My point was that a highlander is overkill. With one kid just get a rav4.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyCarter
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My point was that a highlander is overkill. With one kid just get a rav4.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyCarter
Gotta love it. 'MURICA!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by schuss
Americans pregnant with their first child be like "QUICK! We need to hurry up and buy a Suburban!"
It's hard to beat the space/awd drive combo of the Sienna. I have three kids so it's a no-brainer, since you have one (maybe planning two?), it's a harder decision probably. It probably comes down to how much crap you pack when you go camping and on road-trips. Sliding doors and the space are the two biggest reasons we have one, otherwise, probably never would.
Our snow vehicle (outback) is getting too tight except for the quick drive to snoqualmie so we are opting to replace our odyssey with a sienna. Can't beat the 35mpg. The plan is add the 2" lift kit (maybe airbags) made by Journeys and some snows to round it out. The lift will make the snow clearance good enough and will minimize bottoming out on the potholed fs roads for camping which is generally the downfall of minivans. There are western washington places that will do the lift...I think the total cost is $1,500ish so factor that in. The 3" seems too much and starts making the rig look a bit odd imo. Most report no difference in handling - although I think most dealerships don't "recommend" it.
Wait times seem to be improving around here...we've been on a list for 8 months with a dealership charging only msrp and finally have one that should arrive in May. AWD Sienna's are a hot commodity unfortunately. Some dealerships were wanting 5-7k above msrp which is bs. Can't hurt for you to put a couple refundable deposits down in the meantime if you are at all heading that direction.
Pregnant, due soon, no vehicle changes. Would like a pop up camper. Actually, most likely vehicle change would be a camper van. Vans and babies are great. I camped with my nephew in my old 85 Vanagon pop top and it was beautiful. It was frequently used as a changing station by many a mom or dad. Pop up table in the weekenders is perfect for that use. If it’s real stinky you can pop the top and let the fumes out.Quote:
Originally Posted by MontuckyFried
Vanagon FTMFW!!! I miss those.Quote:
Originally Posted by lowsparkco
I wouldn’t put people in the third row of a siennaQuote:
Originally Posted by JimmyCarter
Looks pretty dangerous sketchy to me
We used to have one / great rig
The motor didn’t quit and not bad in the snow with snow tires
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Get a Sienna or Pacifica Hybrid AWD and bag it for those times you need more clearance. Fuck SUV's and their bloated selves.
I don’t think I will ever sell my volvo xc 90Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
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Nope, I’m hitting the hitch itself, and it’s the hitch with the highest receiver height that was available for the Sienna.Quote:
Originally Posted by MontuckyFried
I have considered putting bags on the Sienna for towing. I should just bite the bullet and do it. I can’t justify a lift since it’s getting older.Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
I have a severe bias against Chrysler products but the Pacifica comes in a hybrid AWD and they're nicely appointed. A buddy of mine has the new Sienna AWD hybrid, legitimately gets 33 mpg, AWD has been superb on icy roads with street tires. Falken makes a severe snow rated year-round tire in stock size for the new Sienna https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...erformance=ALL. FWIW i have them on my dirtbag 2006 AWD Sienna and they grip on snow covered roads.Quote:
Originally Posted by californiagrown
There really isn't any data to back up that concern. Anything with a third row is going to be closer to the back end, and in many of the third row midsize SUVs, there's much less space.Quote:
Originally Posted by DBdude
I'd be more concerned about my knees and legs shattering against the second row seat in an SUV than I would in a minivan. And there's still more armor and airspace between the bumper and the third row of either an SUV or minivan from a rear end hit than there is against a driver's door impact of anything on the road.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yonder_River
FWIW, rented a fairly well optioned Pacifica last summer. The drivers assist was so intrusive on the Wyoming backroads it was almost dangerous.Quote:
Originally Posted by mcphee
There was a local for sale ad for a gorgeous build out of the Mercedes mini van exactly the same as a weekender, pop top and all. Way too much scratch for this dirtbag, but a real thing of beauty. Spinning captain chairs, the whole 9 yards.Quote:
Originally Posted by MontuckyFried
Edited to add: Metris Getaway or Metris Weekender. Didn’t realize they are production model’s available direct from MB.
That gets my vote. Sell the pop up camper, the vehicle to tow it with and buy one of these.
Parked next to a lifted new gen sienna at the Costco the other day with Falken Wildpeak Trails. They'd had it for first ski season and were stoked on it as a family. Dealer installed the lift for them.
Attachment 450054
OK. I’m all in. I wish the second row seats came out.
