r/minivan

My wife and I have a 2 year old and (to our surprise) are expecting twins in early 2027.

Looking to buy a minivan between $30-45k.

Debating lightly used or new in that price range with heavy focus on reliability and practicality.

I was able to talk the dealer down to 49k out the door price for the 2026 Odyssey. There was a 2023 certified preowned PHEV Pinnacle Pacifica FWD listed for 35k with 45k miles on it (I'm guessing I would pay about 40k OTD or lower for it). I'm leaning toward the Pacifica, but was wondering everyones opinion on cars and what they would choose?

Seating and stowing are the same. Back up camera and sensors (Pacifica has the 360 thing) Entertainment systems pretty much the same (Pacifica has a built in blu-ray player). Engine and power more or less the same-ish.

Car will be used as commuter car too so the mileage is 22 MPG Odyssey vs 30 MPG for the Pacifica.

I’m having issues with my grand caravan temperature gauge rising slightly above the mid-line when in idle and slow traffic. It moves kind of in an erratic manor. Not crazy erratic.. Just moves a bit up and down. I replaced the cooling fan resistor and checked the coolant level once I waited a few hours. I replaced the resistor because I noticed the fan wasn’t moving fast when in park. That fix seems to help the fan move quicker.
The engine’s warm (still after a few hours but I live in the Deep South and it was 100 today) but I noticed the reservoir has the coolant above the max line a bit. Any ideas what I can do?
I do have a mechanic checking it out on Friday. Seeing if it’s anything I can replace myself.

My wife and I are planning to get a new Carnival or Odyssey. Sienna is off our list due to 3 kids in car seats.

We do have a Toyota and Honda dealership in town, while the nearest Kia dealer is an hour away.

Would folks here feel comfortable with that or not so much?

We loved test driving the Carnival, but we’ll have 3 kids under 3 soon (twins on the way). We know we can service the car at a local mechanic, but nervous about issues that require going to or leaving the car at a dealer. With 3 young ones, is it possible we should just get an Odyssey with a dealer minutes from our house?

Or do people think it probably won’t be a big deal and we should just get a Carnival?

Thanks all.

We need to purchase a minivan. This will be my SO's main car. Max budget $30,000. We make 1-2 roundtrip drives (2,000 miles roundtrip) each year to visit family. We want to drive this car as long as possible. I know the answer to everything here is buy a Sienna, but not sure we can find one in our price point that isn't already 6 years old with under 100,000 miles. I always work to maintain our car as best as possible. Would love to feel good considering certified pre-owned Honda Odyssey (since this is what everyone says is 2nd place), but also wondered about Kia Carnival or Chrysler Pacifica. Please help me feel less anxious as I don't really care too much about the interior of the car, I just want something that will be reliable without crazy maintenance. I fully recognize that individual cars may have quirks that are not reflective of the entire model line. I just want to feel okay thinking about other makes outside of Toyota (which I fully understand is the reliability leader)!

Edit: my SO does not care about the interior of the car either ;)

Year/make/model appreciated

I've never driven a minivan before (except for when I was 3 and accidentally put my mom's van into neutral in the driveway and rolled toward the street). Our family will be going from 3 kids to 4 at Thanksgiving this year, so I'd love to know what you like and dislike about your van, or an unexpected perk or maintenance item that changed your view after some ownership time.

This is going to end up as my daily driver and I have a long weekday commute. Whatever we get is going to get a lot of wear and tear but hopefully with good maintenance will last us 10+ years. Husb and I planning to go for test drives soon with at least one big kid for a back seat review as well.

I was thinking if I should Buy a used Odyssey or New Kia. I saw a listing on my local dealership for a 2020 Honda Odyssey Touring for 42k CAD before tax With 49k Km on it. While Base model for the 2026 Kia Carnival is around 47k CAD before tax.

Carnival or Odyssey?

Found a 2024 pacifica at a dealership near me. 82K miles and it’s listed for just shy of 22k. I have concerns because from what I read on various forums is that it’s really hit or miss with these cars. This one in particular was made in Canada, owned as a rental in Michigan. The rental thing scares me but in theory it was used as a rental for road trips so mostly highway miles? CARFAX is clean, no accidents or recalls to see. Just curious to see if it’s worth my time. Thanks in advanced y’all

Looking into purchasing a used minivan. We had a Town and Country and the transmission went out at 168k miles with 2k left on our auto loan and now I am paranoid about every single car.

We found a 2022 Honda Odyssey EX-L at a small local dealership. I have mixed feelings about getting one at a small dealership rather than a Honda dealership but that is neither here nor there. The CarFax on this one looks ok, oil changes done on time. However, it is $32,000, has 39,300 miles and has already had 2 owners. One was a personal lease. The 2nd only had it for about a year and a half and the dealership bought it at an auction.

Is this a red flag or sound like something I should snag? We've been looking for awhile and I don't want to be hasty but don't want to miss a good car because of my nervousness. Any amd all advice is appreciated 🙂

We are going to be trading in our Santa Fe for a mini van by we arent sure which to go with. We have twin 4 months old and my mom and then my husband and me who need to fit comfortably in the van. We will not be having more kids. We went and looked at all three.i like the carnival but hate Kia (we went through 2 sorentos with them and my sister also had lots of trouble with her Sorento). I also love how the seats work in the odyssey. The sienna is fine I just didn't see anything that made it stand out. What do yall think of these vans? Side not i wish the volkswagen buzz had better milage :(.

I'm at a crossroads of transitioning into family vehicles. With two kids and more on the way soon, i'm looking for a change.

Currently have a 2020 Ford Explorer ST, valued at 21k, with 100k miles. Paid off.

And a 2020 Ford Escape Titanium valued at 12k, with 100k miles. Paid off.

I want to change both of these into a minivan and a good mpg commute car. I was thinking of going to my local Toyota dealership and asking if we could combo a Toyota Sienna and a Toyota Prius in a lease format for under 1k a month total payment. But as I look more into this, i've been told to sell the Escape and buy an older maybe 2010 prius or something. Just feels weird to me to go backwards in age of car.

Is it worth it to take this 33k and avoid the lease route altogether and maybe buy older? Like buying a used minivan is basically the same price as my explorer.

I'm interested in people's opinions on this situation. Thank you!

I want to pay cash or have a large down payment for small monthly payment.

Please don’t recommend Chrysler as I’ve heard terrible things. If you must, please provide reliability stats…

Honda, Toyota preferred. Maybe Kia?

Conditions:

I’d like to stay under 15000.

Car play is a plus but not essential. If the option is available we can replace the stereo with an aftermarket CarPlay screen.

AWD preferred.

8 seats (removable) is preferred otherwise 7 will work.

Reliability is most essential. Plan is to keep it for a few years and it’ll be the family travel vehicle, as well as youth sports/events.

My husband just became a Hospice nurse. this requires tons of driving. Unfortunately, we cannot afford 2 car payments right now, so he will be taking the newer van. We need a van to fit our family. We currently have a 2014 Chrysler town and country that was given to us by my in-laws. It is absolutely falling apart. One “fun” feature it does is it just dies out at red lights, while stuck in traffic, pretty much anytime we are stopped. Sometimes it will turn back on immediately, other times it takes almost a minute. Then we get angry honks behind us. Our budget looks to be able to fit around 350-450 a month. Thanks!

Sienna XLE 2023 FWD with 230000 miles for $21500.
Clean title one owner.
I am more worried about the Hybrid batteries, any insight?
is it a good deal?