A Guide to Buying a Used Minivan

We recently bought a minivan. It’s now our family’s best friend and her name is Penny (for some strange reason, we name our vehicles, idk). Since I would’ve liked to read something like this when we first started looking for our next family vehicle, I figured I’d write a Guide to Buying a Used Minivan.

I’ll just come right out and say it… I’m living my best (family/SAHM) life in our new-to-us minivan, y’all. I know, I know. A mini-van? That seems a little too enthusiastic, Mackenzy.

I hear you. We were all about that third-row SUV life BK (Before Kids). I have graciously hauled our two littles around in a Chevy Tahoe (and a Toyota Camry, too) for the past few years. Ol’ Tammy (the Tahoe) has lived a long, long life and is inching closer and closer to retirement by the day. And Cammy (the Camry), well… four humans in a sedan are just fine, but throw in all the added crap stuff that comes with child-rearing and it’s just a smidge too cozy for our liking.

So, I started down the rabbit hole of online minivan shopping. Have you seen the minivans on the market these days? These aren’t your wood-paneled caravans of yesteryear. No, siree! Minivans have come a long, long way in the past few decades, my friends, and I am here for it.

Minivan’s are life-changing for families. End of story. #neversaynever #noregrets I ran across this article that perfectly illustrates why you should “just buy the damn minivan”! haha

Background

Here’s a bit of background before diving into the nitty-gritty details. We set out on this journey knowing that we’d buy a used (possibly certified) van in the 2015-2018 model year range. We will likely never buy a new vehicle. It’s just not a wise financial investment, from our perspective.

If you’re heading down the road (no pun intended) of searching for a minivan yourself (or a vehicle in general), here’s a look at how our recent experience was…

Research Minivans Like It’s Your Job

I’ve contemplated what our next family vehicle should be for the past couple of years now. It’s a big decision, and I don’t take big decisions lightly. I don’t like to make mistakes. Therefore, I research and learn, and research and learn, and analyze and compare, and analyze and compare… you get the idea.

I often need others’ thoughts/opinions on the subject to help solidify my decisions. All of this often ends in analysis paralysis, to which my loving husband swoops in and brings me back to reality, and then we make a practical and educated decision.

So anywho, we’ve been talking about our next family vehicle for a while. At first, I was all about a third-row SUV (Hello, Toyota Highlander! *swoon*). But, as I got looking into things, minivans just kept waving that proud-mom-hand in my face.

I eventually decided I should just jump feet first into this Mommin’ Role I find myself trudging through on the daily. We committed fully to getting a minivan and started the overwhelming task of figuring out what was even out there for us to consider!

Narrow Down Your Options

After a hefty amount of screen time, I narrowed our options down to the Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, and Chrysler Pacifica. All three of these vans vie for top ratings in the market year after year for safety, dependability, and tech features. There are other options to consider, but these are what fit our wants/needs the best.

Honda Odyssey

To be honest, I thought this would be what we drove off the lot. I’ve never heard anything bad about a Honda Odyssey before. I love the look, the ride, the features, and the safety. There is no doubt why this van ranks at #1 almost every year.

We were excited to actually get behind the wheel of an Odyssey, but it was a bit of a challenge to find one we really liked. Since Odyssey’s have been around for quite some time, we were open to looking at model years 2015 – 2018. We’d consider an older (2015) model as long as the miles were decent and it was a higher trim package.

Toyota Sienna

I am a Toyota person. I’ve owned a base package Camry for nearly a decade now, and although it doesn’t have many frills, it’s dependable and gets me from point A to point B in a snap.

However, the Toyota Sienna was probably last on my list. I really do not like the look of the Sienna. The only reason I’d consider it would be for its dependability and safety ratings – Toyotas have great motors and run forever (imo). After talking with a few pros in our circle, they both said they’d choose a Toyota for its motor alone.

As I was doing research, I joined a few Facebook groups for minivan owners/fans and read a few comments about how the Sienna just seems to leave you wanting more. I’d have to agree. We only test drove one of these, a 2011, just to see how it would ride. It is very comfortable but does lack in the design and features department.

