| if this is the primary child hauler, you would be CRAZY to get the R. you will be very unhappy. we have an odyssey and an R. The R doesnt hold even a fraction of what the minivan holds behind the 3rd seat. you can pack luggage for the family for a wknd and a full double mclaren stroller in the ody or sienna behind the 3rd seat. the R wont even hold the luggage let alone the stroller....With the kids in boosters now, we like the R for its road manners and power (both better than the ody), but only for long drives and the 3rd seat has to be folded for storage. The ody holds us and 2 goldens for wknd trips without a problem. With infants, you CANNOT move from the front to the 2d or 3rd rows. In an ody or sienna, you can just about walk back to tend to the kids....with car seats in the 2d row (and thus cant fold the seats), you are forced to squeeze between the center armrests to access the 3rd row.....horrible design and very hard to reach back and strap a 3rd child in. BUT THE PREMIUM MINIVAN. We are getting rid of the minivan soon in favor of a yukon xl but have never regreted the 5 years and 60k miles that we have driven it....it is nearly perfect with young kids....while the R500 is not nearly as convenient and not worth $60k, it was worth the $42k it sold for at the end of 2007 and is a very good backup family hauler. For skiing, 2 young children and 2 dogs, the new yukon Xl IS the car of choice.... |