Another Minivan or a Suburban? WWYD

[HonorAndHonesty]

For less than $500 you can add a panoramic rear view camera and small side mirrors to the regular side mirrors.

That's what I did for both of my young adults older vehicles and they have excellent visibility.

All the other stuff you absolutely don't need given that the both of you are already comfortable driving Siennas.

We test drove a newer Sienna and Suburban yesterday including in heavy urban highway traffic, she is definitely not as comfortable changing lanes as I am, I consider myself to be an average driver however I am a Class A CDL holder and drive bigger vehicles including real trucks at work so I understand I am probably more comfortable than some in a bigger vehicle.

We all liked the Suburban, I did find one that has everything she wants that we will inquire about tomorrow, we will see.

Funny story when I was training for my CDL I took a turn and had to get very close to a vehicle in the turn lane to make the turn and not run the trailer over the curb, after I executed the turn the trainer (a coworker) asked if I was nervous during the turn in which I replied yes, he said you don't need to be nervous, the lady in the turn lane needed to be, if you had hit her we would have been just fine! Now of course it was just a joke to lighten the mood and he wasn't serious, he actually was a great CDL instructor!

 

[LDB]

We test drove a newer Sienna and Suburban yesterday including in heavy urban highway traffic, she is definitely not as comfortable changing lanes as I am, I consider myself to be an average driver however I am a Class A CDL holder and drive bigger vehicles including real trucks at work so I understand I am probably more comfortable than some in a bigger vehicle.

We all liked the Suburban, I did find one that has everything she wants that we will inquire about tomorrow, we will see.

Funny story when I was training for my CDL I took a turn and had to get very close to a vehicle in the turn lane to make the turn and not run the trailer over the curb, after I executed the turn the trainer (a coworker) asked if I was nervous during the turn in which I replied yes, he said you don't need to be nervous the lady in the turn lane needed to be, if you had hit her we would have been just fine! Now of course it was just a joke to lighten the mood and he wasn't serious, he actually was a great CDL instructor!

Had an A and drove 53' for about 6 months then bought my own 40'. Liked it much better. After several years and ~1M miles I put drivers in and spent my last few years in a G3500. Liked it best as I could eat anywhere I wanted to stop. I think I could still do it but wouldn't for less than $20 a mile. Doubt anyone is going to pay me that.

 

[4WD]

We test drove a newer Sienna and Suburban yesterday including in heavy urban highway traffic, she is definitely not as comfortable changing lanes as I am, I consider myself to be an average driver however I am a Class A CDL holder and drive bigger vehicles including real trucks at work so I understand I am probably more comfortable than some in a bigger vehicle.

We all liked the Suburban, I did find one that has everything she wants that we will inquire about tomorrow, we will see.

Funny story when I was training for my CDL I took a turn and had to get very close to a vehicle in the turn lane to make the turn and not run the trailer over the curb, after I executed the turn the trainer (a coworker) asked if I was nervous during the turn in which I replied yes, he said you don't need to be nervous, the lady in the turn lane needed to be, if you had hit her we would have been just fine! Now of course it was just a joke to lighten the mood and he wasn't serious, he actually was a great CDL instructor!

Three of us taking the Tahoe to Houston shortly - ten miles out I’ll ask my wife to turn the rear camera on - game changer in traffic …
We don’t have the digital upper (we have an LT) - but have clipped an Angel View mirror on like in my Jeep - love those

 

[John105]

How about a 2021 Tahoe? It’s supposed to have almost same cargo (slightly more) as a 2020 Suburban. 122.9 on Tahoe and 121.7 on Suburban. 2021 suburban is 144.7.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

So something like a AWD Traverse or Pilot is too small for you?

 

[dishdude]

Can't beat the 1994 Caravan!

Junkyard Gem: 1994 Dodge Caravan with 434,475 miles

A 1994 Dodge Caravan minivan that drove more than 430,000 miles during its lifetime, found in a Northern California wrecking yard.

www.autoblog.com

 

[cptbarkey]

My parents and my own family have owned multiple Dodge Caravans since 1990. They are good, comfortable and safe basic transportation. Issues are known and resolved.

If you want foreign, the 11-20 Sienna is the king of reliability and safety. I do not really like the Odyssey much myself due to the 100k timing belt requirement.

A Suburban is frankly overkill for many of its tasks, and you will pay to play for less. If you need to tow, get a truck.

So something like a AWD Traverse or Pilot is too small for you?

Crossovers are really just compromised minivans.

 

[supton]

Can't beat the 1994 Caravan!

