Does anyone have any recommendations as to a good 7 seater (or 6) to buy ? Was looking at the Toyota Sienna and Mazda 5 on the dealer websites but to be honest have no clue as to reliability etc etc. Had heard that the non US cars hold value better ?

Trying to work out a budget to buy cars but can't work out what might be good to go for -HELP !

Very pleased with the 7 seat Buick Enclave. Also on the same platform - GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook. Soon to be available also Chevy Traverse.

(why so many brands?? )

It's a nice alternative to the ubiquitous minivan, but still with the space of one.

Mazda 5 wont seat 7 real people, not unless 2 or more of them have had their legs amputated. The jump seats in the back row looked very cramped to me, and they are fixed too.

Its a straight fight between the Toyota Sienna or Honda Oddessy if you can afford them. Domestics are cheaper if you dont add all the optional extras, but you will pay for them in the long run in poorer reliability, poorer driving experience and poorer depreciation.


If you need to move 7 people a van is the way to go. I guess I dont understand cross overs and SUVs...all the negatives of a van with none of the positives, more expensive and poorer fuel economy to boot.

If it was me (thank god its not) then I would get an Oddessy.

Saw one flip on the 401 (well...it flipped off the 401 and rolled down the embankment at 100+kmh)....barely a dent in it and everone walked away with barely a scratch. Very impressive. Cant say the same for the idiot driving it that fast in the middle of a storm over an ice covered highway.

A friend of mine with 3 kids (older two are 6'2" and 6'8") who owns an Oddessy swears blind that he would never have anything else. And hes the most frugal man I know!

Don't.

Especially North American ones.

I'd second Iaink's recommendation for an Odyssey. We've had one since a couple of weeks after we got here, and it's been excellent in terms of reliability, economy (surprisingly so) and interior space for both people and cargo. A couple of kids, one set of grandparents and all attendant clobber for a day out go in the back just fine; a 20' extension ladder goes in with the tailgate shut (just), and a stack of 8' 2x4s is no problem.

Sure, it cost a bit more than we really wanted to spend, but I don't regret it. We up-specced a bit in order to get the funky i-VTEC engine, which shuts off three of the six cylinders when cruising under a light load - this makes a big difference to the economy, especially on long journeys.

I test drove a number of options, including Dodge Caravan, Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna. The Dodge was out of the running very quickly - is was horrible to drive and plasticky inside. The Honda won out over the other two mainly because I found the seats comfortable, the layout was more versatile, and the salesman acted like he actually wanted my business (the Nissan guy was almost completely uninterested and the Toyota guy patently knew absolutely nothing about the car he was trying to sell me).

My only niggling criticism is that it didn't come with an auxiliary input to plug an MP3 player in - an oversight that has been addressed in current models, I believe. Which wouldn't worry me except that I gouged a chunk out of the dashboard levering the fascia off to install the aftermarket add-on I bought. Damn!

Not really an oversight- it takes about four years for NA cars to get from design stage to Job 1- so they didn't anticipate demand well enough. As a procurement guy I blame marketing.

as a marketing guy, I blame everybody else as a matter of principle - especially the intransigent procurement stick-in-the-muds who won't let us change our minds seventeen times after final specs have been agreed

Toyota no question. Check out the Lemon Aid Guide, gives the skinny on all vans, pros and cons, reliability and resale value.

Let's agree to blame engineering- as the most socially awkward internal function we have, they will have the most trouble defending themselves.

Oakvillian, Given your companys recent purchase will you be swapping the Honda for a Range Rover?

If the option of a lease instead of buy is attractive for the OP then Dodge are offering a 24 month $364 per month deal on the Caravan with $0 down. You can't really go wrong as you get to give it back before it falls apart!

For very good reason.

We have no trouble expressing ourselves;"**** Off" covers most of the bases doesnt it

Yeah, we are the clowns following the circus, cleaning up the elephant sized shit left behind by the general incompetency of all the other functions.

*hahahahaha.

But you actually only mumbled that under your breath.

ME: "Engineering is to blame"
Engineering: <inaudible noise- sounds like a muttered fck>
ME: "Did you say somethign engineering."
Engineering: "No Sir."

Except that you have to drive it for 2 or 3 godawful years in the meantime.

Hondas current lease rates are as low as they have ever been...purchase for 0.9% or lease for 1.5%

The 0.9% rate also applies to late model used vehicles too, so if you can find a used Oddessy at a dealer it could be a good deal too.

Can you hear me now?
**** OFF

We have no problem making ourselves heard....Its not in the interest of the business to make bad decisions based on what marketing think might be possible. We are trying to rid ourselves of the "Star Trek" culture where marketing promise the impossible for a silly price, and then expect engineering to find a miraculous solution just in the nick of time. The real world is not like Star Trek.