I have narrowed my search to the Sienna and Odyssey.. Right now I drive a 10 year old Dodge Caravan so I have no brand loyalty to either Toyota or Honda. Need the van to carry a power chair for a handicapped family member, and will be removing (folding down) the rear seat and installing a chair lift. The van will be kept for 10 years or so. Opinions?
After owning a caravan for ten years I bought a Sienna. In my opinion the Sienna is THE best minivan out there. The Ody would be my second choice. If you want to find out more goggle "The Siennaclub" Loads of info there and may even be a page on handicapped mods.
If you are interested in the Ody goggle "The Odyclub"
I had a 2000 Odyssey from June, 2000 through May, 2007. It was great, but a bit noisy on the highway. It got about 24 MPG on the highway, and about
17MPG around town.We replaced it with a 2006 Sienna. It's getting about 27MPG on the highway, and 19MPG around town. It's a lot quieter than the Odyssey ever was.
Back in 2000, we bought the Odyssey because it was about $2K less than a similarly equipped Sienna. Now, however, the prices have turned around, and Siennas cost less than similarly equipped Odysseys. This will also mean that the Sienna would cost [marginally] less to insure.
But...
Our Sienna is about 2 inches higher than our Odyssey was. When parking the Odyssey in the garage, the door would bump into my lawn mower. The Sienna's door opens comfortably above the lawn mower. When getting into or out of the Sienna, I notice that my legs have to stretch a good deal more than they did with the Odyssey. My wife, who is somewhat shorter than I am, notices the difference even more. My mother (80 years old) had a lot of trouble getting into my Odyssey -- she'd have even more trouble with the Sienna.
If you will need to drive the handicapped family member, this additional height could be a problem. Then again, the Odysseys could've gotten higher in the ensuing years (I haven't measured). I would definitely check this out before going one way or the other.
Not necessarily. The insurance companies also look at the crash rates and repair costs, not just the value of vehicle.
The family member will have a lift. The extra height could be a bonus, because the person on the outside of the van might be at better height to help the person.
I agree that the Sienna is a good van. I wouldn't go and say that it is the best one. Dodge has a pretty cool minivan coming out this year. It has a center table and a layout in the back that might be really good for the wheel-chair user.
Jeff
PS, please don't top-post. It makes it hard to follow the different posts in the thread.
Toyota and Honda both offer up to $1000 reimbursement for qualifying modifications. Toyota offers a Certified Mobility Dealer program where Toyota has pre-approved some modifications. It does not appear that Honda has this program so you have to do more of your own research.
Check out
For long-term reliability, Sienna IS the best minivan. Odyssey would be second even despite that some model years had tranny issues. However, Honda extended the warranty for 4-speeds and issue recalls for 5-speeds. On the other hand, Crapsler never did anything about their minivan tranny problems, which were more frequent than Odyssey. Neither did Ford for that matter.
They're both great vans. Any real differences are minor. Buy the one you can get the best deal on and don't obsess about it.
"QX" > Right now I drive a 10 year old Dodge Caravan so I have no brand
If this helps, we bought a 1998 Sienna new then, put 190K miles on it to date, beat the hell out of it on the way, and it still just goes. Tomes
I posted some useful infomation for you regarding lifts at your post in the honda group
Top posting is the accepted method unless you're answering point-by-point inline. In your case, you consistently fail to trim sufficiently, rendering your inline posting a pain in the ass to wade through. Once you've been elected usenet king, then you'll get to dictate posting methods. Until then, go pleasure yourself.
Top posting is never the accepted method.
Face it, you're wrong.
Accepted by what authority? Show us where it says so.
face it you're not right either.
Read and learn:
And I hope you have a lovely father's day, as well.
Jeff
er... That says DON'T top post.
Yeah, one shouldn't top post.
Jeff
Top posting isn't any worse than posting at the bottom of a long thread. Nobody trims stuff and in this, nobody is right or wrong.
Cheers
Inaccurate statement. Browse through the Jeep newsgroups and you will find that top posting is the norm there. Tomes
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.