Minivans

[Lucy]

We are currently leasing a 1999 Dodge Caravan. The lease is up next month, June 19th.
We are not sure wether we want to buy this one out, lease a new 2002 Caravan, or go with a completely different make of mini van. Is there anyone out there that can give me an honest oppinion about min vans, such as which is the safest, best deal, etc. etc. I live in Canada if that should make a difference. Thanks in advance

 

[CtK]

most car magazines say that the Honda Odyssey is the best minivan out there

so i would get one of those if i ever were to get a minivan
which is highly unlikely
hehehe

 

[Stallion]

We bought my parents 94 caravan when the bought their 2001 Town & Country. The T&C is a nice van. lots of options,comfortable,looks nice. For a minivan anyways..... But I too have heard the honda Odyssey are the ultimate in the minivan world. Not sure about the price though.

 

[ATLien247]

I'll second the Honda Odyssey. My wife decided that she'd rather have a used 2001 Grand Caravan Sport, though... Go figure!

 

[UberDave]

Dodge & DimlarChrysler make the best minivans in my personal oppinion. Very solid and stable, and run great. Ford minivans = crap to me.

 

[HiveMaster]

Maybe you wanna stick with the Caravan

Or maybe not.

I would check out the resale value of a 3 year old model from each company...and talk to persons who are trying to sell them used.

 

[HappyPuppy]

I bought a '95 Caravan new. It was supposed to be for my wife, but things changed and it became more practical for me to drive it. It has 123,000 miles on it now and has never had a problem. I do, of course, maintain it very well.

 

[LiLRiceBoi]

Go for the Odyssey. Please no american cars, especially the ford windstar, it sucks, sh!tload of problems...

 

[OutHouse]

we are in the market to buy a minivan. the past 4 saturdays we have test drove every minivan on the market. Chrylser, Honda, Toyota, KIA, Buick, Mazda, Mecury, chevy, Ford... the Honda Odyssey and the KIA sedona are the only ones with the 5 star government crash test ratings. Go out there and check them out at the dealers and drive them. The KIA is the cheapest about 22K fully loaded (leather, power) but its the smallest. We didnt like it just, i didnt like the layout of the drivers side and had a cheap feel to it. The Honda/Toyota are the most expensive and i think you pay more for the name. A basic honda/toyota minivan is about 27K fully loaded 33-35K.

We really like the Dodge Grand Caravan. It has a pretty good maint record, the 3.8 liter engine has great power, it drives very smooth, has lots of room and that is big for us with 3 kids. has the side airbags. The power sliding doors on both sides and the power tail gate (open and close) are very cool features. Also the Dodge is the only one with TRI-climate controls (driver, passenger and the back) Also unique to Dodge is that the rear has both AC and heat, all the others just have AC. The only thing i think the Dodge is missing is a moon roof. the one we are going to get is about 29K fully loaded/with leather. The Chrylser town and country and the Dodge grand caravan are the same cars. for us its just playing the dealers to get the better deal now.


why are you leasing?

 

[saftey]

LiLRiceBoi
so you like hondas eh?

 

[heartsurgeon]

we have owned three minivans -

Toyota previa 1991 - absolutely great car - just sold it this year when i upgraded to a lexus - 11 years without any major mechanical problems.ultra-reliable
Ford Windstar 1996 - absolute piece of sh!t. electrical system problems (never resolved, crummy fit/finish/lousy interior room/numerous recalls - dumped it
Toyota Sienna 2000 - even better than the previa! - drives like a car, quite, excellent fit/finish super reliable so far

imho - nobody builds a car that is more reliable or retains as much resale value as a toyota/lexus
if you want hassle free car driving - get a toyota (sienna also got very high safety ratings as well as reliablity)

just to be fair, honda minivans probably very good too, although no personal experience.

 

[pinoy]

We own a 3 yr. old Dodge Grand Caravan SE. I can tell you right now, my wife is not so happy about it. We've had computer problems 3 times already. Good thing its still under warranty. I'd suggest take a look at Toyota Sienna (this will be the replacement just in case) and Honda Odyssey.
Its sooooo frustrating to have problems like that especially when you're far away from home and you've got your kids with you.:|