What to look for in a minivan?

[KrisM]

We really aren't in the market for one now, but I've heard that our local Dodge dealer has some great sales going on and I'm going to stop in tomorrow and check them out.

I know I want power doors and leather. What else? What kind of seats in the 2nd row?

[caheinz]

Love our power doors.

As to seats in the second row, it depends on what you plan to have there. Captains chairs are probably most comfortable, but since we wanted all 3 kids in a row in the middle, we opted for three in a row, which makes a bench. (And with car seats in our future for quite some time, comfortable seating wasn't a priority.)

Would you put one kid in the back? (I don't think you can seat 3 in the middle row of a Dodge van.)

[HIU8]

I vote second row seats to be captains chairs. It is so much easier to get to the back row and you also have the option of taking a chair out and still having one in the second row (if you configure your seats that way). I know a lot of people have the leather, but personally, we could not afford it and I don't miss it. We have the upgraded cloth that has been scotchguarded and have never had an issue with stains, rips, tears, pulls etc...

[JBaxter]

DVD player w/ headphones
leather
back up camera
power doors/liftgate
Nav system

I didnt think I would like all the bells and whistles but I am SPOILED now :)

[egoldber]

I love my Grand Caravan. :)

I wish my van had the Stow N Go seating, but that did not come out until 1 or 2 years after my model.

My must haves would be:

leather
power doors/liftgate
DVD player w/ headphones

I wish I had the ability to push the seats together in the second row, but I don't. I actually find the captain's chairs inconvenient for access to the third row. But with the Stow N Go, I think it would actually be easier to fold down one of the second row chairs and put the kids in the rear. We've done this when we have had a Town&Country for a rental and it works really well.

[caleymama]

I know that I am in the minority, but we have an 07 Dodge van and I really like the bench seat in the second row. Our previous van had captain's chairs and I thought it was difficult, especially for an adult, to get to the 3rd row when carseats were installed on the captains chairs. Currently, both DDs ride side by side on the bench (seats 2) in the 2nd row - one in a Regent and one in a True Fit. The third row, which is stow and go, is a lot easier to access with the bench in the 2nd row. I guess it depends on who rides in your 3rd row, but I like having the open space so that an adult (like a grandparent) can just get in the door and go back there, rather than having to get past and around a carseat on a captains chair. I also drive one of DD1's friends a lot and she rides in our Parkway booster back there and it's a cinch to help her get in and get buckled in the 3rd row. Like I said, I know a lot of people prefer the captains chairs and after having both I think I would with older kids that are out of carseats, but for now I really like the bench seat.

ETA: The 2nd row bench is not stow and go, but the model we got (pre-owned, was a rental car for almost a year before we bought it) had the wells in the floor for 2nd row stow and go captains chairs so we have lots of floor storage but also the bench that we wanted.

[KrisM]

I know that I am in the minority, but we have an 07 Dodge van and I really like the bench seat in the second row. Our previous van had captain's chairs and I thought it was difficult, especially for an adult, to get to the 3rd row when carseats were installed on the captains chairs. Currently, both DDs ride side by side on the bench (seats 2) in the 2nd row - one in a Regent and one in a True Fit. The third row, which is stow and go, is a lot easier to access with the bench in the 2nd row. I guess it depends on who rides in your 3rd row, but I like having the open space so that an adult (like a grandparent) can just get in the door and go back there, rather than having to get past and around a carseat on a captains chair. I also drive one of DD1's friends a lot and she rides in our Parkway booster back there and it's a cinch to help her get in and get buckled in the 3rd row. Like I said, I know a lot of people prefer the captains chairs and after having both I think I would with older kids that are out of carseats, but for now I really like the bench seat.

ETA: The 2nd row bench is not stow and go, but the model we got (pre-owned, was a rental car for almost a year before we bought it) had the wells in the floor for 2nd row stow and go captains chairs so we have lots of floor storage but also the bench that we wanted.

Do you think having a bench and a third person always in the back in a 5-pt harness would bug you at all? I'd probably put DS1 back there or maybe even DS1 and DD and put DS2 in the middle row.

[KrisM]

For a DVD player, does it have a screen for both rows or just near the front? How hard is it to view from the 3rd row? Or are there screens for all seating positions or something?


I can't find on the Dodge page that any version of the Caravan has an option of leather. Does anyone know if leather is possible? I have leather now and just find them more comfy in the summer than my old cloth seats. And, I'm not always picking out clumps of my hair that would get stuck in the cloth.

