Odyssey owner for the past 10 years. Great vehicle, travels well and handles just about all of my needs. One drawback, and this is a 2010 model, is the “mushy” brakes. Sometimes I’m not sure I’m stopping.

As is, if I were to get another van it’d be the Sienna with AWD.

Lastly, as I’m not in the market and do not know, previous mini-van was a sienna - maybe 2003(?) and one very nice item was the ability to open the very rear windows electrically. Odyssey just doesn’t have that.

The Dodge Caravan is bulletproof. Fantastic engine, 5 speed transmission, and brakes.

I have the new 2017 Pacifica with the 9 speed transmission and its a piece of shit. It clunks, shifts weird, makes lots of noises, and will probably blow up 1000 miles past warranty. The engine and the rest of the car are decent enough for a commuter, but the transmission sucks.

The Dodge/Chrysler has low residual value which means you can get a really nice deal on a low miles used one,compared to Toyota/Honda.

quote:

The Dodge Caravan is bulletproof.

I disagree. I had many issues with my work issued Grand Caravan that 2 different dealers couldn't resolve. It would kick into limp mode for no reason. Dealer replicated it several times and couldn't fix it even with Dodge Corporate's help.

I would only look at the Toyota Sienna (I've had 3 issued by my work) or the Honda Odyssey if it was my money.

cue the swaggerwagon video!!

HK Ag

We have a 2011 Oddy. Our 2nd one. It's been good. Creaky, but overall reliable. Eats front rotors faster than it should. They warp. Had to change a door opener last summer. Other than that, all good. We'll either get a new one this spring, or go another year or two. Either way. It'll be an Oddy when we do.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
We have a 2011 Oddy. Our 2nd one. It's been good. Creaky, but overall reliable. Eats front rotors faster than it should. They warp. Had to change a door opener last summer. Other than that, all good. We'll either get a new one this spring, or go another year or two. Either way. It'll be an Oddy when we do.

Hondas in general seem to eat front rotors. Had to replace them on my TL & both Civics.

No rotor issues with my 2012 Sienna! Or any other issues at all!!

I've had great luck with my Dodge Grand Caravan. It just keeps on trucking. Only maintenance has been lots of brake pads. I've been told they were designed too small to stop a large vehicle.

Go with the Sienna. The Fiat/Chrysler products have low resale because they are low quality. Second choice would be the Odyssey.

I've had a Kia Sedona for about 3 years now. I love it. VERY reliable, LOTS of features for the money.

Another +1 for the Toyota. Had one for years, bought used from Carmax (they make $$ on maintenance contracts - didnt buy one, cuz Toyota - and so their vehicles are usually quite good as not to need frequent repair under contract) and except for this weird door hinge weld issue it was completely trouble free.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarms229:

quote:

The Dodge Caravan is bulletproof.

I disagree. I had many issues with my work issued Grand Caravan that 2 different dealers couldn't resolve. It would kick into limp mode for no reason. Dealer replicated it several times and couldn't fix it even with Dodge Corporate's help.

I would only look at the Toyota Sienna (I've had 3 issued by my work) or the Honda Odyssey if it was my money.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
We have a 2011 Oddy. Our 2nd one. It's been good. Creaky, but overall reliable. Eats front rotors faster than it should. They warp. Had to change a door opener last summer. Other than that, all good. We'll either get a new one this spring, or go another year or two. Either way. It'll be an Oddy when we do.

We had a ton of issues with our 2012 Odyssey so we traded it in on an MDX (which is now burning a shit ton of oil, but that's a thread for another day.)

Recently we were toying around with the idea of getting another van since the kids are getting bigger so we test drove a Sienna AWD. It felt very big to me and I didn't love it, but it was OK and the price was comparable to an Odyssey. The salesman was great, he sells the most Toyota's in the state of MD, and he said he wouldn't recommend the AWD because they eat tires. Not sure how true that is but my wife didn't want to go back to FWD from the AWD MDX so that was a deal breaker for us.

