate peoples feedback. I now it sounds like I am leaning towards the Honda, but it is a very, very, close advantage. It will most likely come down to the very small things now (which van is easiest load car seats into, which van is easier to move seats around, seating comfort, etc).
The Odyssey has better seating arrangement if you want to take 8 people in the van only on rare occasions since the 2nd row of the Odyssey has armrests for each of the outside bucket seats while the Sienna 8 passenger has NO armrests for any of the 3 seats of the 2nd row.
We bought the Sienna LE vs Odyssey EX vs GC SXT but I now wish we had purchased the GC SXT. The GC SXT has the cheapest looking interior but has more of the nice features we want than either the Sienna LE or Odyssey EX.
Lucky for me we have some pretty competitive Toyota and Honda dealers in the area. I get get Sienna's easily at 1000-12000 below factory invoive and can get very close to factory invoice pricing on the Odyssey. My trade-in will be a factor as well, but overall I think I should be able to get either van with the options that I want within about $500-600 of each other.
We will see The way I see it, you cannot really go wrong with either of these vans, but if you are going to be spending $24-35K (or more!) on a van you should get the one you really want if they are close in price..
with compass/homelink autodim mirror $300,
rear step plate $50,
4 seasons pkg $425,
side airbag/traction control $400,
Plus pkg $1505,
roofrack $250,
destination/delivery $545,
grand total came to $26415. On March 31, I got it for $18266. Got $3700 trade in on my 2000 with 147k. Came home with it for $14566.00 nothing out of pocket. Man, what a deal. It was all done via email, with me only using the phone one time, to see what the catch was. As it ended, there was no catch. The improvements over the 2000 are all subtle but good. Bigger engine, 5 spd vs. 4 spd, bigger tires, 4-wheel disc, radio controls on steering wheel. Couldn't justify spending $5k more for a larger van when this van is easier to use in everyday driving. Only short coming is when we pack it for vacation. Wife is happy and we still have a zoom zoom zoom!
Overall, I have owned several Mazda's (2 RX-7's, and a Tribute) and have been very happy with their reliability, engineering, and performance. It does look like you got a good deal too
Congrats..
Enjoy
Vic
I was familiar with all the knobs, buttons, switches, etc. on my 02 T&C and the ones on the 2006 Sienna are placed in different locations and are NOT as user friendly to me.
If I were buying now, I would buy the GC SXT instead of my Sienna LE. Except for the few long trips, the Caravan SXT would be more convenient than either longer Sienna or GC just like your MPV is MOST convenient except for your vacation trips.
Appreciate all the helpful tips and information
...from the Factory.
There ARE a number aftermarket sources for leather interior on Siennas. In fact, your local dealer may already have deals made with local upholstery shops to have leather added to any vehicle you want and have the price rolled into the vehicle contract.
It even shows up in the 'Build Your Own' section on Toyota's website as a stand alone option (depending on what area of the country you are in).
Agree with the size of MPV. Perfect except for long vacations with more than 4. Perfect size for our family of four. But, on long trips where mother-in -law comes along, the non split back seat limits luggage capacity. I guess a cargo carrier would take care of that problem though.
My hat's off to you jipster.
I'm pretty certain I'd NEVER be able to get my MIL into a cargo carrier.....
ROFL :P
I bet if you tried HARD enough, you could :surprise:
Ummm, possibly.
I think it comes down to a question of trip duration vs. the effective duration of the tranquilizer dart. I'd hate to be stuck in traffic, running late, when the darn thing worn off....
If you MUST have seating for 8 and leather, the Ody EX-L is the only viable choice. Aftermarket leather would NOT be as satisfactory as when the leather is installed at the factory.
Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough for the differences...