[hellokitty]

I love my Grand Caravan. :)

I wish my van had the Stow N Go seating, but that did not come out until 1 or 2 years after my model.

My must haves would be:

leather
power doors/liftgate
DVD player w/ headphones

I wish I had the ability to push the seats together in the second row, but I don't. I actually find the captain's chairs inconvenient for access to the third row. But with the Stow N Go, I think it would actually be easier to fold down one of the second row chairs and put the kids in the rear. We've done this when we have had a Town&Country for a rental and it works really well.

I agree with your entire post, except that I have a Honda Ody.

[bubbaray]

I love my Ody, I'm not entirely sure what the Dodge offers.

I just wanted address the DVD, though. We don't have it and we don't miss it -- and we do long road trips with my van. My DD#1 is FFg and my DD#2 is RFg, so the DVD system wouldn't work for us anyways. If you still have a RFg child(ren), you might want to ensure that any DVD system can work for them.

HTH

[egoldber]

My Grand Caravan has leather. I don't know if leather is available on the Caravan (not Grand) or not.

ETA: I turned Amy FF at 2 and she enjoyed just listening to the DVD player before that. You should have seen the look in her eyes when we turned her and she realized that there were pictures to go with the sound!!

And we only have one screen in ours, but you can see it find from the third row. I think newer models have the option for 2 screens.

[BillK]

I'd look for either this:

http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/original/toyota-logo.jpg

or this:

http://yelbochoapa.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/honda-logo.jpg

Seriously though - look for power sliding doors and liftgate - up to you on second row seats - we have captains chairs in our Sienna - but I suppose if you have 4-5 kids the 2nd row with the little jumpseat would be handy - we love the Nav system - same with the rear seat DVD system - love having leather with the monkies - no biggie if something gets spilled - just wipe it up.

The only thing we have on our Sienna (had it already so no biggie but I wouldn't order it) is the power folding third row seats. They're ok and all but I don't see them being any great revelation of a convenience.

Also - look at resale value - this can be very important in the event of a total loss - you could end up upside down on what it's worth vs. what you owe. If you buy a van that traditionally does not hold it's value well (any domestic) - make sure you ask your insurance agent to add loan/lease gap coverage - or replacement cost coverage if they're available - or find a company that offers it.

[bubbaray]

Bill, you crack me up, LOL!

I think a power liftgate is probably a pretty important option for most women. I don't have one on my Ody (when I bought it was only available on the top Touring model, and I didn't need it). I'm 5'9" and definitely do not need it. I would think it would be hard for shorter women to reach the handle when the back is open, though.

HTH

[KrisM]

Pretty funny, Bill!

If we get serious, I'd consider those as well. But, we get employee pricing on American and only supplier on Honda and nothing on Toyota. Foreign cars also tend to get keyed more than American, depending on where you are, unfortunately.

We'd buy the van, so no worries on being upside down, but that's good to know!

[brittone2]

Bill, you crack me up, LOL!

I think a power liftgate is probably a pretty important option for most women. I don't have one on my Ody (when I bought it was only available on the top Touring model, and I didn't need it). I'm 5'9" and definitely do not need it. I would think it would be hard for shorter women to reach the handle when the back is open, though.

HTH
Our Ody (an 05) was out before the power lift gate was on all models. I am a shrimpy 5'2" and don't have problems reaching it. That said, I would love to have it...just handy to be able to push a button when you have bags and kids in tow. So my shortness isn't a problem, but my laziness is :D

[lisams]

Our Ody (an 05) was out before the power lift gate was on all models. I am a shrimpy 5'2" and don't have problems reaching it. That said, I would love to have it...just handy to be able to push a button when you have bags and kids in tow. So my shortness isn't a problem, but my laziness is :D

Another shortie here (5' 3") and I don't have any troubles reaching the gate. But it sure would be nice to have power lift especially when shopping with the kids.

[AnnieW625]

I have heard really good things about the stow and go seating in the Caravan. Other than that I don't kow much about it.

[mom2binsd]

We have a Mercury Monterey, love our leather and captains chairs, dual power doors (I guess not all have dual power doors) and lots of space even with the 3rd row in use.

I'm REALLY SHORT (4'10'') , not like those 5'3'' inch wannabe shorties, and I have never had a problem reaching the liftgate.

I do wish there was better cupholders in our 2nd row, the kids in their carseats (no cupholders on the MA or Regent) can't reach the cupholders that pop out of the side of the seats, but once they're bigger I guess it'll be okay, for now we put sippy's in their seats.

We have the sensors front and rear that really help when parking...when I drive DH's Durango I always feel like I'm going to run someone over.

