I have a 2005 Nissan Quest, which is where we went from a Ford Expedition. I do not like it at all. It "drives" bigger than my Expedition, which I think is an issue of minivans in general (I will not get another one).
But, it's some of the issues specific to the Quest that drive me batty - it EATS batteries (I'm on my third battery and we have auto lights, etc.). The gas mileage is NOWHERE approaching the MPG advertised when we bought it (like 4 to 5 miles less, highway). And it constantly has the "check engine" light coming on for no apparent reason (thankfully, my mechanic turns it off for me when I get oil changes).
Oh, and don't get me started on the cup holder solution they devised for the front seats. UGH!
We do a lot of road trips either 3 or 5 hours long (either to my folks' house or to the beach). It's not a horrible ride, but I'd prefer to do the drive in the Jetta any day.
That said, I do love the leather used for the seats. It's more like basketball leather, which is extremely durable, which is necessary when the kids are 11, 4 and 1.
I am not a minivan person - it's too low to the ground for me and the wheel base is too long to drive like I prefer. I will not be getting a new vehicle for several more years, so I have to live with this one for now. But when I do, there is an XUV that has my name all over it, I'm sure.
2001 Toyota Sienna with about 125K miles. Excellent ride (drives like a Camry). Very good gas mileage. Plenty of space for my family and gear (ask anyone who comes to the Duke Tailgates). And very reliable. Never had a *major* problem. Stick with the routine maintenance and you'll never have a problem.
This vehicle replaced our 1992 Toyota 4Runner, which we would probably still have if some a-hole hadn't rear-ended me on Hwy 98 (driving a big Ford Truck and talking on his cellphone). When the insurance totaled the 4Runner, my wife wanted to get another SUV but, I protested because the van would be a better "family" vehicle.
Turns out I was right. My wife doesn't like to drive it (her ego is too attached to her ride) but, even she admits, it's a great vehicle and was the correct choice
Haven't had a mini-van since a 1996 Previa which followed a 1993 Previa, both of which we liked a lot. The early Odyssey was too small for the 5 of us. Since then, we owned a Tahoe for 3-4 years and an Expedition. Both were bought through patient/business connections and we were well-satified with each. Then, after Katrina, and after gas became $3/gal, we traded the Expedition for a Freestyle and have again been fairly satisfied for almost 3 years. The driver's power window needed replacement and the 30K service found leaks in the tranny and differential, both repaired/replaced under warranty. One of my patients is the parts/service manager so I get REALLY good service/coupons/prices. I am not sure I would buy another Freestyle as I think Ford is discontinuing it. MPG ratings are 19/24 for an AWD vehicle and we average 17-19 city and 23-25 Hwy at several MPH above the posted speeds. It seats 6 and is a bit smaller than the Expedition which was rated at about 13/17 MPG and we rarely attained those figures. Our next vehicle will be smaller as the nest is empty, but we do move our daughter back and forth from Duke a couple times a year. I can rent or get a loaner from my Ford connection for that however. I think we'll look at the Escape hybrid or new Fusion hybrid (which just got a great review from one of the auto mags) as our new car next summer, especially if/when gas becomes $3/4/5/gal again.
Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!
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Toyota Sienna just won best minivan of 2009 by Consumer Reports, FWIW. And it won in 2008, with Honda Odyssey coming in second.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/..._picks/10.html
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/...st_cars/9.html
Its V6-engine is powerful and fuel-efficient, Consumer Reports says. But the Honda Odyssey is more powerful and fun to drive, the magazine says.
They always seem to flip-flop. Honda did its redesign in 2005 (when we bought ours) to catch up with the Sienna and surpassed it. In 2007, Sienna did its redesign to catch up with the Honda and surpassed it. Honda will probably do another redesign in 2010 and take back first place again. We chose our Honda because the 2005 redesign added all the safety features, like side airbags, that my wife wanted, which the Sienna didn't have yet. It added those in the 2007 redesign.
That is certainly true but we are not in the market now. I do have that connection that we have discussed in the past. We have 0% financing on the Freestyle and it will be paid for in June. If prices are not good, availability limited and/or rebates and/or financing are not to our liking, we may decide to drive the Freestyle until it falls apart. Good thoughts though.