More on Minivans...

[Lynnie]

What features do you think are really important to get ?

We took my hyundai santa fe in for her 60,000 mile checkup, and when we heard the price of one of the recommended services (belts maybe ??, I don't know, just know it was alot of $$) and saw their new van, the Entourage, DH may be willing to upgrade my car to a minivan sooner than we had planned (which is actually riotous, since he has been "new car shopping" for himself for over a year, and I am happy with my car, but just know that my next one will be a minivan)

I read through all the last minivan question posts, but couldn't find a good shopping list re what options to get.

I like the power doors and the DVD player. DH likes the sunroof and the leather seats, but we live in fla, and I wonder if it'll be hot. But it will be easier to clean, right ?? Are those rear bumper sensor things really important ?

The dealer just faxed DH a quote for the fully loaded limited edition one, but I would love input on what features are great and which are money wasters.

Also, I know somebody here bought a kia a while back, wondering how it is going ??

Thanks in advance !!

[Piglet]

We recently test drove just about every minivan on the market to replace our 4 year old Santa Fe, so I think I can be of some assistance!

The 2 most important features that no new car should be without are Stability Control and Side Curtain Airbags. They have both been deemed major safety improvements, and I don't care how many gadgets a new car has, if it doesn't have those features it is no good for me. We bought a new Toyota Sienna (LE with option 4 - which adds stability control). The Entourage only had stability control on its higher models, so the price was not so much better than the Sienna. Of course, you did get leather and all sorts of goodies for the price on the Entourage, but I was getting very fed up with our service department at Hyundai and didn't want another Hyundai right now. As for the Kia, there is a post on the carseat forum when I asked about Kia Sedonas and was given mixed reviews (someone went so far as to say they got a true lemon). I generally would stay away from a new model year, so if you can wait for next year's Kias and Hyundais, they might work out a few glitches here and there. That reminds me, you will want a van that fits your carseats and kids properly. We ended up buying an 8 seater because we would like to sometimes go without the 3rd row (i.e. camping season) and if we have 3 kids, I want to be able to put them all in 1 rown on occasion. There are very few true 8 seaters on the market, so that helped us decide on the Sienna. I would also recommend power doors, but it depends on the price. They are nice to have. Our van only has 1 power door, which is fine with me, although I am sure I would appreciate a 2nd power door at some point! DVD players can be added on aftermarket for way less money than the installed ones (usually because you have to get other options as well as the DVD player on many cars). I would have liked leather seats because they clean up nicely, but again, I wouldn't say that they are must haves. If you are looking to buy the loaded Entourage, then the leather is a lot more affordable than the leather in a Sienna or an Odyssey. Also, I would love a van with back-up sensors because you really can't see a small child behind the van when reversing (and I have a tendency to bump my rear bumper a lot as it is).

Otherwise, just go and test drive the vans. We got an amazing appreciation for how different they all were once we test drove them. For example, the Honda was very tight and felt like it had a lot of power under the hood. The Toyota was very cushy and luxurious (I actually preferred the Honda, but we bought the Toyota for a number of other reasons). The Dodge Caravan really surprised me - I expected it to be lousy, but ended up really liking the handling. The Montana/Uplander/etc. did a stupid redesign that took out a lot of storage space when the seats are folded. We liked the Ford Freestyle Limited (not the minivan) a LOT, but would have preferred sliding doors and they didn't have enough carseat anchors in the back row. We didn't like the Ford Freestar although it seemed to be well priced and safe. The Mazda MPV was not available with side curtain airbags so we didn't look at it. The Mazda 5 was quite nice, and we already have a Protege that we love, but it felt too small after the Santa Fe and I fear that there will be no storage if we have 3 kids in it. I will admit to not having test driven the Entourage because I got fed up with the service department always ordering the wrong part for our Santa Fe and treating me poorly. I actually liked it when I played with it, and would have strongly considered it had they been easier to work with.

