Went van shopping - confused - help!!!

[sophiesmom]

Wow, thanks, you made a lot of good points. I think my major thinking w/ the 8 seater (i'm paranoid about accidents) is that I would worry about the older child being so close to the back of the vehicle in case of a bad rear impact. She can be in the Marathon for a long time which is reassuring, it's such a solid seat.

I know I'm thinking way too much about 7 vs. 8. A local dealer has 3 leftover 05 Oddy touring models. We want to try to get them lower than what they offered but may not happen. I know I would be happy w/ either toyota or honda. I did notice that the honda was louder than the toyota.

thanks!

[Elizasmom]

I am super accident paranoid too. I was like that even before my husband totaled our vehicle with her in it, and I'm even more so now. This is how I look at it -you have no way of knowing where an impact will occur, so you can't fixate on just being rear-ended. If you put him in an outboard position in an 8 seater, and then get hit on the side (like we did), he'd have been better off in the back row in the center. Also, just look for yourself at the nice big gap between the seat and the door in the 7-seater.

I am more scared of side-impacts than rear impacts because there is so much less protection (although we do have the side airbags). Even with the small trunk space in the Sienna, there are still crumple zones. He'd be a couple of feet from impact in the rear, but just a couple of inches from impact on the side. I especially don't like the passenger side outboard position. That's where we were hit making a left turn on a yellow light. It's a very common type of accident. My daughter was in the center of our Highlander. I have no doubt she would be dead if she had been on the side. There was just nothing left of that seating position. With the 7-seater Sienna, we have the captain's chair on that side moved over to the center. With three kids, only one is on the side, and it's the side I feel less nervous about.

[bubbaray]

I once had an accident reconstruction engineer tell me that statistically, you are more likely to die on the passenger side of the car because the driver will always instinctively try to maneouver the vehicle to save themselves. DD is my only child and her MA is in the 2nd row, driver's side for that very reason. With a second child, I would move the 2nd row passenger side seat as far towards the center as possible (or put DD#1 in the 3rd row center, though I doubt that would work as our dog is in the rear in his crate).




Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[Elizasmom]

Interesting that you prefer the driver's side outboard position to the center position (or "almost" center with the passenger side chair moved to the center-most position). Of the 2nd row seats, I think of that center spot as the safest, followed by the driver's side outboard. It's crazy, but I think about these things a lot. With the Highlander (the one that was totaled), we didn't have a tether in the center. I was bound and determined to keep her in the center, but I agonized over the absent tether and tried to get one installed to no avail. I was so nutty about keeping her away from the sides (this was when we only had one child), that when the accident happened I felt like I had somehow known what was coming. Being a bit OCD about things has not been a good thing, but in this case, I feel it saved my child's life.

[sophiesmom]

wow, thanks for all that. it all makes sense. i'm feeling better with going with a 7 seater now. i guess if you start thinking too much you really make yourself nuts. but they are such precious cargo! i can't wait to get them out of the CRV (so close to the sides and no bags and no headwings)and into the captains chairs, a bit further from the sides of the cars and having the side curtain airbags.

i think too, with the point made of using the 3rd row for diapering etc., it would be good for nursing too! i used to hate nursing in the fron seat of the car (parked of course!) so would be nice to hide back there, and be able to get back there easily.

most people rave about both vans. i've heard a little more negatives about the oddys, but not much! the oddy might be a nicer choice with having that option of the 8th seat for an older child or adult (an occasional passenger). this way regularly we'd have the space of a 7 seater (regarding the positioning/size of the 2nd row captain chairs), but if in a pinch could carry an 8th passenger, which i'm sure will only be once in a blue moon!

i appreciate everyone's help here!!!

[bubbaray]

Hmmm, perhaps I wasn't clear. Yes, center is safest in the car seat testing. But in terms of accidents, this engineer was telling me why it was that I was seeing cases where the passengers were critically injured, but the drivers walked away from the crash.

That is wonderful that your child was safe in what sounds like a horrible crash.



Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[Elizasmom]

Hey- This is interesting, and should make you feel even better about having your child in the way back in the center. Scroll about half way down where is says "What if I'm hit from behind?"

http://cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

The article states that 96% of all crashes are front or side, and "rear impacts aren't as bad when they do happen because The forces in a rear impact crash are much different from the forces in a frontal impact crash. In a frontal impact, the forces are much greater because the vehicles are usually traveling in opposite directions. Experts suggest that a frontal crash is the same as hitting a concrete barrier – the vehicle and all occupants come to a dead stop within less than 1 second. When you are struck in a rear impact, the vehicles involved are traveling in the same direction, and the vehicle that is hit in the back has room to move forward. The crash force on the occupants is much less than in a frontal impact. The movement of the impacted vehicle, in addition to the crush zone, absorbs a lot of the crash energy, so it is not transferred to the child. Additionally, the majority of rear impacts are at low speeds."

[carolines mommy]

We too had a difficult time deciding if we wanted an Ody or a Sienna. We were lucky enough to be able to rent a Sienna for a week before buying so we really got to check it out. We ended up with an Ody and I love it. The doors really do stop when they meet any resistance. The only down side of 2 power doors is if the battery dies, you have no way to get those side doors open...we found this out last weekend when DH drained the battery charging his cell phone! The plus one seat in the second row is great for me to be able to sit with the girls if needed and carry an extra passenger. We were told at the dealership the plus one seat can be used with a car seat although I cannot find anything in the manual about that. I have been very happy with our 05 Ody since we bought it over a year ago. It is a bit louder than the Sienna but also seems to have a bit more power.


Erika
Mommy to Caroline Nov 03 and Chelsea April 05

[sophiesmom]

Thanks again for that! You are all so great in helping! I really feel so much better.

One more question: a lot of the models of vans do not have AWD. If you live in a snowy area (we live in PA), how do they do in the snow w/out AWD? I have heard w/ the AWD, they have the run flat tires, which seem great, but very expensive to replace.

Just curious!

We hope to go out this sat. and make our final decision, then start dealing!

[o_mom]

On our O2, you can open the doors without power, it is just _REALLY_ hard.