I was in Florida last year for a TDY and they gave us two Pacifica's for rentals. Honestly, I liked them more than the Sienna. The Pacifica felt more compact, it handled more like a car and not a boat, and I liked the interior better. However, I don't think a Pacifica would come close to the Toyota in terms of reliability so there's that.

The Hyundai/Kia van seems nice but I don't have any experience with it and I think if you are paying that much for a van I would stick with the big 3 - Toyota/Honda/Chrysler.

2015 Sienna awd owner here and we love ours. Only thing I've done is replace run flat tires with conventional all season. Rides and performs great. I'd buy another.

quote:

Originally posted by Rolan_Kraps:
I've had a Kia Sedona for about 3 years now. I love it. VERY reliable, LOTS of features for the money.

That will go on the list along with the Honda and Toyota and based on what I'm seeing here I'll drop consideration of any Chrysler vans.

I have driven my in-laws Honda Odyssey before and I did like the fact that it felt more like driving a big sedan than a van. At the end of the day it's going to be my wife who drives it 85% of the time, so I will let her test drive them and let her choose what she likes.

I have a 2012 Odyssey with about 108k on it. Overall we have been happy but there are some issues. Some of those could be the with our local dealership though.

At about 60k we had to have 1 or 2 piston rings replaced. Honda paid for that as it's a known issue with that motor. The CD player quit working at about the same time. That's not an issue for me but an annoyance for my wife. The driver's side sliding door pops pretty bad most of the time when it opens. I've read that this can be fixed with a new actuator but I haven't had time to deal with it yet. I noticed a few weeks ago that the passenger's side sliding door has a shutter when closing at about the half way point. A few months ago I had the timing belt replaced. That is a recommended service at 105k miles. It was about $1300 but I knew it was coming so I was able to prepare for the expense.

I'm getting new brake pads and rotors put on her today. Overall it's been dependable and my wife has been happy. She really wanted a van over an SUV and I didn't really care. It has served us well and hopefully will for at least another 42k miles. I wouldn't hesitate to get in it today (after the brakes are done) and drive to Florida in it. It has been good on tires, is not a peppy as I am used to in my truck but it doesn't drive like a boat either.


I consider it a good purchase for us.

Early 2019 we bought a 2014 Odyssey. It had 72k and I don't think we got a great deal on it but the wife wanted leather, heated seats and all power doors.

We really love it. We drove several Siennas but never found one we really liked. I do like how you can store the second row middle seat in the back. I'm a Toyota guy but we really like our Odyssey. I don't think we woulda gone wrong with either one. I completely feel we will easily get over 200k on this, at least I hope!

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

With the upcoming birth of our third child...

Count the seats no matter what you get. Our Odyssey has six seats: Two bucket seats in the second row and two seat belts in the rear folding seat. We have one child and that was not a huge issue, but there were times we wished we had an extra seat for transporting other kids.

Our daughter is now 30 and on her own, but IMO the more seats the better.

My brother worships his Odyssey. Best car in the entire world he preaches. Maybe so, but his real world perspective that is weighed against his other two cars should be noted... an old Chevy conversion van and an antique Volvo station wagon.

That said, I will look at them closely when replacing my wife's GMC Envoy.

With the prices of the Kia vehicles and 10 year 100K warranty there's no reason to buy a used HOndatoymopar van, none..

The quality at KIA is excellent, and you have three price points from L, LX and EX, with the low interest rates and lease rates buying a used vehicle and the risks associated with it are not necessary.

You'll need a good van for several years with kids and it will get a ton
of use, find a good Kia dealer and buy new, get a warranty, some offer free oil changes for the time you own it...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
With the prices of the Kia vehicles and 10 year 100K warranty there's no reason to buy a used HOndatoymopar van, none..

The quality at KIA is excellent, and you have three price points from L, LX and EX, with the low interest rates and lease rates buying a used vehicle and the risks associated with it are not necessary.

You'll need a good van for several years with kids and it will get a ton
of use, find a good Kia dealer and buy new, get a warranty, some offer free oil changes for the time you own it...

KIA’s aren’t as reliable/durable as Toyota. Not to mention their resale sucks.