[Lynnie]

Wow, that's so funny - you have a 4 year old santa fe, too ! I got mine in january of 02. My hyundai dealer has actually been really good to work with, so no complaints there. They just faxed DH an estimate - for the loaded Limited Entourage, taking our santa fe as a trade, we could walk out the door for $24,500. I did edmunds.com to try to get comparisons, but how does that sound to you ?? I'd be ok waiting a year or so, because my santa fe really has been great, but I would also love to have more room - and a DVD player, especially for our 8 hour trip coming up !!

[Piglet]

I am in Canada (although we are buying the Sienna in the US). I got $13,750CDN for the Santa Fe, but it had very low mileage (about 30K). I would price out the Entourage seperate from your traded-in because they tend to screw you over one way or another if you do them as a lump sum. My Sienna cost about $26K US, without a trade-in, just as a comparison. Check Edmunds TMV price - that is very close to what I was able to get the Sienna for, so it is probably pretty accurate for the Entourage as well. I actually just looked it up for a Limited with Entertainment Package and the TMV is around $30K. That means you are getting about $5K for your trade-in. Check www.kbb.com for an accurate trade-in value.

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2007/hyundai/entourage/100709333/optionsresults.html?action=2

Good luck,

[BillK]

We just went to look at the Odyssey Touring over the weekend. Didn't have time to test drive it but based on our brief "once over" - it's definately our next vehicle when we're ready.

[brittone2]

I like safety features like side curtain airbags.

When we were looking for our Odyssey, part of what swayed us toward the Ody from the Sienna is that *all* trim lines of the Ody come with side curtain airbags. With the Sienna you had to go to a more elaborate package to get side curtain airbags.

We live in NC, which is not as hot as FL but we don't have any problems with our leather, which is a medium gray.

Power doors have been great for us so far. We opted to skip the DVD player because DS doesn't watch TV at home so I didn't want it in our car.

We don't have rear bumper sensors, and I don't miss them. I don't know that they are necessary if you are used to driving an SUV.

For negotiating tips, try edmunds.com. We solicited our dealer quotes online and it saved us a huge amount of money. I just kept emailing/calling them as the deals got better, and the next dealer would match or go lower...round and round we went until we got the price we wanted.

[bubbaray]

I purchased a 2005 Odyssey last July. I really like it. The other one I was looking at was the Sienna. I went with the Ody over the Sienna for a number of reasons:

standard: side curtain air bags, VSA (traction control), Eco engine (EX-L and up), more horsepower, tighter suspension, more standard features than on the Sienna.

I got the EX-L model, not the EX-DVD/nav or Touring. I didn't want the DVD or nav system, neither are useful for us (if/when we get DD a DVD, we'll get a portable one that she can use in DH's vehicle or on the plane too -- but for now, she's not interested in DVDs and we'd like to keep it that way!). The Touring model loses the 8th seat, which was more important to us than the features on the Touring model.

Having said all that, I definitely did like the Sienna. One major plus was it came in white, which here at least, the Ody does not (though it does in the US I believe). Also, the Sienna had less road noise. But, it wasn't as "peppy" and the interior finish wasn't quite my style (heavy on the faux-wood grain, not my thing).

I don't know much about the other vans out there because I wasn't looking at a domestic dealer, and the other imports were too small for us (we have a large dog that travels with us in his large dog crate -- we needed room for him, plus all the baby gear).

HTH
Melissa

http://b3.lilypie.com/rppJm7/.png[/img][/url]

[Lynnie]

Thanks all !

I checked the blue book value, and some prices on edmunds, and it looks like the salesguy didn't give us the greatest initial price. go figure... I just wish all the car dealers who signed up on the edmunds list as places that will give quotes online would actually do so ! Although it did turn out that my dealership did - for 2K less than he quoted my husband. Better rethink my loyalty to this place I think.

Anyway, onward ! Thanks for the input, any more is welcome !!

[brittone2]

Loyalty is unlikely to get you far in the pricing game, unfortunately.