That being said, we attempted to drive a newer Sienna and it had been sold by the time we got there, so there is definitely demand for this vehicle. It was also very difficult to find a 2016/2017/2018 Sienna, so we didn’t really even have an opportunity to give this a fair shot. But, I just know I wouldn’t have liked looking at a Sienna every day, so we let this one drop off our list fairly early.

Chrysler Pacifica

You may hear this make/model and think I’m off my rocker, but I can assure you, I’m not. The first Chrysler Pacifica produced was a mid-size crossover vehicle – model years 2004 – 2008. Then, in 2017, they reimagined the Pacifica into a sleek and (somewhat) sporty looking minivan! The new Chrysler Pacifica replaced their Town & Country line, which you may be more familiar with.

Okay, now that you’ve got a proper rundown of the history here, I can move on. Haha! The Pacifica was always lingering in second place for me behind the Odyssey. I’ve heard numerous complaints about the Chrysler brand in general over the years. That was really my only point of hesitation with this van.

We had also heard that it’s not wise to buy the first year model of any vehicle, regardless of brand. Since we knew we’d be looking at that range of years, we initially wanted to avoid the 2017 model year.

Prepare for Test-Driving

When you get a solid base of knowledge after doing online research, it’s time to get prepared to actually test drive some vehicles! This part is pretty fun, but I wanted to be fully prepared and feel as little overwhelm as possible.

So, I created this handy-dandy Car Buying Guide to help us stay on track and not forget the things that are most important to us that we’d like to see in our new van. It may seem a bit overkill to have this guide with you, but I guarantee if you’re planning to test drive multiple vehicles, you’ll benefit from having this guide with you!

We had it with us for each test drive and it was really nice to have as we continued to narrow down our search. When you’re comparing multiple models and trim packages, it’s easy to get them mixed up. Using this guide to track all of our test-drive information was very helpful!

It makes comparing vehicles easy and is a great reference after you’ve completed test driving. I’d encourage you to print off two or three sheets, depending on how many cars you plan to look at. We went through two sheets (six cars).

The idea is to list out the top ideal features you want to see in the vehicle you purchase. You can easily check off what each vehicle has as you look through the car. There is even enough space to jot down important notes. Then, when you go on your test drive, you can rate the vehicle based on that specific experience. I pulled these six attributes from this article I read when preparing for our test drive day.

Put the Pedal to the Metal

I would highly recommend making every attempt at test-driving each make/model you have narrowed down on your list. Even if you really love the first one you test drive, it’s worth it to try them all so that you can make a fair assessment and comparison.

Honda Odyssey Test Drive

For instance, we test drove a Honda Odyssey first and were surprisingly disappointed in the acceleration around 30 mph. It seemed to have a stutter in the shifting/transmission. It was very obvious and we weren’t impressed. We test drove another Odyssey thinking we got a lemon the first time and (unfortunately) had the same experience.

The first one was a 2015 and the second a 2016. Eric test drove a 2019 Odyssey (which was out of our price range, unfortunately) and said it ran very smoothly. So, it must be something in the earlier years, or higher mileage that has the odd shifting glitch.

Toyota Sienna Test Drive

We drove an older (2011) Toyota Sienna, and were pleasantly surprised by its comfort and drivability. When it came to seat configuration (my ideal was 8-seats) and tech features, it was lacking. I really would have liked to drive a newer version, but we didn’t ever get the chance to, unfortunately.

We ended up taking the Sienna off our list of considerations because I knew that I wouldn’t be happy with the look/style of the ones in the years we were looking at. That was a deal-breaker for me.

Chrysler Pacifica Test Drive

We drove a Chrysler Pacifica last, but it was definitely not the least! It was immediately impressive. As we looked through our list of ideal features on the Car Buying Guide, every single one of them (except a vacuum) was included, plus more. But, we weren’t convinced that first Pacifica was “the one”, so we kept looking.

Identify Your Ideal Minivan Make, Model, and Trim Package

We spent one whole day test driving four vans. We made a final stop at another dealership after seeing that they had a Sienna and a Pacifica, but both had been sold that same day! It was crazy!

From that day test driving, we talked with a couple of people in our circle – one who’d sold cars before and our trusted mechanic – to get their opinion of the three minivans we were considering.