Junkyard Gem: 1994 Dodge Caravan with 434,475 miles

A 1994 Dodge Caravan minivan that drove more than 430,000 miles during its lifetime, found in a Northern California wrecking yard.

www.autoblog.com

I've never seen a vehicle rust from the top down! always from bottom up.

 

[JTK]

If you don't plan on towing anything substantial and are fine without AWD, I would look at a very low mileage version of the Nissan Quest instead. They're incredibly nice even in a base configuration. If you remember to change the transmission fluid every 50k (which few people do) they can last a very long time. I sell a lot of those to prep schools throughout the northeast because they hold up and cost nowhere near as much as the Siennas (and Odysseys) at the wholesale dealer auctions.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Good luck!

Agreed. We owned an ex-rental 2017 Nissan Quest from ~36K to 100K miles. The official last year for them was 2016, but 2017s were made for fleet/rental service. 2011-2017s are made in Japan and well built for a Nissan product. They do have a CVT, but you never hear of issues with them in this platform. The issues we had with ours was a failed a/c line to the rear a/c that was fixed under warranty and had some rust spots on the liftgate that was 90% covered and repaired by Nissan.

If I was looking for a large people/cargo mover today, with AWD capability, I'd go with a 2018-2023 Chevy Traverse 8 seater. I love our 2021 LS AWD. They're a pretty good value used. If you have to tow, they're not the best choice.

 

[D60]

I've never seen a vehicle rust from the top down! always from bottom up.
View attachment 233932

My dad had a '94 with the 3.0 Mitsu. Nebraska took a toll on it. His rear spring hangers rusted through and the doors were basically see-through at the bottom.

At around 160k that vehicle had more oil leaks than the Valdez. Working on them, they're really just over-sized cars, and not built any stronger than a K-car.

I dunno, they were ok for their day but no one who designed or built these ever intended them to be durable or long lasting. That's just my take from working on a '94 more than I ever wanted to.

 

[JimPghPA]

So we needed the AWD sienna with our old property we owned to get up the driveway in winter, if we did another sienna I would only get a fwd. Simpler, better mileage and we really don't need awd anymore. Now im not opposed to buying a rwd suburban, but my wife doesn't like that idea and I can already see if we go to try to sell it no one will want to buy it, especially where we live because we get a little snow each year and people think they need a 4wd truck for 6 inches of snow.

With the hills around Pittsburgh good tires and AWD/4WD is a good idea with only a few inches of snow, let alone 6 inches.

 

[supton]

My dad had a '94 with the 3.0 Mitsu. Nebraska took a toll on it. His rear spring hangers rusted through and the doors were basically see-through at the bottom.

At around 160k that vehicle had more oil leaks than the Valdez. Working on them, they're really just over-sized cars, and not built any stronger than a K-car.

I dunno, they were ok for their day but no one who designed or built these ever intended them to be durable or long lasting. That's just my take from working on a '94 more than I ever wanted to.

MIL had an '87 with V6 for nearly 20 years. It was old at the end but despite 120k in the 'burbs (she lived a mile from work) that thing never burned oil to my knowledge.

 

[clinebarger]

I've never seen a vehicle rust from the top down! always from bottom up.
View attachment 233932

That paint was baked off by the sun.

Though I did have a '97 Dodge 2500 CTD that the clear came off in sheets....It was also White.

 

[svtrit]

My dad had a '94 with the 3.0 Mitsu. Nebraska took a toll on it. His rear spring hangers rusted through and the doors were basically see-through at the bottom.

At around 160k that vehicle had more oil leaks than the Valdez. Working on them, they're really just over-sized cars, and not built any stronger than a K-car.

I dunno, they were ok for their day but no one who designed or built these ever intended them to be durable or long lasting. That's just my take from working on a '94 more than I ever wanted to.

I had a 95 short wheel base with the 3.0. They were well know for burning and leaking oil. I had to put a transmission in it, and a year later it started acting up again, so I traded it on an 02 Voyager which gave me 165,000 trouble free miles, until it rusted to where we couldn’t look at it any more.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I've never seen a vehicle rust from the top down! always from bottom up.
View attachment 233932

My guess would be this Mini Van was constantly parked with a tree covering the front hood area. Whatever the tree dispersed helped create the isolated bad rusted area.

I had this exact same year, make and model with the 2.5 four cylinder. Went to a needy lady for free after I owned it for 17 years and 280k. It lasted another four years for her...... close to 325k miles all-together. The underbody fell apart (mostly rust) and became too dangerous to drive.