For all you van owners please chime in and let me why you decided to get that van. .

I've decided to get a van to haul my family around in. So far I'm looking into Odyssey or a Previa.

 

Odyssey is awesome. My pops has one, and it has a good kick. 260HP, more than enough for a van. 3.5L and gets about 20-21mpg. O btw its a 2002 and its pushing a little over 100K.

 

previa? that means you are looking at 97 or older van?

 

Honda Odyssey is my main choice right now.
Pretty much the new generation Odyssey.


If not the previous generation will be ok too.


The Previa's will be my last choice. Previa was sold here in the U.S. from 91-97. I have no problem with the old Previa. It kinda sucks that we dont get this Previa. .

 

tell me about it. if they have the current previa or alphard here in the US, you would really see me driving one already. they are awesome.

for odyssey, please avoid 01-03/04. they have the infamous tranny problem that affects quite a few honda/acura models. in fact my coworker just got the tranny changed in his 02 odyssey 2 months ago.

if you can afford the odyssey after those yrs, i think they are better buy, more power, newer, and better exterior style imho. the previa (91-97) was a nice car, but to be honest, that's quite old

 

I really like this Odyssey from Japan too bad we don't get it. I was searching for this but unfortunately my hopes was shot down when I found out that we don't get this one here. I swear we don't get anything good here.


THe Alphard looks almost the same as the Elgrand. .

 

get new odyssey or Sienna.
Older Previa, well, is getting really old, and their parts, trust me, are more expensive than Lexus, not mention they are hard to get.

 

More than likely the folks with the Odysseys that gave the tranny problems had them fixed. My dads odyssey had that issue, and he got it repaired within the warranty they gave for that issue.

 

I've found out that yes there is tranny problems on the second gen Odyssey.

 

When my kids were babies, we did get a minivan because of the sliding doors. My wife is 5"3' and a truck was not easy for her to lift the baby seat into the back seat everyday. Another Mom had a truck and warned my wife not to do it due to hight. So, a van we got. A 2001 Sienna and then a 2004 Sienna. Yes, it is not as cool as a truck, but it is practical and was very easy to get the kids in and out.

Now, my kids are 4 and 6 and we got rid of the van last year and now have a Pilot. My wife was done with the van and NOW wanted the truck because the kids can get themselves in and out on their own.

Also, the van was great to take long family trips. We drove our 2004 Sienna on several long road trips and it was comfortable. The Pilot is smaller, but now the kids are older so we don't need all of the space for strollers, etc.

Lastly, go for the newer models. They are safer for the kids and adults!!

So, I hope that answered your question. Good luck

 

When it comes to vans this is the top dog to get. I never thought the R Class was all that until I rode in one, let me tell you I was impressed. The car is very spacious even in the 3rd row seat I would say it has a little more leg room than a S class and most of all it drives like a Benz and not like a mini van.

I am also in the market for a people hauler and this is the one I am setting my mind on.

 

lol minivan has a lot of room for 3rd row too you can't compare these cars to sedans sometimes, they are different. i haven't driven one, but i can see that it has better handling.

however, for the premium you pay for this car, i personally think a loaded odyssey or sienna is a much better buy

 

The R class is not a car tho...it just drives like one. If you ever get a chance to sit in one you'll know it is a legitmate mini van. But just don't tell MB that.

 

R class was our primary choice before the Odyssey. We even went to the dealer to take a look at it and loved it. Luckily we held off on buying it. For some reason we just didn't go through on getting it. To think of it now, It was a good decision not to get the R class.

THe new Odyssey is very good. I just need to research some more about it.
Trying to figure out how much the Odyssey will cost fully loaded. .

 

The Alphard is sooo comfy (not a drivers van)