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1. Vans are the best for efficiency/space/convience
2. Vans will not perform as good as SVUs in the upstate NY/Canada snow/ice/rain
Ground clearance could be an issue if you insist on going out during one of those infamous two foot dumps of snow.
Then there's the AWD Sienna to toss in the mix.
The only catch - you gotta get run-flat tires.
Ody has odd rims (17.5" IIRC) that will not fit standard tires, but Honda doesn't offer their SH-AWD system on it anyway. Pilot it is, for Honda.
cost to operate. Granted, I dont live in a snow area, but the thought of giving
up that much room, the sliding doors for the kids, the better mileage, being able
to run on 87, it just wasn't worth saving the money to buy a used car. If I were you,
I would be pick up a CPO 2009 Odyssey. You get teh benefit of the powerliftgate.
make sure if you do, the transmission judder has been addressed. good luck!
I suggest the van I chose - an 8 passenger Sienna. Get a 2010 model, because you get 3 adult-sized chairs. The middle one is a full 20" wide.
That lets you put 3 kids there, and just one in the back row. You can split fold the back row and get a big, L-shaped cargo area, for a lot of cargo.
You can also seat 6 children.
Here is a huge image:
http://www.toyota.com/img/vehicles/2010/sienna/gallery/full/2009-Sienna-14.jpg
Imagine you fold the 60 portion of the 3rd row, you'd have plenty of cargo space. The only catch is the 4th child would sit alone and next to cargo, so make sure it's secured to the tie-downs that are supplied.
The Odyssey offers an 8 seat model, but the seat is more narrow, it's really just a bridge between the 2 others seats. I'm not sure if 3 child seats across would even fit, as the seats tend to be fairly wide.
Ody and Sienna are the only 2 minivans to offer 8 seats, IIRC.
Here's a pic of that van's interior:
http://automobiles.honda.com/images/2009/odyssey/interior/interior-header.jpg
I would test-fit your car seats first, to make sure they fit. It has fewer tether anchors, too, I've heard.
Toyota will launch a new Sienna soon, but the middle row looks more like the Ody's, with a narrow mother-in-law seat in the middle. Can't find a pic with the 8th seat, but it would go between these chairs:
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/31553694+w750+st0/2011-toyota-sienna-interior-s- econd-row-seats.jpg
My wife has given the go-ahead to try and sell our 2000 Durango (199K, 2WD, 318, 6-passenger) to attempt to purchase a same generation Chrysler minivan (I found a well-kept '98 T&C with 184K locally, the guy is willing to trade even up).
Our Durango has been an interesting purchase. We bought it from a dealer in Oklahoma on eBay, knowing three things: a) it was a good looking truck inside and out, b) the engine was known to be bad, and c) it was a bank repossession with 172K on it. For $1700 in February 2009, it was a good deal. I went to a junkyard and purchased a 124K mile engine for $600 and paid $550 for my local mechanic to install it. We had a running driving truck with cold AC for the next year. Two problems got fixed, one, the torque converter bolts backed out and our mechanic fixed this for free, and two, the radiator and water pump failed. We had those fixed for about $230 each and it's been great. Now the A/C has a leak at the port where you fill it, and it's a $120 part. So we're looking into the minivan thing, because finding a third row seat to match the interior is driving my wife and I crazy. They're either the wrong color, or the wrong fabric, or the junkyard wants $400+ for the setup.
If nothing else, it will be a learning experience. The last Chrysler van I drove was a taxi in Dallas, a 1999 Grand Voyager with the 3.3L. It was very comfortable to drive and I look forward to that experience with the Chrysler. I'll update here as needed. I know my wife will miss her truck, but I also know she would love to take our kids to see my grandmother for the first time before she passes, and with the 6-passenger Durango, one of us would have to stay home.
Good luck with the swap.
I had a rental Grand Caravan a couple of years back and it drove well. I was happy with the free upgrade.
Oh, I need tires on my current van so we took the Outback. It'll hold everything we need, but the van sure is easier to pack. More comfy too.
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We have to have 8 seats. Cargo is not a big worry as I do shopping when kids are at school etc. We will be going on Vacation next summer however will use the luggage rack for that.
Can anyone give us advice on if it is smarter to buy a 2010 Charger with cash and put $15,000 down on a Pilot or Pay Pilot Cash and say put $10,000 down on the Charger and finance that?
also does anyone know how much they come down on prices if your buying cash? Say the SUV cost $32,000 ( the New Pilot we looked at today) How much do you think they normally come down on it if it's cash? thanks in advance.
A heart broken Armada owner LOL
btw my kids are older kids and fit fine in the Armada.
When the time comes, closely examine manufacturer financing incentives. Dodge seems to run zero percent deals frequently, certainly a better way to go than paying cash for a vehicle that will depreciate like a rock. Also, Honda always runs a big President's day promotion in February.
Last thought, unless you really need 4wd, get over that minivan dislike. Feature for feature, they are usually less expensive than an SUV. Further, they drive and ride better, are easier to park, a far more versatile (try hauling 4 x 8 foot sheets of plywood in a Pilot) , and get better mileage than SUVs.
