What’s the best family vehicle?
@mike I asked at shop (a two-man show that has been a great experience so far on every level) for what they'd recommend for a minivan out of curiousity (we're currently driving a 2017 Kia Sedona).
He said new or used, the Toyota is his recommendation for best value for the money and that with proper care, he's seen them (the basic gas engine versions at least) go 400,000km.
I recently compared all the minivans available brand new in Canada, and if you add purchase price plus cost of gas, the Toyota (only available as a hybrid here) becomes the chepest van after about 200,000 km of driving. Cheaper than the plug-in hybrid Pacifica!
@levisan We’re looking at them super early, honestly. We probably won’t be making any purchases until next year.
But for most of our lives we purchased a new vehicle in a rush because our previous one had a mechanical issue or whatever and it wasn’t worth sinking more money in to. This next purchase will be the first vehicle where we have a lot of time to consider our options and wait until we find the best option for us.
@mike ditto! For once we're trying to be less reactionary
@sabbatical @mike oh yeah, here's my chart of purchase price + cost of gas (based on my local gas price over the last year and the Canadian combined urban/highway fuel economy) vs km driven for the six 2024 model year minivans available in Canada
@sabbatical @mike My guy said Honda would be his number two, even though they are more costly in msrp+gas than vans he likes less, because of things like maintenance cost and resale value
@levisan the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey are the ones we’re eyeing. We like the Toyota because of the reputation of reliability and mpg, but there are aspects of the Odyssey we prefer. We like how the middle row can be shifted from side-to-side, we like the center console between the two front seats more, we think it’s a more attractive vehicle, etc.