After those conversations, we decided the Chrysler Pacifica would be the best fit for our current and future needs. With that decision made, it was time to keep searching for THEE van. This is the time where you need to determine which trim package you’d prefer.

Pro Tip: One other thing I did that was helpful when we were out test-driving was adding a note in my phone that listed out the trim packages (in order) for each van we would be looking at. That way, when we were in one, we were quickly able to identify what was offered with that trim level.

A Good Learning Moment

We drove about an hour and a half away to see a Pacifica Limited that seemed to have all the things. The Pacifica Limited is the highest trim package, so it was decked out and was in our price range. There were a few cosmetic blemishes that we weren’t very happy with, and then once we got to the financials discussion, we were met with a stone wall.

Apparently this dealership has no-haggle pricing (which we didn’t realize), and there was absolutely no moving on their part. So we walked. It was a bit disappointing, but looking back it was definitely for the best. I’d recommend you use the Car Buying Guide at this point to give yourself a reality check. What features are most important for your family?

From that experience, we realized pretty quickly that while the Limited package is really nice (it even had a vacuum!), it had things that we really didn’t need or want. It was a bit excessive for us. But, it was a great learning experience because it solidified our trim package preference and we learned a bit about the negotiation process!

{Read my 7 tips for Navigating Negotiations Here}

We walked away knowing that our ideal van would be the Pacifica Touring L Plus.

Finding and buying a Minivan

Okay, we’re dwindling our options down quite quickly at this point. I used cars.com almost exclusively throughout this process for my searches. It’s a very user-friendly website, and the search capabilities are fantastic.

After getting behind the wheel of a few minivans at this point, and choosing a trim package, we had fairly slim pickings when we made our final search for “our” minivan. We found it within a day, and even though it was about two hours away, we went for it!

I reached out to the dealership ahead of time to make sure the van was still available, and let them know when we’d be there to look at it and test drive it. I was also pretty forward and just asked what their negotiation process was like – was there any wiggle room in the price? He let me know that if we were driving that far, they’d work with us on a deal. Yay! That was music to my ears.

The last thing we wanted was to drive that far and not come back with a van. This one had literally everything (except that darn vacuum… but I’m over it now! haha) – exterior/interior color, 8 seats, storage, tech features, no sunroof (this wasn’t something we wanted), lower miles, and the right price point. We drove down knowing we weren’t going to let this one go.

It’ll feel Right

I think as you work through the process, this is exactly how you’ll want your final step to be. You find “the one” and you’re very sure-footed in your decision going into the viewing/test-driving/negotiations. The rest just kind of works itself out.

I haven’t really discussed negotiations a whole lot here because I wrote another dedicated post on it instead of adding more here! You can read my 7 Tips for Navigating Negotiations HERE!

I wouldn’t recommend driving too far out of your local market at the beginning of your car-buying journey. We stayed within our metro area when we did our first full day of test-driving. From there, we knew a lot more about what we wanted and ventured out the other two times because that’s just where the cars were.

You can do a ton of your research online (obviously) these days. The car dealerships/lots know this. Therefore, you’ll find just about every spec/feature on a car right in the online listing. You’ll do a lot of the grunt work on the front end, and then it’s just a matter of dwindling down your options and searching to find “the one” from there!

They See Me Rollin’

We are super stoked about our Chrysler Pacifica. Well, I am mainly, since it’ll be my daily family hauler! I cannot believe how much easier my life has become with a minivan in it.

I know that sounds extreme, but I am not kidding. The sliding doors, the stow-and-go, the entertainment systems, the ride, the remote start… it’s all really great, and I’m so grateful to have it.

Officially a Minivan Mom

I am officially a Minivan Mom and I have no shame! I absolutely understand now why every single person I’ve talked to, who owns a minivan, says that they wish they’d done it sooner, or how much of a life-changer it really is for family life.

We’re looking forward to taking Penny (the Pacifica, haha) on the road. I’ve been making up lots of reasons why we need to go somewhere lately (haha). It’s just so fun to drive! We’re looking forward to family road trips and making countless other memories with her.

Do you have a minivan? Which one? Do you love it? Did you name it? Tell me more!

To the Chaos!

-MG

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