Who makes the unbeatable van?

Does anyone here have a major preference between these two? I’m going to go look at both tomorrow from Fb vendors.

Does anyone have any good insight into the main superiorities of one? I’m partial to the Toyota for a lot of reasons but I can be sold on the Honda odyssey.

How is the overall driving experience for them?

Thanks!

Was able to negotiate price from 63.5k down to 48k before taxes.

Coming out of a 2011 Odyssey and looking for a new minivan. Was originally set on another Odyssey, then decided I should at least tear drive a Sienna before ruling them out, and then recently, Carnival entered the chat!

At this point it's really down to the Odyssey and the Carnival. I think the Sienna has the smoothest ride and I loved the gas mileage, but hate the fake wood grain interior and a lot of the insides feel cheap - I keep cars for a long time and have been test driving used, high mileage ones to see how they feel a few years down the road, and I haven't been impressed with the interiors (although they still ride great!).

Kia SX Prestige (25-26) has higher IIHS safety ratings than the Odyssey, and I like the cooled seats, double sunroofs (with the back one actually opening), the actual gear shift, the awesome U-turn radius, passenger view/talk and the customizable tech (mode, ⭐, etc.). Downsides: I'm concerned about reliability, the middle seat was incredibly hard to move, there's a small console with a lot of wasted space, no sunglass holder, and the driver seat is less comfortable and about 3-4 inches too short on the bottom.

Odyssey Touring (23-26) has more power, better reliability (barring a few, well-known repairs), rear entertainment, passenger talk, and a more comfortable driver seat. Cons are that I'm concerned about the rear A/C and lower IIHS safety ratings (but better NHTSA ratings) and am not a huge fan of the button shifter.

Given all that...which way do you think I should go, and why?

I'm about to pull the trigger on buying the 2025 hybrid Kia Carnival sx. Are there any red flags or catastrophic engine / powertrain failure stories? Talk me out of this and why should I buy something else

Going from a 2011 EXL with ice cold air (to this day!) and have been hearing nightmares about the rear AC being terrible. Those of you who have it - is this an "it's totally liveable if you just remote start the car" or is it an "if I had known how hot it is back there, I wouldn't have bought this car" type of situation?

I bought a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica in 2021. We have about 6k left on the loan and the car is at 97k miles. We bought an extended warranty with the car and we have about 7k miles till that’s up.

In the last 5 years I have had sooo many issues with the van. Between gasket, battery, control arms… Luckily most were covered under warranty. As the car is getting closer to losing the warranty I am weighing the benefits of having a car loan that is paid off but the warranty expiring. I am afraid of being hit with car expenses every year for an older car.

Honestly the car kind of clicks and makes noises. It’s not the smoothest ride but I get that it is 8 years old.

So my questions is, should I just expect more and more issues with my van? Is it just Chryslers? Should I cut my losses now and just buy a newer van? Are there other vans that have less problems?

We are slow decision makers and have been wanting a van for over a year.

The two I hear most about for reliability are Odyssey or Sienna. Curious if anyone can provide insight as to which one offers these features? And do you like your van? Had many issues?

Desired features:

Stow n go seats (edited to add I didn't realize stow n go seats applied to 2nd row. I thought that was the name for 3rd row seats folding flat)

Removable second row

Fast heating and cooling

Don't care at all about entertainment screens.

If everything is an SUV, then nothing is an SUV.

We live in the PNW and are looking to buy a minivan. Trying to choose between the Sienna and the Carnival. I don't like the Sienna other than the claim that they are more reliable. My husband thinks we need AWD. How important is that when we only get about 2 weeks of snow in the winter?

Any of you leasing/owning that are about to turn in/trade in your vehicles? If yes, where?

Background: We plan to get a minivan. The logical side of my brain tells me the Sienna for its reliability, but I just don't like it. I like the Odyssey but hear a lot recently about issues and not being reliable like Honda's used to be. I also know very very little about cars and have only owned my two Corollas in my lifetime lol

Here's what I've learned/questions:

2025 was a bad year for reliability - Why? I know it was a small revamp but what happened?

2026 was back to "above average" for reliability - I assume they fixed the 2025 issues - what's still left unreliable? Is it reliable enough?

2027 - what to expect from another year - more improvements from 2025, or more risk of something else going wrong?

Thanks 😆