Minivan or Pickup?

Since this is a car guy forum, I have to ask how much car guy stuff you plan to do.  I drove minivans (Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna) for the last 10 years and loved them.  Comfortable to drive, easy on gas compared to a truck, easy to park and maneuver in the city, great for family trips.  The only reason I got rid of my van in favor of my F-150 crew cab is to do car guy stuff.  I needed tow race car trailers, and was always picking up big/dirty/heavy parts somewhere.  The van just wasn't up to jobs like that.  I love my truck but compared to the van it's harder to park, uses a little more gas, and less comfortable for family trips.

The used car market is bananas right now.  I sold my 2015 Sienna with 70k miles to Carvana for $22k (!).  I bought my 2013 F-150 with 65k from a private seller for the same amount.  Apparently this was the deal of the century because a truck of similar spec/age/miles now sells for around $30k.

Mini-van or pick-up? Nope.

BoF station wagon. I converted last summer and have missed neither our old mini-van, nor my pick-up, since the change over.

In reply to NOHOME :

Age 72. I understand about entry. Too low and it's hard, too high and it's hard.  
    I have a pickup. Stupid high.  Hate that part of it. Pulls my 28 foot Sea Ray out of the lake. And the race car in the enclosed tandem axle trailer all around the country. ( still gets 16+ mpg average pulling ) 22 running around and 25 on the highway. V8 4x4 etc.That part I like. Not a single problem in 60,000+ miles. 
  What works is a HONDA CRV  not too low not too high. Can carry a 4x8 hanging out the back. We have the AWD because of snow and a steep hill at the end of my driveway.  

John Welsh said:

In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :

NOHOME said:

If I trade or sell the FRS at this point it might still have enough value to move me partly into a 3-5 year old minivan of some sort. 

I think he's shopping used.  

LOL, I missed some of the post, too!

I've been in the minivan camp since 2013. My first one was a 2008 GC that replaced my diesel 4x4 truck. One benefit of Chrysler minivans - they tend to sell on the used market for much less than the original MSRP.   That said, I haven't really paid attention to the current market. 

I am a car guy but my thing is building, not racing them. So towing is not a thing. I have a friend who tows for a living so that takes care of the odd in town need.

I expect that the near term future is going to be more focused on house and yard remodeling and I don't care if I trash the inside of an otherwise nice minivan doing this stuff; it most likely wont see a next owner.

The obvious solution despite me seems to be a Chrysler Minivan. Going to start looking around to see what that looks like.

Still need to see if my current daily driver insurance carrier will insure the Molvo as a DD cause Hagerty requires that I have two real cars for them to cover me.

Why not something a little nicer, like a used cayenne? Can tow whatever vehicle or utility trailer. You're retired, enjoy it more :)

Edit: ok, lots of lawn stuff might change that.

Grand Caravan seems to fit the bill, rental companies sell them pretty cheap also. That's where mine (town and country) came from at a year old for half retail.

Don't tell anyone but I enjoyed DRIVING a Honda Odyssey. It drove like a FWD Honda.. just bigger. More expensive than a Chrysler van but a Great vehicle. 

NOHOME said:

I am a car guy but my thing is building, not racing them. So towing is not a thing. I have a friend who tows for a living so that takes care of the odd in town need.

I expect that the near term future is going to be more focused on house and yard remodeling and I don't care if I trash the inside of an otherwise nice minivan doing this stuff; it most likely wont see a next owner.

 

The obvious solution despite me seems to be a Chrysler Minivan. Going to start looking around to see what that looks like.

Still need to see if my current daily driver insurance carrier will insure the Molvo as a DD cause Hagerty requires that I have two real cars for them to cover me.

The wife purchased a used 'answer' CX9 (2012)FWD two years ago with 115K on the odo...was a bit apprehensive at first, but I must say this is very doable and would seek an AWD if one were available..if I were in your spot 

In reply to 759NRNG (Forum Partidario) :

Way too civilized and carlike. I want to put a sheet of plywood in the thing if I can. Plus those things are $$$.

What's your price range????

So, I'm a truck guy.  Except for a 5 year period when I was driving the worlds ugliest Econoline I've had a pickup in the fleet since I was a teenager.  Sometimes it was the fleet and for most of my life it's been my daily driver.  I have a hard time imagining life without one.  On the rare occasions that I do imagine that, I think a Honda minivan might be a good option.  Not that I have a lot of minivan exposure but they're the only one I driven that I didn't hate to drive.  I think the advice to rent some different options and see how they feel is spot on.