? The middle row seats on my 2013 come out in seconds. The metal part that they lock into will come out as well, but that takes some real work.Quote:
Originally Posted by plugboots
What size lift did they have? What’s on yours?Quote:
Originally Posted by doebedoe
Took the 2nd row out when I got mine and haven’t ever put them back in. Wife want a me to put at least one in and wants it as her daily for the summer to take the doggo and daughter for hikes and bike rides. I’m like “ummmm, can you just buy your own minivan?”Quote:
Originally Posted by plugboots
The newest gen integrates their airbags into the middle seats and that involves hooking the seats into the electrical sensor system, so there is no way to easily take them out and if you do, it throws an error code on the dash (unless you bridge the now open circuit I understand).Quote:
Originally Posted by Not DJSapp
Yep. It's one of the things that put me off the Sienna (and becoming a 2 minivan family). You have to pry off trim, unscrew things, etc. I just looked up though and someone has developed an "airbag testing module" that you can install once you remove the seats to prevent the van from throwing a code. They're only $16 a piece, so $32 to get rid of the problem isn't too bad, but still it's not something you're going to take out to haul something unwieldy then put back in in 30 seconds after you unload.Quote:
Originally Posted by mcphee
Living in the pnw for a few years now and encounter some deep roads and parking lots on occasion. The lift would be helpful for shuttling and camping on washed out logging roads in the summertime mostly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Not DJSapp
While we are sticking with 1 kid of our own I am the cool uncle and will be hauling my neice-in-law and probably my son's future friends to the mountains so that's where the extra capacity helps.
Currently in a 04 4runner which works perfectly for everything but safety. Even with shitty mpg it's way better for the environment to run it longer than it is to buy a new car, but 20yr old safety features ain't great.
Wrong thread jong.... 100%gotos 1pointerQuote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
Yeah the stow and go seats in the Dodge/Chrysler are why I ended up with a Grand Caravan rather than a Sienna. Well, that and the Toyota tax... I'm mostly glad I did too because being able to reconfigure the inside in minutes has come in handy a few times, having an 8 foot long, flat floor is really nice and with the middle seat(s) up there's a huge hidden storage compartment under the floor.
I get the anti-ChryCo sentiment but, like anything else with all the recalls and shit now and people ignoring regular maintenance the way they do I think that some of the old negative sentiment can fade because they're really pretty good vehicles. On the forums people really seem to be liking them and unlike so many cars talked about on forums the Pacifica doesn't seem to get bashed nearly as often.
I have a 2016 Highlander which I hate and a 2011 Sienna FWD which I love. Our neighbor needed a kid and Costco sized grocery hauler so she leased the first year of the new style Sienna because she liked her previous one. She didn't like the new one and after not very long ended up with a Highlander. If I had the cash I'd go buy a used N-1 AWD Sienna right now as my utility vehicle and keep it forever. I'm not sure about the current Siennas being as useful to me, they are also smaller inside. Removable 2nd row seats are essential to my use of the Sienna as a utility wagon. I don't need to haul the whole family around anymore. I do however find myself helping the kids move. The youngest graduates from HS this year.
Towing a camper with the Sienna does have limitations and I have to be careful in some driveways in town even without a trailer due to how and where the whole assembly has to be mounted. I was told that if I did a lot of camping I should get airbags installed for the rear suspension. Or get a different tow vehicle. I think the Toyota tow package for the Highlander has a different bumper that allows for a higher mount point that passes through instead of going under. It would be cool if that was available for the Sienna. Maybe check out the current tow package option if going new to see how it mounts?
It’d be hard to do something to make the handling feel different. They are decidedly not fun to drive, even if they’re perfectly pleasant to go on a road trip in. Comfortable and smooth is what you’re getting, and that’s just fine when you’ve got your family in the back.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yonder_River
It wasn’t a 30 second job with the prior gen either…. It was a moderate PITA to lug the seat in and line everything up. Especially because you can’t unsee all the French fries and chicken nuggets that you’ve been riding around with and have to do some cleaning now, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by MarcusBrody
I agree. I’m a Chrysler hater from way back- not for the maintenance/quality issues but because I hated how they drove. I drove a rental minivan a few years ago and it was completely different. I don’t think anybody makes shitty cars anymore.Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
Mines 3" -- i believe they had the same. I have adjustable airbags as well in back. Those are stock size snows which look piddly. I run AT3Ws between April-Oct in a slightly larger size. Clearance during summer is about 9.5"/10".Quote:
Originally Posted by mcphee
Those "Stow 'N Go" seats are SUPER handy. Got really spoiled when I rented one whilst I happened to be moving. And yup. The Toyota tax is real. I know your engine/trans issues have been annoying to deal with, but for the price of your van AND a new engine AND trans, you're still in for like $10K less than a 20 year old Sienna with half a million miles. Haha. I exaggerate, but still. That was my experience when shopping for a 4x4 vehicle years back. I'd still trust the Toyota more long term though for more trouble free miles overall. You're gonna pay for that "luxury" though.Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitylover
I've been thinking about a smaller better fuel mileage like you state. They are seeming to be in more demand than the traditional Chrysler, Ford, Chevy Mini Vans. Especially the Dodge Ram ProMasters are pricey even used. They also have multiple models- like the Transit from Ford in a 150, 250, etc. and then the NV in a NV100, NV200 as size goes up.Quote:
Originally Posted by nickwm21
Any that I see used (not a real complete search though using sites like Autotrader, Carfax, Carmax, Edmunds, Kelly, Cars, Cargurus, etc. that list both dealer/reseller and private. Pretty much see what I would consider pretty high mileage vans (more than 200K) that are 10 years or more old and going for $8500 up to $17K still. So fleet vehicles used to be regularly turned over, and I think companies have due to the shortages kept them much longer and the pricing is still reflecting a pretty good premium.
