MiniVan's Pro......en-light us?

[pktntwk]

Looking for Minivan.. Plan to spend between 10K to 15K..

1999-2000 - Odeyssey or Sienna
2003-2004 - Venturer or Caravan

which is has best value for money spend..

[maniacshopper]

I prefer Odessey over Sienna for that year range.
Nicer looking interior and exterior.

Chevy Venture over Caravan.
Caravan's are POS.
My uncle used to work for DC, kept buying their products.
DC came up with a rule, not driving DC, park at the back of the lot.
Me I would have bought the SRT4, with their discounts it would have been a steal. Too bad it as only 5spd, as I was looking for 6 spds.

[Pete_Coach]

Seems that no one can come up with many Pro's on owning a Mini Van...me included. Sorry :lol:

[Harkonnen]

Ventures are disposable vans - you lease it and then give it back. You never keep it.

We have one (on lease) and I can't wait to give it back. It's been plagued with problems, and I don't anticipate getting any more GM made products until they shape up.

Our Venture's check engine light came on, took it to the dealership and it took them a day to figure out that a wire was being grounded, had to bring it back another day to have them trace the ground. The interior panels were all splitting to the point where you could see the gasket filler and inside wiring. Took it to the dealership and all they did was glue it back down.

For the money, I'd get a Sienna. I don't know anything about the Odyssey other than a family friend had one and the motorized door would either never open, never close, or open while the car was in motion. I knew he took it to the dealership a couple of times but they were never able to sort it out and then he traded it in for something else.

[raptorfan]

"discussing" it in the parenting forum :cheesygri

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424982

[feet_]

I prefer Odessey over Sienna for that year range.
Nicer looking interior and exterior.

Chevy Venture over Caravan.
Caravan's are POS.
My uncle used to work for DC, kept buying their products.
DC came up with a rule, not driving DC, park at the back of the lot.Me I would have bought the SRT4, with their discounts it would have been a steal. Too bad it as only 5spd, as I was looking for 6 spds.

so the Tow Trucks can have ez access to the pos's:cheesygri

[patrob]

"discussing" it in the parenting forum :cheesygri

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424982

Yes, it got quite interesting there for a little bit...;) Still will take my SUV over any minivan IMHO :!:

[gherikill]

Pros

-Minivans are cheap
-Sliding doors help prevent door dings in parking lots
-OK on gas
- lots of cargo room
-car does not stand out (some people may like this)

[NorthYorker]

In your price range Japanese products are starting to get risky due to normal wear and tear. I mean, Siennas of these vintage are basically riding on Camry platform but they're 1/2 ton hevier and Odi had been Honda's playground to experiment with bigger vehicles they never produced before, hence well-known and unpredictable tranny problems. Then you are looking at sheer age. Regardless of quality control (main advantage of Japanese makers) all manufacturers are using similar plastics for hoses, interior details, wire isolations and such and they do start to deteriorate after 7-8 years. Remember the rule that even unused tire have to be replaced after 8 years? Same thing here.

On the flip side, used domestics (GM/DC) of your vintage (2-4 years) are at their prime. Manufacturing defects had been ironed out or at least showed up, materials still have lots of life left, somebody took the hit of depreciation. If vehicle is not a lemon (and we all know any maker can make a lemon from time to time), you shouldn't have any major problem before 7 years of age or 150K (whatever comes first). So I consider domestics better choice in 10-15K range. IMHO Ford minivans suxxx big time, although they have some pretty loyal followers, they're one of safest around.

Now to DC versus GM issue. With Caravans there's one major problem (tranny), everybody seem to be aware of and you can more or less budget for replacement. GM don't have major design flaws, but seem to have more smallish problems. GM minivans (some of them) have unique advantage of having 3 seats in second row, so you can configure them as 5-seater with HUUUUUGE trunk (something you can't do with any other maker except post-2003 Siennas, which start from 25K plus tax). Moreover, all GMs have anchoring in the floor for this type of seating, so many smaller used-car dealers are willing to reconfigure "4-captain-chairs" or "second-row-bench" cars into "3-chairs-in-second-row" machines. On the flip side, Caravans (Grands) are longer and wider than GMs (GM designed their 1997-2005 minivans as world models with narrow European roads in mind), so if you're earning to get this extra space, go for it. And last but not least, design. As much as I love Chrysler design (arguably the best design among mass-produced cars sold here), I hate their minivan design for some reasons.

So would I have been in your situation, I would probably concentrate my efforts on GMs, while keeping an eye on decent Sienna with proven history of repairsm if it appears on the market for reasonable money.