Hertz has new Sedona's available that would really help you evaluate the vehicle. Another option I'd consider if I were in your shoes and had about 50K to spend is a base model GX460 - they start at $51,800.

 

I'll have to find one and check it out. It has all the toys for about $42k too which is a good deal. We'll likely buy this and keep it for 6 years or so, so thats my concern about reliability.

I thought about the GX before we got the Jeep. I don't love the GX, and from a seating perspective its not nearly as adaptable as something even like an Infiniti QX60. The third row seats don't work for adults, we'll have carseats in the middle row and whoever we take with us anywhere will have to sit in the third row. If it were the GX we may as well just keep the Jeep...

 

Prob to big for what you want but a 2015 Yukon XL with second row buckets can be had in the 50's.... If you have kid(s) already then you know that feeling of having to climb into the back while on a trip, the second row buckets make it easier to handle that in a SUV form and it has a full usable 3rd row without the hump.

Resale on them is pretty good as well.

 

When you test the Sedona, make sure you take it over some rough roads. The suspension is reportedly crashy and under damped in that situation, especially from the rear. That's pretty typical Kia at the moment from what I've read but it seems to be a minor blemish given the rest of the package. Also the second row seating solution isn't the most space effecient when you're trying to maximize cargo room.

 

I'm sorry but there's no way that the current Town and Country interior would be viewed as "better" than the Sienna and Odyssey. The Town and Country does NOT have the "same impressive interior" as the "new, latest 300s". The Town and Country is very much at least a generation behind, even in Chrysler's own stable. It doesn't have the new steering wheel, the new gauge cluster, the new UConnect, switchgear etc.

 

The Yukon is bigger than my wife wants to pilot around all the time, she'll be the one primarily driving it...

 

Has anyone mentioned the Mercedes GL? Obviously the priciest of all vehicles, but I think a slightly used one would be the way to go. I think its the best alternative to the minivan and a lot of wealthy families use them to haul their families. I love the look of it inside and out.

 

Way more than we want to spend. I love them too though.

 

I have a friend that has a Town & Country, I think the quality of the interior, while better than the Sienna and Odyssey, is not to the same level as the 300 or the Grand Cherokee. As a van overall the Sienna and Odyssey are both superior, they're bigger, roomier, have more cool little touches and hacks.

 

The point I was getting at with the TC is that it is not necessarily a carbon copy of the 300's interior but that it used a number of of the 300's nicer parts and trim (perhaps I could have worded it a little clearer). But, either way, you seem to have ruled it out from the offset-crash results...and, looking at the pictures of it and the Odyssey during the same impact, you apparently have a point. Can't say that I disagree.

 

We have a 2012 Sienna as a workhorse and it really is many steps down from what we are used to in terms of materials, but it is also a step down from the previous gen Sienna we had also. Of course this is the model before the refresh. Horrible hard plastics everywhere, nothing is soft molded. Then, there is the unintuitive (to me) dash controls. Also everything seems out of reach.

 

base GX460 is a bargain, you can have one brand new for around $46k before tax and fees after some negotiation. but the deal breaker is the awkward looking barnyard rear door.

 

I'm surprised no one mentioned Nissan




I'd include them on the list

 

They're all not great looking but that Nissan minivan is soooooo ugly.
Looks like a hearse.

 

I'm not. It's fugly, and Nissan's quality is not on par with Honda and Toyota.