Best windsurfing mini van?

[jeffreyp]

I am in the market for a mini van (better mpg) than full size van. Does anyone have suggestions or biases. I am inclined to buy a Toyota Sienna(used) very good track record, but would like to hear from owners of various mini vans to learn the positives and negatives of each. Full size van owners and even Sprinter owners please feel free to chime in.

Thanks,

Jeff

[kevinkan]

Lots of people use Grand Caravans because they're big and relatively cheap. They aren't the greatest for reliability, but they make great beater vans. hehe They are known for their bad transmissions, and they are fairly inconvenient to work on: i.e. having to remove several bolts and an assembly just to get to the damn air filter!

Honda Odysseys are also popular. They are just about as big as the Grand Caravans and better on reliability, although I hear they also suffer from bad trannys (not as bad as the GC).

The Toyota Sienna is a fantastic minivan from what I hear, but it's not as big as the GC or Odyssey.

I have a 98 Plymouth Grand Voyager (same as the Grand Caravan), and it is kind of a POS, but it has served me relatively well, and it drives pretty well when it's not broken. I bought mine w/ a new tranny for $4k, and I got three years out of it b/f I ran into trouble.

Great thing about my van is that I can put in a board rack, and modern boards will fit behind the passenger seat while still sitting somebody relatively comfortably. I can even put a captains chair behind the driver seat next to the board rack, so it can carry three people and their gear (esp. with the help of a large roof box).

[windsrf]

I've had my Odyssey since 2001 and still love it. Best WS features include relatively easily removed center console (at least in my version) allowing extra long boards to fit between front seats when necessary. I keep only one second row seat installed, for casual carpooling - third row seat flips/stows invisibly. All gear stows inside fairly easily without custom racks, etc - 3 boards, 6 sails, 5 masts, 4 booms, etc. Although I've heard the rumor re transmission problems, don't know of anyone who has actually had that. Mileage is mediocre around town, but low to mid 20's on freeway. Handled Baja trek easily. Highly recommend. David

[crashman]

I've had 2 dodge caravans since 1994 that saw regular maintenance and good upkeep. Both motors blew at 130 K, which I heard is common for '90's Caravans. OTOH, they were great travel vehicles, and fit boards up to 8'6" no problem with the seats out. Got about 23-25 mpg for a 6 cylinder.

[isobars]

Did you search the archives? You should find many scores of posts on this topic. Just hit SEARCH and enter vans. SURELY there can't be anything new to say about them by now.

Mike

[ShreddinEd]

Agreed the Odyssey, Caravan and Sienna are all good options. I currently have the Sienna with captain's seats and it can fit a ton of stuff inside. Also, the seats disappear into the floor, so you don't have to remove anything (except the middle captain's seats which fold down) when you load it.

I currently have the Sienna and love it. It has all-around airbags and a 5 star crash rating. I used to have a Caravan and also loved that van, though it doesn't perform as well on safety (not sure about reliability, see other comments). Never had an Odyssey, but it also is an excellent choice. Word of caution on the Sienna, do not get the AWD model unless you want to buy tires frequently. It only uses run-flats of which there are only 2 options (Dunlap and Bridgestone). Both wear out fast (first set wore out at 10k), and they go for $900/set.

If you need AWD, and you're not into buying tires, I'd go for the Caravan.

[carl]

[isobars]

[Bullroarer_Took]

VW Eurovan Camper.

[ShreddinEd]