Other option is to fix up an older station wagon which can almost haul as much (including a piece of plywood) as the smaller minivans unless they have the higher extended roofs.
Electric or Hybrid are usually needed to not be in the 25 MPG or lower fuel usage from what I've read so far. But much better than sub 20 MPG with fuel pricing of any SUV or even some soccer Mom vans... Those are even bigger dollars again due to demand and limiting the models out there.
Any comments on the VW Vans (not the old school air cooled)- Minibuses but Rautan?
The Routan is a rebadged Caravan.
i don't like putting people in the third row of my volvo xc 90Quote:
Originally Posted by Yonder_River
Middle row is likely safest, but there don’t seem to be a massive number of deaths from sitting in the back. This article doesn’t break it down, but I assume a the back seat of a minivan or full size SUV would be safer than a mid size SUV.
“Here’s The Exact Number of People Who Died Sitting In Third Row SeatsWe asked IIHS if they could tell us how many third-row passengers died in the last year for which full data is available from just rear-ending crashes. Not rollovers, side-impact, front impacts, and all that jazz. We were not hopeful that the answer would be possible, but our contact took some time to look into it and then told us. The answer is 14 individuals. 6 in the left third-row seat, 3 in the center third-row seat, and 5 in the right third-row seat. The data did not include ages and genders, and frankly, I didn’t want to know. Let’s make the assumption that these were children. We may also assume that there were not 14 incidents, but fewer. It may be true that one or more crashes killed multiple individuals at once. It’s too horrid to look more closely at this data.
You Decide - Are Third Row Seats Death Traps?
So now we know the answer. In 2019 there were over a trillion passenger miles covered. 36,096 fatalities in all occurred covering those miles. And fourteen individuals lost their lives sitting in third-row seats due to rear impacts. Here is one unfortunate truth that makes the third-row seat hard to call the death seat. 1,092 vehicle occupants were killed in rear-end crashes NOT seated in the third row, but in either the front row or second row.”
https://www.torquenews.com/1083/are-...k-they-are/amp
Our 2006 sienna has been awesome. We keep on mechanical good shape, but beat on it pretty hard. On our current road trip we passed an awd hybrid sienna and my wife’s curiosity was perked. We have toyed with the idea of replacing the van in the past. Seems the right thing is to start that transition to higher fuel economy, ie get a hybrid or E vehicle.
With the sienna awd hybrids, it sounds challenging, but not insurmountable, to have a workaround to be able to take out the second row seats. Is that right? Are they only available in the top trim level?
We are a Toyota family mostly because we have a good indie mechanic that only works on Toyotas. Am I missing anything with other brands of vans?
Any good suggestions of best method these days to buy used? I haven’t bought a car since 2015. We’d be getting a loan. I fucking hate buying cars.
Is there a workaround to remove the 2nd row seats? I thought they are permanent because of the airbags.
https://youtu.be/24cYWBiTUwYQuote:
Originally Posted by riser4
In all fairness it does ride and drive like shit. It's bouncy, wallowy, leans into everything and it has this hollow boingy sensation when encountering any sharp impacts. Nothing surprising though as every FWD ChryCo product has felt the same since the K Cars came out, it started when they went to torsion bar suspensions in the late 60s. The newest vans appear to finally have that solved.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brownski
Yeah I'm in for about 65% of the $22k it sold for new in 2015 but it's mostly refreshed and has no rust. I know it has one more biggie coming when the tranny finally shits the bed (which is inevitable) and I'm sure that age will cause some angst too but it's still going to be less than half what a new one costs. This year is headed in the right direction for me so I should be able to get into something more appropriate for a daily and turn this into a total utility/work/fun rig and run it into the ground.Quote:
Originally Posted by MontuckyFried
Of all the new minivans available now I think I only like the 2 AWD ones, Toyota and Chrysler hybrids but that seat thing ruins the Sienna for me.
Most airbag systems work on looking for 2.2 ohms from the devices(seat belt tensioner, airbags etc.) so a 2.2 ohm resister plugged into the yellow connector can trick the system into thinking you have a working device and not trigger the airbag light. In this case that would be just fine but this is how people that sell super glue and bondo repair cars get around fucked up airbag systems they resell. It's fairly handy for trouble shooting airbag light issues and you don't have the factory scanner or software.Quote:
Originally Posted by riser4
https://bradshacks.com/product/airbag-simulator/
Dummy resistor plugs for airbag connectors on Gen4 Siennas
Jeebus! I think I'd rather buy a used gen n-1 without the middle row airbags (2020?). They are roomier and if I found a good one, it'd last as I need at this point in my life. Ya, hybrid would be nice, however, that's not really why I want it. One of my other vehicles can be hybrid or ev.Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Barron DeJong