Van owners - Whats important?
PrairieMom wrote: We are currently van shopping and I want to learn from y-all. what do you love about yours? what do you hate? and what do you wish you had?
Right now the deal breaker for me is automatic doors, but I can't seem to make DH see the light. He doesn't think they are necessary. Are they?
salmndr007 replied:  Believe it or not, I used to drive a Ford Aerostar Minivan. Oh wow....that is a whole nother topic. Anyway, auto doors are great, but no they are not a necessity (sp?) It really takes about the same time for the door to open as it would if you opened it yourself when you got there.
I wouldn't think that it would HAVE to be there, but it would be nice. I would make sure that there is some sort of intertainment for the kids in the back. DVD player maybe, but you can always buy the ones that strap on to the seat.
See, this is the difference between men a women here....for me, if the seatbelts work and the AC/Heat work, we are good to go...anything else is extra and great, but not necessary.
I don't think that answered your question at all...
CantWait replied: I don't own a van but I from being in them, my favourite was the Hyundai (sp?), I believe it's a 2006-07 version. There is so much space inside that sucker it's rediculous. My friend has a van and there's no room for anything besides a stroller in the trunk, and maybe a little more. I could fit more in my hatchback.
Anyway, that's what would be important to me if we were buying a van is space. Not only that but we've had our Hyundai car for over 3 years now and have had no problems with it.
PrairieMom replied:
 My AC is out in the Jeep and it will be $1000 to fix it. Hence, van shopping before it gets warm out.  
CantWait replied: Gosh we don't even have a/c in our car. We cheaped out. Now ask us how we did a 9 day drive across Canada in the middle of summer.
kimberley replied: i LOVE my automatic door! with more kids than hands, especially in the winter, it is a God-sent. only drag is the car has to be in park to open it so the kiss-n-ride has to wait a sec.
we got a used chev venture extended. tons of room, smooth ride, only thing i wish i had was an auto trunk and an auto starter. 
PrairieMom replied:
We have auto start in the Jeep, it works 1/2 the time, but when it does... AWESOME!
It will be going into the van as soon as we have extra cash. Deffinately.
siblingtooolivia replied: I have an 05 Dodge Caravan, no automatic doors, sure they would be nice but they are slow to open from what I know from a friend of mine who has them....the only thing I don't like about my van is that we didn't get one with captains chairs in the second row, we have two bench seats and it sucks....wasn't bad with one but with the second on the way we have put the base in for his car seat and it is kinda crowded and I can hardly wait until Olivia is poking away at him, etc. Economically though the caravans are fabulous, lots of room, etc. but if you are looking for luxury check out the Honda Odyssey or the Toyota Sienna, they are both fabulous- the Honda Odyssey when you are in the driver's seat its like being in the cockpit of an airplane! But DEFINATELY go for the captain's chairs in the second row ..... good luck!
Jamison'smama replied: Okay, for me the automatic doors are an absolute must. They may be a bit slower but when you are walking across a parking lot and can open your doors before you get there...totally worth it. The kids can get in either side of the car without you having to open the door manually and the safety feature of auto doors can save some fingers.
I have a 2005 Odyssey, I love it for it's safety features but there are 2 things I would change and they may have. The trunk doesn't have an auto open and second, there are no tether hooks on the sides in the rear seat of the van--only in the middle seat. When you want more than one carseat in the back or if another adult that is not petite needs to sit back there with the carseat, it would be nice if the carseat could be on the side.
I love the fold down seats, the ability for the middle seat to be 2 captains or a bench. I love the storage under the floorboards but the only thing I would not want to go without is the auto doors.
Cece00 replied: I dont have auto doors but they have a plus and minus side...plus side, you can open them when you have your arms full of stuff/kids and it would be a PIA to put some stuff/kid down to open them...but they are slllooowwwwww. They arent a neccessity but its probably nice.
I think captains chairs in the middle is a neccessity. I would HATE having a bench seat. In fact, I removed one of my captains chairs so I could put stuff in the space or stand there when I buckle in the kids and it makes life SO much easier...I'd HATE a bench seat there.
I also think fold down seats would be awesome (for ALL the rear seats...although the back bench seat does fold down into the 'truck'), but apparently only the Dodge Caravan has those, and I love my Honda too much to have anything else, so I'll wait til Honda gets on the ball with that one...
As far as a DVD, it may be cheaper to buy your own then to get a factory installed one, you should compare the prices.
jem0622 replied: I would not want automatic doors. Especially in an emergeny. What if the doors seized up on you? No thanks! I don't even like automatic windows for the same reason!
Must haves: door that opens on either side. Seats can retract into the floor (or at least the back bench).
I love love love the captain's chairs in ours. They can be pulled apart and be individual chairs, or you can slide them together on the track and they are a bench. It rocks!
We have a 2004 Mazda MPV.
