u/marmaladestripes725

Hello all!

I’m in the market for a minivan in the next couple months. My current ride is a fifteen year old BMW X3 I got from my mom with over 200k miles. It’s just me and my husband right now, but we are planning to have a baby in the next year or so. Also, my parents are in their 70s and like to come visit once or twice a year. We have the funds to buy in cash, so cost is not a huge issue, but I’d like to come in under $40k for a low mileage used model.

Here’s where I’m at:

* Odyssey: Pros are it’s a Honda, highly rated for safety, could have a tow hitch installed, and the Magic Slide in the center row. Cons are no hybrid, and the second row doesn’t fold flat.

* Pacifica: Pros are Stow n Go and it could have a tow hitch installed. Con is that it’s not a Honda, no sliding second row, and not a hybrid.

* Pacifica PHEV: Pro is the PHEV. Cons are no second row sliding or fold flat, not a Honda, not rated for towing (not even sure if it could hold a hitch mounted bike rack?), and not a full EV.

Thoughts? Which features have you found most useful for car seats and aging family members? My best friend has a Town and Country that she absolutely loves, so her vote is the Pacifica or Pacifica PHEV. My husband doesn’t really care as long as I’m happy. We will of course test drive all three, but I’d like more opinions than just me, my husband, my best friend and her husband, and the salesman. Everyone else I know has a car or an SUV.

ETA: I’ve ruled out the Sienna, the Carnival, and VW’s new bus.

Hello! I just upgraded from an iPhone 13 to an iPhone 17, and I’m still getting used to Always On Display. I don’t really want to turn it off completely, but I do want to turn it off while I’m driving if my phone is locked. I don’t have cars with CarPlay, so I have my phone mounted on the dash. I’m used to the screen being off and not a distraction unless I have Maps up. My Driving Focus limits notifications. But apparently I will look at my phone even with just the clock. Any ideas? I tried making my own Shortcut, but I couldn’t find triggers that made sense to accomplish this. I basically want AOD to turn off while I’m driving if the phone is locked and turn back on once I’m not driving.

Hello!

I’ve read through the wiki already, but it wasn’t quite clear. My husband and I currently have standard gas vehicles, but we are looking at trading them in for the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV and Ford’s rumored $30k EV truck. We do not currently have charge stations at home, so we would be starting from scratch. We live in a semi-rural suburb of 6k people with no public charging nearby except for the rest stop on the turnpike. We also work the same hours, so taking turns wouldn’t work super well either. I suppose it’s also worth mentioning that we have a two car garage that is mostly climate controlled and has plenty of standard 120v outlets. Thoughts?