When we were looking for Odys, we even called out of state (but still within a 2 hour radius). There were people that were finding deals that were 3000 less than in their own area, and even with either paying to have the vehicle shipped, or flying out, picking it up and driving (of course, gas prices now are much higher), they were still saving a signficiant amount of money. Better yet, you may be able to get a more local dealer to price match.

One of the places I called was 2-3 hours from my house (still in my state) but they gave me a price that was 500-1000 or so cheaper than the best price I had up to that point. They were even going to deliver it to our home included in the price. We were VERY close to going with that option, but eventually found a dealer or two that went lower in our own area. But calling a bit out of our area got the price lowered significantly.

When emailing dealers, I just basically said I had a small child and had NO interest in sitting and negotiating in a showroom with him in tow. Please provide me with your best price, yada yada. I think we had a few quotes by the next day (I emailed them at night). Lots of them tried to get us to come in to the showroom, and I just told them it wasn't happening.

You might also consider not even mentioning your trade until you get the price you are looking for. It makes negotiating easier as it gives them fewer numbers to manipulate. You can always sell on your own, etc. if need be. I think Edmunds has some good advice on this IIRC.

Good luck!!

[Lynnie]

I was able to get our dealer to match a lower price by bringing in some Edmunds comparisons (thank you for the tip !!), and got it for just a little over invoice, then got a good rebate and a decent trade in price, so we just left my old car there and drove home with the brand new mini-van, an Entourage, limited edition (leather seats, dual power doors, power trunk lift up, memory seats, side curtain air bags all the way back, traction control and a top rated safety report from the highway people, rear seats that fold down, windows that go down on the sliding doors) with the ultra extras package (sunroof, dvd, rear bumper sensors, 6 disc and mp3 player with controls in the steering wheel and some kind of crazy 13 speaker stereo). So far I love it - I feel like such the mommy, though ! It definitely has more features than I need, but it is kindof fun to have all the bells and whistles for a change. Hopefully any kinks were worked out with the sedona last year, since that's what it is modeled on. If not, look for me in the bitching forum !!

If anyone is ever interested in a review after I've had it, I'd be glad to tell you - hopefully it'll be a good review. Reading all the posts here about the pros of a mini van really got me excited, and even though I probably could have waited a little longer with my good old trusty santa fe, this way we avoided the pricey 60,000 mile tune ups, and will have a comfortable 8 hour trip this weekend to see my mom. And when we want to go to dinner with her and my dad, we'll all be able to fit in the same car - what a concept!! And we are going to have a rule that mondays are movie days, and the dvd player will otherwise only be used on long trips. DS1 pouted initially this morning, but got over it.

Sorry to be so long winded, I am just excited, and wanted to thank everyone for your input. :)

[brittone2]

Awewsome! Happy travels in your new van!!! :) Enjoy!

[Piglet]

YAY! What colour did you get? I am so glad you got a better price and so quick too! Enjoy and please post a review after a little while.

[BarbieSmith]

Traction control (most vans have this) but even more importantly, stability control (an option in most). Side curtain air bags. These are the only "musts" for me.

"Nice to have's" are 2 power doors, sunroof. DVD player is much cheaper if you buy it separately.

Hope this helps,
Barbie

http://lilypie.com/pic/060616/jxZr.jpg http://b2.lilypie.com/Hz6Zm4.png

www.SmithAngels.com - we want to adopt again! :)

[pixiepower]

We have the 2006 Honda Odyssey EXL and we also live in florida and I still got leather seats. Sooo much easier to clean!!! Personally, I thought I wanted the DVD and navigation system and have done fine without the DVD. BUT, next time we get a new vehicle, I will get the navigation systme. we just moved and I wasn't familiar with my new town so it would have come in handy. I love the power doors, but would have liked a power lift in the back, which only came on the most expensive model, which was just out of our price range. we have the moonroof and to be honest I never use it. all in all, I am happy with our choice. It is a dream to drive and we have so much room.

[KBecks]

Congrats, and I hope the van works great for you. Do let us know how you like it after you've had it for a while.