In the future, I might consider a model with a built in DVD player. It's a PITA to trudge the dual screen type that we have in and out of the car.
boyohboyohboy replied: I dont like the idea of a tv in the car for my kids, I think in MHO that kids watch to much tv, and dont need it in the car too..but again thats MHO.
I like the keyless remote entry, and I agree with the person who said what if the sliding door mechanism broke, in an emergency??
I also would make sure that the very rear seats have shoulder belts, some of the ones we looked at didnt, and if you want to move older kids to the back in a booster seat, you cant if there isnt a shoulder harness, and I wouldnt want the babies in the back end...
also I wish I had the seats that went down into the floor of the van, for more room. I do keep my one back seat (captains chairs) down for more room for bags and strollers...
its hard to fit an adult in the back end too.
I like this van because it sits up high like an suv not low like a car, its easier on the knees when getting out, and i can breast feed in the front seat. it has lots of room.
There are a million cup holders all over the place. lots of small storage pockets and compartments. and the drivers seat heats up..not really sure yet why i would want my behind heated up, but i think its neat. 
I really love my minivan.
boyohboyohboy replied: oops i forgot to add the most important feature to me where the side impact air bags
MyBlueEyedBabies replied: For us the deal breaker was auto doors. I really liked the Chevy (dont remember what it's called it replaced the venture) and dg liked the grand caravan. we ended up with the grand caravan vecause of the stow and go seating. That feature is pretty cool we rarely stow the seats but it does allow us to keep a ;ot of stuff in the car w/o it getting in the way. we love storage space in cars.
[/QUOTE]I would not want automatic doors. Especially in an emergeny. What if the doors seized up on you? No thanks! I don't even like automatic windows for the same reason![QUOTE]
just because they can be automatic doesnt mean they need to be automatic. I can open my door just like a normal one if i am standing there.
coasterqueen replied: Automatic doors ARE a necessity when you have two kids in tow, diaper bag, purse and a gazillion packages.  ETA: I've NEVER noticed them being so slow, but if I'm in a hurry I just don't use the automatic, I just open them like you normally would. So if the auto doesn't work, you can STILL open the doors 
Also stow-and-go seating seems like it would be nice. We don't have it because it didn't come out til the year after, but I hate that sometimes we can't get things while out shopping because we don't have room and if the seats stored we would.
I love my heated seats. 
DVD player for the kids in back that comes with the audio package (headphones) - they can use them later when they get bigger.  ETA: That granted kids watch too much tv these days, but you try having kids who HATE riding in a car and their screaming 24/7 and tv seems to calm them down. Trust me, you'd run out and get one if you had to live through that for 16 hours.
What I hate about mine - BLIND SPOTS - LOTS AND LOTS OF BLIND SPOTS. I swear this van is an accident magnet. We'd have so many little and not-so-little accidents in this thing and it's all been because of blind spots! 
ETA: I LOVE LOVE my captains chairs in teh middle too. 
Maddie&EthansMom replied: My best friend has a Honda Odyssey and I don't think the automatic doors are slow at all. Like the others said, they don't HAVE to be automatic. I think it's a great feature. I don't drive a mini-van but one thing I love about her Odyssey is the space it has behind the back seat. She can fit so much stuff back there. That's something an SUV doesn't offer (even a larger one like my Navigator.) I like the doors that open on both sides, too.
Mini-vans really are the ultimate vehicle, IMO. They have so much to offer. Have fun choosing yours!!
NO doubt!!! Or even for the half hour trips. We use ours just about everytime we get in the car. Ethan HATES the car. It's been a lifesaver! I told Scotty after we had it installed "Thanks for the silence" I forgot my kids were in the car the first time we used it.
Oh and heated seats are nice since you live in a colder climate. Being in TX, I use the A/C seats more.
coasterqueen replied: Aimee, they have A/C seats?????
NikkiM replied: We have a Dodge mini caravan.
I have no complaints. I love it.
Maddie&EthansMom replied:
Yeah, we have heated and cooled seats on the driver and passenger seats. I'm telling you, it's really nice for those hot TX summers. That leather gets so darn hot!! 
It's not something I chose, btw. I would never pay extra for that feature. The car just happened to have it. We got our Navigator really cheap...it's a 2001 and had really low miles on it and was in great condition. I could never afford a new one...we just lucked out on this one when an old guy traded it in one day. It's been a great car and it's fairly easy to drive considering the size. The gas is killing us...especially since Scotty has been out of a job, but it's nice not having a car payment at the same time.
I would love to have a new car again and to be able to choose everything I want on it, though. That's exciting! Especially a mini van b/c they have so much to choose from and so much to offer. Not to mention their safety ratings can't be beat!
coasterqueen replied: Wow, I learn something every day. I guess it does make sense to have A/C seats if there are such things as heated seats. I wish ours had A/C seats because you are right, that leather gets HOT!
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