Monday, August 11, 2008

Which to Choose?

Our van is cooked. Between the gummy bears melting in the driver's side door, the crack in the windshield that has been there since Audrey was born (I am not exaggerating...), the missing side mirror from my little incident at Sonic, the van looks like it went to war. That and it needs four new tires and some other work.

So we have been looking at getting a new van. We love our Honda Odyssey, but we have owned Chrysler's in the past (Ray had a Jeep Wrangler and we had a Jeep Grand Cherokee) and have had good luck. So we test drove a Town and Country van and liked it as well. And the girls vote for that one since it has Sirius Satellite TV, and they can get their fix of the Disney Channel anytime.

The Honda? Reliable, I like how it looks.
The Chrysler? Lots of bells and whistles (seats that swivel, two tv screens, satellite TV), American made.
Which would you choose?

25 comments:

Our Moments said...

My vote goes for reliability over anything else. :)

Check out Consumer Reports and see what they have to say. We always have found them to have unbiased and realistic reviews. We always read their articles before buying anything... from computers, to appliances to vehicles. :)

Good Luck with the decision. It won't be easy.

That Chick Over There said...

I'm not a van person. I love my Hyundai Santa Fe. It ROCKS MY SOCKS.

I agree about Consumer reports though. They have never steered me wrong.

That Chick Over There said...

Hit enter to soon.

I meant to say, I like the looks of the first van a lot! :) Good luck with your choice. New vehicles are fun!

Terri said...

Make sure you check the reviews. When we in the process of a new van, the Chrysler did not have good reviews! We ended up going with the Toyota Sienna! I LOVE IT!

Cat said...

I roll it old-school, so I would choose the one without TV.

Check out MotherProof.com. They review cars with a family bend. They're owned by cars.com so they're legit.

Amanda-The Family News! said...

Between these two I am going for the Honda - I have a Honda (Accord) - this is my 2nd honda and LOVE it... It's like Honda's last forever!
I have not ever really heard great things about Chrysler products...
I would go for a Honda or Toyota...

SJINCO said...

Hands down, I'd go Honda.

And that's only because my Mom & Dad had a Town and Country, and while it was nice - it had TONS of problems. They traded it in eventually for a Hyundai Tuscon.

Both are equally as nice, I'd do what everyone else is suggesting and check Consumer Reports.

Happy Working Mom said...

Personally, run very far away from the Chrysler.

We had a Jeep Grand Cherokee and LOVED it! Then we got the Town and Country and had nothing but problems. It got to the point where the service guy at Chrysler even said that it was a piece of junk.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Honda Odyssey, and when we were thinking about getting another van, we were between the Odyssey and the Sienna.

It's obviously a personal choice, but I've never shelled out so much cash on a vehicle before that Town and Country...and that was WITH the additional "bumper to bumper warranty" - bumper to bumper my butt! We had to fight them to fix the transmission when it went out at only 3 years old!

Lori said...

well I have a Honda CRV, so I guess I'd lean towards the Honda, but my suggestion would be to test drive them both and see which one feels more like you! I also agree about checking out Consumer Reports to see what they have to say

Sabrina said...

Honda all the way. More bells and whistles means more money to spend when it all breaks down. Not worth it.

Julie said...

did you look at the sienna? we LOVE our new one. had an odyssey once before too - i think we had a lemon - had tons of problems with it.

Julie said...

Oh, and I agree with Sabrina - mores bells and whistles often means more to go wrong. AND isn't that the first model year for all those bells and whistles?

Anonymous said...

I have an '07 Grand Cherokee and LOVE it. It's my second Jeep and I never had any issues with the first or this one.

But...I HAVE heard the Chrysler vans can/do have issues. Sure, the satellite tv is nice, but...do they kids HAVE to watch tv when driving to the store or whatever? No. And, when you go on trips, DVDs work just fine. As others have said, more bells and whistles mean more money down the road when something takes a crap on you.

Consumer Reports is certainly one thing I would check out before deciding. And, even though I'm an American car kinda girl, I must admit imports like Honda, Toyota, etc do seem to run far longer.

Good luck!!

emily said...

I say go with honday or toyota... When I got my Toyota both the owner of my company and an Exec at my client site talked about their Town and Country's and both had the transmission go out before the payments were done!

I am completely in love with my new Sienna - and it has 5000 mile already!

CPA Mom said...

We have a Chrysler Town and Country. I HATE IT. Cannot say that enough. I am SICK of it breaking and having the mechanic (who is a client, reliable) say it's something they "see alot on T&Cs). RUN as fast as you can from Chrysler.

just sayin'

Anonymous said...

Honda all the way, baby. If you can afford it, you should never buy anything other than a Honda. Or Toyota, I suppose. I have a few friends with Town & Country's and they're pretty but that's about it. They still have north american parts so they break down all the time. (As sad as that is to say...)

We're Honda folks - can you tell? I'll drive a 10 year old Honda over a new anything.

Frannie said...

I think the chrysler looks nice!

Michele_3 said...

Definitely Honda!
I have an Odyssey and our neighbor had the Town n country van & she was always having problems! She ended up trading hers in for an Odyssey and now loves it!

Were trading ours in soon and I'm going with Honda again- Very reliable!
Good Luck!

Anonymous said...

2008 Toyota Highlander Sport!!!

Oh, that wasn't a choice?

OK . . . then the Honda . . . hands down. I've never owned a Honda (Chevy Cavalier, Pontiac Grand Am, and Jeep Grand Cherokee) . . . but everyone I've ever known that owned a Honda still owns one - and the same one. Those things run for-EVER and are sooo reliable.

How exciting to get a new vehicle . . . some day, some day . . .

Laura said...

I love our Dogge Grand Caravan - though it is an older model with no swivel seats - but I LOVE the Stow and Go.

Everyone I know who has either van you listed loves them...so, go test drive - drive it in your neck of the woods - places you would go, parking you would use - take into consideration the seating formation for kids and such.

Good luck.

Lost A Sock said...

I researched both of these pretty well during our recent vehicle trade, and while we ultimately ended up with an Expedition, I found in mini-vans that the Honda is not only the better reliable of the two vans, but it also holds its value better. Just my two cents.

Let us know what you get!!

Lost A Sock said...

Oh, DUH, also we owned a Grand Caravan for a year... only a year because we hated it, and it had problems.

Steph said...

I vote for the Honda all the way. I'm as patriotic as they come, but when it comes to cars I REFUSE to buy American. Been there done that. We've had Hondas and Toyotas they are both very reliable and run forever!!! My American cars on the other hand have had thousands of dollars in repairs, and I've never had one longer than 3 years. Honda, baby!

Steph said...

Oh, forgot to say that I've always purchased the American cars NEW and the imports USED, and they're still better!

Kelly said...

I know people who own both and the both love their vans. So I'm not much help! Go to www.edmunds.com and look at the consumer reports thats what I did when I purchased my new car. Good Luck..

PS- I'd probably go with the bells and whistles!! But thats just me!