[caleymama]

Another shortie here (5' 3") and I don't have any troubles reaching the gate. But it sure would be nice to have power lift especially when shopping with the kids.

:yeahthat: I'm barely 5'5" and would agree completely.

We really were not ready to take on a car loan when we bought our van a year ago, but our other one was past the point of any more help (we'd already replaced the $^%@#*@ engine!). We ended up with another van after DH insisted on something with 3 rows. We came close to getting a Ford Freestyle crossover, but ultimately wanted something with 3 truly accessible rows. Not to mention that DH is 6'2" and all legs along with having chronic back issues, so he was picky about the front seats and having enough space. Anyway, we went with a low mileage gently used 07 Grand Caravan that had pretty much nothing in the way of bells and whistles. No power doors or liftgate, no DVD (our choice, though), no leather (would have been nice), no navigation system, etc. It also does not have ESC or side curtain airbags. I didn't love the lack of either of those things at all, but compared to other vehicles in our price range, we decided that a low-mileage, good warranty minivan in which DDs are safely in harnessed seats for the forseeable future was a decent compromise. I would certainly have loved a pre-owned Toyota or Honda minivan, but we would have had to at least triple the mileage and go back at least 3-4 years in order to bring it into our price range and that wasn't something we were comfortable doing.

To answer your other question, having a carseat on the passenger side of the 3rd row would be easy, particularly if it is FF. That's the side of the 2nd row bench seat that the space is next to. The 3rd row driver's side isn't as easy, but I don't think it would be any harder than having to access it w/ captains chairs. Either way you'd have to reach a bit. The only thing you wouldn't be able to do is fold down one captian's chair. I have to climb in to the van to help with a booster in the 3rd row on either side, but I think I could do a harnessed seat w/o climbing in on the near (passenger) side. One other thing that I thought of - DD's Regent is now installed with the seatbelt rather than LATCH b/c she just hit 50lbs. It is behind the driver's seat b/c on the passenger side, the shoulder belt still comes from the top/side of the interior so it would be in the way to have it permanently across the opening on that side. It's late and I hope that makes sense! DD2's True Fit is installed with LATCH on that side of the bench instead.

[elephantmeg]

we have a 92 dodge caravan lol and DS is in the back row forward facing and DD is rear facing in the second row and they love that they can see each other-they are always back there cracking up :)

[octmom]

If you opt for a navigation system, find out what sort of cost may be involved when you want to update maps. My mom recently told me that it was going to cost her something like $1000 to update maps in her Toyota Highlander's navigation system. My parents opted not to get a built-in nav. system when they replaced their other car last fall. They bought a Garmin for much less instead.

[o_mom]

On the DVD player front.... I wouldn't let having one or not having one be a major factor if you are looking at an instock vehicle. You can get ceiling mounted DVD players added pretty easily. We have the factory DVD on our Odyssey and while it is nice, it's not a must have. The aftermarket ones work just as well. They also have more options for adding extra screens, which you could mount for a RF child easier.

The other issue is that if something ever goes wrong with our radio, we have to put a Honda radio in if we want the DVD player to work since it is controlled from the radio. I have a friend that had their child put pennies in the CD player and short it out. They could get an aftermarket radio installed for around $150 vs. $800 for a Honda radio.

Headphones are also something I don't see as a 'must have' - we have never even used ours since we got the van four years ago. I don't trust the kids to keep the volume low enough, so we just use the speaker system. DS1 might be able to now, but DS2 and certainly DS3 can't at all.

[KrisM]

Thanks everyone. Turns out the deals are much better for my friend who told me about them than for me :). Her DH works for Chrysler, so there are added benefits for that. It was good to check one out in any case.

I looked at a Grand Caravan with the cloth stain repelant seats, Stow N Go, no-DVD, power doors and lift-gate, power windows. It would still be $23,500 including tax, etc. I think we'd only get about $1500 on a trade-in, so we still would need to come up with $22k.

I don't think we're ready to spend that much right now, but at least I've been in a minivan and know a bit more of what to look for. We know we'll get one eventually, so that's good.

I'll take a look at other vans as well.

[SASM]

I LOVE the Town and Country for the Stow and Go seats. We use this feature all the time! That being said, we HATE the light color of the leather seating/carpeting. Both tan and gray leather options were light and our car constantly looks dirty despite cleaning. :( The in-dash navigation system is HORRIBLE in this van as well. Better to get your own separate navigation. The 2 independant monitors are a very nice feature (can play 2 separate DVDs) for our family ~ different genders and age groups.