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Vans & Minivans 2008 Minivans 
1261 messages, Last post on Feb 27, 2008 at 7:47 AM
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Replying to: bobw3 (Nov 22, 2007 12:06 pm) As far as the stowNgo...whenever I need to use the van for a cargo van, I take out the car seats, clean out the normal stuff that's in there, and take out the second row seats, and go off to Lowes. I can't imagine a situation where I'll have a van full of kids and stuff and then decide to pop to Lowes for some sheets of plywood. To me, it's not worth having uncomfortable seats 360 days a year just to save about a minute each to remove them. Stow n go is the best thing since apple pie. Sure if your planning on going to Lowes to pick up some plywood you can plan ahead to take the seats out of your minivan, put them in the garage and put them back in when finished. But that does you little good when going to park -n- swap or garage sales and see something there you had no intention of buying when you left home, but saw it was in great condition, with a good price. There is no need to go back home to take the seats out. Your ready. Then there is the storage space. Come Christmas and your going from store to store buying presents. Lift up the hinged lid and you put it in there out of sight from prying eyes, while your off to another store, knowing people don't know if there is anything of value left in your van unattended. You can't beat those conviences. I just helped move my Daughter and her family to their new apartment. You have no idea of how much stuff you can get in a minivan that you can't haul in a pickup truck that easily. They have a SUV and a small bed pickup and outside of the refrigerator , mattress and box springs, I carried most of the big stuff. Dressers, chests, computer desks with high back. Televisions, book cases and etc. I get so tired of those that have never had stow -n-go, talk about how uncomfortable the middle seats are. Sure if you bring them up from the stow position and just sit in them, they are uncomfortable. But if you lift up the head rests and recline the back a little, there is nothing uncomfortable about them. My Brother rode in my Sister's 2006 Dodge minivan's middle seats all the way from Ohio to Arizona and back and never complained about them being uncomfortable and your talking over 4,000 miles round trip. I can't comment on swivel -n-go as mine is a 2005 and I don't have them. But I do know all about stow-n-go and they are fantastic. Unless of course, you very seldom carry anything but people, then any of them are fine. But since buying mine, my Mom needs to have an electric wheel chair or electric scooter as she can't walk that far anymore. I can get both in mine and still seat two others in my van. I normally keep the middle passenger seat stowed. It gives the dog some place to sit, makes it very easy to get four others in the back and is great for loading things in that spot, that is harder to load from the rear tail gate. But if you don't need the extra storage to hide things away. Your normally only hauling people. Any of the other minivans would do very nicely. But if you use it for more than that, you just can't beat stow-n-go. It's great. See for yourself. http://www.carspace.com/marine2/Albums/marine2%27s%20Album/two%20in%20with%20bro- ther.jpg/page/photo.html#pic
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Replying to: marine2 (Dec 04, 2007 6:57 am)  Stow-n-Go wins when it's raining, though.
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Odyssey "Magic Seat" was THE Best thing if a person wants to haul a large item on the spur of the moment even though other improvements have been made. Chrysler minivan Dual Zone Temp control for driver and front passenger is THE BEST comfort item that has been available on all but the very cheapest Chrysler minivans for MANY years. Sienna 60/40 split fold into the floor 3rd row seating was a great improvement over the Ody "Magic Seat". For me, the Odyssey still has and ALWAYS had the MOST COMFORTABLE seating for all 7 or 8 people. 
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Replying to: ateixeira (Dec 04, 2007 8:35 am) Stow-n-Go wins when it's raining, though. Try putting a computer desk with a hutch up on the roof rack. Or put a chest, dresser or six chairs up there. But as I say, if you mostly only haul people, most of the others are fine. Mine is a work horse, I use it for both people and hauling things and it still looks as good as the day I bought it three years ago this month. I got rid of a truck because of stow-n-go. I knew from my Brother's 2001 van, how much they could carry. I just didn't like taking the seats out of it. When stow-n-go came out, I jumped on it. Obviously so did he, as he traded his in for a 2006 Dodge Minivan. My Sister also has a 2006.
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Replying to: hansienna (Dec 04, 2007 10:00 am) I believe that. I also believe Chrysler's middle seats don't come near the comfort as the Toyota and Honda's. middle seats. But as I have stated, even though they are not as soft and nice, they are still comfortable. But you give up some of that softness for seats that can fold into the floor and for gobs of storage. If I were to mostly carry people and maybe only use the fold down seats and storage, once or twice a year, I would probably buy something else. At least up to the 2007 Dodge/Chryslers The new ones have so much more on them, I might still buy one just to get all their new stuff and that life time warranty. All depends on what your going to use it for.
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Replying to: marine2 (Dec 04, 2007 12:58 pm) Quest owners can also just fold the 2nd row down. Ody owners may have a problem, though, as the 2nd row seats do not tumble forward. Stow-n-Go would be the only way to get the full 8 feet of cargo length on the floor, of course, though I have have carried 4'x8' lattice panels inside with all 8 seats in place, only folded flat. Don't think I could do that with rigid plywood, though. Back to roof racks, though, I did carry a double chest on the roof rack of my Subaru Forester. Fully assembled, though it was pine, a relatively light wood. |
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How am I going to carry my family and all this wonderful cargo? The point is that if I have no family with me, than you can fit just about all these items in ANY of these vans. If you do have your family with you, you will lose space, no matter if its Stow and Go or the Ody or Sienna system. You're still going to need to have seats up. So for me, this just isn't an issue. And can we FINALLY agree that seat comfort is subjective. I don't know how many times I have to say it--I've spent thousands of miles in the Grand Caravan Stow and Go seats, and I find them uncomfortable. Some may not, I do. For my needs, I'd rather have a very comfortable seat that doesn't fold down completely over, in my view, an uncomfortable seat that does. Someone else may have a different equation, but I submit that for the bulk of what people need, my experience is more normal.
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Replying to: mfletou1 (Dec 04, 2007 2:57 pm) Comfort is subjective. Most of the time, you would never set back there anyway. If seat comfort in the middle row is more important to you than storage and the convenience of hauling big stuff, than you have a lot of choices of what to buy. If comfortable, but firmer seats is ok in the second row and storage and convenience of hauling big stuff without pulling seats out and re installing them, stow-n-go is the only choice you have. All depends on what you use your van for. It's obvious, most people haul not much more than people in theirs.
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| how well do rear-facing infant car seats fit into the T&C because from the photos, the seats angle up a lot? Anyone with experience? In my Freestyle, the second row seat is pretty horizontal, so the car seat fits great, but I was wondering on these really angled seats like the T&C, is there's some seat bottom adjustment to make them horizontal? | |
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Replying to: marine2 (Dec 04, 2007 3:58 pm) No, actually, you would not lose any floor-to-ceiling height on the Toyota. As I mentioned earlier, the seats fold and tumble forward, up against the front seats. You would lose a foot or so of cargo length, front to back, but you will not lose any height at all. The items you mentioned would fit easily in the Toyota. Here's a wild suggestion - maybe try a Sienna?  Just kidding, though it might not hurt you to take a closer look at some competitors if you're going to talk about them often. Comfort is subjective On that we agree. I'd even go a step further, not only is comfort subjective, it's subjective for each individual, because we are all shaped differently. Example: people RAVE about the Recaro seats in the Mistubishi Evo, but I *hate* them and simply do not fit in them at all. To me they are completely unacceptable. To others they are the best seats in the industry. Totally subjective and individual.
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