Wednesday 5 June 2013

The Best Minivan in North America


When we think about minivans, we think about the three main ones, the Nissan Quest, Honda Odyssey, and Toyota Sienna. They are really good ones, but when speaking in the behalf of money, we think Kia Sedona, Leather, Cheap and want to get our selves one of the Kia's. Kia it self is a good company but suffers from low resale value and since it is Korean it inst reliable. Maybe you are a person who dislikes minivans and think you can use a 7 passenger suv such as the Acura MDX, until you realize it lacks space and can not deal like a minivan. So which minivan is the best? Lets find out. In the previous generations, it was all about being different. Before 2004, all vans had a different shape and different interiors but Honda Odyssey was clearly the winner. The   1999-2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L with RES was my favorite but it lacked a sunroof. The sienna had the worst shape but had a classy interior. Nissan Quest was also a good one but not popular and had a lot of Engine noises. In 2004 Toyota and Nissan both changed their vans, Honda took a year break which I think was worth it. The 2004 Nissan Quest was all about being different, but it was also controversial, was it the bold styling or the problem that the battery kept dying for no reason? The 04 quest had the worst resale value in this comparison. But i honestly like it,  the interior is very spacious and sporty rather then other minivans. Then the 2004 Sienna also came out which was a complete change from the previous generation. The Sienna's Exterior by far was the most classy but the interior seemed more like a Buick's interior. Wood  and boring written all over. It was not anything special but still sells more then the Quest or the Odyssey. In 2005, Honda launched the redesigned Odyssey. I think it  won the cup, the Touring model was the best minivan to date. It was a fully loaded van you can say, with the best exterior I had seen. The interior was roomy yet it was capable of seating 8. The exterior was awesome because it showed an angry look unlike the Quest which clearly said I don't want to mess with anyone.  So for that Generation, the Honda Odyssey is the winner. In 2007, Nissan decided that they need to catch up with Honda so they had a mid refresher for the Nissan Quest. They finally changed the controversial speed gauge and put it where it belonged, which was a great idea, they also put dual dvd's and kept the panoramic roof. The exterior changes included a new grille, which I liked. Toyota Sienna had no changes and kept going, they did have a refresher and  put in a GPS for the XLE Limited. In 2008, Honda Odyssey changed a bit too, the new changes included a new type of grille and a new model called the DX. Nothing major but it did make it look more angrier. Now we are in 2012 and all of the vans changed in 2011. Honda odyssey I hate to say it came 3rd on my list. The interior is by far the best no doubt, but I question what they have done to the exterior? The back looks like a person whose sick and seems very squished. It does not belong there so I dislike the exterior, it seems more like a Chrysler Pacifica,  an Adult mini Bus. The interior is great though. 2nd Place is the Nissan Quest, it changed a lot. I was a fan of the large middle row windows but since they changed it, it looks alright. Some good features include a power sliding door with the option of not grabbing the handle. I like that but I really dislike the tail lights. So Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of the Minivan Segment is the 2011 Toyota Sienna. Good Interior, Good exterior, Good performance, Good resale value. What else do you need? So in Short, used minivans still sell and a lot of people buy them, So if your budget is between $1000-$6000 get the 2004 Honda Odyssey EX-L with RES. If you are Willing to get to $7000 to $10000 get the 2004 Nissan Quest SE , if you can afford $11000-$20000 then get the Honda Odyssey Touring and if you can afford more get the New Sienna XLE!

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