Quote:
Originally Posted by jcp123
I believe it. I had a little FE comparison route worked out when I was in the rental car industry. I was smitten with the Pentastar V6 in a Caravan I drove (and a Chrysler 200, a much-maligned car which I actually liked) - ballsy and efficient. So impressed was I that a Chrysler Town & Country is our top choice, so long as it has Stow N Go. For some reason we both prefer the Chrysler to the Dodge, even though we both eschew most of the creature comforts offered these days (a Rio was a 1st choice for us at the time owing to manual windows, etc.). An Odyssey is our backup choice. Not as quick, but fairly close. Efficient. Not a fan of Honda interiors though, and I keep hearing rumors of transmission problems. I guess Chrysler quality is kinda like Vegas gambling though...you're gonna lose. Ah, pros and cons on both.
Kia is out, it feels so...not really cheap, but generic, no personality. Dodge, kinda feels not as special. Sienna? I don't like the later models, in or out, on a lot of levels, and my Ma had an '04 which ended up being a reliability nightmare - second least reliable car in the family behind my Mom's Beetle. But not really that far behind...
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There is a brand new KIA for 2015 worth checking out. It may not be the best but when you factor in price and a 10 year warranty it starts to seem real good. Watch out for the first couple years of the Dodge 3.6 pentstar as they had some cylinder head cracking problems. We just went from a 2007 KIA van to a 2009 Buick Enclave which gets better MPG with a little less room but we may go back to a minivan. I thought the Enclave may be able to do it all, 7 passenger, 24 mpg, 4500 pound tow rating, AWD, but I worry about reliability. We have had great service from Grand Caravans in the past, and we miss things like sliding doors. Sliding doors seem so much better for a nice wide opening even in close parking. We rented a new Ford Explorer and between the thickness of the door panels and the curvature of the ddor you had to open it a foot before a gap even started to form, you basically needed a handicapped spot just to get out of the beast!