Pay cash on the car with more cash back, and finance the car with the more attractive loan rate. Win-win.
The Charger is being updated soon so expect big incentives. The Pilot is also getting long in the tooth.
Another thought - don't buy the Pilot if you don't like it. Lowering the payment won't make you happy if you don't like what you're driving. Get another CPO Armada or something.
I guess I didn't really like it when I came out, so I'm already looking forward to the redesign.
My only regret is not getting a power hatch (for when you have something heavy in your arms).
Also, a good mid-size SUV will have about 70-100 cubic feet capacity.
A similarly sized minivan will have 150. So up to double the space.
You really have to go to a Suburban to match a minivan, and then you're vehicle is nearly two feet longer.
Since I got rid of my X5 I just bought a Honda Odyssey Touring Elite for 43,000 dollars, which is the fully upgraded model. I wasn't so happy selling my MDX but I had to as I have one 15 year old and an 11 year old. I also travel with my cousin and his wife plus his 14 year old son. Our MDX became a headache. My son complained a so much about the third row, so we sold our MDX last week. Then we visited the toyota dealer and checked out the Sienna. Then we went to Honda and I checked the Odyssey out. I sat in the third row and man was it comfortable or what. Very easily can three full size adults fit in the third row. Now then my wife and I debated between Odyssey and Sienna. My wife and I both loved the Odyssey. It is perfect for young children if you have any, even though we don't. I love the space. The Odyssey has some really nice features such as: a cool box, flat fold third row seats, power rear hatch, power sliding doors, ultrawide rear entertainment screen, and what not! I highly recommend the Honda Odyssey 2011. AMAZING MINIVAN!!!
I personally like everything about the Ody better except for the exterior styling. But given that not much changed in the overall mechanicals I have doubts the new ones are any better in the snow/ice. Ody was the worst FWD I've owned for winter performance so I guess we'll find out how the Sienna does. We drive a lot of very hilly and rarely plowed roads so really we would prefer an SUV. But the compromise of space just doesn't cut it.
We looked closely at the Acadia but there is just not enough cargo space if you need the 3rd row, which is the only reason I can imagine buying one of these vehicles. We have several 4x4 vehicles around so we have choices if the weather turns really foul. But it never fails we'll be on a trip and hit some weather coming or going. Nice to know you can actually get home once you get off the highway. We managed with the Ody and Blizzaks but it was not impressive.
Somethings I really liked about the Sienna was that it had AWD, it was really spacious much more than Odyssey, it had more trim levels and starting price for leather was cheaper, the front design I love it, and a few other minor things.
One kind of dumb thing Toyota did with the AWD models are that they only have 7 seats if you want AWD. If you get standard 2WD then you get 8 seats.
Overally I think both vans are very good and spacious epecially after selling an Acura MDX.
Is that still the case with the 2011s?
I'm guessing there's something mechanical from allowing the 8-pax seating on the AWD models. The driveshaft goes through where the spare tire would be on FWD models which is why they only have run-flats on AWD. The AWD Ltd also loses the power third row because of some limitation.
It could also be a weight limitation since the AWD adds significant heft. Curb weight on a Ltd AWD is 335# higher than a FWD LE and 200# heavier than a FWD Ltd. That's more than one pax by most definitions.
Funny, so it's either that the van has too many PAX or not room for enough pax. :shades:
I'd love a 5 passenger minivan but I guess we'll have to move to France to find one. The Mazda5 is pretty close with "just" 6 seats.
I figured you had already lived there at some point. You do get around...
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd
23 Civic Type-R / 22 MDX Type-S / 21 Tesla Y LR / 03 Montero Ltd
Please email pr@edmunds.com by November 4, 2011 with your daytime phone number and a comment about your experience.
Manufacturers usually report cargo space cubic footage, but when transporting large household items like a sofa or a painting or a dryer what really matters is how wide the cargo door opening is and how deep is the space.
My SUV experience was that Rendezvous had much better cargo capacity than RX350. Things still fit in the RX but fewer do and much tighter, requiring multiple trips at times.
From memory the Rendezvous had a 48-inch wide opening, and fairly tall too. It never got to carry 4x8's in it, but it was big enough and did carry a plasma TV.
If you feel like measuring your cargo space and sharing the four measurements please post the following:
• SUV or van model name
• width at bottom (watch for wheel wells)
• width at top (e.g. at ceiling or at side-folded third row seats)
• height (watch for ceiling-mounted seatbelt spools and DVD players)
• floor depth with second row seats folded down
An example:
LexusRX350 44 42 30 72
http://www.cars101.com/subaru/forester/forester2012.html
Forester 42 39 32 70
That's a big little SUV.
http://www.cars101.com/subaru/tribeca/tribeca2012.html
Tribeca 43 x 32 78
I put an "x" because width at the ceiling is not measured.
So the floor is bigger than 48"x96".