sorry for the little bump, but i'm about ready to pull the trigger on the sienna SE w/ tech. maybe within the next two months. ready to go car shopping and start dealing with sales rep. PM me contacts and where they are located please. thanks in advance!

Needs 20's and bags

it's in the plans

pm'd

You know, this came to me recently:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-loeSA_jp9r...-Class-100.jpg

I found out these start at under 40 Canadian.... Why not?
Passenger van starts at 37900

^Because they're absolutely ginormous? Saw one the other day, it's essentially a lower Sprinter.

It's 202in long, 75 inches tall and 88 inches wide if you include the side mirrors (figure only 74in otherwise) so it's pretty similar to regular minivans other than height. For example, an Odyssey is 203in long and 79in wide.

Slight tangent: Wife wants an older beater type van (budget $5K) as a second car. Fullsize minivans are a no - they're too big so I've got the Mazda MPV on the list and would consider the regular size Venture/Montana, the early 2000's Sienna. Anything else that I should be considering?

1st gen Mazda 5?
Sliding doors
Six seater
4 cyl 2.5L might be underpowered but should be ok for around town
Little to no trunk space tho if 3rd row is up

i wouldn't consider anything other than the sienna tbh. my parents bought theirs new in 2001 and its still running strong with 320k km on the clock. only ever done basic maintenance on it.

Odysseys will run forever too in all likelihood.

Dig my wife's '13 Sienna though. Waiting to test the AWD if it snows :ilied:

not from the model years supafamous would be looking for. they have that shitty 5spd auto trans thats caused honda a lot of grief.

Aside from first gen Odysseys, they use the same V6/auto combo's as the Accords. Just a heads up.

Makes sense.. good info.

Buy a Sienna :lol

2000+ MPV have 2nd row power windows as well while similar vintage minivans have those pop out windows. We had a 2000 MPV in the family with the 2.5L V6 engine and 4sp auto tranny. It's a pig on gas since we got roughly 7.5km/L. However, it drives like a car and the Yamaha built engine loves to rev. The auto tranny shifts rough though.

The 2nd row captain chairs were so comfy and the third row *could* fit smaller people as well. Overall it's a good beater van that can hold a lot stuff/cargo while keeping passengers relatively comfortable.

Fun fact, certain parts from the Ford Contour SVT engine act as an upgrade!

^ if i remember correctly, the base model versions of the mpv didnt come with ABS. lol. :heckno:

Thanks, drove two MPVs with the 3.0L V6. Drove pretty solid for a 12-13 year old van but both had issues (CEL for one, A/C dead for the other). Very few clean, working MPVs out there so a Sienna might have to be it if I want a reliable one.

I have this thread to thank for swaying our(wife and I) decision to get a minivan instead of an SUV. Now that I'm all about that minivan lifestyle I can safely say that it was a fantastic move for us. There are a few minor issues(annoying design features) with the Odyssey but all in all it's great. The Odyssey drove better than the Sienna and that was the swing vote for the wife. Looking forward to road trips this summer.

Carry on.

Double Post annoyingness

There was a time when minivans sucked.. there was nothing worse. Those days are over!

ftfy

Sienna SE Tech really has everything one will need for a minivan! I really wish Toyota would make a hybrid for sienna. Thry did it for the highlander so it is doable.

Until then I am sticking to my 2006 odyssey touring.

Get a brand new Sienna. It's a Toyota and will run forever with proper maintenance.

Or maybe you have just gotten older...

Those were the days when your only choices were:
Chrylser/Dodge Caravan
Plymoth Voyager
Ford Aerostar/Windstar