The answer that seems to have been completely missed by everyone is El. Camino.  80's g-body.  Low lift height, a bed to hose out, whatever motor you think goes there goes there, it's the complete package. 

Grand Caravans offer the best bang for the buck in a minivan, I'm a big fan of the ones with the Pentastar V6.  Their powertrain is much more solid and reliable than the Honda V6/AT combos available in the Odyssey's over the past two decades.  And IMHO, the rental Caravan had far better brakes than our '05 Odyssey, as well.

After draining and filling the transmission in our '05 Odyssey 3 times every 30k with the Honda factory fluid and never towing, it crapped out at 160k. Our '17 Odyssey had the original transmission go (again, it had never towed) at 194k, and a used transmission that the dealer put in with 100k on it failed immediately, as well.  Honda hasn't gotten the variable cylinder management right, either, so that can be another costly repair.

The Toyota Siennas seem to be much more stout than the Odyssey from a powertrain perspective, but carry a not insignificant price premium over the Odyssey. Both the Odyssey and Sienna do a good job of carrying passengers, but unless you're toting around friends and grandchildren full time, the GC would be my choice.

They no longer make the best compromise of a full size van/Pick up/minivan... the Astro / Safari. Some clean ones can still be found, but they have a large fan base, so prices seem high, unless your already familiar with how versatile they are.

Gumby had a great suggestion with the B. O. F. station wagon, but they are another acquired taste in the aesthetics department.

They chrysler mini vans are a decent FWD car, as long as you go into it knowing its a car pretending to be a van.

In reply to dj06482 (Forum Supporter) :

My dads 05 odyssey has 160 or so on it now, and have had very few problems with. Still on original trans fluid, and it towed a lot of utility trailers! My neice got it after he pased away, and loves it for the kids. It had a few scrapes and bumps, and the rear half of the interior is too dirty to ever come clean again, but still drives as good as ever. After Astro's changed the pasenger side to having no room in 94, he tried a couple diferent chrysler/dodge vans, but they did not hold up to his "non-car" uses. The Oddy did!

I've been without a truck for a full 2 weeks and already miss it. But I apparently haul large stuff more then I remembered before getting rid of the truck

I've owned a crew cab truck ('04 Nissan Titan) and Minivan ('14 Toyota Sienna) at the same time. The Sienna was better for the daily grind for most things most of the time. Easier to park, better on gas, more comfortable with a full load of people (although the Titan is plenty comfortable for 5, 6 gets a bit tight in front.) I don't think the Sienna was any better to drive though. More car like, but not good car like. Van sized car like. Not a bad thing, that's what it was. But the Titan is more fun to drive, despite it's size. The Sienna had a huge cargo area, even with all of the seats up. We usually sat our 3 kids in the middle row, and left the back folded most of the time. In my opinion, unless you frequently want to haul sheets of plywood, a three across second row minivan trumps a fold away 2 seat second row minivan. At least with 3 kids. The minivan could haul a lot of stuff that the truck could. Except it was much easier with the truck. I'd much rather load building materials, bikes, BBQ's, furniture- anything bulky or messy- in the back of the truck rather than the van.

To make a long story short- if hauling people is your priority, the minivan is a better fit. If you don't transport more than 5 (6 seat trucks are great in a pinch, but I don't think are very common) often but haul stuff, especially big or dirty stuff, the truck is a better fit. Neither are sports cars, but are not the penalties to drive that they once were. If I could have only one vehicle, it would be a crew cab truck, hands down. 

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

Ford does offer the Transit Connect as an option. Less refined that a family style minivan maybe, but good utility I would think.

I was going to suggest a Transit Connect as well.

I had a 2015 LWB XLT Van (cargo). It got about 23mpg, handled way better than it had any right to and was easy to load. I even put a Honda Helix in the back:

Sadly, the transmission was run low on fluid by the PO which caused damage (slippage and high trans temps) so I ended up getting rid of it before it failed.

I would look for an XLT (or higher) Wagon (passenger) and remove the last seat. It was kinda slow with the 169hp 2.5L Duratec but you could get the 1.6L Ecoboost in some trims.